2.28.2011

LUCKY FISH! spring is here and it's super cute...

we had so much fun with this photo shoot... everyone LOVES Lucky Fish!! (for Baby, Kids and Women!)

moon and stars on organic cotton T

bright green T w/elephant soccer print

we shot this on a cloudy day, if this sun would come out the moon would turn dark blue! the more the sun the darker the moon! it's fantastic... we just couldn't get it to turn color without the sun!

my favorite print - lion star!

beetles!

guinea fowl print on ribbed tank dress

moon in silver foil print

this is really a skirt, but I had the wrong size (too big) so it looked great as a dress!

thanks for watching!

click here to see more Lucky Fish on Nonchalant Mom!
we have things for BABY, KIDS AND ADULTS!

oscars

images of Oscars past... lovely!
 
I'm not going to pretend that I don't care about the Oscars, I love the dresses and I have since I was a little girl. This year, somehow it was the perfect Sunday night and I got to see the whole pre-game show of dresses (my first time in quite a few years, due to forgetfulness or due to life...). But I have to say that I was kind of bummed out, nothing that spectacular. Yes, everybody looked really nice... but I wanted to see some of the pumped up color from Raf Simons Jil Sander collection... or something exciting! I wonder if the Oscars took place in NYC, if the dresses would be less Cinderella and more ...cool? ...maybe next year...


sorry, I know this has nothing to do with kids, but... I couldn't resist...

2.27.2011

Lambaste

lambaste - fattoush salad

I friend forwarded me this blog and I love it! LAMBASTE. I think this womans cooking is spactacular and I tell you, nothing helps a recipe more than a whole bunch of photos to tell you how to do it! Her photos are also really well done... I think she is an amazing food photographer and it always looks fantastic!

quinoa taboli

Her name is Jen, and although I don't know her, I almost feel as though I do through her recipes! I have made a few and I think she has a amazing taste. Some of her recipes are not that easy, but I really like to have a challenge once in awhile and try something very very new! So if you want to take your cooking up a few notches take a look at Lambaste and GET INSPIRED!

shrimp pasta provençal with rapini



visit Lambaste by clicking here

2.24.2011

iPad :: apps and general....


Many people have asked me about the iPad and any suggestions that I may have and yes, I have a few good 'ideas'. I think that the first thing, possibly even before buying the iPad, that needs to be laid down is that the iPad is only used as an educational tool. In our house we leave the games on the iPhones and the iPad only has educational apps on it. At this time the kids don't even think of playing games on the iPad, it's only used for education. I also ask them to switch the iPad to airplane mode while they are on it so that it is not emitting a signal or looking for a signal.

Our School PTO purchased iPads for the classrooms and they passed out this list of apps that we have found very helpful. I wasn't sold on the idea of the iPads at school but so far the experiment has been very positive and in our home since we had the ABC's problem that we talked about a few weeks ago with our kindergartner, we have purchased an iPad and she has been using the ABC apps with great success, she really loves to work on it.

iPad apps for education

WORD GAMES
Wurdle
Ultimate Hangman
Word Pop! Volt
Bananagrams

BRAIN GAMES
Brain Pop
Brain quest grade 2
Brain quest grade 3
Brain quest grade 4
Brain quest grade 5

SPELLING
SpellDown
SpellBoard
iWill Spell
Spelling 1-2
Misspell

SIGHT WORDS
K-3 sight
Pre-primer
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade

HANDWRITING
ABC Tracer
123 Writing
Letter Writer Space

PHONICS
Flip Phonics
Word Magic
Phonics Phil
Starfall ABC's
Super Why
Sound Seeker
Blend Seeker

READING /LANGUAGE ARTS
Clifford
Flashgram
Timed Reading
Montessori Crosswords
Book Report
iSentence
IQuestion
Story Builder
Story Buddy
Builda Story
iBooks

LEVELED READING
Rock'n Learn Easy Reader 1
Rock'n Learn Easy Reader 2
Rock'n Learn Easy Reader 3
Rock'n Learn Easy Reader 4
D Library
K Library
L Library
M Library

SOCIAL STUDIES
New England Puritans
Shake 'em Up States
Stack the States
States and Capitals Challenge
Popo Geo
US Presidents
US States
This Day in History

MATH
Flash to Pass
Dino Math
Mad Math
Math Bingo
Kids Math
Balloon Pop
Math Ninja
Pop Math
Math Board
Math Flash
Piggy HD
Rocket Math
Symmetry Shuffle

TELLING TIME
Telling Time
Clockmaster

FRACTIONS
Fractions
Math Fractions

MONEY
Make Change
Jungle Coins
Coin Crazy
Coin Math
Kids Coin Fun
Coins

KINDERGARTEN MATH
Pattern Recognition - K
Kids Math Fun - K
Kid Calc
Teach Me - K

1st GRADE MATH
Learn Math 1
Pattern Recognition - grade 1
Kids Math Quiz - grade 1
Kids Math Fun - grade 1
Sequencing
Everyday Math - Tric Trac
Everyday Math - Top It

1st GRADE MIX
Time MOney
First Grade Skills
Teach Me - 1st Grade
Animal Match
Match Animals
Animal Mixer

2nd GRADE MATH
Learn Math 2
Kids Math Quiz - Grade 2
Kids Mth Fun - Grade 2

3rd GRADE MATH
Time Tables
Warp FActor
Learn Math 3
Kids Math Fun - 3rd Grade
Math Kingdom
Math Pad 4
Math Order
Place Value

SCIENCE
3D Brain
Cosmic Explorer
Eco Systems
Life Cycles

KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE
Aquatic Flip
Dolphins
Aquatic Facts
Shells
See, Hear, Spell Ocean Life
Dino Fun
Dinosaurs
Dinomatch
ABC Dinos

MUSIC
School of Rock (SOR)
Pocket Guitar
Virtuoso

RESOURCE
Baby ASL
ASL Dictionary
Dragon Dictation
Pocket SLP

CAST-A-SPELL
Glow Draw
Magnetic ABCs
Writing Pad

OTHER GOOD STUFF
Keynote
Pages
Typing Test
Note Pass
Google Earth
iNutri8
Weet Woo
ArtStudio

2.23.2011

winter break

claire and the purple wall we have hated for two years! (now it will be gray thank you..)

 Sometimes I think that we are the last to figure this out but we never seem to pull it together to do anything for winter break! Last year we managed to sign up for a ski camp at our local ski hill, so we went skiing every morning until noon, it was really the perfect solution. This year I didn't sign up in time and it was sold out... So here we are finding ourselves at home each day trying to figure out what to do... you would have thought that I had learned my lesson.

Actually, it is always difficult for us to plan something for this vacation because it falls just before my husbands Art shows, he will be at Scope with a gallery called Aureus if you want to visit on March 3 - 6. So you can imagine this last minute man trying to pump out paintings like a mad man (oohh maybe I shouldn't tell this to the open public). Anyway, it is for this reason that we never seem to get anywhere for winter break. So this year, not only are the kids at home for a week, just hanging out (yes, you can almost hear it can't you!?) we have another friend of ours staying with us who is painting our house (on the inside no less...). I hope that you are starting to visualize what is going on here and you MUST be feeling good about any situation that you are in! I am usually so very proud of our small house, but this week I am starting to feel the benefits of a larger house.

For fun or perhaps just to give you an idea of what not to do... I will tell you what we have been doing so far this week. It the very least it's going to make you feel good about whatever you are doing!


Monday - I am totally exhausted from driving back to RI from NYC - we hang out at home WHILE Claire starts her painting. We look at paint chips and all decide together what colors to paint Franny's room and then also the wall in the living room. We take EVERYTHING out of Franny's room (so now it's all in the middle of the house) and the painting begins. I try to work (why??) and my husband is in his studio painting... torture! The kids end up watching a lot of movies.

Tuesday - We go to the beach with the dog first thing in the morning (I'm no dummy), it's a beautiful day, cold, but beautiful! We end up spending most of the day at the beach and when we come home everyone is tired and Claire is almost finished painting the living room wall for the day. I have time to work, kids play quietly together with blocks and castles... ha!

Wednesday - IKEA!!! need I say more...

plan for Thursday - skiing in the morning at the local ski place.

plan for Friday - any ideas?

I will share the photos of the finished rooms, they look great so far, but a lot of it is details so you probably will not notice... but I will!

2.22.2011

new york - seredipity and all that...


Sometimes things just don't go how we want them to... and then sometimes they do! It's been months, I have wanted a relaxing and inspiring day in NYC, it was supposed to be this weekend, and then the looming idea of another snowstorm made me frantically drive down to NYC (three hours), go to some shows and visit some showrooms, go back to the shows (just in time to make it to see erica tanov and layla) then quickly have a relaxing dinner (yes, only mom's know what I am talking about here) and then drive (three hours) back to Rhode Island to arrive just after the strike of midnight. Whew... so yesterday I felt sick to my stomach... and I took the day off.

Back in form today, everybody needs a night of a good book (or magazine in this case - Vanity Fair, thank you!) and early bedtime. New York was fast but very inspiring! I am very excited in what we are going to have to offer for womens collections and accessories, you will love it all! I have been holding back on 'bags' because, honestly I have not found the right mix of quality, simplicity and gorgeousness! Until now... but soon I will have an excellent selection of beautiful bags (more about that when they are here). I will mix up the collections next fall and offer some new ideas that I hope you will like as much as I do!

Back to work... packing all the boxes... !!

2.19.2011

off to NYC, again...

bergdorf spring 2011 windows

bergdorf spring 2011 windows

bergdorf spring 2011 windows

Here I go... off to NYC again, this time together with my good friend Gunn... and then also go visit some fashion... here we come!

Gunn had already been in NYC last week so she visited these AMAZING bergdorf windows! made by Jason Hackenworth, what an ARTIST! I can't imagine anything more breathtaking at the moment and they somehow do evoke a terrific feeling for Spring... somehow... who could imagine that balloons could look like THIS!

more information on NYC soon to come but for now enjoy more of Mr. Hackenworth!
(boy would I like to invite HIM to my sons birthday party and really freak everyone out...)






click here to visit the website of Jason Heckenworth

2.18.2011

almost forgot to talk about cold season!


Somehow I almost forgot to talk about cold and flu this year... we have had no sign of anything in our family, knock on wood! But I think it's because we take very simple precautions. To some of you this may sound elaborate but really it just takes a few minutes at the end of the day and has been working well for us so far. I am also testing out a couple of new things that I feel have been a big help this year, the first is Thieves oil and second is an aromatherapy treatment. So here we go, our nightly regime is:

kids cold and flu aromatherapy treatment

1) shower or bath - if its a bath we but about 1/3 - 1/2 a cup of salt in the bathtub (no soap) and I try to let them soak in there for awhile. If someone is complaining about feeling sick, they go straight in to the salt water bath, it's my first remedy.

2) gargle with salt water (every night before bed) - add about a teaspoon of salt to warm water and have them gargle three times. then they just dip their fingers into the cup and wash out the inside of their nose.


3) Dr. Hauschka berberis nose balm - I think that this cream is just fantastic! we use it when we travel, when something is going around at school and just when you have the feeling you might be coming down with something... and it works every time! I think it great because you can use it as a guard against cold and flu germs when traveling, the berberis is a natural antiseptic and helps to kill anything that is entering the nasal passage. It is also a great everyday cream, it's soothing and natural enough to use every day.


If I feel that something may be coming on I use either Thieves oil or kids cold and flu aromatherapy to guard against anything coming at us. My sister found out about thieves oil last year and I have been testing it out on myself this last year, when I feel something coming on or I am going to be at the kids school for any reason I use the thieves oil to help guard against cold and flu. You can find out more about it, and also buy, thieves oil by clicking here - please let me know if you have good results!

i love aromatherapy treatment
thieves oil
Dr. Hauschka berberis nose cream

click here to see my previous post on cold and flu season

2.16.2011

Westminster Dog Show


I don't know if you had a chance to watch the dog show or not but the lovely winner was this Beautiful Scottish Deerhound named Hickory! WOW!

recipes: breakfast oatmeal options


In the wintertime our favorite breakfast is oatmeal, maybe it's a swedish thing but by father used to say: "It's like cotton around your heart" and I almost always think about that when I eat it, and of course when my kids complain, I tell them what my dad said (not that it helps...)

So from time to time I like to try to spice it up or change things... here are some of my suggestions:

CINNAMON AND APPLE
while you are cooking the oatmeal slice up some apples add some cinnamon and a bit of apple juice and water, if you have it you can add a bit of kuzu to thicken it (you can buy kuzu here it's made from a root and is a much better thickener than corn starch). Kids love cinnamon and did you know that it is a healthy boost against seasonal colds and flu?

LINGONBERRIES
we like to add lingonberries (you can buy them at Ikea or Felix lingonberries are delicious if you can find them), it makes it festive and red! if you want to add cream when you do this it's extra special and delicious.

BROWN RICE OR MILLET CEREAL
if you happen to have brown rice the night before and have some leftover, you can add rice milk and raisins to it (or almond milk is delicious as well) and warm it up. I have a friend who brings rice to a boil the when she goes to be the night before and then just leaves it on the stove overnight and in the morning it's cooked perfectly, all you have to do is warm it up!

FARRO WITH ALMOND MILK
I don't know if this would work with the kids but recently I was in NYC and had farro made with sweet alomond milk and topped with toasted almonds and raisins it was so sweet and delicious! (I had it at La Pain Quotidian-they are all over NYC!) - I will try to make this one of these days and let you know!

SWEET OPTIONS
barley or rice malt are the best sweeteners that you can buy, they are not as intensely sweet and are much healthier than maple syrup, honey or agave.

What do YOU do with your morning oatmeal? I would love some new ideas, please send them in!

good morning to you!

2.15.2011

chocolate!

I don't know about you but I am doing my best to come down from yesterdays chocolate fete... it started in the morning with chocolates in bed (all of us... kids included!) we opened our presents. I like to go to the resale/antique shops around town here and find treasures for the kids and then we all make cards for each other, somehow it makes it kid of a mini holiday, my son collects old boxes and so he got this old Chinese wood box, and my daughter got herself a beaded handbag (a la 1940's!) -- and my husband an old picture book by LooK magazine (60's). So back to the chocolate... we ate chocolate in bed and then it just kept going throughout the day, whenever the idea popped into my head... a chocolate. I was hoping that I would wake up today and be totally over it, but there are still quite a few left in the box!


Today, in my email in-box was my newsletter from Organic Avenue (I love them and have written about them a few times here - click here to visit their website). I loved this recipe for chocolate truffles and you can watch their video here to get the recipe and a how-to on making delicious raw, vegan - cacao truffles!

CACAO TRUFFLES
1 cup Cacao Powder
2 cups Date Paste (see below)
1 TB Macamia Nut Butter
¼ cup Coconut Oil
1 inch Fresh Vanilla Bean

Date Paste:
2 cups Dates, soaked & pitted
1 cup Water

Optional:
Sweet Cacao Nibs
Dried Shredded Coconut
Strawberries
To make date paste soak pitted dates in water for 2 hours. Add dates and water to food processor and pulse for 15 seconds, or until desired consistency.
In a mixing bowl or food processor mix date paste, macadamia nut butter, coconut oil, cacao powder and vanilla bean. Process or mix by hand until smooth. Chocolate can be rolled into truffles, shaped in chocolate molds or used to dip strawberries. Enjoy!

click here to watch the video


I hope that this will help you to ease back into a day without chocolate... I'm going to try it!

happy day after valentines day to you!

click here to visit the Organic Avenue website - and get wonderful ideas on how you can bring a raw food diet into your life! They have amazing cleanses that you can follow to get you started.

2.14.2011

mom inc daily


From time to time I guest blog at a wonderful consortium of mom bloggers which is called Mom Inc Daily, which is a perfect name, all of the women that blog here have wonderful ideas and great blogging but they also are each in business for themselves. I love to check in from time to time and see what everyone is doing. We are all lead by Cat Seto, who designs her own stationary as well as curates this terrific blog.

Cat recently posted on her current favorite trend which is chevron.. one of my personal favorites too! (in fact once when I designed for a big brand name I designed a whole sweater collection on chevron... it was terrific, wonder if it ever made it to production!...??) Anyway, nostalgia... I love the bold pattern of chevron in your home and it always looks great. If you click through to Mom Inc Daily you can click through to find many of the items for sale on Etsy!

click here for directly link to chevron story
click here for a link to Mom Inc Daily

2.11.2011

On The Fringe...


I came upon this wonderful website/blog called On The Fringe... it has a delightful look, using mostly images to relay it's commentary. Their tag line is tales from the attic schoolhouse, ideas and sourcing for educating children in the home and beyond. Visit the website and you will find great things to do with your family, projects, and ideas for decorating that kids can help you with! Of just join his RSS feed and get ideas when they are posted!

One of my favorite posts was this great idea for a beautiful 'snow' ice image. I love these seasonal projects to do with kids and kids usually go wild for this kind of thing! I think it would be a great valentines project, a heart in ice anyone!

a bit of oragami never hurt anyone! and these beautiful horses... can also be yours....

by ann wood - not the easiest but I know some of you guys are up to this one!!
click here to visit the website if Ann Wood, these are made of cardboard, and she will take you through all the steps to make these wonderful little stampede!!

have fun and go wild with all of their delightful ideas!


click here to visit On The Fringe...

2.10.2011

Las Vegas


Last summer while taking our trip across the Southwest in the VW camper we started off in Las Vegas (it's where you can rent these wonderful campers from "leaving las vegas"), so I told you all about that... but what I didn't tell you is that we stayed at this great place while IN Las Vegas called The Palms Place. I found it on jetsetter, and if you are not already a member you should sign up... if you can't go places at least you can dream... each week they offer super deals on going just about anywhere, and you can count on jetsetter to come up with the best places where ever you want to go!

Las Vegas is never a destination when traveling with the kids that comes to mind, but honestly, it's ALWAYS cheap to fly to Las Vegas, and it's also, almost always cheap to stay there too. Now it's not exactly brimming with things for your kids to do, but they will just be fascinated by the lights and the action. If you just want to get away for a weekend, and not spend a bundle then Vegas is the place!

sun going down from terrace




I loved The Palms Place (not to be confused with The Palms!), amazing rooms that are super spacious and really exciting for kids (meaning really fun bathroom!), and a spectacular view! Everyone in the lobby was delightful with our kids, no snobs here, and yes, there were some people making out in the pool but it's Vegas and you just have to work around that! The restaurant offers organic food, perfect breakfasts, and we had a picnic on the terrace with room service for dinner (I would show you pictures but it was kind of a naked dinner as it was SO HOT there when we were there this summer, 118 degrees anyone!). The pool is not really a kiddie area but there were not too many people in the pool when we were there and it has a wonderful shallow area, they offered the kids smoothies (hold the booze please... ha!). The hotel is off the strip but I kind of liked that because it made for a better view of the strip and I didn't have to worry too much about being in the center of the madness!

Right now jetsetter is offering The Palms Place for $100/night - so sign up and see where it will take you... there are lots of other ideas!



I think that if you are going to go out on the stripe a nice place to go to dinner is the Paris Cafe, we sat out on the terrace which looks over the water show at the Bellagio (my favorite attraction) - you will have a nice dinner for yourselves and your kids will have TONS to look at, you may even get a visit from Jack Sparrow! like we did... kids went nuts!

2.09.2011

valentines ideas!

atsuyo et akiko grand locket (add your favorite photo!)

okay better late than never I always say... and I was looking around my store at all of the pink things I have and wanted to make sure that I brought them all to your attention, and then I just had some other ideas that I thought were good.. like Britt Beautiful SKIN BRUSHING kit! and more... so here we go:

atsuyo et akiko!
atsuyo et akiko - gem necklace

jess brown handmade dolls

something lovely from the new kit+lili spring collection!
and for mommy... britt beautiful skin, and more.. and well, not to be cynical but I usually like to go out and get something nice for myself on this day... nothing wrong with a special excuse for a day to treat yourself in a special way! so take this chance and take care of yourself too! (without feeling guilty about it!)

britt beautiful skin brushing system
 
top, crystal necklaces, and baby dupatta scarf - all by Matta
atsuyo et akiko bag

erica tanov diamond jacquard shawl

whatever you do I hope that you show love to everyone on this very special day!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! (it's on Monday... not today.. ha!)