Plum Stitches

find of the week

I can't seem to get enough of all the Tea Collection clothes for little girls (and bigger ones too!)  The best part is they go on sale on Tea's Web site, so you can get pretty good deals if you're patient.  Although, often the sizes are limited. 

I've found the clothes hold up really well and are comfortable for active toddlers and bigger kids.  Plus you can team them up with less expensive basics from Target, etc.

You can see this little number in action on their Web site here.  And you can buy one for your little lady in their sale section, here.

find of the week

I've got this hankering for fake fur right now that I can't seem to satisfy (I think it's a new found addiction to the Rachel Zoe Project.) 

This little coat was just too difficult to resist at Old Navy.  It's soft and furry, I bought one for both kids.  I think this was my first 'matching' purchase.  Now, I just wish that they made it in my size.  Of course all three of us dressed in this would ridiculous, but it's amusing to think. (It would be a great gift if you need one for a little girl that fits 0-5T.)

And thanks for all the supportive comments about the masseuse - I thought I was losing my mind.  I'm going to complain, it's just been a crazy and I haven't had a chance.

Happy Sunday!

find of the week

How sweet is this little onsie from The Gap?  I'm not sure why, but I seem to love all thing Matryoshka.  My grandmother had a set of them that I used to play with all the time as a child.  I think her sister brought them back from a trip abroad.  They now reside at my Aunt's house and every time I go to visit, I find myself playing with them.  I guess in some ways we never grow up.

The rest of the St. Petersburg collection is very sweet as well.  Only downside is that the sizing is up to 24 months.

find of the week

How exciting are these!  Knock offs of the Morgan & Milo sneakers from Target, for a fraction of the cost.  They come in brown, pink and blue, up to size 12.

I had an appointment in the city today and found myself window shopping on 34th Street.   I dodged a good many tourists - the neighborhood is just crazy in the middle of the day.  I also found myself longing for the pre-children days when I would wander around New York after work shopping or killing time until I met a friend for dinner. Such freedom then that I never really appreciated! 

I'm having another of those moments when I really want to go back to work - I think to gain some element of that freedom.  Yesterday, I dug out the resume, started updating it and poked around on Monster.  We'll see where this leads me.  I have this huge fear recently that if I don't go back to work soon, I'll lose the momentum or what's left of it.  Alright, enough of my sob story (I just hope I'm not alone in feeling like this).

My knitting has been a bit uninspired the past few weeks and I need to get back on track.  'm sure that has to do with the heat of summer.  I've replaced it though, to an extent with reading. 

The moms group I'm part of has a frequent book swap.  The group is all done through Meetup, so as an event we have a book swap every 6 weeks or so.  It's great!  Last month I snagged the Josephine Bonaparte Collection.  Historic fiction about Napolean Bonaparte's wife - if you like historic fiction, these three books are will be right up your alley.  I finished the last one the other day and started on Netherland, which so far I'm enjoying. 

trying to do my part

For the past few years I've been *trying* to cut down on my paper towel consumption in an effort to tread a little lighter on the planet.  Overall, it's worked pretty well.  I started using the thin baby wash clothes as napkins for Chloe and then when she was done eating I could wet them and wipe her down with them.  Which, as you can imagine she loved.  These worked well, until...I discovered the Unpaper Towels on Etsy.  They're quite durable and wash/dry well.  In short, they ROCK!

 Over the weekend we took Chloe, the amusement park that's close to the beach house.  Her older cousins were seasoned visitors, but this was Chloe's first visit.  To say she enjoyed herself is an understatement.  I have a feeling she'll be begging to return this weekend.

I didn't get to witness it, but according to Chloe's  teacher she swam all by herself in the pool today for a bit! This is a first and I can't wait to see this with my own eyes.

 

  

homerun

Although Old Navy often misses the mark with its children's clothing, this time it's a homerun with new dresses and tops for fall.  The dresses are reminiscent of Makie or Bonpoint for the pattern simplicity and floral prints, minus the cost.  Although, available on its Web site, the pictures don't do the dresses justice.  I'm not sure if they're available in all stores, I saw them in the Flat Iron Old Navy.

As an added incentive starting July 30th you can use the Friends & Family coupon for 30% off - I think the girls dresses were $12.50.  Here's the link to the coupon.

blooming

All that rain and now lots of sun are proving to be a good thing for my garden (thankfully!)

My friend Jody made a trip to Gilberties a few weeks ago and brought back several Cosican Mint plants for us.  They all seem to be thriving at the moment - rapidly creeping between the stones of our patio.  Hopefully that continues as this is my favorite addition to our garden this year.  It smells fabulous when you step on it and unlike the Creeping Thyme there's so fear of bees stinging small children.

 

A few new Web sites I've stumbled on in the past week that have quickly become new favorites:

Moolka - similar to Oompa Toys, but the seem to have a wider selection.

LMNOP - love it.  Especially the music that plays when you log in.  Chloe always comes running when she hears it.  Who wouldn't?  Check out their blog too.

Making it Lovely - the name says it all.

I can't seem to get enough of this airplane - it's popping up everywhere.  I think Chloe would love playing with it (or maybe me?)  I had the Fisher Price version as a kid, which she plays with whenever we visit Vermont.

We're off for some afternoon fun playing with the Elephants nearby.

last day of school

It's Chloe's last day of school.  Well, she is going to summer camp at her school, but there's a week break and we're headed to the beach!  I'm not sure she quite understands that the school year ends today.  Although last night she saw a bag of her belongings that had resided in her cubby ,at home and she got very sad and teary eyed.  Oh the emotion!  And of course in response my eyes welled up. 

As usual, I waited to the last possible moment to pick up gifts for her teachers.  I always have grand aspirations of making them something, but my planning skills are a bit weak.  We did pick little bouquets of flowers from our garden and wrapped them in parchment paper.  Last night I dragged both kiddies to Anthropologie to pick up some small paper-related gifts.

I bought a few different things from this collection - I thought they were so sweet.  Hopefully the teachers like them as much as Chloe and I did!

If you have something fabulous to share about your outdoor space, hop on over to Apartment Therapy and enter the My Great Outdoors 2009 project.

Lastly, for any of you NPR listeners out there, the featured Jersey City as part of a segment this morning.  Of course, I have a feeling it was just part of the local news, but still.   So exciting! The street they talk about is very close to where we live.  You can listen to the segment here.

Alameda Flea Market

Another fun day while I was in San Francisco was a trip to the Alameda Flea Market.  (Thanks for thinking of me Heather!)  In all the years I lived out there, I always wanted to go, but never made it. 

The market falls on the first Sunday of every month - it's huge!  I guess I'm not that experienced as far as these things go.  We wandered around, without any real agenda, which can make the whole experience a little overwhelming. 

The food vendors were great - we settled on crepes.  Delicious, unfortunately we only got one sweet crepe (lemon, sugar butter) to split between the three of us for dessert, which we quickly gobbled down.  The line was too long to wait in again for another one, major bummer.  I feel like Homer Simpson, I'm still dreaming of it. 

My favorite vendor, by far was Euro Linens.  A couple, who import European linens and then re-purpose them for pillows and other home decor items.  They had lots of gorgeous old nightgowns, bed linens, etc.  All of their products looked fabulous - unfortunately, their Web site and eBay store, just don't do them justice. 


They had two bins of linens - one was full of tablecloths, pillowcases, etc. for $5 a piece.  The other was loaded with scarves for $1 a piece.  After seeing this on the Purl Bee, I was on the hunt for vintage pillowcases to make a dress for Chloe. 


And then there were those vendors that you wonder how they end up collecting certain things.  Maybe they're just accidental collectors?

All in all a fun day - only wish I was closer so I could go again in May!

travels

It was so nice to get away.  The weather was unusually warm - more like fall in San Francisco than April.  No fog, which was what I anticipated.  The kind of weather that you feel guilty not getting out of bed to enjoy.

I managed to do everything I wanted, with the exception of making a trip to Tartine Bakery.  I love the cookbook and have never been to their shop.  I do wish I had more time to visit with friends, but that's how it goes.

We spent a few hours one day in Hayes Valley.  Although this neighborhood was hip when I lived out there, since they took down the freeway ramp, it's really opened up.  A few favorite shops were Fiddlesticks and Lavish, which I just noticed on their sites are sister shops, so no wonder I liked both.  We stumbled upon  Lotus Bleu, a very cool home decor store.  I'm not sure if all of their furniture is reupolstered and refinished  vintage, with great fabrics.   They had these adorable felted birds in the window that weren't for sale, but the person working there told me they came from Wisteria and were about $15 for three.  Check them out, I can't seem to figure out how to buy them, but maybe I'm just being dense.

Saturday morning was spent at the Farmer's Market at the Ferry building.  They've done such an amazing job with this.  I can remember having a temp job years ago when I first moved to SF and the office was in the ferry building.  I think it was considered low rent at the time.  My guess is that is no longer the case, but you never know.  All the flowers were gorgeous.  If only I could have brought them home.  I'll save more from the trip for later this week, so I don't bore anyone!