We Have a Winner!!!

I am pleased to announce the winner of the Going Away/Giveaway is Lynne of the fabulous blog, Tea For Joy.  Congratulations Lynne!  As soon as I receive your mailing address, I will be sending you a couple of fun little things I picked up on my trip:  An "I heart Paris" t-shirt and some Michel Cluizel chocolate.  I hope you enjoy them!

Thanks to everyone who left comments and birthday wishes for me :)  It was so fun to be able to read the fun cities that you all guessed when I returned!  Stay tuned for more photos and stories later today...

Photo, here.

To Begin...

A little Parisian atmosphere, captured by yours truly on Tuesday, November 25, the last day of my twenties:

Turning 30 in Paris

Friends, it was Paris.  And it was marvelous, beautiful, magical, dreamy, fun.  I have so many photos and stories to share, and I look forward to announcing the winner of the giveaway (thanks so much for all the comments!).  First I must unpack and do approximately ten tons of laundry.  I'll post more soon.

Love and happy weekend wishes to you all!

Going Away/ Give Away

Well dear readers, I have some news.  My husband surprised me on Friday night by telling me that for my 30th birthday (which falls on November 26th) he's whisking me away.  The only information that he would disclose is that we're departing on Saturday (today) and that I have to pack for six nights.  I have to bring my passport.  The Kiddo is coming too, and as it turns out so is my mother-in-law (who was already in town for what I thought was just a pre-Thanksgiving visit).  

So there you go!  I'm leaving the country for the next week, I have no idea where I'm going, and I'll be 30 when I return :)  

I'm soooo excited and surprised about this adventure!  My husband is truly amazing, and totally great at pulling off magical, mysterious, romantic schemes like this without ever letting on.  We actually have a term for his skillfully sweet machinations:  "Layahs" -- As in, "Oh My God, you totally had me believing that we were going to celebrate my birthday by going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade!  Nice layah of deception!"

I've decided that for the sake of total relaxation and escape, I'm going to stop posting on Marvelous Kiddo while we're gone.  Sorry about the sudden cessation, but hopefully I'll have lots of stories and photos to make up for it when we return.

Meanwhile, I was thinking it would be fun to incorporate another giveaway into this event, so here's the deal:  Leave a comment (one per person, please) on this post by November 28th at Midnight PST and tell me where you think I'm going. Where ever I end up, I'll buy a charming souvenir and when I return I'll choose a winner at random to receive the item.

While I'm gone, I hope you have a beautiful, happy, blessed Thanksgiving and may you all spend it with the ones you love.  Ciao!

Photo:  We Heart It.

Manzanita Tree

Isn't this just the prettiest way to display one's jewelry collection?  Available here.

Small Magazine

The new issue of Small Magazine is online now, and it is chock full of delightful eyecandy.  Check it out.

Pregnant Style

I didn't even realize that MIA is expecting!  Here she is, proving that you can be pregnant and still rock your one-of-a-kind, kick-ass fashion sense.  Seen here.

Seven Random Things About Me...

Photo:  Jeffrey Becom, via We Heart It

A while back I was Tagged by the marvelous Leigh @ Create, and I am finally getting around to doing this fun meme.  Thanks Leigh!

The rules:
Link to your tagger and list the rules
List 7 random facts about yourself
Tag 7 people (and make sure you check back and see what they say!)
If you're tagged, play along and pass it on!

So here are 7 random things about me...

1.  Although I am not a vegetarian, and I love to cook, I have never cooked any kind of meat.

2.  When I was 13, I won a national competition to design the logo for a t-shirt advertising the National Geographic Geography Bee.  My design was worn by hundreds of kids who made it to the finals of the Bee that year and I was profiled in National Geographic WORLD Magazine. Coincidentally, I also competed in the Geography Bee and was amongst the top 100 state finalists two years in a row.  

3.  My least favorite food is raw celery.  

4.  I witnessed the home birth of my little sister.  I was nine years old.

5.  As a kid, I was a classically trained pianist: I took lessons for 13 years, entered piano festivals and competitions, attended piano camp every summer, performed a very formal solo "senior recital" when I was 17, and as a teen I was paid to accompany the choir at my church.  I listened exclusively to classical music until I was about 14, at which time I fell hard for the album August and Everything After by Counting Crows and became obsessed with pop music.  I rarely play piano anymore, and I haven't listened to Counting Crows in eons (has anyone?).

6.  I have, on more than one occasion, shaved my head.

7.  The farthest I have ever traveled from home is Bucharest, Romania.  I went there in 2001 to visit T when he was on location for a film.

I tag...

Steph @ Adventures in Babywearing

Kelly Anne @ Have Degree Will Travel

Madeline @ My Boy and Me

Jill @ (Building) a Little House by the Big Woods

Meg @ Use Your Words

Jennifer @ Gardenymph

Jill @ Keyboard Revolutionary

Thanks ya'll, and have fun :)

Tiniest Fashionista

She is devoted to a certain esoteric Japanese fashion designer.  She has mad skilz on the mic.  She has personality to spare. She's twelve.  Via My Favorite Color is Shiny.

Wednesday Posies

On my bathroom sink!

Minnie Driver Talks to Ellen...

...about her new baby and laboring at home in a birthing pool before being transferred to the hospital.

I think Minnie is so gorgeous and utterly cool!  She's really sweet, too -- I'll never forget the time we bumped into her on the street here in NYC: The Kiddo was a few weeks old, and she stopped to coo at him!  After she walked away I was all, "OMG, that was MINNIE DRIVER!!!"

want

I think these look like the perfect jeans:

Simple Magic

I've been dying to post these sweet photos that I discovered last week on the wonderful, new-to-me blog, Gardenymph.  I love that something as simple as creating a clubhouse under the kitchen table can be so magical and fun.  These images brought back memories of my childhood, of rainy weekends and cozy book-reading marathons.  Proof that the best of times don't require anything fancy --  just a little imagination and resourcefulness.  Now that you're nostalgic and inspired, join in the fun at Under the Kitchen Table, a new Flickr group started by Gardenymph devoted to cozy homemade clubhouses, forts and tents.

Awkward or Awesome?

Look at this interesting product that I stumbled upon last week:  The Kemby Sidekick is designed to function as a diaper bag and baby carrier in one.  Since I often find myself out on long treks around the city wearing the Kiddo, the idea of having a roomy, built-in bag slung around my hips sounds great in theory (only it wouldn't be for diapers -- I'd probably be stuffing my groceries in there!).  However, I can't stop thinking that it just looks downright uncomfortable and un-ergonomic.  I mean, that bag is HUGE.  Wouln't it awkwardly bump against the babywearer's leg when said babywearer is walking?  Doesn't the strap that goes around the shoulder look like it's riding way up on the neck?  Hmmmmm...

Have any of my babywearing readers tried this product, and if so, did you like it?  Even if you haven't used it, what do you think?   

Adventure Decor

I just had to share this image with you after discovering it on my friend Raina's blog, which has become a daily must-read for me.  Check out If the Lampshade Fits for more incredible, inspirational, supercalifragilistic stuff that'll make you drool.  

Thoughts on Attending Inauguration

Illustration by Patrick Moberg.

Lately, I've become a little obsessed with the idea of going to DC to see Barack Obama take the Oath of Office.  I'm still on a high from the election, and I just can't stop thinking about how historic a moment his Inauguration will be, and how amazing it would be to say that I was there witnessing it with my little family.  Yesterday, I was talking to my friend Liz, and we both got really fired up about the idea and decided to do it.  Now, I'm more excited than ever, but I'm also pretty sure that I'm out of my mind.  Not for wanting to go, but for thinking that the logistics of going will be manageable, what with taking the Kiddo, and it being in the middle of January, and everyone else on the planet probably converging there at the same time.  Which brings me to my first ever Marvelous Kiddo Poll, where you can weigh in on my level of Inauguration-related sanity:

We Have a Winner!!!

Congratulations to Megling (of the fabulous blog Use Your Words). You are the winner of the Bloggy Birthday Giveaway!  I will be sending you one of my Miss Thang sculptures.

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered the giveaway.  Your sweet comments mean so much to me, and am honored to have you all as readers of Marvelous Kiddo.

Happy Monday!

Photo.

Have a Glittery-Gorgeous Weekend

• Don't forget to enter by tonight at midnight.
  
• Enjoy the surreal, lunar beauty of these photographs.
  
• Take a gander at these awesome High Fashion Matryoshka dolls.
  
• Explore ancient Rome.
  
• Tell plastic bags where they can put it.
  
• Pretend you're a stylist!
  
• Stay warm and wear your baby in style.
  
• Delight in this imaginative and oh-so-pretty blog (where I found the above photo).
  

xoxo,

Leigh

Conversations on Birth

In the wake of yesterday's New York Times article about home birth, the topic of home birth has taken the blogosphere by storm.  Of course, many of the natural-birth activism/midwifery blogs are all over it, but because this was such a high-profile news piece I have noticed conversations sparked in less-expected corners of the internet.  Places like a Glamour Magazine sex-and-relationships blog, a pop culture site, and a home decor site.

I am glad to see much-needed attention being given to the issue of birthing options, and conversation is a good thing.  However, I have been appalled by some of the ferociously hostile words coming from women aimed at women who choose to have home births.  Take for example an excerpt from a post that went up on Jezebel today, authored by someone not at all keen on the concept of being subjected a home-birthing neighbor's supposed "caterwauling":

"...if you choose to give birth at home in the apartment above mine, you have to accept my choice to leave a steaming bag of dog poo in your mailbox."

These vitriolic comments are not coming from people within the medical establishment, in fact their comments betray an outright ignorance of medical fact to go along with their bile.  Take for instance these words from popular decor blogger Decorno, who envisions hospitals to be havens of happy hour, apparently:

"This kind of back-to-roots childbirth business is a load of crap.  To my future baby: Momma will have you with some drugs in her. Deal with it. Immediately following birth, she will ask the doctor to grab her compact and her Chanel lipstick and will re-apply before ordering a cocktail. You will not be born in an inflatable pool, nor in Queens. These will be the two ways in which I reassure you that I actually love you. Welcome to the world. Love, Your Mother. Now hand me my cigarettes..."

That one is so out there you actually have to kind of smirk.  And indeed, I realize that Decorno was probably shooting for laughs when she wrote that.  And it's not that I don't have a sense of humor -- one of the reasons I frequent Decorno is the always cheeky wit -- what gets me is that this woman is so anti-home-birth that she didn't even read the Times article before she got her panties in a wad and posted negatively about it on her blog!

Granted, everyone has a right to blog what they choose to blog on their own blog.  And everyone has a right to form their own opinions about this and any other important topic.  But what disturbs me is the utter irresponsibility of people like this as women, basically hating on other women's right to give birth outside of a hospital setting.  I just don't get that.  And what's with the viciousness?  I can't help but be sad, thinking about how threatened most people are by the idea of really talking about the female body, reproduction, and the natural processes surrounding the way we all arrive on the planet:  birth.

UPDATE, 11:39 pm:  After posting this and leaving what I felt to be an incredibly respectful and generous comment on the Decorno post quoted above, it seems that Decorno and her readers now find me "humorless."  What do you think?

Photo of my home birth, by Liz Rubincam.

Imagination

My friend Ryan sent me this beautiful video yesterday and I just have to share it with you!  It made my day. 

Etsy Find of the Day: Ravenhill

How sweet are these little handmade babywearing dolls by Etsy seller Ravenhill?  What an adorable holiday gift for that special babywearer (or kid who likes to be worn) in your life! Check out the awesome Ravenhill blog, too.

Home Birth in the New York Times

Today's New York Times features a huge article about home birth, featuring beautiful photographs by my dear friend Liz Rubincam (who also photographed the Kiddo's birth!).

I am elated to see so much space devoted to this topic, and I have to say that the overall angle of the article puts the home birth movement in a favorable light and provides a relatively in-depth look at what is a growing trend in Manhattan.  I urge you to read the article and the accompanying online features including the slideshow (which features additional great quotes and home birth stories) and reader forum, which has already logged 234 comments since yesterday!

Chime in here, too of course :)  Let me know what you think about the article and/or home birth by leaving a comment on this post.

Photos by Liz Rubincam for the New York Times.

Celebrity Babywearers of the Day

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber wearing son Alexander in Manhattan on Monday...

Natascha McElhone slinging her one-month-old newborn on Tuesday...

Mayim Bialik (Blossom blast from the past!) babywearing and nursing new son Fred.  On a side note, did you know that Mayim completed her PhD in Neuroscience last year?  How much does she rock!

Source:  Celebrity Baby Blog.

UPDATE:  Celebrity Baby Blog is now reporting a new statement just released by Mayim Bialik revealing that she had a home birth, breastfeeds on-demand, and is not sending her oldest son to school!:

Frederick Heschel arrived at 8:32 a.m. on Friday, August 15th, weighing in at 7 lbs, 15 oz and 20 ¼ inches long. His first name is for my grandpa, and his middle name is for Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. In Hebrew, Ephraim Hirsch.

He was born after a remarkably fast and beautiful natural one-and-a-half hour labor at our home, assisted only for the final pushing stage of labor! I used hypnosis for pain management. Frederick was born with my water never breaking, known as being born "in the caul" (amniotic sac). Our 3-year-old, Miles, watched the whole thing from his highchair while eating granola!

Frederick is exclusively breastfed on demand and doubled his birth weight by two months of age! Miles does not attend preschool, so he is home with us all the time, is adjusting really well and doing pretty great."

Flickr Babywearing Faves

1. rosa amélia sling, 2. papa is wearing the boyo, 3. ill., 4. ♥, 5. leite e doce, 6. The Hmong, 7. consolo, 8. So sweet, 9. Flower which blooms in winter, 10. big toe balancing sling, 11. ode to the baby sling, 12. capulana, 13. 'that's my baby brother!', 14. Babywearing REMIX, 15. baby baby sling, 16. saturday hike, 17. The Hmong, 18. finally, perla accepts the moby; molly, day 146, 19. hand, 20. In the sling, 21. Untitled, 22. Pippalily Baby Slings, 23. Babywearing X 2, 24. Awesome, Lovely Mama J, 25. Elijah sleeping in a wrap, 26. Bunny In The "Tai", 27. Untitled, 28. Daddy-sling, 29. babywearing at Cape Perpetua, 30. IMG_4241, 31. Untitled, 32. furmeitai1, 33. Moby Nap, 34. mother and child, 35. Amy May Mei Tai in Kitchen, 36. Spjærholmen, Hvaler

Tomorrow marks the beginning of International Babywearing Week (November 12-18). Inspired by babywearing blogging goddess, Stephanie Precourt, I am celebrating by posting a roundup of some of my favorite babywearing photos on Flickr.  Click on the images or titles above to see each photo in detail.  I hope you enjoy them!

After you're done soaking in the gorgeous cuteness, head over to Adventures in Babywearing and enter to win an amazing sling from Nonny and Boo.

Happy Babywearing!

Salma Hayek on Breastfeeding

"I'm like an alcoholic. It is like, I don't care if I cry, I don't care if I am fat, I am just going to do it for one more week, one more month, and then when I see how much good it is doing her and I can't stop. It is a very powerful thing, you know."

More here.  Photo from here.

Happy 17 Months today, Kiddo!

In honor of my son's 17th month (he was born June 11, 2007), I want to share this great photo which was taken a little over a week ago, when we were in Miami.  The photographer is Robert Mayer, our uncle, and I urge you to check out more of his amazing work here and here.  Happy 17 months, Kiddo, and here's to a lifetime of belly laughs!

Crafty Find of the Day: Retrosaria

I am love, love, lovin' these African wax print fabrics on the new-to-me website, Retrosaria. FYI, they do international shipping!

Celebrity Babywearer of the Day

Cate Blanchett Baby-Bjorns around town.  Sighted here.

Bloggy Birthday Giveaway! Marvelous Kiddo {The Blog} Turns One Year Old Today!

Photo from Krisatomic.

I started this little blog adventure exactly one year and 387 posts ago!  I had no idea what fun it would be to enter the blogosphere, no idea how much I would learn, and absolutely NO idea how many new (and renewed) friendships would come my way as a result.  Now Marvelous Kiddo has become a really important aspect of my life and I look forward to continuing it for years to come.

Thank you to all of you who read this blog.  It means the world to me to read your comments and emails, and to know that you find something of value or enjoyment here.  I am honored to have found a tiny little place in a beautiful, supportive community of bloggers from around the world who post about having and raising their babies, making and enjoying art, and finding the poetry in life.

As a token of my appreciation, I would like to offer one of my own pieces of artwork as this week's giveaway.  Since becoming a mom I have largely put aside my work as a sculptor, and (as you might have noticed) am currently finding a creative outlet in writing, photography, and blogging.  A little over a month ago I actually moved out of my tiny Garment District studio, and in the process I rediscovered a few pieces that I saved after creating them in 2004 for a window display at Barneys New York.

The wire faces belong to a collection I call Miss Thangs.  Here is my official artist statement about the collection from my website:

Leigh is descended from a grandmother who ran a beauty parlor and a father who worked for years as a professional caricature artist.  In light of that lineage, the Miss Thang Collection was inevitable.  Each wire face celebrates the ever-important tools of attitude and hairdo in its own idiosyncratic way.  Through the Miss Thangs collection the artist pays loving homage to the idea of the wacky-beautiful, trashy-devout, intellectual-fireball Southern Lady.

To enter, leave a comment on this post (along with your email address) by Friday, November 14, at midnight, PST. One comment per person, please. The winner will be randomly picked and announced on Monday, November 17.  The winner will receive a wire face sculpture of my choosing from the Miss Thang Collection.

Feel free to email this post to your family and friends to spread the word. Good luck, and happy commenting!