For Your Weekend...

Hello Victory Etsy shop.  Featuring this gorgeous antique toy truck.

Brilliance and hilarity ensue over at Tiny Art Director.  

Via What Possessed Me.

Baby Hank Vintage.  Beautiful finds, at amazingly affordable prices.  Via DesignMom.

Stunning photos from the Life Photo Archive detailing the work that heroic midwife Maude Callen did in rural South Carolina in the 1950s.  Via Gravel and Gold.

Delightful portraits of children, rounded up over at Design is Mine.

Enjoy!

While We're on the Subject of Decor...

Saw this on Cookie's Nesting blog and let out a shriek:  

How fun does that look?!? AND IT'S A KIT!!!

Rug Follow-Up

Several of you commented on the rug (above) shown in my last post, and since it is one of my favorite items in our home I wanted to share more info about it.

The rug's design is based on one of the original Gee's Bend quilts by Missouri Pettway, called Blocks and Strips. I found an image (shown directly above) of the original quilt, as well as an incredible description of the piece and the story behind its design on the fabulous online catalogue of Gee's Bend Quilts.

Missouri Pettway, 1902-1981. Blocks and strips work-clothes quilt, 1942, cotton, corduroy, cotton sacking material, 90 x 69 inches. Missouri's daughter Arlonzia describes the quilt: "It was when Daddy died. I was about seventeen, eighteen. He stayed sick about eight months and passed on. Mama say, 'I going to take his work clothes, shape them into a quilt to remember him, and cover up under it for love.' She take his old pants legs and shirttails, take all the clothes he had, just enough to make that quilt, and I helped her tore them up. Bottom of the pants is narrow, top is wide, and she had me to cutting the top part out and to shape them up in even strips."

I have long been a fan of the inspired quilts of Gee's Bend (the Whitney Museum's 2002 exhibit of the quilts remains one of my favorite art shows I've seen anytime, anywhere) so I was thrilled a couple of years ago when I read about the licensed rug reproductions of the quilts being done by Classic Rug. We were in the process of moving and I needed a rug for the smaller bedroom, so I ran over to the store's 60th Street showroom to snag one.

It is a wonderful piece with so much vitality in the idiosyncratic, asymmetrical design. And of course the back story of the origins of the quilt that inspired the rug's design is fabulous. FYI, I just checked out the Classic Rug website, and pieces from the Gee's Bend collection are in their "clearance room" for 75% off now! I might have to snap up a different one...

Notes on the Nest

So, since I've been prattling on about my fever-pitch nesting, I thought it would be apropos to post some photos of what I've been working on.  I'll start with the single room that I actually view as 95% finished:  the playroom/guest room/Kiddo's future bedroom.

We moved in to this apartment when I was eight months pregnant with the Kiddo.  As you can imagine, at that point my main concern was unpacking and purchasing the essential furniture for each room (we had very little furniture before we moved, and what we did have was pretty flimsy, disposable and dorm-y).  Just in the nick of time we got everything unpacked, although I cannot say terribly organized.  Before we knew it, the baby was born and the loads of baby stuff kind of inundated our home and and has not stopped since!  This is a wonderful problem to have, except that I never really established an infrastructure that would tame the madness that is toys and diapers and kid clothes.

And so, twenty months in and another baby on the way, I decided that I needed to really sort things out and make a place in the apartment that could accommodate all of the Kiddo's things in a sensible, usable way, and that would provide a haven and personal space for him at this time when he is about to experience more upheaval than he can imagine with the arrival of a sibling.  The Kiddo still sleeps with us, and there is no plan to change that anytime soon (unless he initiates a new arrangement) but I wanted to make his clothes and shoes and toys and books accessible to him and easy for all of us to put back in place.  

We already had the daybed, bookshelves, and rug, but there was no lighting, no storage containers, no closet organizers.  After sorting out and sending some things to Salvation Army, I purchased a few types of containers to start dealing with what was left.  Cardboard storage "suitcases"...

A wire container especially for holding the Kiddo's burgeoning collection of balls...

Super rad under-bed storage boxes (FYI, they're on sale!  Great product and a total steal)...

I also got helpful great stuff for the closet:  hanging shelves for clothes and shoes and colorful plastic kid-sized clothes hangers (I don't have a decent pic of these yet).  

At Ikea, we purchased a couple of cute lamps to illuminate things (like the painting next to the bookshelf that always reminds me of Basquiat, and the little end table that I brought in from our bedroom )...

Here's the view heading out of the room (the wall behind the daybed needs more art!)...

And a close-up of the awesome art that is already there; an assemblage by my father, created for the Kiddo in honor of his first birthday...

More soon!

Pregnant Pause

Photo from here.

When I last posted on Thursday, I really wasn't planning on taking the largest unannounced break from my blog to date -- it just kind of happened.  Blogging is funny:  I find that when I'm really into it, there is something totally compulsive about it...at one point in my brief blogging career, if I had already posted a couple of times in one day, I felt like I should do one or two more.  My more recent rhythm has consisted of feeling good about rising above the sleepy-tired-nausea and getting one post up a day -- wanting to but also kind of needing to as if driven internally to stay connected to this little piece of internet real estate. 

However, in the last two weeks I have felt physically better than I have in a few months and a stronger more biological force has taken over; a force is that is called Nesting.  Yes, it started out innocently enough with my mother's visit and our Ikea exploits, but in the interim it has become a case of full-blown, There-Is-a Child-In-My-Womb-And-I-Must-Get-Everything-Organized-And-Prettified-NOW Syndrome.  For a couple of days I ignored my nagging compulsion to blog so that I could focus wholeheartedly on the furniture-building, closet-excavating, junk-throwing-out, picture-hanging madness, and then something funny happened: I entirely lost the urge to blog!  

After a few days had gone by, I was all, "well now I can't just throw any old post up there!  I'll have to explain and analyze!" and then I was all, "hmmm, instead, let me organize all of our socks by color."  And now that six days have passed, you can see which activity won out!

So, here's the thing.  It was really nice taking that blogging break and devoting myself to something else for a while, and I'm really excited about the progress that has happened on the home front in the meantime, but bottom line:  I miss the daily fun and connection of blogging.  

In a way, I'm really glad to have unwittingly tested myself.  In the last week I have learned that I can just put down the laptop and walk away (my blog won't explode!).  But ultimately, I really am back and glad to be.

See you tomorrow, if not sooner ;)

Thanks for tuning in.

I'm Back

In light of my absence here I wouldn't blame you one bit if you thought I got swallowed up forevermore into the black hole of retail that is IKEA.  Well, luckily we survived the shopping trip, we've just been caught up in the vortex that is the furniture assembly process ever since!  As my mother pointed out on our way home from the Red Hook store, Ikea's prices are cheap, but it is possible that they are not cheap enough, considering all you have to do to get them home and functioning.  And yet we are lured into semi-annual expeditions to the Land of Swedish Meatballs nonetheless.

Here we are standing in line to pay, already plum tuckered out:

Pre-Spring Cleaning+Nesting+Mom In Town= IKEA Run

The algebra of IKEA.  After a few days of emphatic closet-purging, thrift-store donating, and cleaning, it's time to fill in the holes of our home-organization with a trip to the Brooklyn store. 

Items on the list:  

Bookshelf for the living room

2 lamps

Home office organizing stuff

Laundry hamper

Frames

Baskets

Drawer organizers

Pantry organizers

Wish us luck!  I promise to return to regular posts soon with details of our trip and fun before/after photos...

Happy Valentine's Day

Love to you and yours!  

Photo via Design Crush.

MoMA Fun

A couple of weeks ago the Kiddo and I met our friend Liz at the MoMA for their free-admission Friday night.  It was great fun to look at the a couple of the galleries, but before we had scratched the surface of the museum we got sidetracked at this amazing installation.  It involved giant, surreal video projections in the round, and there was a huge, circular couch in the middle to lounge on and view the film.  Inside the circle, you could lay on the floor on these funny-shaped fuchsia pillows.  And that is where the three of us spent the better part of our evening!  The Kiddo was giddy, jumping around on the pillows and leaning back to stare at the trippy colors and images dancing around the walls, saying "wwwooooowwww!!!"  Here are some photos of the fun (the first is by me, the rest are by Liz).

Warm/Welcome

Two great things about today:

1)  It was warm enough to frolic in the playground in our shirtsleeves.

2)  My mom arrived from Mississippi for our first visit since Christmas!

Good times.

Remembering

It's so hard to believe that it has already been a year since T's father passed.  Today is a day of memories, mourning, love, and sadness for those of us who had Bobby in our lives and miss his presence now. Here are some lovely photos, and more information about Bobby's inspiring life and work here and here.  

Prom Memories

Lovely Joanna posted a fun selection of blast-from-the-past prom pictures on Smitten today. Check it out for a cute and entertaining look at some of your favorite bloggers in all their Promtastic Glory, including Anne from The City Sage, Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere, Jordan from Oh Happy Day, and Melisa from The Lil Bee.  It's soo fun to see all the fashion and hairdos and read the assortment of entertaining stories that go along with them.

PS:  I'm there too!  

How To Upstage Kanye, J-Z, Lil Wayne and T.I.

Be MIA.  And rock your polka-dotted pregnant belly all over that stage while you sing the hook.

Love that she wore sneakers on the red carpet.  

Photos, NY Times.

Weekend Wanderings

The things that have caught my eye and my mind online this past week:

A fabulous piece on Nightline about actress Salma Hayek's humanitarian work with Unicef in Sierra Leone. Do click on the link and watch it (unfortunately the site does not allow embedding, or you would see the video right here on Marvelous Kiddo!).  About two-thirds of the way through the story you will see an incredible sequence where Salma Hayek sits down to breastfeed a malnourished baby.  As it is explained in the piece, breastfeeding is frowned upon culturally in Sierra Leone because men believe that breastfeeding women should not have sexual intercourse.  Salma takes the opportunity to set a positive example for the mothers that they can and should breastfeed.    When I first saw this piece and I was so touched by Salma’s actions. It’s so impressive that this world-famous, glamorous woman would have the generosity of spirit and the strength of her breastfeeding convictions to make a point in this way. She is a fabulous role model not only for the mothers of Sierra Leone who need to understand that breastfeeding is the best thing for their babies, but also for mothers right here in the US who need to see positive modeling of breastfeeding as well. I was a fan of Salma’s before, but now I have a true respect for this woman.  And Kudos to Nightline for airing the segment!  (Thanks Mom, for alerting me to this story.  XOXO).

While we're on the subject of breasts, how amazing (and awsomely funny) is this Jonathan Adler vase?  I actually saw it in one of his stores once and it had been converted into a lamp.  I have to admit that I kinda want one...

OK, one more for the boobies:  The awesome blog, Unnecesrean, recently posted a wonderful roundup of "Old School Breastfeeding Televised:  PBS Style" showing several clips from Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street that sweetly and unabashedly teach kids about breastfeeding!  Ah, the 1970's!

In other news...

An Iowa woman gives birth to a 12 pound, 9 ounce girl in a hospital without an epidural.  Big cheers to the Doctors who let that happen!

Here's a beautiful story in pictures and words showing an almost too-good-to be true hospital birth, presided over by the so-called "Dr. Wonderful."  Check it out and be impressed that this physician exists!

OK, and not related to birth or babies:

Did you know that you can turn your blog into a book?!?  This service looks sooooo cool.

This dress from the 1930's makes me swoon.  Love the whimsical novelty print!

Artist Sharon Core makes incredible photographs that perfectly replicate famous Wayne Thiebaud paintings.  Both the original works and the "tribute" photos make me very, very hungry.

Thanks for reading this weekend!  XOXO, L.

Obviously I have a Girl Crush

I could not resist posting this photo from today's NY Times.  Good gracious, I love MIA.

Add This To The Pantheon of Simple but Great Ideas That I Wish I Had Thought Of

Check out this awesome project documenting little Gavin's first year, as described by his mom, Traci on her blog:  

These photos represent each day of Gavin's first year of life - 367 to be exact since 2008 was a leap year and his first birthday is included as well. Not long before Gavin was born, I got the crazy idea of taking Gavin's photo every day of his first year. Wouldn't it be neat, I thought, to be able to someday show Gavin a photo from each day during his most formative year. Never again in our lives do we develop and grow so much in just one year so this seemed to be the perfect way to capture the changes.

Now isn't that genius?  I know we all document the heck out of our children's lives, but I just love the extra twist of formality -- the conscious creation of a visual calendar of development.  Plus, the final result looks so cool!  Click here to see another version of the Gavin photo project, presented as an actual calendar.  Via Ohdeedoh.

Celebrity Babywearer of the Day: Gwen Stefani Rocks the Sling

Via Jezebel.

Missing Dada

Transcript of a conversation between me and the Kiddo, about five minutes ago:

Me:  Let's make soup for dinner!  Wouldn't that be good?

Kiddo:  No.

Me:  Really?  What DO you want for dinner?

Kiddo:  Dada.

Note:  We just saw Dad a few hours ago, before he left for work, but sometimes we just miss him like woah.

Applesauce Muffins

Yesterday afternoon, while it snowed outside, the Kiddo and I decided to fight off the cabin-fever-blues by baking a batch of applesauce muffins.  It was really fun, and the results were way yummy!

I Lego NY

Artist Christopher Niemann created these genius representations of life in New York City using Legos!  The ones shown below are my favorites.  See more here.  Via Notcot.