irma's playhouse

This little playhouse is just about the most magical thing I've ever seen! Check out all the beguiling details over at Dos Family.

Up

Have you read about how a bunch of scientists, engineers, and a couple of balloon pilots got together and re-created the flying house from the Pixar movie, Up? The whole thing was filmed as part of an upcoming National Geographic Channel series called How Hard Can it Be?, and they broke the world record for largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted while they were at it. The photos are amazing.

Real

The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where.

"I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."

"Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit.

"You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one."

--Page 42 of The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, which totally destroyed me today.

Photo by bird_flew

Street Art

I just stumbled across the whimsically subversive work of Parisian street artist, Oakoak, and just had to share. Hope it makes you smile :)

See more here.

Tree Jam

Yesterday we met up with friends on Summit Rock in Central Park. There, J and his buddy, M, rocked out with their "drumsticks" in a groovy tree while we mamas danced with baby brother on our hips. It was all kinds of fun. What are you doing to pass these hot Summer days?

Forts

A-MAAAAAZING fort inspiration over at the Wild Things Forts Project on Booooooom.com.

See (and be inspired and delighted by the entries) here. This made my day and totally took me back to my childhood. Here are my favorites...

How School Kills Creativity

What I'm Watching Now...

I know that this video has already made the blog rounds and the song is super-popular, but I've just been loving the pairing of this Grizzly Bear song, Two Weeks with footage from the classic film Le Ballon Rouge, and I can no longer resist posting it here.  It just makes me happy and gives me goosebumps.

Newspaper Crown DIY

I'm loving this fun project over at Whimsy Love.  What a cool way to make use of old newspapers!  Via The Crafty Crow.

The Kiddo's First Story (as told to Taro, last night)

"Two stars were walking in the park. Then the moon came. Then the clouds came. Then noodle pastas came. Then Dada came. Then I came. Then Mama came. They were all walking in the park. The end."

Image via Weheartit.

Dress Love

Can you believe that this is one dress?  The Jersey Wrap Gown is just one example of the brilliant convertible designs that abound at Butter By Nadia.  Touted as "slinky in the best of ways" this and all the label's pieces are convertible, one size (fit 2 - 16), maternity and bra friendly, and made in USA.

Not to send you into a frenzy of excitement or anything, but they're having a sample sale next weekend.  I am so there.  Via Oh Joy.

Bento Box Brilliance

Check out the delightfully rococo bento box designs of Sakurako Kitsa.  Talk about creativity!  I'm proud of myself when I make a decent-looking sandwich.  Sakurako certainly raises the bar on presentation :)  Via Poppytalk.  

Art Love

I hope you enjoy this beautiful little tribute to the artistic impulse. Maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones, but it made me tear up a little. Via Nesting. Hear more from the musician, Tanya Davis, here (she has, among others, songs called Thesaurus and Gorgeous Morning. I think I'm a fan).

Have a creative weekend!

XOXO, Leigh

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.  

Snow Bandits

I love the art of window display, and there is no better time and place to soak up the rococo goodness of department store windows than New York in December.  This week I've been enjoying the blog  Quaint Handmade, as it posts photo documentation of this season's over-the-top displays at Barneys, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman and the like.  Check out all the eyecandy, here.

Meanwhile, as I was walking through the Meatpacking district last week, I was stopped in my tracks by this inventive and cheeky vignette at the Moschino store on West 14th Street, wherein desperate snowman times clearly call for desperate snowman measures:

Photos:  Top, Quaint handmade.  Bottom three, yours truly.

What The Hubby's Up To

Over the last few weeks since the orchestration of my birthday-surprise-for-the-ages, I have been inundated with remarks from people reading this blog who are marveling at the man I married. Indeed, I am a very, very lucky girl to have a husband who would give me such an amazing gift, but the truly incredible thing is that you don't even know the half of how wonderful T is!

I'm not going to get into listing all the ways in which he is so wonderful right now, I just want to focus on one piece of the wonderfulness puzzle.  And it is this:  I want you know about T's work, which is inspiring, beautiful, and changing-the-world-for-the-better-exciting.

Back in 2001, T decided to start a theatre company for young people who stutter.  He has stuttered since childhood and spent most of his life feeling isolated, alone, and misunderstood. When he was growing up, he found an expressive outlet in the performing arts and went on to become a successful professional actor/dancer/choreographer.  Throughout his years performing in New York and around the world, T was having the time of his life (this was the era during which we met, after all!) but still, something was missing.  T dreamed of shifting gears and using his gifts and experience to help other people who stutter.

Hence the inception of Our Time Theatre Company.

Now in its eighth season, Our Time provides an environment of unconditional acceptance which allows young people who stutter to transform the fear and shame that often comes with stuttering into confidence and self-esteem.  Within the fun and fabulous framework of Our Time, young people who stutter discover the joy of creating and performing original theatre and music.  There is no audition for prospective members, no performance experience necessary, and Our Time serves its company members free of charge.  Usually kids come back to Our Time year after year, fostering a feeling of community and family.  The impact that T and Our Time has had on so many lives is breathtaking.  I cannot tell you how deeply affecting and inspiring it is to watch young people being transformed by art and understanding.  And yet it goes deeper -- the stock-in-trade of Our Time is love, and it positively oozes out of every performance, every song, every poem written at Our Time.  At the heart of everything the theatre company does is a vision of listening and acceptance that transcends the boundaries of the specific issue of stuttering, motivating audiences to appreciate and celebrate everyone's unique voice.

I have chosen to tell you all about this now, because last week T launched the Official Our Time Blog!  You must check it out, as it is an excellent window into the company's ongoing projects and a great way to see behind the scenes, all while getting your daily dose of cuteness in the form of kids performing and reading their own original work (T is addicted to his new Flip, so expect lots of video snippets!)  

By frequenting the Our Time Blog, you'll be the first to hear about Our Time collaborations with popular artists (Our Time's supporters have included Mandy Patinkin, Paul Rudd, Rosie Perez, Cynthia Nixon, Natalie Portman, Bill Withers, and many many more.  You'll want to keep your eyes and ears peeled for news and updates on the in-production Our Time Album which features many celebrity guest artists).  

SOOO, check it out!  And check it out often for news and updates!  

NOTE:  For an opportunity to see Our Time in action, in person, there are shows coming up this weekend in NYC.  For more information, click here or call 212.414.9696.

And finally, to give you a little taste of what's in store for you on T's blog, I'll leave you with three of the Our Time pre-teen company members, reading about their holiday hopes:

Sightseeing in Our Own City

Last week I was so busy posting about our dream-trip to Paris that I wasn't even able to keep you up to date on some of the fun sightseeing we were busy doing as soon as we got back to New York!  One of the highlights of our first week back was the day that the Kiddo and I spent with our friend Liz Rubincam (who took the following two photos).

We started out at one of our favorite lunch spots on the Upper West Side, Hampton Chutney Company.  There we indulged in the restaurant's trademark dosas and waaay delicious cardamom iced coffee.  Not only is the food scrumptious, but the Kiddo loves hanging out there, playing in the sunny window seat and reading from the library of children's books they have on hand.  

Afterwards, we bundled up and headed across Central Park to the Whitney...

...where we took in two incredible exhibits, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera and Alexander Calder: The Paris Years.

Calder and Eggleston are two of my favorite artists, so it was a treat to see both shows in one location.  Click here to watch a short but juicy clip showing some of the highlights of the Eggleston show as the artist's son speaks about the work (I attempted to embed the video, but ran into technical difficulties!  My appologies).  Here are some of my favorite pieces from the show:

As much as we enjoyed the photographs, the Calder show was just out-of-this-world magical, whimsical, and wonderful.  What a spirit of exploration, fun, and invention Mr. Calder possessed.  Here are some tidbits, culled from the Whitney website:

"Tight Rope Artists" from "Calder's Circus"

A young Alexander Calder, pliers in hand, in his studio in Paris

The five suitcases in which Calder transported "Circus"

"Josephine Baker IV" wire sculpture

Towards the end of the exhibition, near the display of Calder's amazing wire portraits of Josephine Baker, there was an absolutely arresting archival short film of Ms. Baker performing her signature dance moves.  The Kiddo and I must have stood there and watched it loop a dozen times, and ever since I have been a little obsessed with learning more about this fabulous icon. To feed my craving for more knowledge about her, I'm thinking of ordering this from Amazon. 

Can any of you direct me towards great footage/books/information on La Baker?

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.