Fabulous Auction for a Fabulous Cause

I am pleased to announce that an online auction benefiting Our Time went live this afternoon with a plethora of amazing items (and extraordinary experiences) up for grabs! I donated two sculptures from my Wire Couture and Miss Thangs collections (shown above). Since I've been kinda busy raising kiddos and blogging this blog for the last few years instead of making wire sculpture, this is a rare chance to own an original Leigh Pennebaker ;)

Be sure to check out all the items that are available by clicking here, and have fun bidding for a great cause. Here are a few of my favorites, which I know will be of special interest to my fabulous readers:

The Business of Being Born DVD and onsie (size 6 months), and Your Best Birth, all SIGNED BY RICKI LAKE

A gorgeous pair of hoop earrings

by Barbara Michelle Jacobs Jewelry.

These are made from reclaimed silver and cast from real twigs found in Central Park! How fresh is that?

An original script of an episode of The Office,

SIGNED BY THE ENTIRE CAST

An iPad!

Tickets are still available to the Benefit Gala honoring Carly Simon, and we'd love to have you join us! Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

7 Months Old Today

We are wearing our Sakura Bloom Pure Linen Sling

in the Spice colorway.

Birth Story of the Week: Welcoming Theo

I am in love with this new birth film that was just uploaded to YouTube a few days ago. Here are a few details the mother, Georgia, included with the video:

"Theo was born in the Royal Women's Birth Centre, Brisbane. Zero interventions at 42+ weeks. Caught by a midwife. 6 hr labour, 15 mins of pushing and one well baked baby (10lbs 7 oz)...I did Hypnobirthing classes with Helen Pywell of Brisbane Birthing. This helped to keep me calm relaxed throughout my labour. I highly recommend."

Follow along with this beautiful family as they document Theo's first year on their website, Gregarious Peach.

Film by Georgia's sister, Hailey.

New Reads

I went on a little Amazon shopping-spree the other day. Here's what I picked up:

Playful Parenting

Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves

Making Children's Clothes

The Vaccine Book

Have you read any good books lately?

Vintage Style

For the past several days, I have been reveling in the fashion-goodness that is The Sartorialist's Vintage Photo Contest. Well, I finally decided to join in by submitting one of my favorite old family photos. I thought it would be fun to share it here, too!

This photo is of my maternal grandparents. It has always been one of my favorite family photos because of how utterly dashing they both look. They grew up in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, and both came from large, poor families (my grandfather was one of eight children, my grandmother one of ten). When they first got married, they didn't have much, but I love that lack of money was no obstacle to great personal style. As you can see here, they both had impeccable taste, and knew how to work the camera. There's something about the light in this photo, and way the breeze is kicking up the hem of her skirt and fluttering through her glamourous hairdo that gives this photo a sense of immediacy and romance. I feel like I'm right there with them, even though this photo was taken over sixty years ago.

Do you have a favorite old family photo depicting great vintage style? I'd love to see them, if you do!

Sunday Surfing

Photo via **tomo**

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend. I can't believe it's almost over! Well, better late than never...here are three fun and interesting links that I wanted to share with you:

Power to the Kiddos!

Words, projects, celebrations

Wonderful Onesie DIY

Enjoy! And tell me; what did you do this weekend?

Boycotting Nestle: Updated Post

I have to admit that although I had heard of the Nestle Boycott, I had kind of intentionally pushed it to my peripheral awareness because I didn't want to deal with it. I didn't want to acknowledge that there is this evil giant corporation out there causing babies to die, that uh, just so happens to also be the corporation that makes some of my favorite brands. Then I saw this video on PhD in Parenting, and I decided to face the facts. I listened to Jessica Gottlieb's case for the Boycott, and then I did a little more research online, and then I admitted it to myself: I have to boycott Nestle. Last night, when I went to pick up groceries, I didn't pick up any Pellegrino. I survived.

What are you going to do?

Update: I just found an enormously informational post on the blog, Peaceful Parenting, concerning this issue. It contains a documentary made by UNICEF, called Formula For Disaster, that clearly and powerfully exposes the illegal, unethical, and dangerous marketing strategies of the infant formula industry in the Philippines. Check it out, here.