Monthly Archives: July 2011

Friday Link Hootenanny :: Cool Stuff to Browse

HAPPPPPPY Friday my friends! I am so excited because next week we leave for a long family vacation/ This summer has sure flown by, I can’t believe we are heading into August. My time off has been really fantastic though, and much needed. We’ll be visiting greg’s parents in South Carolina and then my parents in Michigan…and then after that, we head on down to San Diego for Tiki Oasis (we head there every year and it’s such a blast!). But before we leave, here are some fun links to some things that caught my eye the last two weeks.

1. NOW THIS IS A BOOKSTORE.

The Kid’s Republic book store in Japan is my kind of book store. Colorful and cozy.



2. TREE HOUSE OF MY DREAMS

You guys know I love a good tree house….and when Modern Kiddo reader Alice (of the magificent trip to Sweden) tipped me off to The Tree House HOTEL? Well yeah….I got a little excited.

“The Tree Hotel has four rooms and there are two more in plan. Take advantage of the peaceful surroundings and the fact that nothing can touch you as you are somewhere above the earth.”


 

3. WEAR THE RAINBOW WITH BONNIE & BUTTERMILK

If Kate Spade and Orla Kiely had a torrid affair in a crayola crayon box….well, you’d get Bonnie & Buttermilk. The always stylish Pilgrim tipped me off to this amazing German brand and I want one of everything!


4. BEAUTIFUL WELCOME SIGN

My friend Rachel (of Smile & Wave) is so wildly creative. Just look at this Welcome Home sign she dreamed up using glow bracelets. Sheer genius!



5. COOL RETRO STYLE HANGERS

We’ve posted about sweet storybook vintage children’s hangers before….we love them! The one downside, if you don’t find the ones with a metal hanger dealie, is that they can be a little small for today’s modern closet rod. Enter these Swedish repros from Fabulous Goose!


6. DARLING ILLUSTRATIONS TO MAKE YOU SMILE

I spied the whimsical work of Esther Aarte over at Charlottes Fancy….I especially love these birthday invitations.

7. LIKE APPLES AND ORANGES

Whoa. The knock-off industry in China has really stepped it up from faux handbags and jeans. Check out this fake Apple store. Crazy!

8. WHEN I WAS A KID ALL I HAD WAS A ROCK & A STICK

SO clever….this rubber handle from artist Naarma Agassi turns any stick into a swashbuckling sword!


9. CUTEST CELEB BABY EVERRRRR.

I stumbled upon this and was dying….little baby Julie Newmar. Kind of the cutest little girl ever!

10. THESE SPARKLE FLOORS ARE AMAZING

This is the coolest DIY ever. Who wouldn’t want to dance around their house every single day with glitter sparkle floors beneath your feet? From Kathy at One Crafty Chica.

Where We Went :: Live Concerts for Two Times the Awesome.


Oh yes we did. And I gott say…. it was awesome! It all came about because this year Wolfie, Greg and I started watching American Idol together. I’m not sure how this happened. Greg pretty much hates all reality shows (except Top Chef). And while I loved the Adam Lambert season, I haven’t been on the Idol train in ages. I guess I was curious to see how the J-Lo / Steven Tyler thang worked out. ANYWAY, we started watching and Wolfie was transfixed. He loved watching the live performances and was very into the whole competition aspect. It became his first “prime time” show. Since it typically ran past his bed time, he would get to watch the first half at night and the rest the next day. The whole show is a bit cheesy but I can’t lie, it was pretty fun having a family show to watch. Wolfie was especially taken with James Durbin, the rock-n-roll guy from Santa Cruz. He thought he was super cool.

For those who don’t follow American Idol, it came down to the two country kids, Scotty and Lauren. Wolfie was disappointed that James was eliminated, but he still enjoyed watching. He was soooo excited to see all his favorites…asking me if the judges would be there…but he was also adorably shy about the whole thing. I tried to ask him who he was most excited to see (aka JAMES) and he got all embarrassed: “You KNOW mama….I don’t want to say!!” He sat there before the show began, extremely serious and waiting. At one point they said you could enter a contest via text to go back stage and he about had a panic attack, “I do not want to go back stage!!”

Once the show started, he sat back, relaxed and thankfully had a blast. For the most part, the show was pretty fun. The kids are all high energy and sing their hearts out. I mean, I’m not sure what I would have thought if Wolfie hadn’t been there …but seeing it through his eyes was really awesome. The crowd was curious…lots of families with kids…lots of couples. Call me crazy but American Idol is a little weird for a date night.

Greg and I kept cracking up at the Vegas style numbers they did…..the whole cast sang the clean version of Cee-lo’s “F*CK You” and on the chorus they would flash “FORGET YOU” in ginormous letters….as if to make sure we knew, “Hey, this is the clean version people!”

Aw yeah! We brought the binoculars….Wolfie and I are in it to win!!!!!!

Finally….FINALLY! James appeared. He entered dramatically from the back of the arena singing “Welcome to the Jungle” (heh) and Wolfie was beside himself. Big grins all around!

When he didn’t think I was watching, Wolfie was doing air drums and singing along and totally rocking out. It was amazing. At one point  I saw him doing something with his fingers and suddenly realized he was flipping back and forth between a Hawaiian “shaka” and the classic “rock hands” (we were just in Hawaii this spring where he learned “shaka”).

He finally leaned over and whispered loudly, “Mama! Which one is the rock hands again??” I tell ya people, it was the cutest thing in the whole wide world.


{I risked the camera flash to snap this, which is why his eyes are closed!}

The show went on reeeeeeally long and poor little Wolfie got very tired. I will say you do get your money’s worth, the darn thing is nearly 3 hours long (!!). We ended up leaving before the big finale.

Have you ever been with your kiddo to a concert? Wolfie has seen lots of live music (Greg is a musician) and when he was around one years old he saw They Might Be Giants (“Here Come the ABCs!”) perform at a small book signing show. But we’ve NEVER been to a big ol venue like Idol. Thankfully Wolfie is still really young, so I doubt we’ll be hittin’ the concert trail again any time soon.

Still coasting off our American Idol high, Greg and I  (sans the Wolf man) went to see the irrepressible Dolly Parton. Oh yes indeed we did. Kitschy, campy and truly mega talented—she was all that and more!

In honor of Dolly (and a bit of an homage to poor Amy Winehouse…) I did muh hair big.

We met up with my friends Annemarie (gingham!) and Chrissy (cowboy hat!) and their friend Heather.

Chrissy changed to her sassy cowboy boots.

Before the show started we got some grown up bevvies (OK fine. I admit it. I had a shot of tequila and a frozen lemonade. I’m a classy gal…the tequila came in a plastic cup and I sipped it elegantly!) and my friend Annemarie bought some cotton candy. It came in these weird little mounds….which, er made me act like a 9 year old.

Ahem. Well, so back to Dolly….she was spectacular! Glittery, high-heeled and spangled, all big hair and big boobs….just like you imagine. She is the ultimate show woman and the Queen of Banter —crackin’ jokes and telling awesome stories. She is a truly fabulous live performer. She is also an amazing musician, and played the guitar, the banjo, the autoharp, the sax, the piano AND the harmonica. Is there nothing she can’t do??

She did a lot of her classics (Jolene!), some old blue grass standards (Rocky Top!). She confused us by doing Stairway to Heaven (what the what? Zeppelin??) and thrilled us when she dipped into the 80s repertoire like Islands in the Stream (yacht rock!). She even dabbled in hip hop as an homage to Queen Latifah who she is doing a film with (“You know what you get when you mix Country with Rap? CRAP!” then proceeded to say over a beat, “Well I can’t hip and I don’t hop but I’ll poke yer eyes out with my big top!” Oh Dolly!) And then she brought it home with some stellar acapella and an encore of I Will Always Love You.

I wanted to give you some choice quotes from the lady, but it’s gettin’ late over here. I better call it a night before I have to tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen…pour myself a cup of ambition…yawnin’ stretchin’ try to come alive. *wink*

Dottie’s Kraft Korner :: UFO Update–Week #3

I know I skipped last week, but I’ve still been sewing up a storm for Project UFO (aka “UnFinished Objects”).

Including two new little tops for Miss Peach! But this time I started off with vintage fabric for her tops.

First vintage fabric came from this old apron I bought at an estate sale for $1.00.

It turned out to be very short–like a middriff bearing apron. But the fabric was too charming not to use in some way.

So, I cut it apart with my handy dandy seam ripper, pressed the heck out of it and put my tried and trusty Burda pattern on it.

Voila! Peach top!

The second top, I used some vintage fabric I bought ages ago and has been kicking around in my fabric stash for YEARS.  It is at least 10 years old, so I gave it a new life in top form.

And added a little ric rac to the sleeves and bottom edge because ric rac and dots just go together!

I’ve also been doing other little UFOs that aren’t worthy of photos but important nonetheless, like fixing busted seams to a pretty vintage dress!

‘Til next week, friends!

My Favorite Summer Drink :: The Arnie Palmer!

When the temperatures soar, it’s important to stay hydrated. I try and drink a lot of water (and you know I love my bkr glass water bottle!) but I love to mix it up. And there’s nothing I like better than a yummy Arnold Palmer!

An Arnold Palmer is a zippy mix of ice tea and lemonade. The story goes that the drink was invented one warm summer evening in Palm Springs during the 1960s. Famous golf pro Arnold Palmer stepped up to the bar and asked the bartender to make him a mix of lemonade and iced tea. The woman sitting next to him overheard what he ordered and said, “Ooh, I’ll have that Palmer drink too.” From that moment on, this tasty lemonade-ice tea beverage became known as an “Arnold Palmer,” and its name eventually spread throughout the country.

It’s so easy to make. Literally ice tea (iced tea?) with lemonade. And it’s lemony and zesty and REFRESHING as all get out. I loooove it! To make one, fill a glass with ice….pour in your ice tea (I prefer 3/4 of the glass to be ice tea!) and then top off with your favorite lemonade. Homemade or otherwise. You can adjust the ratio to be more lemony or more of a tea taste. If you are lazy (as I am known to be from time to time) Trader Joe’s makes a great version called Organic Ice Tea Lemonade. Mmmm.

If you are feeling really ambitious, you can make your own homemade ice tea. I recently made my first batch of Sun Tea, where you use the natural and gentle heat of the sun to brew yerself a cuppa tea. It’s pretty easy peasy.

{The amount of tea bags depends on the size of the pitcher you use.}

How about you? What’s yer favorite poison? Have you tried an Arnold Palmer? You must!

OMG :: funny follow-up story to Renegade

Duuuuuude. Dottie totally reminded me that i forgot to tell you the funniest thing about our day at the Renegade Craft Fair. SO the place was PACKED. I mean, there is a fair amount of parking down at Fort Mason and every nook and cranny was filled. Dottie was my gracious driving buddy for the day (she does this a lot….and I so appreciate it!). So we are going around and around through the lot. No spaces. No where. Suddenly we end up behind this monster….and i mean MONSTER…..camper trailer deal. The thing was like 40 feet long. I sway-uh. It also had about 30 bikes on the back. Clearly this was some young family traveling cross country. In a tour bus. That could hold Bieber’s entourage. It also had the name “FLAIR!” emblazoned on the side.

Suddenly we ended up behind Flair as we cruised down the parking row. And then we saw it…. the elusive, lone parking space. “YES!!!!” Dottie hollered. We happily zipped forward to claim our prize, when we noticed FLAIR had stopped next to the space. And was suddenly kickin’ it in reverse.

“UM, Flair…..surely you don’t think you are going to fit in that little space??”
Dottie and I laughed. How funny! As if FLAIR could fit into the compact space. Flair wouldn’t dare.

Oh. But Flair did dare. And for the next 10 minutes scooted forwards and back trying to squeeeeeeze into that damn parking space. Flair nearly took off the side view mirrors of the car next to him. Flair ensured that whoever came to their car would never be able to open their doors. Flair also had a good 12 cars lined up behind him while he tried to squeeze into the space. At one point he stopped, as if he thought he had made it in the space, but was sticking out so far that no one could get past him. There were lots of groans and moans from all the cars around us. “Dude. You won’t fit.” and “Duuuuuuuuude! C’mon!” Dottie and I were trapped, watching Flair take our space.


{note how perilously close FLAIR is to that car on the left.}

Suddenly Flair gave up, pulled back and left. “YES!!!!” We happily swung into the wee parking space….only to find…FLAIR TRYING TO PULL IN FROM THE OTHER SIDE!!! The driver stuck his head out the window and shouted at us, “AW, C’MON!” Wait…..what? FLAIR? You calling US out? You who has blocked the entire parking lot in your gigantic TOUR BUS are trying to make us feel badly??  “I LEFT MY KID THERE!” We turned our heads to where he was pointing and spy a small boy was standing awkwardly to the side of the space. CLASSY Flair! Classy! It soon became painfully obvious that FLAIR DIDN’T CARE!! We were so annoyed and while we could have been jerks, FLAIR is not our middle name. So we simply pulled back out of the space and drove off in a huff (as huffy as one can be in a car that is dwarfed by FLAIR). We both shook our heads and then just burst out laughing. The guy was lame, and sure we ended up parking 200 miles away, but we had a nice walk and the day was still grand.

And if you are ever in the position to be driving something as honkin’ as FLAIR, please, for the luva gawd….acknowledge to your fellow drivers that your crazy antics and behemoth mobile are causin’ a rude ruckus. A courtesy wave does wonders, friends!