Spring Break Staycationing

This week is Pretty Little Bare Feet's spring break. You may be thinking,

"Hmmm, isn't she only three? Is spring break that big a deal for y'all?"

Well, it definitely is, as Pretty Little Bare Feet is pretty married to her typical routine, & things that throw it off...

(like missing a whole week of nursery school)

...drive her crazy.

& when she's crazy, I'm crazy. & when we're both crazy, the house is crazy.

My Little Man? He's his usual

calm,

cool,

laid-back

little self. We should all be so zen!

So although I'm smack in the middle of a cabinet&pantry cleaning-out-&-reorganization...

...& I have laundry to change over...

...this morning's stir crazies have got me needing a break.

So I want to do just an itsy bitsy bit of blog catching up & share some fun with y'all.

No surprise, I have a sticky of ideas for Pinboards. I don't want to have a bunch of lame, one-or-two item Pinboards, so I wait to create them until I actually have some great things to put on them.

I keep getting excited about bracelets, which are very probably my favorite pieces of jewelry, but I haven't ventured out into creating a Pinboard solely devoted to bracelets. Instead, they keep getting pinned to either my Pretties Pinboard or My Style Pinboard.

(Depending, of course, on whether they're more dainty&pretty...or classically stylish. ;))

Bangles by Erica Courtney

Crystal&Leather Bangle Bracelets by House of Harlow 1960 at Bloomingdale's

Scrolled Link Bracelet in Gold at J. Crew

Striped Bone Bracelet by Marni at the Outnet

Katie Double Wrap in Shock Red by Marc Jacobs

Our Boring Staircase

We have lived in our home for almost three years now, & it has been a slooow process getting things decorated.

(& in some cases, even furnished!)

We bought more house than we had furniture for. With both My Prince & me being straight out of professional school, we had accumulated mostly odd hand-me-down furniture & inexpensive college apartment staples. We have bought some new items...however, we haven't made it a major priority because we have small children.

(I'm sure I don't have to tell y'all that our furniture is getting some pretty serious wear.)

Also, we don't want to spend money on items we aren't going to love. But we can't always budget for the items we truly want to have!

One of my biggest challenges has been decorating our walls. We have quite a bit of art, actually. Some of it is really great, like original hand-painted works from local artists & travels abroad. Some of it is less exciting, just cute stuff I've found at places like Hobby Lobby.

The issue for me is that I don't want to hang something that has not been properly framed&matted.

(& professional framing&matting can be pretty expensive!)

& in the case of family photographs...I do want to display the large, beautiful ones we have had professionally done - but I also don't want to completely overwhelm our shelves&walls. ;) I always second-guess my editing!

So although there are a few things hung here, & a couple over there, there is still a lot of work to be done on the walls of our house.

One area that is still completely bare is our staircase.

(Except for the wall that forms the base, but I think of that more as part of the little walkway that leads to our master bedroom.)

Our home has one of those stairwells with a small landing in the center, which U-turns the staircase the rest of the way upstairs. I see design ideas for curved&"straight-up" staircases all the time, so I decided to look around a bit for some ideas for what I have to work with. Do you love any of these?

(via: Home Klondike)

(via: Smith&Vansant Architects)

How cool would it be to have a built-bookcase on the landing?!

(via: Southern Accents)

Thank you, Pinterest, for letting me know that I am evidently the only person whose staircase does not have a window anywhere along its path. Also, for reminding me that design here may be thwarted by the fact that Pretty Little Bare Feet can reach many of the points along the stairs' walls, making anything that is hung there vulnerable to the whims of a tired little girl on her way to bed. This is especially important since apparently the only design option here is to just plaster a gazillion framed photos or pieces of art on the walls. ;)

Tory in the Fall

It's hard for me to even wrap my head around fall/winter collections, but that's how the fashion world turns! Even though I've been drooling over the new spring/summer collections for children for weeks now...

(& praying for some warm, sunny weather!)

...it's time to look at what we (adults) will be shopping for in the fall!

My favorite (ready-to-wear) collection I've seen yet? The always chic Tory Burch!

Here are my favorite looks from the Tory Burch fall/winter 2012 runway show:

What runway looks have you ready to fast-forward summer & kick off football season?

(If you're like me, there are not actually any clothes worth skipping summer for!)

Pinteresting Update

So you know how a few weeks ago I was musing about Pinterest & not getting excited about it?

Well...

...I got excited about it!

Follow me on Pinterest!

I've been thinking maybe I could maintain the blog better if I got rid of some other "clutter." I'm thinking about just following all the bloggers I follow on Twitter on their actual blogs...

(duh)

...& then deleting the Twitter account.

(or at least giving notice of its abandonment)

I'm not the greatest at maintaining my (personal, private) Facebook account, but I do it just to keep in touch with those I wouldn't otherwise easily keep in touch with.

So if I could stay relatively current on

blogs,

Facebook,

& Pinterest...

...I'd feel "connected" enough, I think. More so than I have been, anyway! LOL

(& I'm behind on email, as usual...)

So tell me, how do *YOU* maintain your social networking?

(while presumably having a "real life")

& do you keep your blogger identity separate from your personal contacts?

Happy (long!) Weekend!

Brrr...It's Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

We've all been sick off&on for the better part of two weeks now. Yuck! Pretty Little Bare Feet started coughing a couple weeks ago, which turned out to be just the first symptom of an ear&sinus infection. My Little Man picked up part of it & had his own little double ear infection last week...& on top of it, the poor little guy is cutting about four or five teeth all at once! Since I am awful about remembering to take care of myself, it's unfortunately no surprise that by this last weekend, I had an ear&sinus infection of my own, with laryngitis to boot.

So it is a cold, sniffly Valentine's Day here in the Screen Door household, but while Pretty Little Bare Feet was staying home sick from nursery school last week, RSV showed up in her classroom. So we are just most grateful to be missing all of that worry!

(Big knock on wood!)

I am continuing to hold out hope that springtime will show its pretty face sooner rather than later.

Some of my favorite Valentine finds this year...

Persian Love Cake

the Hopeless Romantic Collection by Bobbi Brown

E-Valentines by Kate Spade

Personalized Girl Mouse by Kata Golda Animals at Arte Bebe

John Steinbeck on Falling in Love

Have a Happy, Lovely, Wonderful Valentine's Day!

What I Want This Weekend, February 3rd, 2012

Here are some pretty things I've come across this week,

from some blog

or catalog

or friend

or magazine

or another;

or just from my own browsing&shopping&surfing,

that I need to convince My Prince to dole out the cash for...

Textured Sweater in Black by Splendid

I'd probably wear this with a black sleeveless top underneath it. With all of the constant weather changes this year, lightweight layering is pretty much the best way to go!

(& I never even heard whether that groundhog saw his shadow...)

"Love Conquers All" Code Double Wrap Bracelet in Periwinkle by Antoinette Lee Designs

So cute for a Valentine's Day statement, but perfectly classic for anytime, too!

Pink&Green Paper Butterflies Wall Decor by Simply Chic Lily

Pretty Little Bare Feet's bedroom is mostly gender-neutral - which is good, because one day we (may) let her & My Little Man share it. There are lots of touches of femininity, though, such as the pink minky glider rocker & ottoman, & several pieces of ballerina art on the walls. Pretty Little Bare Feet herself gets more&more girly every day, & I know she'd be fascinated by these 3D butterflies on her bedroom walls. They could also be used as beautiful decor for a party!

Bobbi Brown Dress for Success Scarf by Echo Design

Bobbi Brown, one of my favorites, co-designed this limited edition scarf with Echo Design (known for their fabulous scarves). Sales from the scarf benefit the organization Dress for Success, & what I really love is that they are straightforward about how much actually goes to the nonprofit - $20 for each scarf, which is a pretty generous donation! Read more about it here.

(Also, it's just a really, really cute scarf that would effortlessly add style to basics.)

Colorful Plush Alphabet Magnets by Beeper Bebe

I know all of y'all fellow mamas probably have the obligatory alphabet magnets. & some of you are probably in the same boat that I'm in - your preschooler has completely taken over the refrigerator door, & you're only left with the freezer door! ;)

(Okay, & I admit that I use some of the side of the refrigerator, too - hey, we get a lot of really cute invitations & photos, & the memo board on the pantry door can only hold so much!)

But I think such priceless works of art should be complemented by stinkin' cute magnets like this set, rather than the little primary-colored plastic ones, right?!

T.G.I.F.! What do YOU want this weekend?

...& the Rest...

Pretty Little Bare Feet's Birthday party was yesterday, & that means that the last few days - when I intended to blog about the rest of my Globes-inspired shopping - were

long,

busy,

& ended late.

I don't know how I'll ever catch back up on sleep, but I've certainly done it before!

So to wrap it all up, I wanted to share some of my finds that centered around the trends of pale pastels, metallics, headbands, & Old Hollywood...

Pale Pastels

Knitted Pastel Slouchy Jumper in Pale Pink at Topshop

Metallic Stripe Tee in Light Fern Heather at Talbots

Butterfly Meadow Cup&Saucer Set in Butterfly Blue by Lenox

Metallics

Byrdie Bow Dress in Metallic Silver by Contrarian at Singer22

Metallic Jacquard Mini Skirt in Roasted Hazel at Ann Taylor

Metallic Gem Bauble Bracelet in Metallic Silver at Gymboree

(For your little fashionista!)

Headbands

Rhinestone Headband in Natural at Juicy Couture

Lilly Pulitzer Bright Floral Print Fabric Headband by Looking 4 Lilly

(I have one of these & love it!)

Felt Flower Headband in Dark Pink at Hanna Andersson

(Another find for the littlest trendsetter.)

Old Hollywood

Hollywood Flair Top at ModCloth

Elaina Cigarette Pant in Black by Lilly Pulitzer

Toddler's & Little Girl's Ruffled One-Piece Swimsuit by Juicy Couture at Saks Fifth Avenue

(Let the hunt for the perfect bathing suit for Pretty Little Bare Feet begin! & this year we'll have to find some fantastic coordinating trunks for My Little Man!)