I have always loved the look of fashionable eyewear. More so for kids and there have been some fantastic ones lately! I also am glad Gray is showing interest in wearing one just for fun. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Super fun yellow glasses from one of my favorite French brand, Smallable. I especially love the polka dots detail. They are also available in red and blue.

I have always loved the choice of kids’ eyewear from crewcuts. Especially the Selima Optique collection. I want these clear ones just for me!

And one more from their collection…I love this shade of green.

I am always inspired by Emmanelle Khanh from Paris for her famous collection of retro-inspired eyewear. Of course, she has one for kids :) I adore the pink one!

Photo credits: 1: Smallable, 2 & 3: crewcuts 4: Little Fashion Gallery

I think I have gone crazy but I have fallen in love with wooden spools. I saw some at Hobby Lobby as well as Etsy several months ago and wanted to take all of them home with me. Maybe because I also adore ribbons, strings, and twines to put on them or my home improvement project obessions lately.

But before I take home the spools I have to find a place to put them in. I have been searching online the past couple of months and found a perfect shelf below. I will also try to find them at our favorite antique store here.

A photograph you can buy on Etsy.

Another fine art photo print on Etsy.

Yes I really, really want a shelf full of wooden spools with all kinds of ribbon, string, and twine. I’m so serious about it, I put in on my wishlist :)

Photo credit 1, 2, & 6 from Etsy.

I have been in love with Serena & Lily ever since I stumbled upon their site years ago. I would just dream about their fabrics for kids’ rooms and look forward to their catalog every season. Not only do I adore their beautiful designs, I love their branding and what they stand for: the founders are women and moms who chased their dreams to make this company what it is now.

I didn’t actually own any Serena & Lily products until a very awesome friend of mine gave me their signature sling as a present for our daughter, Campell when she was born 20 months ago. When I received it, I screamed in delight. It was wrapped up in a b. braithwaite bag and then I opened more beautiful packaging, the Serena & Lily signature box. Alice knew me well choosing one of my favorite colors, and the intricate design on it is fantastic! The sling was my best friend for a long time and I know Campbell loved it too.

Over the weekend, I was going through our daughters’ toys and they helped me choose which ones to donate to Samaritan Center, a local thrift store. We did this last year and figured it would be an annual thing. Two big bags later, the playroom looked straight from a Serena & Lily catalog page…no not really….but I will keep dreaming about it!

So now that I can actually see the floor and can move around, I started to think about organization and where everything should go. I love bins for toy storage and now that Gray is really into coloring, drawing, painting, etc, I would love to put her art supplies into fun storage with great design. I have always loved their everything bins.

Desk Caddy to put their art supplies: markers, chalks, watercolor paint to go with their new easel (I bought for Christmas! Yes, I am ahead this time, no more procrastinating like last year).

Oval Tub Bin I would give the girls a bath in this! Okay maybe not….games, puzzles, coloring books!

Classic Shelf Bin to put their borrowed library books in! Oh this bin would be used very often!

Large Round Tub Bin This would be home to their baby dolls, stuffed animals, classic toys such as the telephone with wheels!

You must browse through their website and sign up for their catalog.

If you look at some of my favorite Etsy stores, you would find more cake stand companies than normal. Why is that? I’m not sure, maybe its an obsession?! Nah!  If it was up to me, I would have a new cake stand every year and every party I plan from each of these fabulous companies.

Jeanette Zeis pottery

Jeanette Zeis pottery

whitney smith pottery

ensparkle ceramics (thanks Katie for letting me know about this one!)

Rosanna (this is one of our traditional birthday cake stand)

Don’t you wish you were walking on this street right now? I know I do! This is a favorite street of mine in Charleston and I’m so excited to visit this week for a couple of fun celebrations, my birthday and our 10 year anniversary. I will be posting when I can find awesome speed of internet, I’m crossing my fingers and toes! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Photo credit: Flickr gallery

One of the many things I love about summer is family vacations.

We’ve had a busy summer working away at the studio and photographing sessions, but its going to get busier with our upcoming trips to Charleston, Washington DC, and Chicago. The best part is that most of the trips are for fun and our whole family will be together. Last year, we vacationed in Watercolor, FL (more about this magical place later) for a week with extended family (four families altogether) and it was so much fun to watch all the cousins play together. The photo above was the beautiful home we stayed in we found on VRBO, (the porch was incredible).

We have traveled the world and worked in exotic locations and yet this was the first time we had taken a real vacation together as a family. For years, I kept making excuses, (busy, not affordable, no time, etc). After an amazing week of biking, swimming, playing, vacationing with our family, we have made it a priority to do it every year.

There are so many ways to have an affordable vacation with your family: plan a roadtrip, get a deal through sites like VRBO,  go off season, split the cost by renting a home with another family/friends, etc.

Kids grow up so fast and there will always be work. You can’t have this precious time back. It also helps clear your mind and even gain inspiration. I hope each one of us takes time out of our hectic schedules to have vacations at least once a year, whether you can afford them or not. That’s one of the best pieces of advice I ever heard, and it came from a parent. No matter what your budget, set aside quality time for your family and create memories with them.

Where will you be vacationing this summer?

….and little Campbell! (good thing for sisters and hand me downs!)

I have a love for the color gray (why do you think we named our daughter, Graycen?) and you can tell just by peeking into Gray’s closet (and mine too), where more than half of her clothes, especially her dresses, are gray. I think I am drawn to it because it is classic, chic, and compliments any color. That is the best way I can explain it, or rationalize it, whichever you prefer.

You are probably thinking, but its summer. You and your kids should be wearing bright colors! It doesn’t seem to matter what season it is to me, I just loooove gray! So, what do you know, I was browsing the web to find some inspiration and hopefully a fun outfit for Gray and Campbell and guess what I found. PLENTY of gray clothing to choose from! These are just a few of my favorites.

Top image from left to right: Zara Girl’s Grey Dress, Smallable Kate Pearl Grey Dress, Smallable Boko grey braces Dress

Bottom photo from left to right: crewcuts Girl’s Playground Dress, Roxy Stripe Jumpsuit, crewcuts Sophie Jumper

Photo Credit: Smallable, crewcuts, Zara Kids

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved bicycles. Not because of Lance Armstrong (okay, maaaaybe…) or to wear the gear and look cool and ride 30 miles a day (I’ll leave that up to my husband and father-in-law). I have always been fascinated with them and wondered what it would be like to live in a world with no cars…. just bicycles.

I fell more in love with bicycles last year when we vacationed in Watercolor and nearby Seaside, a picturesque beach town in Florida on the Gulf Coast. More on the town later. Bikes were included in almost every home rental, and riding them was my favorite family activity. I was more excited about bike riding than going to the beach or the pool. We rode bikes everywhere and it was a part of our daily lives…at least for a week.

Currently I don’t have a bike so I always end up borrowing one.  I guess you could say I’m hunting for one….like the one above. A bike with baskets and flowers?! LOVE.

Yes, I had to post the full view too. (Photo above by Somethingshidinginhere Flickr)

I would love to incorporate bicycles to my everyday life: ride them to work (our studio), ride with our kids to the farmer’s market, ride with friends to go shopping, ride with my family to the park….

I would love to live in a place where bicycles are welcome everywhere, which is one of the many reasons why I fell in love with Paris! Bicycles are everywhere and women look especially dreamy on them. Sigh.

I love this little article from Martha Stewart Whole Living:

A funny thing happened on the way to astronomical gas prices, environmental awareness, and a national obsession with fitness: America rediscovered the bicycle. Cycling rates in most cities have risen by double digits over the past few years, largely because people are deciding that bikes are practically the new cars.

Cities such as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and even traditionally auto-centric places like Atlanta, are riding the boom by building new bike paths and parking facilities, and suburbs are offering more options for those who want to combine a bike commute with a train commute.

(Photos and article above from Martha Stewart Whole Living)

How about you? Do you ride a bike? How often? Do you live in one of the cool bike-friendly places? I’m jealous, you’ll have to tell me all about it. What kind of bike do you have? For me, the prettier, the better. I love what Electra Bikes offers below: I love the Ladies’ Original Townie!

(Photo above from Electra Bike)

More information:

Cycling without buying wheels, check out Bike Sharing Blog (bike-sharing.blogspot.com).

The Alliance for Biking and Walking (peoplepoweredmovement.org) is a coalition of more than 160 nonprofit advocacy groups across North America.

For cycling fashion tips, head to Copenhagen Cycle Chic (copenhagencyclechic.com).

PS. Paloma’s Nest Little Bird Collection giveaway starts TOMORROW!