Labels.

From the ones Anthropologie fancies.

Country Road

I love these photos from Country Road. The settings, clothes, photography -- everything goes together so darn well.



Two boys and a girl -- you can probably guess why I was drawn to these two:



These last ones would be great ideas for party photo booth sets or yearly/monthly photos:



If I had had the foresight way back when it would have been really cool to use one little chair for yearly pictures of all three of them growing up. Ah well!

[Images from Country Road via Little & Brave; see the 10 years of Country Road Kids photo retrospective here]

Preschool Picture Day

This is the outfit that I picked out for Spencer's class picture:



And here is the "special" outfit that he picked out:



Shall we see the outfits side by side?



And now, let me direct your attention to the size of the orange shorts:



They are his favorites. Well-loved for sure. I bought them for Henry [who is 7] when he was 18 months. That was 5+ years ago and they have been worn ever since as evidenced by the holes and fading.

Can you guess whose outfit won?



I actually think the outfit nicely offsets the faux rainforest setting in the background, no? And his teacher made the mistake of trying to comb his hair, too. I laughed when she told me that. The boy has too many cowlicks to ever get his hair in one specific direction! Really, though, I'll probably love the picture that much more because of these things and how it reflects the little man that he is. One of my favorite school pictures is of Reg wearing a t-shirt that says "Have you hugged me today?" Priceless. And I think his hair was sticking up, too.

So today, I can check "embrace imperfection" off my to-do list. Most of the time, imperfect is actually perfect, you know?

Be back soon with some pictures from our weekend!

Sweet Dresses

These organic dresses from Whitten Grey are too sweet. Do the cuts, colors and patterns remind you of paper doll dresses or is it just me? Either way, I'd take the dresses and that cute haircut!

But speaking of paper dolls, I've spotted a few takes on them lately. This feature from Small Magazine:



And this charming illustration from the latest issue of Papier Mache:



Maybe they're coming back...or maybe they never left, and since until recently I was focused on boy things I didn't notice!

Color Me Happy

Don't these kid clothes from Maan make you smile? They're so colorful and cheerful. I mean, they even have smiley face buttons on the mannequins -- what's not to love?! Not that I could get any of my kids to actually wear all of the items together at the same time, but that's beside the point.



Happy weekend!

Off to see the Wizard

I got M all dressed today, took a step back, and thought "Hmmm. You remind me of someone."



Then she clicked her heels together and it came to me.

Head of the Crew

Miss Mags and I made a trip to see the fam and some friends this week, and the other night, my dad brought home the WSJ. magazine from the Wall Street Journal. He thought my sister and I would want to read it because there was "a big article on J. Crew." Can you can tell he's the father of three girls and has paid more than a few J. Crew bills?



I'm so glad he did save it for us because I really enjoyed it. The article is more specifically about Mickey Drexler, the current CEO of the company, who has been known to play Come On Eileen over the intercom, and rides his bike and rings the bell through the office. Sounds like my kind of work environment! Not that it's all fun and games -- he has high standards -- but he seems to balance personality and professionalism well, fostering an environment of both creative, unconventional thinking and top quality work.

I was actually just in J.Crew the other day, thinking about how much I like it now. There were a few years there in between my college years and now when it bored me a little bit. Not anymore. The patterns, textures, layering -- I love it all. What do I wish were currently in my wardrobe? Glad you asked...



[Cotton Hammock Dress; Ruffled Placket Cardigan; Jericho Tote; Single Chained Mesh Bracelet; Metallic Astria Sandals; Lemlem Nika Wrap]


[Read the full article here]

Checks, Please

Check Plaid, Check Checks...I'll take them any way I can get them!

[Images clockwise from top left: anyone?; martha; sis cafe; anyone?; burberry; atlanta homes and lifestyles; ditto; sis cafe; center - see by chloe dress]

Inspired By

I'm consistently inspired by the clothing designs, catalog and store displays at Anthropologie. I just received the November catalog, and this time was no exception. While I was flipping through it, I realized how much I was enjoying just looking at it, like each section was a mini art exhibit. Here are some of my favorite images:




And if I were to buy something, it would probably be one of these:

[Longest Night Dress]

[Skirted Peacoat]

Petit Chic

I'm sure many of you know about Petit Bateau -- beautiful, well-made, and super soft [ideal for babies] clothes for your little one with a not so little price tag. In other words, the kinds of colors and patterns and cuts [a lot of their boys pants are slimmer fit, which is perfect for 5-yr-olds with no hineys!] that make me so happy, but that are totally unreasonable to send my kids to school in just to get ruined -- unless, of course, a fairy godmother dropped a bucket of gold coins in my lap. The fall collection is now available...be tempted, and then maybe just splurge on a few tiny little things...it always seems to happen around here!

Summer Days

The boys are out of camp for a couple weeks, so we packed up the car and went to visit family. We got to celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday...


Weez bought her this super cute handmade skirt:

The name of the company is Chocolatey Claire, but it is not online yet. She found them through a friend, so if you are interested in learning more about where to buy, contact me and I can put you in touch. I think she said they were working on a website, so I'll let you know when it's up.

We've also been catching up with friends, and purely by chance got to see our friends Seth and Deb [who live in Newport]. Deb [on the right] is pregnant with twins - a boy and a girl - due in November...

We thought it was only appropriate to take a belly shot outside of the Waffle House [only 8 more weeks to go for me]!

My Superheroes

The boys received their first package at our new house, and it definitely did not disappoint -- superhero capes {with their initial as the hero initial} from their good friends Jackson and Annie! Julie said she found them on Etsy at superflykidz...



They were taking a break from chasing each other around the house to watch the thunderstorm last night...they have started watching for lightening and then counting "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc." until they hear thunder. Plenty of opportunity for that game around here!

Fall for Jason Wu

After Michelle Obama's stunning appearance at the Inauguration Balls, I was anxious to see Jason Wu's fall line. I really like his style -- a mixture of classic and traditional with edgy and modern. His use of color is beautiful, as is the way he mixes patterns. And that last dress would make any gal feel like a million bucks!




[For the complete collection check out wwd.com]

Be an Outsider

I just came across these ads for Boy by Band of Outsiders with Michelle Williams. They have a great 50's vintage quality to them, plus Michelle Williams is one of my fave actresses, so what's not to like?! That 2006 Oscar ensemble she wore is still at the top of my list for all time best fashion.

[Love this plaid jacket]

The ads were shot at the home of Paul Fortune, whose design aesthetic is beautiful and quirky all in one [a fave combo of mine]. There are some more photos of the designer's home, Laurel Canyon, on the site, as well as other projects including the Paris Apartment of Marc Jacobs.

[Laurel Canyon living room --
I think these are the stairs that Michelle Williams is walking down
in the top ad. It's amazing how that top picture looks like it came
from another era compared to this one!]