Time-lapse

Jared has been experimenting with time-lapse photography lately. Apparently, you can string the photos together stop-motion style to get some really cool HD time-lapse films. This is his first one of a hay fire on a farm in the distance- check it out. 

Want It

If this pencil skirt looks even half as good on me as it does online, I'll have to scrounge up some cash, quick.

How To Make Me Mad

• Wake me up in the morning by arguing over which cartoon character you are. 
  
• Pour the entire tub of cool whip over your waffle and eat it with your fingers while my back is turned. Make sure to spread a good portion along the table, the floor, your hair and the clothes you just changed into.
• When you're sent to clean your room, instead, throw a big fit, cry, complain, make a bigger mess than existed there in the first place, and break a few things for good measure.
• Pee in the corner.
• Hit your brother/sister again. Insist that the other one started it.
• When I send you outside so I can have a moment of sanity, find some new and bizarre way to get horribly muddy. Trample a portion of the garden or pick some green oranges while you're at it.
• Yell, "momm-y!" one more time. Do it. I dare you. 
• Be so defiant and contrary, that the best part of the day is when you are finally put to bed for the night. 
• Start it all over again the next day. 

No Sticks

I often find myself wanting to like items like these from Gap's European Collection. The problem with them is they were designed for stick figures- add a bust into the equation, and suddenly the above top looks like a bad remake of scrubs, and the below blouse looks like you're hiding a pregnancy. Shopping can be so frustrating.

Artwork

Artwork that caught my eye this week: Alphabet of Design Classics print, via Happy Cavalier. Don't you love the way it looks like a book of stamps? I want that in my house. Also, this print by d.kim, via Liz. I want to make the baby's quilt very similar to this, perhaps with a little boy flying a red kite. 

Buying Running Shoes

Admittedly, I am no expert. But this is what I've learned so far about shopping for running shoes. First, find out your foot type by wetting your feet and running along a dry stretch of sidewalk. Examine your footprint to determine if you have flat, normal, or high arches.
  
Secondly, determine if you underpronate (your feet don't roll inward, or they roll outward. You push off from the small toes of your feet) normal pronation (your feet roll inward slightly and you push off evenly from the front of your foot), or overpronate (feet roll inward more than slightly and you push of mainly from your big toes). It helps if someone else can look for you while you stand barefooted. Otherwise, use a full length mirror. 

  
Underpronators will need more cushioning. Pronators will need structured cushioning. Overpronators will need motion control and stability. Armed with this info, you have several options. You could use an online shopping guide to buy a pair of Asics (there really isn't any other brand, is there? :)) or you could go to a really good running store (where the salespeople know their stuff and can help you select something) or you could go it alone and buy at a discount store like Big 5 Sporting Goods. I'll be honest, I usually opt for Big 5, but I haven't always been successful. They usually don't carry anything newer than 3 or 4 years old, so it's difficult to find a shoe that you've actually read any research on.

If you do go it alone, here are some tips. Shop for shoes after 4pm when your feet have swollen to their largest. When you try on a pair, you should have one finger width of space past the tip of your toes. Try 'playing the piano' with your toes. You should have wiggle room without it being sloppy. Next, take the shoe (without your foot in it!) by the heel in one hand. Use your other hand to press on the toes, as if you were trying to bend the shoe in half. It should only crease where your toes would naturally bend. If it creases higher up on the shoe, or actually does bend in half, it's not supportive enough. Lastly, if you're an overpronator like me, you could also try sole inserts. My podiatrist thinks that Dr Scholls are junk, so I have something called PowerStep. And that's all I've got. My well of knowledge is dry. Good luck, and I hope we all find some great running shoes!
{images via here and here}

New Trick

The baby has learned to roll from his back on to his tummy. He loves rolling, but absolutely detests being on his belly. From the moment he wakes in the morning and I lay him on his blanket, he grunts and struggles to get onto his tummy. Once successful, he howls furiously until someone comes to flip him over like a flapjack. Roll, howl, flip, repeat. The kids find this mesmerizing, especially my son, E. who crouches down to watch and yells encouragements like, "That's terrible!" (his new favorite phrase. He obviously doesn't grasp the meaning, though he says it with his hand pressed to his forehead for dramatic effect.) I am all too aware that this is just the beginning. Soon he'll be crawling. Then walking. Then destroying everything in his path. That's terrible indeed!

Spring Cleaning Update

Remember my spring cleaning list? I took a gander at it this weekend and realized that I've already checked half of it off! To think, if I'd never written it all down, I'd have gone on with my life feeling harried and stressed. Instead, I get to take this opportunity to revel in accomplishment. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do have to say that I ended up paying someone to wash my windows. Jared repaired the kid's ceiling fan. And my brother installed the fan in the playroom. Still. I bought it. :) Cheers to an *almost* clean home!  {image via Real Simple}

• Have carpets steam cleaned
• wash floorboards
• wash all walls
• wood polish on all furniture and cabinets
• paint touch-ups through out the house
• dust and repair wood blinds
• use leather conditioner on the sofa & loveseat
• clean oven and microwave
• re-caulk linoleum in bathroom
• scrub out all trash cans with bleach 
• buy a screw for the loose screen door
• dig out all weeds from lawn and spray with weed killer
• repair kid's ceiling fan
• install ceiling fan in playroom
• wash shower curtains
• wash all windows, remove and wash all sun screens
• wood protector on gate to the backyard
• clean out and wash the car
• replace window tinting on the car
• plant backyard landscaping

A Break in Stride

I injured my foot last week while running and have had to take a break. I was able to see a podiatrist yesterday, and learned that I am wearing the wrong kind of running shoes-- dang, I just bought them! Apparently, I pronate quite a bit and need a lot of support. I've developed some tendon problems that should resolve themselves with time, so I purchased some sole inserts from him and will shop for shoes soon. In the meantime, I'll be trying to stick with the training while using lots of ice and maybe a painkiller or two. After a week off, and a lot of BBQ food from the long weekend, I have a feeling that this week of resuming my workouts will pretty much suck. (image via)

Relatively Speaking

Please forgive my brief absence. We were delighted to host relatives for a few days this week. I miss them already. And the excuse to prepare lots of good food while my brother played resident handyman. :) Ah, that we lived closer!

Running Update

Now that I've started my 'official training', I'm both happy and exhausted. I start really enjoying my run around the 2 mile mark, which makes the days I run only 2 miles kind of difficult. I ran 6 miles on Saturday and could barely walk for the rest of the day. My attitude is largely that I don't worry about pace, I just make sure I finish. I'm by no means fast, but I can run 4 miles without stopping, and that feels good. The big challenge this week: my first 7 mile run on Saturday. I'm wishing myself luck. {image via}

Overwhelmed

Yesterday, I was feeling a little bored, so I took the time to check out a few blogs. Okay, more like a million blogs. I followed link after link, until I my head was so full of lovely design, gourmet food, and perfect parenting I was sure it would explode. Instead of feeling inspired, I felt depressed. I know myself- I'm healthier when living in the fishbowl, not the ocean. Subsequently, I'm taking a step back. I'll use the weekend to enjoy swimming in my tiny little circles. See you Monday. 

{image via}

Take a peek...

...into other women's kitchens! This made my morning. It also kinda made me want to clean my kitchen. Ah, sisterhood. 

Smells Familiar

Everything about CB Limited's I Hate Perfume collection is so, so right. Believe me, if I could bottle the scents that instantly recall to mind wonderful moments in time, I would. For now, I'll settle for finding out if these smell as good as their concepts imply. Favorites: In The Library (claims to smell like a Signed First Edition, Russian and Moroccan leather bindings, worn cloth and a hint of wood polish.) In The Summer Kitchen, Mr. Hulot's Holiday, and At The Beach 1966. {via A Cup of Jo}

Hitchcock Style

Talking about Grace Kelly yesterday reminded me of an article I clipped out of O Magazine back in August of 2005. The photo shoot was based around Hitchock-esque clothing. I still love the styling. 
Sometimes I wish women still wore hats and gloves. At least I can get away with this, this and this. Love the red heels on those black stilettos. 
Plaids and tweeds are hopelessly appealing to me come autumn. 
One of my all-time favorite stand-bys is the pencil skirt. I'm not quite ready to wear one yet, but when I am, I hope to find a lovely silk top like this one to go with it.
Please excuse the poor quality of these photographs. The original Todd Marshard's are beautiful.

Not Fat

This morning while running, I decided that I'm not fat. I'm just not Audrey Hepburn. I, like so many, adore Audrey and aspire to be as stylish as she. But dangit people, she was very thin. 
I think I'm more of a Grace Kelly type. Softer. Feminine. She had some curves on her, but she played them up and was also impeccably stylish and ladylike.

I would hope that when Audrey and Grace were in the same room, they weren't comparing themselves to each other. Wouldn't that seem ridiculous? I try to hold that image in my mind when I'm in a room with other women. We are all beautiful. We aren't meant to be the same. To compare would be ridiculous.

Another thing I like about Grace: she quit acting to be a wife and mother. {Oh, and a princess.} Now that's stylish.

Artwork

I'm really liking the work of Isabel Ferreira {via Zesty Perspective} today. The tea set looks so perfectly wistful, it makes me think of growing old. 
Jared has been talking about shooting a music video in a nearby mining town. It is run down and abandoned, but has it's own beauty. These photos make me think of that.

And the bus makes me think of road trips along the coast. C'mon, how can it not?

Playdate Cards

Today before school, my daughter asked me what her phone number was. "Why?" I asked. She replied that she wanted to tell her friends at school so that they could call her during summer vacation. My daughter is primarily home schooled. I drive her to a school 30 minutes away once a week where she meets with other students who are also home taught. In this way, she gets to socialize, have field trips, do chemistry experiments, go to gym class, and eat in the cafeteria just like other kids her age. I would love her to stay in contact with these little home schooled friends, so I made her some calling cards out of leftover card-stock. They had her name on it, her number, and the phrase, "Let's have a playdate! Have your people call my people." I was feeling pretty clever until, out of curiosity, I googled "playdate cards" and found these. Now, not only to I really, really want some of these, but the ones that I made for my daughter seem utterly amateur. 

Peach Festival

Every May, we attend the Peach Festival held at a local farm. We arrive early and spend the morning eating peach pie and cinnamon rolls with peach icing. Then we take the kids on a train ride. After the train, we we take a hay ride to the orchards where we pick our own peaches. Now, when I walk thru the kitchen the heady scent of peaches wafts through the room. Tonight I'll make some peach cobbler. I'm a sucker for the crumble topping. {images via}

Garden Party II

Last week, Jared mentioned that he thought the close-ups were his favorite photos. They were sadly missing from my post about the party. Not wanting him to feel slighted, and glad to revisit the event, I've decided to share them with you now. Ignore the fact that it's been a week since then. :) Enjoy.

Snacktime

BNL just came out with a children's album called Snacktime. My favorite song is called My Big Sister and describes the woes of a boy having to wear his sister's hand-me-downs. So relatable to kids and so entertaining for adults! This will probably be added to our road-trip playlist alongside the already extremely popular They Might Be Giants album.

Books by Color

Another post about books. I've seen books organized by color before- great as decoration, terrible if you're actually looking for a particular one. These images remind me of my closet. Above photo via Netla, the one below via Design Happens.

"I think I'm in a tragedy"

In the past, I have been accused of not having a sense of humor. This is probably due to the fact that my Netflix queue is comprised of an inordinate amount of dramas and foreign films. So, over the course of the week, I've been compiling a list of comedies that I truly enjoy. After all, nothing shows my lighthearted and carefree side better than a court case of evidence. :) 

First on the list would have to be Stranger than Fiction. A solitary, socially awkward man finds his orderly life is turned upside down when he begins to hear a voice narrating the events of his day. Another winner is Matchstick Men. A con man with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is... okay, wait. About a Boy: a rich and shallow man lives out a painfully empty life until he's shadowed by a boy who's mother keeps attempting suicide.... hmm. Alright, apparently I identify with movies that involve obsessiveness, social awkwardness and pain and hopelessness. Perhaps I don't have a sense of humor. Or maybe pain is funny. That, my friends, would make me hilarious. 

• About A Boy
• Stranger Than Fiction
• Groundhog Day
• In Good Company
• The Devil Wears Prada
• Heart and Souls
• Dan in Real Life
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Hudsucker Proxy
• Juno
• Lars and the Real Girl
• Mr Mom
• Napoleon Dynamite
• Princess Bride
• Spanglish
• The Truman Show
• Waking Ned Devine
• What About Bob?
• Defending Your Life
• Rushmore
• Music & Lyrics
• Matchstick Men
• The Office
• Arrested Development