d.i.y-not? Show your jeans some love...

It's almost VALENTINE'S DAY! How excited are you?! It's my all time most super very favorite day of the year. Nothing could be better than a day full of love, kisses, presents, and dressing up. Do you celebrate V-day by wearing your heart on your sleeve? How about an update on that old adage... Check out this quick and fun project we did:

With Evy's assistance, this took about ten minutes (minus drying time).

1. Try on your jeans and put a little mark right at the center of each knee.

2. Draw half of a heart on a sheet of sticky stuff. We used duct tape, but contact paper would work fine too.

3. Fold in half and cut out from the center, so your heart is uniform on both sides.

4. Peel off back and stick to jeans. Place sticky heart cut-out directly over your knee markings.

5. Fill in your hearts with red fabric paint. Sponge or brush works well.

6. Let dry.

7. Peel off and admire your handy work! :)

trying oysters...

One of my favorite moments of our recent trip to San Francisco, was watching the kids try oysters for the first time. While eating lunch at the Ferry Building, Evelyn (our resident picky eater) decided to give 'em a go. She put on a brave face, doctored hers up with lemon juice, and then... spit it right out! It was kind of gross to watch someone spit an oyster out. What's even grosser??? JEFFREY ATE IT! Yes, the very same one she spit onto a plate.

I guess that's parenthood? *BLECH*

Of course, James had to show her up. He made a huge effort to look like it was no big deal, but check out his face in that last photo... Hahaha!!! Needless to say, I don't think they'll be trying oysters again for a while.

it's Springtime up in here...

every. single. day.

San Francisco, the family trip...

girl about... glitz!

If it looks like Spring, and feels like Spring...

I know we're still technically in the throes of Winter- I'm reminded of this every morning when I look out the window and see that my poor little flowers have struggled through another cold night. But the days are bright, warm, and glowing. What does this have to do with the outfit post? Well, we've had the most unbelievably beautiful weather this week, that I find myself in a very Spring-y mindset! Kinda sorta. It's a hybrid... let me explain. Remember all the glitter, sequins and bedazzle we saw through the Holidays? Well, I'm secretly really excited about it still! There's that quote about glitter being the herpes of the art world- and yeah, I guess that extends to fashion, but... I can't help it.

I'm infected with sparkles!

The color Gods at Pantone tells us that Tangerine Tango is the it color for 2012, but I'm not on board with that just yet. Outside of my Rhodia notebooks, anyway...

However, I do find myself really attracted to the saturated jewel tones we normally reserve for Holiday... pops of garnet, sapphire, amethyst, emerald, chalcedony, and a little turquoise. We typically see these hues with darker pairings of satin, wool, or (that ubiquitous Holiday fabric...) velvet. For Spring I like these colors lightened up and paired with creams, cotton lace, and eyelet.

For the time being, I'm still in jeans almost every day, but I'm pairing them with sparkly shoes, lots of baubles, and overly-embellished hair accessories (like the headband and sequined barrettes seen here, by Ban.do). As the weather warms up, I'll be moving into full skirts with quirky little sweaters- like the one in this post, but I'll stick with my sparkly shoes and girly accessories at least until Summer time.

Ok, let's talk about this skirt... Dost thou eyes deceive thee? No. That, my friends, is gold lamé. Poor lamé got a really bad rap back in the 80's when it became de rigueur for horrendous ruffled, one-shouldered, Prom dresses. I know you know what I'm talking about, ladies... But I'm liberating it! I bought this vintage Esprit skirt specifically for a Holiday party- but it's just way too fabulous to be a one trick pony! Toned down for daytime with flats, a fitted sweater, and a cotton tote, the gold borders on neutral. In fact, I'm coining a new phrase right now... are you listening, Pantone? The neutral statement piece. YES! Fluorescent neutral! I actually championed for Fluorescent Neutral a couple of years ago when I solicited (unsuccessfully) for Montana Paint to rename one of their spraypaints that color. They totally missed out.

What about you... still knee-deep in Winter wear, or are you fast fowarding to Spring? The only thing I'm knee deep in right now is glitter.

*surrenders cool card* : /

In this post...

Sweater: Charlotte Tarantola

Skirt: vintage, Esprit

Sequin Barrettes: Ban.do

Beaded headband: Ban.do

Cotton laundry tote: vintage, France

Embellished eyeglasses: Betsey Johnson

Jeweled Mouse flats: Marc Jacobs

Leopard/glittered Brogues: Zara T.R.F.

Acrylic heels: vintage, from Jeff's grandma

Nail Polish: Butter London (Gold: Tart With A Heart, Blue: Knackered, Pink: Rosie Lee)

Books: "Girls Fashion Style Paris" & "Paris Brocante", edition Paumes, Japan

Perfume bottle: Tocca (Brigitte)

Glitter: Martha Stewart (Aquamarine & Rose Quartz)

Sequin/Rhinestone cuff: vintage, LACMA

Listening to: "The Only Living Boy in New York", Simon & Garfunkel

baby shoozies...

Yesterday I bought these super cute and teensy orange shoes for Elliott,

and today his daddy made them all kinds of fancy with paint and ink.

Yay for art! :)

 

Strolling in Cambria...

*Photo by Jeff Claassen

When little brother feels sad...

Big sister makes it all better.

Thinking about... San Francisco!

We're thinking of spending a long weekend in San Francisco! When I first moved to California, I thought seriously about living in San Francisco because something about it felt comfortable... easy access to familiar foods, cultural diversity, intriguing history, amazing art, and endlessly inspiring architecture.

Of course, it made me nervous too... let's face it, San Francisco can be down right filthy. Being offered drugs while strolling down a sidewalk or through a park was absolutely terrifying, and seeing homeless people and pan-handlers all over the place was really foreign and depressing. But I've learned that with any major City, whether it's L.A., San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam, or Paris- there are conflicting juxtapositions and plenty of the good and the not-so-good.

Now that 2/3 of the children are older, I'm excited to take them to Japan-town and Alcatraz, and I'm suuuuuper excited to eat at lots of yummy restaurants and bakeries! I'm looking forward to public transportation, trolleys, teaching the kids about Harvey Milk, the history of Asian immigrants in the City, and even the black plague!

I know that Jeffrey will have his own list of galleries, shops, and landmarks, and we can't possibly do everything, but... here's my wishlist of SF favorites:

Shabu shabu in Japan-town

Concrete slides at Golden Gate Park

The Exploratorium

The Ferry Building YUM!

Fisherman's Wharf - you have to, right?

Golden Gate Bridge

de Young museum

California Academy of Sciences

Paxton Gate

Tartine, obvs...

and Miette!

And a wishlist of to-do's for Jeff & I, sans children... someday. ;)

Foreign Cinema

Imperial Day Spa

P.S.

This will be Elliott's first trip out of town. Any advice on travelling with an infant?

instagram'ing...

You didn't think I'd been slacking off on the Instagram Photo Challenge, did you? Granted, some days are more of a challenge than others (meaning the photo of the day isn't posted until after dinner), but... so far, so good! For those of you not on instagram, here's a little snippet of my recent posts.

And while we're on the subject, why aren't you on instagram? Yes, yes... in the sea of social networks, it's easy to throw your hands up and say ENOUGH! But I have to say, I've found this one to be less of a social network, and more of a quick and easy creative outlet. It's inspired me to take more pictures, compose my shots better, and with the accompanying postagram app- I send cute postcards of my photos to family and friends, in just a few clicks. I find myself looking for excuses to send thank you cards, thinking-of-you's, and just 'cos notes. People love them... we're talking major grandma-points! Wanna know a secret? I send them to myself too. I love the little pop-out prints and the quality is outstanding. Super fun stuff.

What are you waiting for?

Meadow Park

Polar Bear Plunge!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS! Remember Y2K? Twelve years ago today my darling James was born two weeks late, after 30 hours of labor, at 4:00am on the millenium. The hospital staff were on edge, paranoid, and wanting to be home with their families. It was scary and strange, but that's a whole other story...

With all that Y2K drama far behind us, New Years Day is now just a fun, birthday for our family. To celebrate his very special day, James has done the Polar Bear Plunge in Cayucos every year for the past seven years- and this one was the best yet! My dad guessed the turn-out was around 2000 people! SO. CRAZY. We had a blast. Check out some of these costumes!

Have you done the dip? Would you?! I always stand on the beach with towels and bottles of hot water, but I kind of secretly want to jump off the pier. Unfortunately the jet-ski police swiftly scoop you up and arrest you for that though... soooo I guess I'll never be able to do the plunge. *shucks*