Anthropologie cross-body bags

The It bag this Summer has got to be the cross-body mini bag. It’s the perfect accessory for concerts and summer festivals.  The hubs and I are going to see Phish at the Greek in Berkeley next weekend and even though I’m a Mom now I still want to look like I know what’s hip. I’ve been scouring the internet for some options and these are my favorites.

Marc Jacobs Petal to the Metal Pouchette, available at Shopbop $228; Rebecca Minkoff Alligator Impression BF Pouch, available at Shopbop $165; Gorjana Greenwich Cross Body Bag, available at Shopbop $161.

J.Crew Exhibitor Pouchette, $198 at J.Crew; Top Shop Carved Pattern Leather Satchel, $100 at Top Shop; Fossil Turquoise Fron Pocket Leather Bag, $64.90 at Nordstrom; Madewell Red Canyon Messenger Bag, $128 at Madewell

You may remember my love letter to Plover Organic awhile back? Well now they’ve given me even more reason to be a Plover lover.  I just got word that Plover Organic is gearing up for a HUGE Online SALE! On August 4th, 5th and 6th all non-sale items will be 50% off! That means you can find fantastic deals on their block-printed, vintage inspired bedding, throw pillows, fabric and table-top accessories.  If that isn’t good enough news already, they will also give 1% of the proceeds to the National Wildlife Federation to help clean up the tragic oil spill in the Gulf.  You better check it out before I snatch up all the good stuff!

I was already feeling shackled to the indoors because of the blazing heat outside and then jewelry designer Sarah Swell has to go and send me a link to her gorgeous jewelry inspired by the organic shapes found on the beach and in the ocean.  I’m really impressed that she can take inspiration from items that I usually associate with being hard and coarse like fish scales, barnacles and coral and make them into such delicate creations.  Of course now in addition to wanting the “flotsam and jetsam” necklace below all I can think about is refreshing breezes and lying on a boat anchored out at sea! Shop for Sarah’s jewelry here.

Is there a rule on how long you should live with the same dinnerware before replacing it?  We’ve been rocking the PB Sausalito dinnerware since we got married eight years ago and it’s beginning to look a bit tired and dated.  This gorgeous Oyyo Petal Series hand-painted porcelain dinnerware by Maria Lintott for Teroforma is on my radar as a potential replacement. I’m sure if I looked hard enough I would find that eight years is the perfect time to replace your dinnerware, right?

Now that Grady is sleeping from 7pmish to 7amish, I finally feel like a normal, productive human who can accomplish more than just changing diapers and washing loads of spit-up off of my shirt everyday. I’ve been meaning to share his birth announcement with you for months…so here it is!

I worked with local Salt Lake City designer Elpitha Tsoutsounakis who has a letterpress studio here called Print In Cursive.  Because of the cost I wasn’t able to do these in letterpress but Elpitha helped me to create something amazing anyway.  I gave her swatches of the Sister Parish fabric that I used in Grady’s nursery and let her run with it. My favorite part is how she took the Wilco quote we loved and incorporated it into the flow of the design.  For more on Elpitha check out her website and read the post about her on Design Sponge.

Our first Father’s Day has come and gone and the hubs is now the proud new owner of some Super Dad pajama’s. But I’m guessing he would have much rather received one of these studly ties from Pierpont Hicks.

]]> http://littlewillow.com/2010/06/22/pierpont-hicks/feed/ 0 http://littlewillow.com/2010/06/22/pierpont-hicks/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LittleWillow/~3/AoGagw4N0mA/ http://littlewillow.com/2010/06/18/taylor-kenney/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:46:32 +0000 lilwills http://littlewillow.com/?p=5371 Baubles.

Summertime is party time and these beautiful bracelets from Taylor Kenney are the perfect accessory for all of your party time outfits.  See more from Taylor Kenney’s jewelry collection here and here.

These lovely prints by Finnish artist Anna Emilia are just the thing I needed to pull me out of this blog drought! There is such great design talent coming out of Finland that it has become a must visit country for me.  Listen to Anna’s description of where she grew up, “I was born in Leppävirta, a small town in Finland with strawberry fields, lakes and pine forests. There I built huts out of branches with friends and my brother, listened to stories from tapes and drew, cut and glued paper. One summer we found Melancholy thistle flowers which we used as painting brushes.” Sounds like a pretty idyllic place to begin your creative life.  See more of Anna’s work here and shop here.

(via Bloesem)

I can’t get enough of these Moroccan inspired ceramic bud vases from Cynthia Vardhan. I love the unique shapes, the layers of pattern and the alternating colors.  I would love a whole collection of them on my mantel with a different color peony in each one!

(image via The Singular)

How is it that the French can even make sneakers look sexy? Both girls are wearing Bensimon sneakers, basically the French equivalent of Chuck Taylors but cooler somehow. You can find the lace-up or laceless versions at Habitat shoe boutique for $55.

Ahhh…don’t these fantastic deckchairs from Gallant & Jones just shout Summer? Tamra (Gallant), one of the founders of Gallant & Jones was inspired by the classic English deckchairs she spotted while strolling along the Thames in London. She brought the idea back home to Vancouver and shared it with her designer friend Gwyn (Jones) and a chair was born as they say.  Each chair is handcrafted in Vancouver by Tamra and Gwyn using sustainable black walnut wood and gorgeous fabrics. They aren’t cheap but the quality of these deckchairs is worth it.

We are very close to closing on our house in Mill Valley. Frankly owning a home in California brought a lot more hassle than happiness so I will be glad to end that chapter.  We learned a valuable lesson in home ownership…never buy a home as an investment. Instead buy a home you love.

These flashy retro wallpapers from Kreme already have me thinking about decorating our next home.  And these interiors from Wary Meyers have me fantasizing about going really mod in this imaginary home.  Alas, it will be awhile before we have enough money saved to buy again but there is no doubt that I will go bold with the design!

Love, love, love these adorable rugs from Jonathan Adler! JA never ceases to amaze me with his colorful creations.

We all do the best we can to be environmentally friendly so I won’t preach to the choir here but there are a few products that have come into my life recently that I have to share with you. The first is the Bobble.  These BPA free reusable water bottles come with a replaceable carbon filter which helps remove contaminants from regular municipal water.  I usually take my SIGG bottle with me when I fly and fill it up at a drinking fountain before I board the plane but airport water always tastes gross to me.  Most municipal water is fine but for me it’s a taste issue and the carbon filter eliminates taste and odor. It doesn’t hurt that it’s got a cool design either. Buy yours here for $9.95.

With the new babe I am amazed at how much laundry we do. It had actually started bothering me how much water, detergent and energy I’ve been using up for such tiny clothes. So I was so excited when Method, one of my favorite brands, came out with Method Laundry detergent. The small bottle is made from recyclable material and holds enough detergent to wash 50 loads of laundry!  Their formula is biodegradable and 95% plant based so it won’t pollute the waterways, it’s hypo-allergenic which is nice for the babies skin and it smells great! Next up is a clothes line for the backyard so we can reduce our energy cost.  You can find out where to buy Method Laundry here.