Leopard Love

I am totally on the animal print bandwagon. I've been looking to add a little leopard to my life with a pair of ballet flats or heels when I saw these today.

If this were an SAT analogy quiz, it would be:
zipper : leopard ballet flat :: icing : cake


The only problem is, I have no idea where they are from. Do you know?


(Please don't tell me they're über expensive.)

Gifted!

Tis the season to start thinking about gift giving, and there are lots of great gift ideas featured on Gifted Magazine. 

For the Cook

Kitchen Conversions poster ($30) from SweetFineDay's Etsy

For the Griller

Gourmet BBQ blends ($16) from Purpose Design's Etsy - you pick 8 of your favorite custom blends, so this seems like a really good deal considering I've seen canisters like these for $1.50-3 a piece.

For your Furry Friend

Personalized dog bowl ($24) from Sunshine Ceramic's Etsy

For the Little One

Dolls from Sophie and Lili ($15-38, extra for totally custom)

Choose from one of the existing dolls or choose the hair, skin color, and clothing for a totally custom doll

Personal pocket mirror ($9) from Olliegraphic

Some other cute  items I found perusing the Olliegraphic site:

Plate and bowl set ($42, $20-24 each separately)

Growth chart ($49) - a little pricey, but good inspiration for a DIY version

Language print ($30) - very fun...would be a cool series to have something like this for every trip a child goes on 

For your Fave Gal

Stacking Star Rings from Brilliance Found's Etsy

For the Writer

I know these are all over the blogosphere, but I adore these Archie Grand notebooks!
($10 on Amazon)


My picks
J writes me love letters in this:

I write J love letters in this:



J writes about cool attendings who compliment him on his SOAP notes in this (I spy a good graduation present!):

I like that the magazine suggests using Wishpot to organize your holiday gift list. I've used it off and on for things I come across and want to save - it's great because it will alert you if the price drops - but I should really start trying to use it for everything instead of a mix of Amazon wishlists, bookmarking, and emailing myself. (I read that you can import your Amazon wishlist into Wishpot but haven't figured that one out yet.) What kind of system do you use for things like that?

If you'd like, check out another post I did recently on free online magazines.

Bon Weekend!

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend - we are experiencing absolutely perfect sunny and mid-80s weather here in Dallas. If only it were always like this!

On tap:
- Birthday party for my FIL
- Volunteering
- State Fair of Texas
- Picking up paint for our master bath (more soon on the reno that has 1.5 of our 2.5 bathrooms out of commission)
- Making this coat mine - When I saw it the other week, I knew I had to have it for my trip. I think I'll be getting it in black. While I have a perfectly good black peacoat, this one will cover my boo-tay (important when it's cold and windy), is belted (I love me anything belted, and none of my 3 coats are), and it has tiered "ruffles" (I think that's reason enough!) On sale (thanks for the price alert, Wishpot!) and stacked with an additional $30 off coupon, I think I'm going to go for it!

Or should I get camel? Or navy?

(The three coats I already have are black, winter white, and a dark green. I guess the black, camel, and navy could all be considered neutrals, but I know the black will go with everything. Lots of the reviews seem to really favor the navy, so we'll see! I'd love to hear your thoughts!)

Have a great weekend! I hope the weather's beautiful where you are.

Oh, and don't forget to enter my $45 CSN Giveaway...it ends on 10/10/10!

How to Tie a Knot

There are many things I love about this image, but most of all is this rope knots tea towel*.

Elle Decor via Small Place Style

I must have this! I have tracked it down here**, and I may just have to splurge on it, even though navy doesn't really go in my kitchen. (However, this one and this one would. I think they would look awesome framed and hung together. Maybe I could do that with the knots one and use it in another room until I have my someday-all-white-with-blue-accents kitchen. Problem is, I actually need some tea / dish towels, and these are so much more interesting than your Plain Jane ones.)

* Curious as to the origin of the name tea towel, which I seem to see more of now as opposed to calling it a kitchen or dish towel (yes, I actually think about these things), I found this on Wikipedia:

In 18th century England, a tea towel was a special linen drying cloth used by the mistress of the house to dry her precious and expensive china tea things. Servants were considered too ham-fisted to be trusted with such a delicate job, although housemaids were charged with hand-hemming the woven linen when their main duties were completed. Mass-produced tea towels were produced during the Industrial Revolution. Today pictorial tea towels make charming and collectible souvenirs.

What pictorial tea towel do you use to dry your precious and expensive china tea things?

Sweet Ride

Today is the first warm and sunny day at the beach, so I will be taking the afternoon off (I have been working remotely this week to conserve my vacation days) and enjoying the sun.

I'd like to be cruising down the beach in my very own beach cruiser. How sweet are these?

If I Were a Rich Girl:
Cynthia Rowley, $550

Most Awesome:
Schwinn Windwood, $200 ($164 for pink)

Best Bet:
Cruiser Style, $99

I Need a Visual

Check out all of these cool posters available from the Visual Aid Shop. I love that you can order in any size - from 8x10 ($8) up to 60x40[!] ($68).

Sorry for the long post; I couldn't pick just a few favorites. As I looked through all of them, I kept thinking things like "ooh, these anatomy prints are perfect for a doctor's office", "this diagram of ____ would be great in a classroom", or "I should totally get this for ____ whose hobby is ____."

These would be so cute in a kiddo's room...

More how to's...

For the musically inclined...

Perfect to hang in the bar area...

What's your fave? I can't decide!

Pretty Tea Towels

So many cute tea towels out there, so few that "go" with my current kitchen. (Grey countertops, cream, grey and terra cotta tile backsplash...can't really deviate from that without clashing.)

My dream kitchen right now is all white with fun punches of color. These cute ones from Martha would work great in said future kitchen!

Macy's, $10 for 3

Personalized Pottery

Aren't these vases personalized with your monogram so sweet?

The wedding vases can be personalized with the couple's names and wedding date

All from Maid of Clay Ceramics

Pillow Love

I immediately fell in love with this dog-shaped pillow from this nursery makeover on Young House Love.

Could it be that I have puppies on the mind?

Apparently the pillow is from Babies 'R' Us. And yes, I actually went to their website and couldn't find it.

Eternal love if you send me the link.

Travel Accessories

I want these for my next big adventure...

Coin Purse

Make-up Bag

Travel Pass Holder

Passport Holder and Luggage Tag

Paper Plane travel products found here

I've been wishin' and hopin' for a passport cover, and the one above may be the new front-runner. I was previously looking at these colorful options, preferably one that could be embossed with my monogram:

Personalized Passport Covers at (where else?) Personalization Mall

Island Leather Passport Cover at See Jane Work

Some other airmail-inspired goodies...

Air Mail and Personalized Postcard Pillows found on Etsy


Etsy again

...and more Etsy

Let's take a trip!