image from real simple daily wallpaper

Wow..it's been over 2 months since I last blogged! Needless to say, things have been a little crazy around here. Crazy but worth it. And there's nothing like moving apartments to add to an even more hectic time, and so we're on the move again.

I'm going through a major decluttering phase and trying to focus on quality, not quantity, and have been asking myself constantly...do I really need this? can I live without it? did I even use it in the past year?? So bags and boxes have been filling up - ready to be passed on to others who might have a use for them. It feels good to let go.

There's also a lot of mental decluttering going on - trying to organize ideas and goals in my head, trying to visualize them better. Hopefully it will translate into something productive.


I came across this quote in my inbox which got me thinking:

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” Karen Lamb

So true, isn't it? Life doesn't get any slower, the to-do lists don't get any shorter. It really got me thinking about what I want to do and what I'm doing today to make that happen.

Shoebox storage

I'm a regular reader of Ohdeedoh, Apartment Therapy's site for design for children, so I was excited when they featured my little shoebox storage project in their resolution renovation series. I won a cute little bib for it that says small is cool. Yay!

Little people, big changes...

So life takes a new turn once again. The little one is here and mamahood the second time is just as beautiful and overwhelming as it was the first time around.

Someone I know recently told me that she measures the fullness of her life in the happiness of her children.

So true. I am starting to feel that more and more now.

My previous post's link to buying flowers reminded my cousin to stop on her way home from lunch and buy a pretty bunch for her place. She sent me a photo. Just looking at it brightened my evening.

Happy 2008!

I am expecting my baby any day now so I really hope I can keep up with blogging more regularly once I have my hands full with an infant and a toddler and all the madness that comes along with big changes in life.

Here's a link to a lovely post from apartment therapy about the difference a bunch of fresh flowers can make to your room. So simple and true. I should really do this much more often.

more gorgeous gift wrapping ideas here. (link via design mom)

If you think you're too small to make a difference, you haven't been in bed with a mosquito.

-Anita Roddick

Love this colorful poster that I came across the other day.

Easy Gift wrap Ideas

I saw these really easy and inexpensive gift wrap ideas on the Better Homes and Gardens website. I am sure I will try these out myself at home. For the children's art idea, there are so many more options out there. Painted hand prints on paper would look so cute too.
1: Festive words printed in repetition on plain paper
2: Children's art

53 places to go to in 2008

Some suggestions for your travels for next year, from the NYT.

Holiday decor and patterns from Benefit

My friend B pointed out these free gorgeous downloads from Benefit: patterned wallpapers, gift tags, party invitations and more. Get out some nice card stock and start printing away!

Happy Mail Days

I think one of the best pick-me-ups after a long day is finding something fun in your mailbox. I've been lucky enough to have some of these this month:


My lovely swap package that arrived from Vancouver. This was for a Fall swap that I put together, with a group of only 4. It was my first time and lots of fun to see everyone's creative ideas.

I won a giveaway on Apartment Therapy's Nursery site and was so excited to get this package from artist Leeza Hernandez, who has designed this think.jot.draw pad. It's a cute little notebook with a mix of differently designed pages - lined, blank, or both on one page. Just perfect for everyday thoughts and scribbles. It came along with a pack of colorful Sharpies and small samples of Leeza's art.
Check her out work here.



A pack of 3 beautiful hand printed cards arrived last night, from a giveaway at London Mummy (I was on a roll this month - two giveaways! My husband thinks I should play the lottery now...) Thank you Esther, this was really generous of you. They are so pretty. I'm going to frame two and give one to a friend who I'm sure will end up framing or putting it up somewhere too. The cards are from Seed Prints, where you can find all sorts of gorgeous designs on recycled paper and card.

My Toddler's Lunchbox

Having a toddler who is a fussy eater more often than not, I quite liked looking at My Toddler's Lunchbox, a blog that showcases different lunches that a couple pack for their toddler every day. Some great ideas for healthy, non sugary snacks.

Is it me suddenly taking notice or has gift wrap just become lovelier than ever? I mean, some of it is just pretty enough to frame. I love how wrapping paper can have so many more creative uses than just to wrap up a gift. I've used some lovely gift wrap from paperchase to cover up an old canvas and make a bulletin board for my daughter's room.

Pictured here is Jacqueline Gift wrap from Erin Ruth's online etsy store (link via Print & Pattern)

Gorgeous!

Keeping it all together

planners1
Originally uploaded by nomadmama

So I've been missing in action around here lately. Well there's one thing I've learnt for sure, and that is - as a mom I can never expect my day to go according to plan. It all depends on how the little one is feeling and how her day is going. I think on most days, just getting stuff crossed off my daily to do list is a good enough feeling for me. These days I'm trying to get my life as organized as possible and that includes keeping my daily lists and scribbles organized. Usually I have journals/notebooks scattered all over the place and in various handbags but after finding this cute trio of notebooks I've managed to keep my daily to do's somewhat in order. PDA's just don't work for me. I need to write, scribble, make quick notes all the time!

How do you organize your day? What do you use to make your life and lists a little easier?

Around town

*I came across this cute store in Cary the other day: The Pink Alli. It's a new lovely little place full of things that will make perfect gifts for weddings, babies, showers etc etc. You can even find fun little pieces for your own home.

*Mars tipped me to go check out the Middle Eastern food at Neomonde. The food was great but the dessert, divine! Will go back again and again for their pistachio baklava.

New things

fallswap1
Originally uploaded by nomadmama

It's a new month and there are a couple of new things I'm taking part in that I've wanted to do for a really long time: participate in a swap and be part of a book club...

Ever since I read about creative, crafty swaps on blogs, I've been eager to be part of one myself. But every time I came across one, it was either out of my league (I can't knit or sew or...) or it was too late to sign up. So a couple of weeks ago I decided to organize my own little swap (the idea was to be inspired by the colors of Fall), let a few friends know about it and was excited when they agreed to be part of it. Yesterday I sent off my package to my swap partner in Vancouver... I really hope she'll like it! More photos to come soon of the other swaps sent and received.

And the book club. Well ever since I read Reading Lolita in Tehran and then later The Jane Austen Book Club, I have wanted to be part of one myself. Reading fiction is one of my passions and I'm lucky that I often get to be paid for it professionally, but nothing beats sitting with a group of people and discussing a really good novel as it unfolds. The club is kicking off with Love in the Time of Cholera, just in time for the film adaptation that will be released this month as well. I got my copy of the book yesterday and can't wait to start reading it next week, once I've wrapped a few other things up.

Trick or Treat

This was my first 'proper' Halloween since I was a kid and I had fun dressing my girl up, buying Halloween treats to give out and attending Halloweeny events. Sometimes I love it how here in America, celebrations are so over-commercialized. This year I enjoyed it through my toddler.
For the past few years, I've always associated Halloween with Unicef's Orange Boxes, used for collecting change while trick or treating and then sending it off as a donation to Unicef.

This year I ordered a box (they send them to you for free) and was happy to see my friends emptying their change into it. Unicef really makes fundraising like this so easy. They send you a package with so much information (along with goodies like Halloween greeting cards and stickers to share around) and once you are done collecting your change, simply empty your coins into a Coinstar machine, pick the Unicef donation option on it and then send them off your receipt. How simple is that? I'm looking forward to emptying my orange box out this weekend!

Note to self: get a head start on this next year, and give out a few boxes to friends to fill up or ask them to order their own kits from Unicef...

weekend wrap

After an emotionally draining week, I couldn't be happier to kick back and relax a little this weekend, both my mind and my body. The weather was a bit chilly but all the better for snuggling up on the couch with a blanket and catching up on some reading while the little one slept. It was also perfect weather to cook up this hearty cream of tomato soup.

I also caught up with my design inspiration blogs - namely Apartment Therapy, which I waste too much time on but do leave with some lovely images every now and then. Check these out:

- What a happy, happy kitchen. I would love waking up to breakfast in this every morning. If I could, I would paint my kitchen yellow.
- AT Nursery featured some gorgeous images from Fit Pregnancy's website. Here's one:

image via fitpregnancy.com

- I also enjoyed going through IKEA's 2008 catalogue, which I ordered only recently because I wanted to get it after we'd moved. There's so much stuff that I would really get in there (loved some of the fabrics and plates) but - the tragedy - there's no IKEA in NC....yet!

Here's a real time waster: Celebrity Moms: Whose Star Style is Your Perfect Match?

Apparently my style guru is Angelina Jolie...