an almost unmanageable collection

It will probably not surprise any of you that we have a huge collection of hair accessories. I’m always trying to cull our collection down – anything too pink or frilly or Hello Kitty usually gets passed off to girls with less fussy mothers – but our accessories drawer still always seems full to the point of bursting.

I can’t resist when I go back to Taiwan, though in recent times, I’ve purchased very little. Really, it seems downright silly for me to buy hair accessories when I MAKE the darned things. Shouldn’t Bee solely endorse hello shiso products? I mean, didn’t she sign some sort of exclusivity contract when she was born? I wonder what Teri’s girls do?

I still have fond memories of some of my hair accessories from childhood, in particular one hair clip that was a strawberry, and another one which was a teeny tiny straw hat. One of these days, I’m going to make an homage to that straw hat. Am I the only one who has fond memories of accessories?

i like: Indian block prints

Can you tell I’m already thinking about summer? We just bought our tickets to go to Taiwan, and I just can’t stop thinking about how hot it’s going to be. Everything is put into the context of the weather: I think about my Mom, and I think about sweating; I think about my Grandmother, and I think about air conditioning. You get the point. A visit requires a totally different wardrobe than what we wear here in the Bay Area so a little bit of planning is needed. I love Indian block prints, especially some of the modern patterns I’ve been seeing, and I think these clothes would be great for hot weather:

I love just about everything from Layla Brooklyn. I just bought this top from Nonchalant Mom (sold out, sorry!). You can’t tell so well from the pictures, but it has a print in a beautiful gold paint.

I recently discovered Roberta Roller Rabbit, who has great prints. I visited their store in New York and bought a dress with an Indian block print of a Liberty pattern (crazy, huh?). Unfortunately, their online selection is not as extensive as their brick and mortar stores.

Cute dress from Rikshaw Design.  Love the anchors.

I discovered Littl by Lilit while I was visiting Acorn Toy Shop in Brooklyn and LOVE. The wide straps on this dress really make it for me. This dress is available at Nonchalant Mom, and Poppy’s Closet also has a selection of their clothes (as well as hello shiso hair clips!!).

A great kurta from Clover New York. I love the giraffe print, and can imagine Otis wearing this.

I wish I could find some fabric with prints like these. They would be really fun to sew!

new rainboots

Bee and me, in our new rainboots, though there has been nary a rain drop since we’ve come back home. Don’t you love those red polkadot boots? My aunts bought those boots in Taiwan for Bee since they thought our yellow boots were looking a bit tired and I’ll have to say that they picked the cutest of the bunch. And my new boots were waiting for me when we came back from Taiwan. I ended up with the ones that look like a plain wedge boot. I bought an older version off Ebay, and I’m happy with them. I’ll admit, though, that I’m sad that the hunt is over – is that perverse? I still find myself checking out other people’s rainboots, and peeking at them in stores. It’s the same way I felt after we redecorated our house – I couldn’t stop looking at light switches, of all things.

Now we’re just waiting for rain. Can you believe that we’ve been having the most glorious no-jacket weather ever?

fashion show sunday

Mon Dieu!

I just bought this dress at Hijkids, which is another kids’ clothing store that I love. I generally stay away from the cutesy, but I actually really enjoy the clothes from this designer, Misha Lulu. I love their combinations and the surprisingly little details, and it manages to be fun without being loud or garish. It’s actually a size 4 dress, but I love it so much that we decided to wear it anyways, just pinned up in the back. I forsee getting a lot of use out of this dress.

And speaking of fashion, I just love how enthusiastic you guys were about the rain boots! It really did spur me to make a final decision and order a pair, and….. are you ready? Drumroll, please……

TADA!

Unfortunately, they’re a bust. They’re too small, and not the right kind of sparkly (I’m finding them a little garish rather than fun), and they have a very curious odor, which I think they add to mask the smell of plastic. Unfortunately, the scent, though not quite identifiable, strikes me as being vaguely port-o-potty-ish. Not good, right? A while back, I bought a pair of glitter rain boots for Bee that are so perfect and wonderful, except that they’re made for a small child and not an adult, and I think those wonderful Italian rainboots have spoiled it for the rest of the lot. So anyways, the search continues, and I’ll keep you updated.

EDITED TO ADD: If you want your own pair of shiny gold lame pants, American Apparel is having a sale right now through Dec. 9. Use the code EARLYBIRD for 30% off purchases. We use their shirts for freezer paper-printed and appliqued shirts for gifts, and Otis loves their comfy cotton leggings too. I’m going to stock up right now!

which rain boots?

Years ago, I bought a fantastic pair of rain boots from Martha Stewart, back in the days when she had an online store of random stuff that she liked, and they were fantastic boots – they were green with a faux bois pattern on them.  I loved them and I got so many compliments on them.  But sadly, at the end of last rainy season, after many years of faithful service, I finally had to admit that they were kaput when the rubber cracked.  So that gave me a whole summer and early fall to look for a new pair, right?

Sigh.  And this is where my debilitating indecisiveness has really made life hard.  It appears that I’d rather walk around in freezing rain in 10 year old plastic jellies than decide which pair of rain boots to buy.  Here are some boots I’ve been looking at.

Should I go wholly practical?

 

 

Kind of boring, right?  Maybe in a brighter color?  Or maybe I should choose fun?

I think these might make me feel like I’m a baby wearing a pair of those cute little Trumpette Mary-Jane socks.  OK, maybe I should grow up.  Should I go metallic?  I mean, I have really been digging the gold and silver lately after all.

Too astronaut-y?  Should I go sparkly?  I’ve lost my mind, I just love everything with glitter on it lately, as you can see with the hair clips I’ve been making.  I hate to admit how much I love these.

They come in gold, too.  Also, I love these too.

I can’t decide if it’s too cutesy or not.  Maybe I should just go with a sophisticated pair that just look like fashionable regular boots?

 

How’s a girl to decide?  Practical or interesting?  I just know I want a really nice pair that won’t crack and need to be replaced in a year.  I better decide soon – the rainy season’s really here.  I hate being so indecisive!

retail therapy

I almost never indulge in retail therapy, particularly because I don’t even enjoy shopping all that much anymore, but I just couldn’t resist:

It’s a alligator printed tunic for Otis from Virginia Johnson, whose lovely prints I love. Even at half off, it was a bit of a splurge for a kids’ shirt, but it made me oh so happy. It’s still a little big so he won’t be able to wear it for a little while, but I’ll gladly wait to see this shirt in action. Maybe we’ll bring back a special edition of Fashion Show Sunday…

and now, back to happier programming

Thanks for all your advice and compassion, friends. I’m happy to report that Bee has been sleeping better in the last couple of days, which is making me feel much less weepy (amazing what the lack of baby sleep can do to a parent), and we have been receiving the occasional visitor here. My grandparents can’t come to us, unfortunately, since they are in the nineties and not that mobile, but we’re attempting a couple of things to make this trip work better. We are trying to nap at home with less guilt, and after Bee wakes up from one of her morning naps, I powerwalk over to my grandmother’s house for a short visit. I’m having a little more trouble figuring out how to visit my other set of grandparents, since we actually need to get into the car to go to their house, but luckily Otis is keeping them busy. I think the answer will be the occasional visit with the sling (and the air conditioner on full blast – it’s a million degrees here, with accompanying humidity). We’re scheduled to go home a couple of days early, so we’re still around for another 8 days, but it somehow makes the rest of the trip seem more doable. So there we have it. Not a perfect solution, but hopefully acceptable for now, with the promise of an easier visit next year.

On a brighter note, I’ve been meaning to tell you forever about this wonderful surprise that I received shortly before the arrival of Ms. Bee:

Look at that adorableness! Unfortunately, it was too big for us to bring to Taiwan, but I think it might just be the perfect size for our trip to Jamaica in December. I can’t wait to put on the bloomers. It was made by local girl, Sara, and she’s got a great little Etsy store. Will you go visit it? Quickly, do it before her own little package arrives. She’s expecting at the end of the summer.

a sticker book for otis

I hate to brag, but we’ve been receiving the greatest presents lately. We really have a wonderful group of friends, and I can’t wait to brag some more and share the pictures with you, but first, I wanted to show you a present that Otis received recently:

It’s a handmade sticker book, with a pocket full of animal stickers, made by my friend, Carey.

Can you imagine how excited Otis was to get his hands on this? Just as I was handing the present to Otis and we were admiring the stickers together, Miss Bee started fussing so I went to go check on her. When I returned a short while later, I was surprised to see that EVERY SINGLE STICKER had been peeled off and stuck in his book. He didn’t save a single one. Hmm, I think this is a kid that would definitely eat his dessert first. Well, that’s it for that activity, I thought. But as we looked through his sticker book together, I realized that Otis had actually created little vignettes with his stickers. His animal play has expanded to include elaborate narratives lately, so this was really perfect for him.

Here’s a farm, with the horses climbing up a hill:

Here, the dinosaurs are afraid and running from the flying dinosaur:

One clever thing about the sticker book is that the pages are made of wax paper, so we can actually move the stickers around and create different stories (although I doubt that Otis will let me). I hate to advocate stealing Carey’s idea, but this is such a great, handmade kids’ present that I think that everyone should make one of these. What do you think, Ms. Carey, can we write a tutorial for this great project?

update: Here is the tutorial.

baby presents i love

I wanted to share these two baby presents that we recently received that are very dear to my heart. It definitely sounds like the hormones are affecting me, doesn’t it?

We became friends with a couple in our childbirthing class when I was pregnant with Otis. We shared rides home from class, and we became very fond of them. Unfortunately, soon after our sons were born, they moved to Massachusetts. However, we have kept in touch through letters and care packages. What is amazing to me is that not only do we receive presents from Takako when she visits her family in Japan, but we also receive the most thoughtful presents from her family as well. Remember this miso cake? It was pretty amazing, and so unusual. We recently received another package, and it included this bib:

As I looked at it more closely, I realized that not only was this bib reversible, but it had all been hand-stitched. By Takako’s sister. Whom I’ve never met before. Who lives in Japan. I felt so touched that someone I’ve never met before would send such a heartfelt gift, and it made me feel a little teary. Not as teary as the time I watched The Notebook on the airplane… but you get the point.

Here’s the other present that I wanted to share with you:

An outfit from one of my favorite designers, Makie. Have you tried that flavor of Kool-Aid yet? It’s quite tasty. This sweater and dress look so small and fine in person, I can barely believe that it’s for a six month old baby. I love how un-baby it looks. In fact, it’s exactly an outfit that I would wear. It’s the kind of outfit that would horrify my family – what???? dress a baby in black and grey???? They would think it a little depressing, but it’s exactly the perfect thing, in my mind. And the best part? This present came with the arrival of some of our closest friends from New York, who have just moved to San Francisco. I appreciate their efforts to coincide their move with my upcoming need for not only a doula but a night-time baby nurse.

Recently someone asked me if I had been stocking up on baby girl clothes and I was surprised to hear myself answer no. I’m not exactly sure why, although it may to do with the fact that the sea of pink whenever I walk into one of the chain stores still gives me vertigo. Last time, I think that buying baby clothes was my way of superficially dealing with impending motherhood because it was the easiest and most immediately gratifying way. In retrospect, it probably would’ve been a better idea to read more books on parenting and childbirth or do more yoga or something. But now, I’ve still mostly just got a dresser full of those little hadagi that my mom brought over from Taiwan. Since you asked, though, I’ll share with you a few of the things I’ve been coveting. You’ll see that I waver between the wildly patterned and the subdued.

My God, please please this dress from Makie.
These little sundresses and rompers from Kit + Lili.
Onesies and cottonsuits from ittikid.
These ridiculously expensive shoes.
And just about anything from Flora and Henri, and Mor Mor Rita.
Oh, and this shirt for Otis.

oh yeah, the sale

So, have you been holding your collective breath for the fabulous, stupendous DWR finds??

Have you been robbed of your sleep?
Lost your appetite?
Been unable to focus on your work?

Well, wait no longer.

Drum roll, please…….

Ta da:

What is it, you ask? Is it a modern, life sized sculpture of a bird which somehow unfurls into a sheltered picnic table? An exciting toy whittled by the mysterious Dwarves of the Bavarian Forests?

No, it’s really just a little bird that chirps when you move close to it or turn off the light, and it’s for Otis. Oh, and it’s standing next to my Yi Xing pottery peanut, which is one of the few tchotchkes that I’ve kept over the years. I’ve had the bird on my work table for the last couple of days, and I keep forgetting about it, moving my arm into its range, and having the crap scared out of me whenever it starts chirping. Maybe we should cancel our subscription to the alarm company and just set this thing by the door. Or, if I were the type to diet, I’d put it near some food.

Oh wait, and don’t let me forget this other little find:

My love, my treasure, my robe hook.

Can you guess? We didn’t really find anything. Sigh. The prices weren’t that great and the selection was small. Not a single Flor tile anywhere. It was pretty disappointing. Luckily, we met up with our friends there, drank coffee and ate cupcakes and buttery croissants all morning while we waited to charge through the doors, all of us sans babies, which was fun and thrilling all by itself. Oh well, that’s OK. I think a big part of this whole sample sale obsession is the thrill of the hunt, and the fun of the anticipation. We’ll just wait until the next one. Sorry for the lack of vicarious thrills.