My Latest Obsessions

One of my favorite pics of all three kiddos!

WOW, I cannot believe that Christmas is over and we are now getting ready to ring in 2011!!! New Year's Day last year we announced our exciting baby news!! Time flies!

We had a great Christmas and it was so much fun having little GMC with us - his first Christmas! The girls explained EVERYTHING to him from Santa and the cookies we leave out for him to how we open our stockings last!

Some of my latest faves...

Laura Cook of Laura Cook Photography did an awesome job this year taking pics of the kids. She ROCKS! I wholeheartedly recommend her if you are in the Chicago area!

Some of my favorite gifts from Christmas are as follows:
Lucky Brand slippers - cozy and warm - LOVE
My 2011 Linda & Harriett letterpress calendar - beautiful calendar
Gift Card to Lululemon - who doesn't LOVE Lulu???!!!! Seriously, Lulu and Anthropologie are my all time faves...!

I love the brand Splendid - super soft and cozy but not always so budget friendly. In comes Target...check it out - they just launched a line with Target for baby clothes. OMG, LOVE this little set for a baby girl. Love the little ruffle on the onesie!

I love the restaurant Graham Elliot - and fun, a newbie opened up called Grahamwich! I cannot wait to check it out!

Cute NYE bingo cards to play with the kiddos!

My Latest Obsessions

Countdown until Christmas...crazy that the holidays are literally around the corner. Time is flying. It has been a week filled with school holiday parties and programs for the kiddos and lots of gingerbread houses were made and carols were sung.

I always love checking out the different gift guides out there. Some of my faves:

• Dear friend Taryn's December Dozen on her Sage & Style blog.


• Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo always has such fun finds in her Gift Guides. I love her guide for Beloved Husband Who Makes Peppery Eggs, Sings Rolling Stones to your Baby and Can Always Make You Laugh. Here is Goddard's Gift Guide regarding all things Etsy.


• Gwenyth Paltrow's GOOP Gift Guide. For instance, how cute are these personalized recipe cards (would be fun to "gift" along with a homemade treat). And this season I'm all about cozy shoes (as it has been FREEZING these days)...so I loved her recent post on just that...cozy shoes. Totally dig the Ugg-esque bow boots.


• Daily Candy always has great Gift Guides for everyone on your list. This is where I discovered Mast Brothers Chocolates (BEAUTIFUL packaging - which I'm always a sucker for...). I LOVE just looking at the wrapping of these chocolates. LOVE.


• Enjoyed reading Elements of Style's Gift Guide for kids. So many fun items!!!
  

My Latest Obsessions

Happy Friday! Winter is HERE - game on - trying to stay positive and remember why I live in Chicago...

My latest favorite pic of GMC is above. LOVE it. I cannot believe the little guy is 4 months old!

OMG, I love anything ikat print. The other day I received an email from Anthropologie featuring all things ikat. So fun! I think I may have to pick up some of these adorable ikat bowls. LOVE them.

I'm always looking for accessories to turn a basic black shirt into something more glam and fun. How about this great necklace?

How fun are these "city" blanket maps?!

Peter loves bow ties. I think they are so fun and he looks adorable in them. I hope little GMC takes after his daddy and wears them! Here are some fun bow ties.

How great is this "Darling" mug. The other day Margaret asked me what Darling meant. The little gal had overhead me describe something she had done as "darling." It's a shame that I cannot get away with throwing around "darling" as it sounds so fun...maybe if I were british!

My Latest Obsessions

I'm still stuffed from last week's Thanksgiving. Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. It was our first year hosting - LOVED having everyone over - so fun!

Are you looking for a super cute gift that has meaning behind it? Check out The Kenana Story and the hand knitted critters they are selling. Pretty cool.

I LOVE hot chocolate. The moment there is a chill in the air I start to end my evenings with a warm mug of yummy hot chocolate. Aren't these little Gingerbread houses a cute addition to a mug of hot chocolate? ADORABLE. And you gotta love this gal's not martha blog. Good stuff.

Peter's BIG 40th birthday was this past Sunday. He wanted to quietly slide under the radar and I promised no parties - especially a surprise party. So, the gals and I set forth and created a keepsake for him - we made a book (via Tiny Prints) entitled "40 reasons why we love you." We spent the last couple of weeks making signs and taking pictures and then this weekend we uploaded all 40 pics and created a book via Tiny Prints. The gift was a HUGE success!

And speaking of Tiny Prints...the gals made their debut in Minted's online 2010 holiday cards and can be found in an ad in Martha Stewart, Town & Country, US Magazine and some others (with this photo). Some other ones can be found online. Here is a cute one - and so is this one! How fun! We had no idea until some of our friends spotted them. Ha - and here are Peter/myself - as Liz and Alex. How funny!

During the holidays I am always looking for hostess gifts for all the holiday parties we attend. These cutely wrapped breads remind me of my mom and how she always passes out YUMMY lemon poppyseed breads (very cutely wrapped of course) to neighbors and take aways from their own parties.

Two of Peter's cousins just got engaged so we have some more fun weddings coming up this summer. Their engagement stories got me in wedding mode! How cute are these wallpaper napkin rings?!

What a fun idea - blackboard oil cloth...FUN FUN! That post led me to this adorable store = Bell 'occhio.