I’ve been looking for a dresser for Coco’s room for a while. Something simple, that would grow with her. I spied just that at Ikea not that long ago. I noticed it in the warehouse section, as I was heading to the check-out. But it was up on a platform, so I couldn’t get to [...]

So my trip to Heidelberg was lovely. It was just what the doctor ordered – a little time with my husband, kid-free, in a foreign country. And Germany is one of a few European countries I have not visited. It was perfect. We found a lot of hidden gems on the little side streets, off [...]

Kids have way too many toys these days. Mine included. In fact, I just spent yesterday evening packing up two trash bags and a moving carton with stuff that I then threw into a closet. I’ll pull them out down the road. When my girls have long since forgotten about them. But going through the [...]

I have a lot of people in my life who, when it comes to gifting, stump me. Nearly every time. These are people who 1) have absolutely everything that they need, and 2) if they don’t have absolutely everything that they need, will go out any buy everything that they need. Humph.
Some thoughts on the [...]

I hate surprises. Don’t tell me that you have a surprise for me. And that I have to wait for it. Or anything remotely similar. Because I can’t wait. And I will tear up the house looking for whatever this surprise might be.
Well, as it turns out, I don’t like to give surprises, either. Because [...]

I’ve been doing some preparation for this year’s holiday season. And it’s going to be very, very merry. This is the first year that Pea really gets what it all means. Perhaps that’s because she attends a Christian school. I don’t know. But the preparations have been on a very grand scale.
Starting with the Advent [...]

As we prepare the house for the long winter ahead, I have cozy on my mind.
A few of my favorite cold weather items, to keep me (and my kids) toasty warm in our home…
Flor tiles at our back doors. It’s the entrance for our dogs from the wet backyard, and I can’t figure out how [...]

I never have any clue as to what to get my mother-in-law as a gift. Just no clue. What do you get for the woman who literally has everything, and if she doesn’t have it, she goes out and buys it? (She has a black belt in shopping. No kidding. And her husband? He’s very, [...]

I love Muji. The Japanese store. But I could never find an American shop, outside of NYC, that stocks any of their products. And since I’ve moved away from NYC, that’s not really an option. And although my husband is known to travel to Japan now and again, I very well could not ask him [...]

Years ago, before Pea was even born, my mother-in-law gave me a box of “Animal Parade Alphabet Cards” which are made by a company called eeBoo. I never paid much attention to them, at first glance they looked like your typical child’s cutesy themed cards. But I recently started to notice a growing trend in [...]

I started reading Domino magazine recently, and I am hooked. The mix is great, for someone interested in home design. It’s high-end (like the sofa that I just had to have… until I saw the price tag. $14,000. Ouch.) It’s a steal, such as outdoor iron chairs brought inside, outfitted with cushions to up the [...]

When my husband returned from China, there were so many gifts for the girls. Really, it was ridiculous. And I know, I get it. Six weeks is a long time. And aside from the postcards that arrived nearly every day for Pea and Coco, from Beijing, there was not a lot of room to let [...]

Over the summer, while my husband was in China, I ordered a tee-pee for Pea and Coco to paint. We had a little party at the house, one night after camp, and several kids came over to join in the fun. And fun it was. The little ones, from 17-months old to 7-years, all donned [...]

We’ve made working on the girls’ rooms a priority. I mentioned before that Pea had been having some ‘issues’ with the state of her room, which is actually quite lovely. Not, however, according to Her Highness. “My room is not pretty.” Every night. And her room is pretty. It’s just not hers; it was someone [...]

Okay, so I am big into storage. No, huge into storage. Of anything. And everything. I firmly believe that every single thing in our home should have it’s place. It’s home. It’s resting place. And if it doesn’t? And I find in on the kitchen island? Or the stairs? Or the floor of my bedroom? [...]