Cute Skirts Made With Love

Happy Friday! These skirts are too adorable with whimsical prints and a vintage look. They all look so comfy and perfect for weekend wear, whether you are going for a lazy Saturday afternoon stroll or attending a lovely Sunday brunch. All from Made With Love by Hannah.

Design Star - Final 3

I'm a big fan of the show Design Star on HGTV with judges Cynthia Rowley, Vern Yip and Martha McCully. It's now down to the final 3. Catch it on Sundays at 9 p.m. (Pacific/Eastern).

Missed some episodes? No problem. Design Star Marathon will air this Sunday starting at 3 p.m. (Pacific/Eastern)

I Heart Blueprint

Can I just tell you how much I love Blueprint? My Fall 2006 issue arrived the other day and I can't seem to put it down. It's filled with such great finds, ideas and projects on style, design, food, organization and crafts. All, of course, ala Martha.

Tea Cup Craziness

I remember when Beth first started her Tea Cup Swap in the beginning of the year and I think there were only about 30 participants. Word of mouth, blog postings, not to mention some media coverage, have resulted into a tea cup swap frenzy. Now I see that there are over 200 participants! Kudos to Beth for creating and organizing such a fun swap. August 25 is the last day to sign up for Tea Cup Swap #6. Here is a re-cap of what I received so far:

Branch: Cool Organic Finds

I'm a big fan of creatively designed products that are made of organic and environmentally-sound materials. Branch offers items that are made of recycled glass, cork, naturally-aged wood, biodegradable plastics and hand-woven vintage fabrics. Even better, their items have such clean and interesting lines suitable for modern living.

Tea Cup Swap 5

Beth's Tea Cup Swap Round 5 has been another blast! I got a wonderful package from my swap partner, Natalie. She picked such a pretty pedestal foot tea cup in a pale purple with a flower design on the inside that reminds me of Monet's garden. She also sent yummy peach white tea and cinnamon creamed honey. Thank you so much, Natalie, for such a terrific swap package!
























As usual, it was fun to shop and package up goodies for my swap partner, Robin. I received this very same tea cup from a past swap partner, Katie. It is SO adorable and makes me smile each time I use it, so I had to go to Antrhopologie and get one for Robin. Here is what I sent her:

...and Sprinkles We Came!

Yesterday afternoon, I couldn't resist stopping at Sprinkles's new location in Newport Beach since Josh and I were in the neighborhood anyway. Reminiscent of its first bakery in Beverly Hills, there was a line out the door! We walked out with a coconut chocolate cupcake, a milk chocolate cupcake and two carob cupcakes for Tank. Sprinkles cupcakes are the very best cupcakes I have ever had. They are so moist, smooth and tasty. Seriously folks, if you are a cupcake fan like me, you need to make a stop at Sprinkles when you are in the Los Angeles area or Orange County.

No Sprinkles in your neighborhood? Well, make it happen by voting for a Sprinkles to appear near you. Vote for your city right here.

Sprinkles, Here We Come!

Sprinkles is now open in Newport Beach, CA! Just look at all these flavors. YUM!



















Carob cupcakes also available for our little dog friends:

Cool Wall Paper from Rare Device

Summer is nearly on its way out and we still need to finish up some home renovations. These wall paper would look great in a powder room or nook area and even pretty enough to frame. Available at Rare Device.

Five Senses Swap

A few weeks ago, I participated in a swap that revolved around the Five Senses. I thought it was a cool concept to send/receive a package that allowed you to experience all the senses at one time. Here is what I got from Stephanie - great smelling soap, yummy candies and tea, a CD mix, a very soft hand-made scarf and a fun necklace. Thanks, Stephanie, for a fun package!













I also had so much fun shopping for my swap partner, Yo Yo. I put together a package that had a spa theme. Here's what I sent her:

New Music by John Mayer: Continuum

In stores on 9/12. Pre-order here.

Postcard Swap

A couple of weeks ago, I received a beautiful postcard from Lilian for the Handmade Postcard Swap through Swap Bot. It was equally fun to create a postcard for my partner, Lois. For my postcard, I used left over scraps of paper and beautiful embellishments from Papier Valise, one of my favorite online shops for craft goodies. They have a variety of good quality and absolutely adorable adornments made of paper, metal, plastic, glass and fabric. I can buy the entire store!