Happy Moms = Happy Families

This is so very true right? The tone, energy and happiness level of the mother in a family will spread into the lives of all the family members.  Cranky, uptight mom = stressed household. Happy, calm, in-tune mom = calm household. There are obviously many exceptions but I love this saying because to me, nothing could be more accurate.  So if this is the case, doesn't it make sense for all mothers to put themselves first in the priority line? I know - easy to say, hard to do. Which gets me to this book: The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker. I just love the title.

I noticed this last week on the shelf of my local bookstore. My instinct was to quickly scan the book to find out what the top ten list was and then move on, but upon further thought I decided I should just get the darn book. And I will but I wanted to tell you about the book first (I might download the book tonight as a matter of fact and just share the top 10 list with you all later).

In the meantime, and on this very important subject matter, here are two blogs I love that also help with the challenge of finding your personal centeredness and finding more balance in your life. Yes both are about yoga but regardless they are great websites filled with great information for busy woman.

www.pranamama.com

www.yogahealer.com (you have to dig around a bit on this site, but the good info is there. She has some great download-able interviews under resources too)

Enjoy! And I'll be back for a part two on the book once I read it!

Paper Art

Oh my. This lady is creative. Below is the work of Elly MacKay of Theatre Clouds. She makes amazing theatrical three dimensional scenes from paper and paint/ink. You can view and buy her work on Etsy.


Here's a brief write up of her process: "I make these images by inking yupo paper and cutting it into layers that I set up in a miniature theater. I play with the lights and filters to create atmosphere and then photograph the scenes."

Each piece seems to tell a sweet little story doesn't it? I'm in awe!

 I love this one below called "With the Luck of a Rabbit"

shopping with Vicky

Interesting site for fun pieces of vintage furniture &  accessories. Vickysyardsale.com. 

Not a ton of inventory but she has some cool art deco and mid century vintage yard sale'y type stuff at good prices. And the nice thing about this is that you don't have to go yard sale hoping yourself to score something cool.  Her inventory changes often so it's good to check in every now and then.

Here's a smattering of her stuff!

Cool chairs. 

Not going to name price on this. I have my eye on these mod little tables.

 

25 for a set of cool glasses.

Bright and fun vintage ice bucket. I think 30.

Bone salad tongs. 12.

Japanese deco plates. 35.

Back Pack filter

Here we go. School has started so it's time to start thinking about school necessities. This year my son has an old lime green LLBean back pack from last year which I'm hoping will last but it's my preschooler who wants/needs her first pack. So I started searchn. 

Good news! LLbean no more. There are some goodies out there. Starting below with my favorite! 

And I love how these are all normal child-sized packs and not made for a giant's back!

Poketo back-packs! $58.

For the hipster. The Spiketus Rex from Madpax. Love these too. $28-60.

For the engineer. Herschel's, The Settlement orange back-pack. Lasts forever. Not too big. $49.

 For the new englanders. The NorthFace. Lots of colors and a perfect price of $29. Love the handle.

And finally...the fashionista pick. A Bakker Made with Love pack called The 

Mini Cartable Jouy Rose. $60.

Porch round-up

Been thinking about my little screened in porch these days. The one I inherited when we bought our new house. It's dirty and spider riden at the moment, but I'm starting to brainstorm ideas and thought I'd show you a nice round-up I found tonight on Remodelista.

These are cool, and I can't help but love the old fashioned porch all the way down at the bottom!