Random Inspiration: Morphed!

Fell for this chair a few years ago when I saw it printed in an art magazine. I ripped it out and kept in in a file folder titled "nesting inspirations", I was dreaming about something like this in an entryway... Pretty much forgot about it until I landed upon it yesterday in an email about the designer Sebastian Brajkovic.

I find this take on "modernizing" furniture so refreshing! The designer used different methods (including carpentry) to "morph" the classics - like this 17th Century dining chair - into modern art. I'm now officially creatively inspired. :)

Fill-in the Blanks

Whilst browsing around for projects, activities, and favors for Freida's birthday party, I came upon some of the most wonderful "blanks" ever! It's such a wonderfully creative venture for children to create "something from nothing" - starting a book (thinking of a story line/pictures), painting a set of dolls (the clothing/the expressions), coloring a puzzle (the challenge level/the color-coordinates), penning up a comic (the illustrations/the bubbles and starbursts) etc. It's just so expressive and inevitably heaps of fun!  Here's a little roundup of my favorites:

1. Blank Board Books

2. Blank Nesting Dolls

3. Blank Comics

4. Blank Hardcover Story Book

5. Blank Jigsaw Puzzle

6. Blank Ragdoll

"Mom Brain" be Damned!

You mothers out there can likely relate to the feeling of "mom brain" - asking where your keys are while they are in your hand, thinking you misplaced the sunglasses that are perched nicely on your head, locking your child in the house (i did that!), and constantly losing your phone (found mine in the fridge once!). Well, not all those little issues can be solved at once, but here's Dave Dawson to our missing-cell-phone rescue: icantfindmyphone.com is the most simple + helpful website out there! For those flighty-brain moments where no one else is around to call your phone for you... I just tried it - super, super cool. They even give me "good day" wishes once I answer!

Spotlight Mom: Tracy Anderson

Lately I've been feeling bored with my regular exercise (treadmill) routine... there comes a point where you feel like it's just not doing it for you anymore, you know what I mean? Sometimes it's just fun to switch it up and go back to some old favorites - so I'm going back to Tracy Anderson's treadmill routine. I'm sure most of you have heard of celebrity trainer (and mother-to-watch) Tracy Anderson (her method really blew up in the past few years). I first read about her in an article featured in Cookie Magazine. It was right after I gave birth to Freida, and from what I read, it sounded like she had a pretty little method going - the line that really got me was "it's healthier for your kids to see you dig into a slice of their birthday cake with gusto rather than always seeing mommy counting her weight watcher points" - she was selling that as the main payoff for all the fitness work. I really related to that so I searched YouTube and started doing a preview video of her workout routine - I loved it, and after seeing results I ordered her Post Pregnancy DVD.

Now, I can't claim that I lost weight from it - a couple pounds at most - but that is because I wasn't properly dieting or doing serious cardio. What I will say for the DVD is that it completely strengthened my most important muscles in the most fantastic way! After giving birth (aside from the extra stomach pouch) our abdominal muscles tend to disconnect and fall lazily idle; making it extremely important to work those muscles afterward. The sequences in this routine made me the strongest I've ever been - my core, my abdominal, my thighs, and my abs were whipped into shape! I didn't even realize what kind of amazing results I got until I went to a class and showed these moves to some women - toned, fit, and slim women - who were not able to keep up at all! Again, this DVD alone will not yield wight-loss results, but Tracy promises that mixing this (or her Mat Workout DVD) with here Dance Cardio DVD or her awesome Treadmill Workout Routine (which I looove!) - will make your body issues dissipate and provide a "teeny-tiny" lean figure.

I would highly recommend the Post Pregnancy DVD for all post-partum mothers (come to think of it, this would make for a useful and original baby gift)! It is calming and low-key, set to classical music, and makes for a relaxing and strengthening post-partum workout (aside from the fact that the room decor she does the workout in annoyed me to no end!!). I did it for months with little Freida on a blanket on the floor right in front of me, she seemed to enjoy the calm of the music, and she would watch intently as I'd lift my legs or arms up and down... was good exercise for her development as well! :)

You can find out more about Tracy and her method here.

Here is the original video that I found and did for a while before buying her DVD:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCiMBFc0sc]

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