We're On the Tutu Train

Freida's infatuation with severely gnarly tutus (or any tulle, for that matter!) is rapidly spiraling out of control. Sometimes I have to literally wrestle her to get them off before bath or bed! She cries and holds onto the elastic waistband with such tight fists that her knuckles go white, whimpering "princess, princess". I know it's quite pathetic. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be one of those moms, whose kids show up at preschool each and every day sporting the same Buzz Lightyear rain-boots, or (worse!) Cinderella princess dress. I thought I was destined for a tomboy, a daughter after my own heart... not a fairy-wing loving, lipstick adoring, pirouette perfecting, tea-party obsessing child --- but I absolutely adore her, even more for all the unfamiliar princess quirks that come along with her!! Plus, she's teaching me a thing or two about being a lady (I never wore pink - now it's my favorite color!), and I must admit, tea-time with a group of stuffed animals and my little love calling out "pinkies up!" has proven to be rather relaxing and satisfying.

But, the gnarly Tutus must be nipped in the bud - especially now that I'm quite certain she will be seen in public adorned in "princess" garb at some future point...

That's what brings me to currently coveting these beauties:

How breathtaking are these??? By the incredibly awesome Australian tutu producers: TutuDuMonde. All tutus are hand-made and hand-dyed - lending each a one-of-a-kind feel inspired by vintage couture. Now that's more like it!

Yummy Earth: Nixing Negative Candy Connotations

When I was a kid, my mother's stash of (what she considered) "candy" ranged from carob-covered rice cakes to oatmeal plum & raisin bars (dubbed "poop bars" by my younger siblings) to a tiny box of Sunmaid raisins. There were some Glenny's lollipops in the mix, but they were far from "yummy". I made a promise to myself when I was a little girl that I would never subject my children to the sort of candy-withdrawal I felt as a kid... I was always stuffing birthday party candy in my pockets, and hoarding the cupcakes because who knew when the next time I'd meet sugar would be?  (Sorry Mother! I do understand you though...)

Well, thank God I live in a time where markets are filled with heaps of goodies that are made of goodness! I discovered Yummy Earth Organic candies when I was pregnant with Freida. It seemed that every baby boutique we frequented had a bucket of Yummy Earth pops at the checkout counter (after snagging a few at a time - I was hooked). Now we go through bags of these natural and truly delicious "Poppies" (Frieda named them that, and it stuck); I always have one of their pop pouches in my bag (I refill it on demand - it's the perfect public-meltdown-prevention tactic), the play-daters go directly to our pantry in search of Tooberry Blueberry or Strawberry Smash (Freida already knows to pluck out a "white one for mommy" - Sour Apple Tart), and even the adults can't seem to pass up a round of Yummy Earth suckers!

Invented by two Daddies looking for some sort of healthy candy for their children to consume guilt-free, this line of lollipops and candy drops are made from only the most natural and organic ingredients - including the flavors and colors! There's a tag-line on all the bags, "The best lollipop I've ever tasted!", and it is so damn straight!

P.S. We snag bags of the Vitamin C variety at Marshalls - $5 for 50 pops!

You can find out more about the making of these wonderfully succulent candies here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlFrEFb0Dmg&feature=player_embedded]

Covering the Fashion Trends

I hope you all enjoyed the extra little bit of weekend we were graced with. The weather here spiked to the 80's (!!), so I've simply been frolicking outdoors - it was the kind of weather that brings you an intense amount of actual physical pleasure - and it was glorious! On Sunday I found myself leafing through the Urban Outfitters early spring catalogue and wound up in a state of shock a few pages in; a full-headscarf wearing, high buttoned blouse sporting, long sleeved clad women - who looked an awfully lot like my 2nd grade Hebrew teacher - was splashed across their main spread! Is that model from Boro Park? Did the folks over at Urban find some fashion inspiration from the many religious jewish women who frequent their stores? How is that now a trend?? After studying the photoshoot a bit more, I realized that this whole thing was in fact shot in Israel (looks like Tel-Aviv). So while the headscarfs and blouses are part of the Urban spring collection, I know beyond a reasonable doubt that these style trends were most definitely sparked by the ultra-orthodox ladies of the land. I mean, when I'm in Vegas with friends we get a nice amount of stares for covering out hair by the pool - I never thought I'd see a fashion lineup of hot models at the Dead Sea shore in bikini tops and tichels! Someone should tell Urban to start carrying the Milano WiGrip! :)

But that was early Sunday morning. Sunday evening brought something entirely more stupefying altogether: the couture at the Golden Globes. Hollywood's red carpet was a shroud of coverage! I honestly couldn't get over the long-sleeved revolution (we won't mention the low-dip backs, it's the front that's topic of interest)! I know the runways have been getting much more coverage over the past 3 seasons, but this was absurd! Apparently the right to bare arms has been eclipsed by the sleek long-sleeve trend... and they all look ravishing, to boot!

There's just something so astonishing about seeing Angelina Jolie, a sex-symbol of today's world, with her partner Brad Pitt, an absolute classic Hollywood icon - in a dress that is far more modest than anything I can manage to bring myself to wear!!

Modestly seems to be the latest in fashion trend policy... good luck keeping up!!

Bird Feeding Frenzy!

Fortunately, we are blessed with a wonderful "Mommy & Me" that meets weekly out of the Hebrew Academy Huntington Beach. It's held by the ECE director Chanie Perelmuter in the Hebrew Academy Preschool, and it's really quite lovely! This week, all the mommies (and babies) got to paint and decorate a wooden bird house in honor of Shabbos Shira (it is a Jewish tradition to commemorate and thank the birds for "saving the day" once long ago while the Jewish people wandered the desert).

We filled the little birdhouse with the birdseed and hung it outside of Freida's bedroom window.

We had plenty of birdseed left over, so we went on a little nature walk in search of some pinecones. I totally forgot that there are really very few trees that produce pinecones in our neighborhood, so we settled for some spikey Sweetgum berries that had fallen all over one of the sidewalks nearby...

Birds love peanut butter (especially the crunchy kind!), so I gave Freida a spoon and a half empty jar of crunchy peanut butter with flaxseed (flax is usually an ingredient in birdseed recipes anyways). After coating the Sweetgum in a nice thick layer, I let her roll them in the birdseed. We then hung them up beneath the birdhouse for some extra bird-feeding fun.

Freida hung out there calling the birds to what she dubbed as "My Birdie Berries" all morning long! :)

P.S. I'm totally digging this wickedly modern folding birdhouse from Jesper Moller Hansen and Dorthe Weis!! How hot??

Here's to the furry & flighful (I know, that's not a word - but it should be)!!

Wishing you all a fabulous extended weekend!!

The "Freedom" of Freelance

Spotted this "work for free" flow-chart from Jessica Hische and I think it's worthy of some lofty office wall space. Print it, frame it, hang it. This is the freelancer's/working-girl's guide!! Made me smile (and cringe, a little).

(You gotta click and open it up to get the full genius effect.)