Featured Fashionista Friday

Today's featured artist/fashionista is Mariama Bramble, my collegue and creator of Etsy bowtie shop Brownbelle. Mariama has a totally unique style when it comes to fashion. I love that she's not afraid to try new styles, especially here in an office full of pinstripe suits! Mariama's Brownbelle bowties are all hand made by her from recycled vintage ties in all kinds of interesting fabrics, and are definitely way more fun than any store-bought bowtie I've ever seen.  

Mariama is inspired by everything including people, places, and music. She often comes up with ideas at work, which she always writes on post-its to remember for later. She makes things other than bow ties to get ideas, and loves spending time perusing fabric stores here in Boston and in New York City and Providence for interesting fabrics. Mariama got her start after she applied to be part of the SOWA Open Market in Boston. She didn't think she'd get in with the couple of bowties she had created, but she did and quickly created Brownbelle. It's been challenging and exciting for her as the business has grown, with so little time on nights and weekends after her full-time job. But Mariama loves the challenge and is excited that it has taken off so well. I wanted to share part of a Q&A that she did for another site - it's a great answer that is so inspiring.

Question: What does the future hold for Brownbelle?
Answer: There are infinite possibilities, but I see bow ties and accessories specifically for the ladies in the near future. Beyond that I just want to continue to create things that people dig, and push my boundaries creatively and as a business owner. A year ago I would have never imagined that I was capable of doing anything like this; I’ll never underestimate myself again.

www.etsy.com/shop/brownbelle

Coolest Mom on the Block

Ok I just saw these on a blog I follow. I totally want them - forget roller blades, roller skates are way better. I would be the coolest mom on the block if I had them.



http://www.rollergirl.ca/skateshop/rocket-p-234.html

Too bad they're ridiculously expensive and I don't think I could ever justify spending $335 on a pair of roller skates. It did spark my interest though, and I did a little searching. I found some cute ones on Amazon - Bean and I could get matching skates like this for a hec of a lot less:



http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Womens-Artistic-Roller-Skates/dp/B001G2CTZK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1305903618&sr=8-6



I also looked on Etsy and found several vintage skates. That could be an option, especially if I could somehow find some adult-sized Smurf or Strawberry Shortcake skates from the 80's. That would be awesome.



http://www.etsy.com/listing/74310947/vintage-1983-rainbow-brite-roller-derby?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=roller+skates&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_category=vintage&ga_facet=



http://www.etsy.com/listing/36269086/vintage-smurf-roller-skates

 

365 Project

One of the reasons I started this blog was to have an excuse to take at least one picture a day. I think it helps to have a place to document those pictures - it definitely motivates me knowing that I have a place to post them and I can see them starting to build up. A friend of mine introduced me to the 365 Project, a website where you can sign up to post a picture a day to either keep for yourself or share with other 365ers. http://365project.org/ I think it's a great concept, and I encourage everyone to give it a try. I'll tell you what it did for me - having a goal of taking a photo a day has make every single day, every seemingly boring walk to and from the train, every wait in line interesting now, because I'm constantly looking for things to photograph. And those photo opportunities are there, everywhere even in the most "boring" of places.  Even if you don't officially sign up on the website, try it on your own for a while see what happens. You'll be surprised at how much you start to see.

Photos of the Day

A few pics of the Seaport Disrict in Boston from last night - a couple cool warehouse buildings, the Bank of America Pavillion before the Weezer show, and a very foggy view of Boston from the south side.

Pics at Lunch

After five days of continuous rain, it's getting harder and harder to find great photo opportunities at lunch and I have to focus mostly on hiding from the rain. But here's one from a quick walk through the commons today, using the Instagram app on my iPhone. The bigger building in the background is the building I work in, where I spend the majority of my waking life these days. It's a fairly boring looking building, but looks pretty cool as a backdrop against the trees in the park.

Livin The Dream Magazine, aka LTD Mag

A common conversation that my hubby and I have when we call each other from work goes like this: Ring ring, "Hey honey, what are you up to?" Response: "Oh, you know, just livin the dream, livin the dream." A few months ago we were joking around one night after a day of commuting, working, cleaning, paying bills, shoveling snow, parenting, etc etc and we came up with an idea called "Livin the Dream Magazine," a blog or magazine dedicated to Livin the American Dream. I wish I had time to create another blog, if anyone out there wants to, please feel free!! We even came up with a logo:

LTD Magazine: Domestic Bliss One Day at a Time, featuring the following sections:

1. This s--t needs to get done. How to successfully eliminate all joyful activities from your life to make sure everything gets done.
2. When 5 days of daycare aren't enough, how to maximize all 11 hours each day.
3. Blackberry adultery, are you becoming too close to your portable electronics?
4. E-mail inbox, friend or foe?
5. Thoughts from the Cube
6. How to eat all week but never actually cook
7. How to blow your discretionary budget and have nothing to show for it
8. Sub out all chores for under $10 an hour, how neighbor kids provide a major benefit
9. Thoughts from the train, daily musings on the commuter life
10. Finance dilemas: when $200 a day still isn't enough
11. How to eliminate sleep altogether, because 8 hours of sleep is silly folklore
12. The new no-contact relationship - building relationships with no face-to-face contact ever
13. Living without the Internet, and other modern addictions

Chalkboard Quote Wednesdays

Daily Painters Website

I just discovered this cool website where painters can sell their paintings. http://www.dailypainters.com/  I like it because it's totally dedicated to painting, and because you can click on a painting and it'll take you to more info on the artist and a link to their blog. I think I could search this site and all the links from it for hours. There's usually 50-70 paintings added a day, which makes it a great on to click through for daily inspiration. Here's a few of my favorite from the last couple of days.

Will It Ever Be Sunny Again?

With so many recent disasters related to weather this year and so many people displaced, it doesn’t feel right complaining about a week of rain. But I can’t help it. I need to write this, if anything for some therapy for myself to try to make it through this blustery, cold, rainy late May week. The kind of week that makes me question my commitment to Boston, my family and my friends who live here. It wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t done this already this year. After the sixth Noreaster and the seven feet of snow this winter, I was ready to pack up my and move anywhere warm. I cursed my warm weather friends, who happily updated their Facebook status to “walking on the beach” or “just got back from a jog outside.” I daydreamed often about luxuries like long summers, warm evenings eating dinner and drinking wine outdoors, and taking my daughter to school without a struggle to get her into her marshmallow-like winter coat. Why do I torture myself for five to six months a year in this land that Mother Nature hates, when the other half of the country lives in luxury? It seems so easy and those people seem so smart in the winter. But it’s not easy. Because despite all of its issues, its harsh, soul testing, property destroying weather, I still love it here. I know I’m crazy and so is everyone else who lives here, but there is something about this town that draws you in and helps you recover quickly from a rainy May week like this. The people come together and bond in their weather misery. Bostonians are known to not like outsiders – I think it’s because outsiders don’t have that bond with us yet. Survive a few winters and springs here with us, decide you’ll stay, and we’ll love you forever. I may have my bags packed several times and a real estate agent lined up sell the house each year in the heart of winter, but I know I’ll never leave. And for now I’m content to look longingly at this picture of my recent trip to Mexico. “That’s what the sun looks like and it does actually shine,” I remind myself. Someday soon it will shine here too. Hopefully sometime before July.  

Dinner with Dolly

There are some evenings when Bean is really tired and cranky after a long day of playing at daycare. But there are other evenings when she's in a great mood, laughing and smiling all night long. I love those nights, and I love her sneaky little smile. Last night we had fun at dinner with her baby doll, Dolly. Bean loves to play mommy and takes very good care of her Dolly. And she's always trying to put her feet on the table when we eat. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but laugh. Taking pictures probably isn't the best way to discourage it either. Oh well, she'll learn someday.

Pics at Lunch

Pics from lunch today - can you tell what this is? Traffic at Logan? Traffic on 93 North? Nope. (answer below)

 

Answer: The toy car and plane cart at Faneuil Hall

What Poem Do You Have Memorized?

In my early 20's I wrote out a list of things I wanted to accomplish in my life, including run a marathon (check), travel to Europe with no plans and see what happens (check), stay up all night to watch the sun rise (check - unfortunately more than once). One of the things on there was to memorize my favorite poem, "Invictus," by Robert Ernest Henley. I read it over and over and said it out loud over and over and did commit it to memory, and now I can recite it anytime, anywhere. A few years later I added "Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds," Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare. Both poems have meaning to me. Invictus is a powerful poem, written by a soldier in the Civil War fighting to stay alive and keep his spirits up. Saying that poem and especially the last two lines "I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul" really helped me through some things, including finishing the marathon and the 300 infertility treatments I went through. As for Shakespeare, everyone knows the first verse of Sonnet 116, and it's become almost cliche at weddings. But the rest of the Sonnet is amazing, and so true. My favorite line is "Love is not Love which alters when it alteration finds." Through traveling and studying abroad in England I came to love Shakespeare and his very modern themes and I really wanted to know that one by heart.
If you haven't memorized your favorite poem yet, I highly recommend it. Maybe as part of a bucket list? Or just as something for you to say "I did that" and feel good about it. 

Invictus - Robert Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

 

SONNET 116 - Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shared Idea - DIY Colored Coated Serving Spoons

A few weeks ago I was reading a Real Simple magazine and came across an ad for these serving spoons with color coated handles. They retail for $140 for the set at Horne decorating (www.shophorne.com). I think they're very cool and I'd love to have them for parties and add some fun to dinnertime, but not for $140.

So I was pretty excited today when I found a DIY project that would allow me to make my own set for less than $15, just as soon as I find some cheap vintage serving pieces the next time I'm at a flea market or thrift store. They're not quite the same, but close enough! Here's the link to this DIY project:

http://creativelychristy.blogspot.com/2010/11/colored-spoons-tutorial.html

Pics at Lunch - Custom House Tower

A few images of the Custom House Tower, on another rainy day here in Boston.

What We Did This Weekend



Swim sessons with daddy



Hugs between four generations



Attacking Poppy with cousins

Opening 6th birthday presents with cousin Amelia

 

Exercising

 

Laughing



Visit with Meme and Gramma Joyce