In her room....

My Lily had three of her girlfriends for a sleep-over this weekend and they all flipped over her room. It made me think how amazing she is.... Her room is such a perfect reflection of her personality, her style and artistic soul.

Michael and I always say how Lily has the better taste than anyone we know. She is so incredibly particular about the every little detail and will never make a decision until she's explored every option.

She is always one to take on a project and I know that came from my Mom. I may have suggestions on this or that, but the final word always comes down to her, in her room.

When I think of sweet Lily and the way her room has bloomed, I can't help but hear the song, "In my Room", by the Beach Boys (now playing).

This is Lily's mannequin that she is obsessed with... It holds a very prominent place in the corner. The outfits and accessories can change from day to day and they always seem to speak from her fashion perspective.

She has developed this funny little fascination for owls. You'll see an ongoing them of them throughout. The tissue box here is part of a collection of decoupage that she's been doing for a year or so now.

This is a piece of art that Lily and my Mom did for her room. The entire thing is hand done with vintage papers that she cut out and mounted on a board. She is so proud of this creation... Almost as much as we are of her for making it.

Lily bought this ceramic owl at Urban Outfitters with her $. It serves as a sort of guardian owl, looking over her at night. My Mom helped her take a branch from the yard, they painted it gold and glittered it. The flowers are oragami that she did from a kit we got her from Michael's.

This is the view from Lily's bed, as she lies down and looks up to ceiling. The big pom poms, she made herself, of course. Whenever I lie down with her, I feel like I'm in a dream, fantasy.

There are all sorts of collections that she has, but these Harajuku perfume bottles are the latest one.

This shelf and dresser were a couple of rummage sale finds that we refinished to her exact color and specifications. Both mid-century pieces really make her room.

Thanks Lily, for letting me intrude and share your magic with everyone. I love you...

Lunch Box Twenty

So, pretty much everyone is back to school or will be as of this week. I don't know about you all, but around our house, the preparations start pretty early. Lunch boxes seemed to have been at the top of the priority list.

I was blown away at how far the traditional lunch box has come. I was also surprised to see the return of those classic retro versions that I remember carrying to school, thirty-something years ago. What really blew my mind, was the availability of all these great lunch box options on lunchboxes.com

To celebrate the first day of school and to pay homage to lunch box as an ever lasting symbol of our children's education, I thought it would be fun to list our top twenty pix:

The company Built, NYC is right at the top with there neoprene lunch bags that come in a bunch of shapes, sizes and super cute prints.


This one is great... The laptop lunch box with great little separated storage inside.
The salad box keeps the girls salads nice and cool and has a separate container for dressing.

The Tippin Box is India's version of the lunch box, and is a classic that's now turning up in all the offices in post-meltdown Wall St. Those extended two martini lunches at the Rainbow Room, are few and far between these days
Pirates need to eat lunch to...
This is called the Ration Box and is a knock-off of the lunch boxes used in the military. I love this one for me, because having a true ration for lunch is probably not a bad idea.

Hello Kitty and Tinkerbell, come on.. Those are classics.

The vintage candy collection, we can all relate to.


And of course the lunch box for the little rock and roller in the family.

Lunchables...

I have read probably 10 articles lately on healthy kids lunches. My kids get a little spoiled with Michael's cooking and it's made them pretty picky.

Here are a few of the articles that I thought were worth checking out. Lots of great ideas and recipes...

Bon Appetite Magazine

Reader's Digest

Wee Delicious

You are invited...

As a huge fan of paper products, custom printed invites, embossing and all that, it's almost a little tough to blog about this site. The fact is that PaperlessPost.com is done so well that we may not need stationary stores in the future.

This is definitely a step up from e-vites or any other online invitation service that I've seen. The company claims that the service is ad-free, carbon neutral and the next generation in formal correspondence.

Once you join, it allows members to to design deliver and manage invitations online, that are as beautiful as custom printed card stock.

Click this link and check out the demo. You'll love it:

Invite...

Surprise, Surprise...

Every year, as summer comes to a close, we have Lily's birthday and it always seems like a fitting way to wrap up the season. This year it was pretty quiet, just a family gathering, a little Disneyland and Lily's favorite pasta dinner. That is, until I got a call from Lily's sweet little friend Sofie, saying that she was planning a surprise party.

Who doesn't like a surprise party anyway? Well, it was first for her and a so darn cute I could die.

Sofie (pictured here at the far right), planned the whole thing by herself (with a little help from her mom and sister... Thanks again Tanya), from the handmade and hand delivered invites, to the decorations, food, activities and sleep-over.

Lily was thrilled and her little friends were all so happy they pulled off the surprise, without a hitch.

All the food, including this amazing cake, came from Haute Cakes Caffe... I think Sofie knows someone there. They did make-your-own-pizzas, fruit salad, delicious ceasar and cake, of course.

The whole party was just perfect and I know Lily will never forget it.