Hey Little Birdie!

It seems more and more frequently I am dazed by people’s ability and desire to band together to change circumstances, to offer support, and to give freely. I think we have a horrible propensity as humans to isolate and manage our lives alone. But I also think that is the opposite of what we are supposed to do. I believe we’ve been created to live alongside people, offering and receiving help whenever and wherever needed. I’ve been convicted lately to purposefully reach through my bubble and to daily choose to be engaged, surrounded, and accepting of the people God has so graciously set around me.

Jessica of Allora Handmade has a lifelong friend, Sharlie, who is battling Cystic Fibroris. And as you can guess, in her fight she has accumulated a daunting amount of medical bills (read more of the story here). Out of a deep love and concern for her friend, Jessica and her sister Mique have rallied the creative masses to open Shop for Sharlie. It has tutorials, printables, and advertising opportunities for you to purchase at nominal rates. All the proceeds go to Sharlie’s Angels. Go, buy something, and in the process help Sharlie as she waits for a double lung and heart transplant.

If you want to donate directly, go here.

I’ve been dreaming about the ocean lately.

When I was growing up, I didn’t like the beach. I think it had something to do with my uber-pale white skin and typical teenage girl body image issues. But the idea of vacationing at the beach wasn’t just unappealing, it was downright terrifying.

However, now that I am old, wiser, and less self aware (insert a Clueless Cher Horowitz “as if” right here), I find that I crave the peaceful repetition and calming nature of the ocean. You know, when you plant yourself on the sand, wiggle your toes in a bit, feel the breeze pull your body back and forth just so slightly… in that comforting, rocking way. And then you listen. The noise of the waves and the rumble of water slightly deafening all other sounds around you. I crave this kind of comatose. Where every thing slows down for even just a moment. Where there is time to watch sunrises or sunsets. Where a day full of magazines, lounging, snacking and playing is the opposite of wasteful. Where no one looks at a watch, or a phone.

But until I can get to the replenishment of the ocean, I am daily being reminded of my need to create my own version here in the desert where I sometimes live. I need to simplify and prioritize my daily life to mimic something that embraces the ideals I pine after. I need my life to represent the things for which I long. I need to find my moments of oasis where I can simply be.

What about you? What have you been dreaming of lately?

This necklace so aptly represents the beauty and movement of the ocean. I may need to get it as a reminder of this new resolution. Thank you Little Ocean for creating such artistry. 

A couple weekends ago my son chucked all over my legs and shoes. My favorite shoes. And I have no idea how to get that smell out. Oh, who said motherhood was not glamorous? So I am now on a quest for a new pair for flats. Maybe two pairs, I would take two. One thing I try to keep in mind is a little piece of advice from Miss Alex of AVE: treat your shoes as your accessories. I feel like I need to gush about her, but in the interest of not sounding creepy let me just say: MEET with her, our shopping session was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. Moving on…

Accessorizing is extremely difficult for me as curious little hands are always yanking at all things shiny. So necklaces, non-bangle bracelets and dangly earrings are all out for me. I try to add punch to an outfit via my shoes and belts now and have proudly expanded my shoe collection from exclusively black flats to colored flats. I miss heels something fierce but I have a difficult time navigating flat ground barefooted without tripping, so with littles any elevation on the shoes is out… This girl needs flats.

Here is a little collection of shoes that I am currently wanting to take home with me. I doubt they are season appropriate but I don’t think our seasons are appropriate… so there.

1. Jeweled Expression in Blue Poetic Licenses 63.00 (I know, I know, it has a little heal…) 2. Karisma Steve Madden 99.95 3. Sensational Polka Dot Flats Ruche 49.99 4. Snakeskin Ballerina from Zara 49.90 5. Something from Target. I will put up the link once Missoni Fever has died down 6. Red Flats H&M 24.95 7. Zebra Flat from Alloy 29.90 8. Brandy Bow Flat from Payless 16.99

Readers do you a go-to resource for shoes? Let me know!

Don’t forget this Saturday is the first ever Hey Little Birdie Meet Up! We are meeting at 9am at the Starbucks at Thunderbird & Tatum.

I have worn glasses since I was five. I was actually legally blind, so you can just imagine how sleek and discreet my late 80’s/early 90’s glasses were. If I were a brave girl I would share a montage of the epically horrid glasses I sported. I spent all of elementary school hating them and being called four eyes. The whole glasses craze is a bit surprising to me because I have spent so many years trying to find the least offensive set of frames, and failed repeatedly, and people are rocking their birth control glasses prescription or no.  And it has been going on for a while now. So today let’s celebrate the moment (very extended moment mind you) that glasses are having!

1. Spectacle Note Card Set 2. Four Eyes USB Storage 3. Kate Spade Hang In There Mini Glasses Pendant 4. Glasses Cross Stitch 5. Cat Eye Glasses Ring 6. Pink Glasses Fabric from Echino

Have you ever had one of those people in your life that seems just too fabulous to be real? I met Miss Courtney when she was my son’s age and have watched her grow into the most amazing person. You see our moms are best friends so we’ve always known each other but there was an age gap that made us live in different worlds. Last summer Miss Courtney started watching my kids once a week. My kids adore her and we have grown to be friends. She has maturity beyond MY years and a selfless heart. She is crazy smart and has that sense of style and self that makes her stand out. Oh! And she was the one that got me hooked on Kate Spade. I feel that bears noting because the obsession runs so deep with both of us.

She is now heading off to grad school and I am so very selfishly sad to see her go. But I am completely thrilled for her. She is going to do big things, that girl. Seriously I am going to smugly reference this post in a few years when she is a big wig because she will be. So as she enters a new exciting chapter of her life I plan on getting my Courtney fix by stalking her via social media, and I encourage you to do the same, because we all need a little more fabulousness in our lives.

She has the most adorable fashion blog and is always featuring a fun theme. One time she did a paper dolls series and dressed up some lucky gals in her wardrobe (I even got to be a paper doll one day, it was so much fun).

Courtney is also an amazing hostess. She has a blog dedicated to her ridiculously awesome parties she throws for various occasions.

Oh and I just love her pinterest boards.

Good luck, Miss Courtney! We can’t wait to see you make big splashes!

Welcome to our weekly feature “Know Your Birdies” where every Friday a question is posed and you get to know us through our answers. This week we’ve asked… and answered: Who is your style icon?

Okay, I feel this answer needs to be prefaced by the fact that I admire and aspire to this person’s sense of self in her style, but I don’t presume to embody it myself. I just find her alluring and interesting, and she’s got an beautiful mix of indie, classic and femininity in her fashion. In other words, call me Joseph Gordon Levitt in (500) Days of Summer, and consider it official that I have a girl crush on Zooey Deschanel.

Note: I just read Jina’s answer after typing mine, and man we have really extraordinarily fabulous taste.

Can my fashion icon be a brand? No, that’s cheating? Oh, if it could it would be Kate Spade; I bet you already knew that. Well first things first, like almost all women my foremost style icon is The Audrey Hepburn. But that feels like asking a four year old little girl what color is her favorite, she is going to answer pink. So for the sake of not going with what feels too obvious I will go with my modern day style icon, Zooey Deschanel. I love her. She has such a wildly fun sense of fashion, it is vintage and ladylike in an artsy way. She described it as her “Alice in Wonderland look” that sound about right. I can’t wait for her new show this fall on Fox, New Girl, so I get more Zooey style fixes.

Audrey-esque Zooey? Perfection. Via

Like Katrina, if I could say a brand- it would no doubt be all things Kate Spade. But unlike my two friends above, I’m not going to say Zooey (although she is adorable). My answer is who it has been since I was a teenager- Marilyn Monroe. It may be cliche or a common adoration but I don’t mind, I still love her. I no longer have posters of her hanging all over my walls like when I was a girl but that doesn’t mean you won’t find pictures of her pinned on my Pinterest boards instead! I loved her style, whether she wore a glamorous gown and gloves or high waisted jeans and a scarf wrapped around her hair. She always looked feminine, classic, and with just the right amount of attitude. And never without perfect makeup. She embodies timeless style to me.

Who are your favorites when it comes to style?

I love Ban.do. And if you’ve never experienced their girly girl sweetness then you are in luck today! This month’s giveaway is a $25 gift card to their shop that you can spend however you want!

Pick something from the $25 and under gift guide, use it to go towards a gimungous (yes, I made that word up) flower corsage, buy a present for a dear friend- it’s all up to you! They have the loveliest multi-tasking flowers, shoe clips, hair accessories and such. I am particularly smitten with the Something Sparkly section, because you know glitter and sequins are my crack. But my absolute must haves are their mini pom pom set (so many color options and uses with the dual clip/brooch backing) and the mini sequin hearts (they just make me smile).

Here are the details:

1. Leave a comment below to enter

…AND you can get extra entries by doing the following:
2. Sharing this giveaway on Facebook and/or
3. Tweet about it on Twitter

If you do any of the extra credit entries, let us know in the comments, so we count them!

New Rule: You can comment and thus enter the contest each day from here until next Tuesday night (7/12). If you tweet and facebook it too, that’s multiple entries on multiple days…sweet!

I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday!

The outlook of me owning a pair of Louboutins in the near future is pretty bleak. Plus they are not really practical for my lifestyle, because Louboutins are nothing if not all about practicality.  But if I were to own a pair they would lead a happy life being the centerpiece of my home. I would put a display case in the middle of the living room so all that passed could gaze upon their glory, again there I go with the practicality, folks.

Apparently the creative minds at Louboutin are on the same wavelength, thinking the company’s creations are nothing short of pieces of art. A couple of days ago I came across a several images from the Christian Louboutin Fall 2011 Lookbook. The brand has collaborated with renowned photographer Peter Lippmann for a campaign recreating several works of art by old masters

First up is a painting commonly (mistakenly) referred to as Whistler’s Mother.  Let’s get technical and call it its given name: Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother by James McNeil Whistler. I really like this one; mama looks like she is about to put her party boots on and let her freak flag finally fly.

Left original, right Lippmann’s

Next up is Francisco de Zurbarán’s Saint Dorothy, Full-Length, Holding A Basket Of Apples And Roses. I adore the composition and colors on this painting and Lippmann’s interpretation.

Left original, right Lippmann’s

Now we have Jean-Marc Nattier’s Portrait of Marquise D’Antin

Left original, right Lippmann’s

Next is François Clouet’s Elizabeth of Austria. She looks at peace with her new clutch and shoes, as it should be.

Left original, right Lippmann’s

Last up is Georges de la Tour’s Magdalene and the Smoking Flame. Does anyone remember this from the Little Mermaid?

Left original, right Lippmann’s

There are a couple I didn’t include. There is one in particular that really grates at me: the interpretation of the 1800 painting by Maire-Guihelmine Benoist, Portrait d’une négresse.  I think this one gets at me because it is such a wonderfully significant statement by the artist celebrating the emancipation decree when French colonies abolished slavery. I think it feels a little cheap to pedal shoes with this particular piece.

So what do you guys think? Is Louboutin’s lookbook desecrating or celebrating art?

Can you believe it will be Independence Day in a week? Where is our summer going?! We usually have a BBQ with friends and family. I love watching firework displays but it’s unfortunately not as fun here in Phoenix since it is still over 100 degrees outside even when the sun goes down! And now that we have a toddler, fireworks start way past bedtime. We’ll just have to catch them on TV instead and have our own little show with some sparklers!

Here are a few patriotic ideas I’ve found to get you started on the celebration.

Make this festive wreath for your front door:

Bring this easy red, white, and blue dessert to a potluck:

Buy these cute wedges for a dose of Americana on your feet:

Get these star spangled bows for your little one:

and get inspired by this Fourth of July celebration from A Field Journal:

What are your plans for the holiday?

Today is a big day in our household. We are potty training… finally. And, we are having our last home study visit for our adoption certification, which means our caseworker is coming to the house to inspect how fit our household is… fingers crossed on that. All of this turns me in to a frazzled mess. But when things finally settle down, I plan on scavenging through my jewelry drawer and Lyla’s old clothes boxes to create my own version of this super easy craft. Super easy is how I like them. Just ask Mike.

Anyway, check it out. Family Chic has some of the greatest, and at the same time simpliest, DIY ideas. Camilla is officially one of the best.

I think one of my goals for summer will be to expand my wardrobe with inexpensive, DIY accessories. I mean, couldn’t we all do that? Yes we can. Oh, and you can thank me in clean underwear and a dust-free, adoptive-baby-ready home. Thanks.