impromptu adventure

What a weekend we had!  On Saturday I enjoyed being present with some of my favorite women at an absolutely beautiful Brooklyn brunch in early celebration of Mother's Day (more on that later), and yesterday Taro and the kiddos and I took an impromptu road trip through gorgeous countryside to visit the charming twin towns of New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ (they are separated by a little bridge spanning the Delaware River).  See more from our adventures, here.

What did you do this weekend?

weekendy links

I hope you have a great weekend!

Here are some links for your downtime that I think you'll enjoy:

Bohemian Rhapsody on the way to school

Spring Watermelon Salad

Humorless Feminists
10 can't-miss photos to take every month

Museum touch tours

Melvin The Magical Mixed Media Machine

and last but not least (this made me laugh so hard!)

walking around after a mani/pedi

Later, gators :)

Photo by Laurent Filoche via Tralalere.

recent moments

 

This past week.

A little bitta City,

a whole lotta suburbs...

...as in:

Chelsea Market people-watching,

Upper West Side bagel-eating

artsy-bookstore-browsing

vs.

Costco-raiding

Mega-mall-strolling 

kiddie-ride-riding

At home, we also took lots of bubble baths,

made our own pizza,

made lots of messes (not pictured),

attempted to do a video Pilates workout 

(emphatically not pictured, thankyouverymuch!)

and alternately:

snuggled

squiggled

danced

&

slept

in the bed.

And it was awesome.

All of it.

sponsor marvelous kiddo

Ad slots are already filling up for May, so email me now for more information and rates.

If you want to share your amazing product, shop, blog, or service with my lovely readers, please let me know.

My prices are tailored to small businesses and my audience continues to grow.  I look forward to working with you!

Thanks,

Leigh

out of print on the mini social

How amazing are these t-shirts featuring iconic children's books?  Pretty freaking amazing if you ask me, especially since they're on sale today over at The Mini Social for only $14 each!

I think Charlotte's Web is my fave.  Which one(s) would you pick for the little bibliophile(s) in your life?

asselin on breastfeeding

Various takes on the subject of Mother and Child 

by French artist, Maurice Asselin (1882-1947)

backyard dreams: treehouses

Nest-y

I've been collecting inspiration for a backyard play structure/treehouse for a while now, so I figured it was time for a post sharing a few of my favorite ideas.

Find the sources for these images and see what else the kiddos and I have been loving over on our Backyard Dreams pinboard.

Which ones do you like best?

PS:  I also have a thing for Willow Dens.

Ramshackle magic

Zipline

Wisteria hideaway

Simple charm

Swiss Family Robinson-esque

Vintage

Decked-out

Swing-tastic

Interior inspiration: stained glass gorgeousness

monday pretty

Happy Monday, everyone!  Did you have a nice weekend?  

Ours was packed but wonderful, and now I'm busy getting our week off to a productive start -- there are groceries to buy and laundry to do, and mail to tend to.

With little time to blog, I just wanted to share this beautiful crystal necklace with you.  See more lovely gems by Nallik, here.  Via Unruly Things.

Have a sparkly day ;)

gauguin on breastfeeding

Nursing Mother by Pola Gauguin.

Oil on canvas. 64 x 56 cm

recent moments

Has it already been five days since I last posted? Egads, time is FLYING! Here are some of the things we've been up to...

Picnics in the back yard:

Rocking Spring-y pastels in our new sling:

Getting haircuts (here's Jackson's Before and After):

Cooking yummy meals (I like my sweet potatoes toasted crisp, mkay?):

Morning snuggles:

Partying at the Our Time Gala:

Breaking out the swim trunks and kiddie pool:

Here's to days that are too full to blog in a timely manner ;)

links for your weekend

Image found here.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Here are some fun links for your spare time:

The Brain on Love and love in interstellar space.

Tavi Gevinson + TED = 100% awesome.

Woah, breastmilk is umami?

This wisteria tunnel looks so surreal and amazing.

The Sling Diaries is now on Facebook!

pissarro on breastfeeding

Mother and Child in the Flowers by Camille Pissarro (1831-1903), 1879.

joy in the congo

Did you happen to see this amazing segment on 60 Minutes last Sunday? If not, do yourself a favor and take the next 13 and a half minutes to watch it. You will be inspired and uplifted, and if you're anything like me you'll have a catch in your throat moments into the first scene.

I was so touched by this story that I also tracked down the trailer for the German documentary film that first introduced the Kimanguiste Symphony Orchestra to the world. I can't wait to see the whole thing:

"This will be our response to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before."

--Leonard Bernstein

raised bed

Over the weekend, I constructed this raised bed frame in our front yard! I'm so excited to fill it with soil and seeds, and see what sprouts. I'll definitely be keeping you posted on the progress ;)

As a first-time yard-owner I've been feeling overwhelmed about where to start with growing my own food, so I have my amazing green-thumb friend, Laurel, to thank for encouraging me to get started with this project. She emailed me last week and we made a date to go to Home Depot for all the supplies, and by Friday afternoon, the two of us (+ Hazel!) were driving out to pick up lumber and screws and gardening tools. The next morning we started the assembly, and then I worked on it little by little whenever I had a moment over the next couple of days. By yesterday afternoon the box was complete and I was feeling triumphant! Jackson and Walker really got a kick out of helping, and it was a great, educational (for all of us) activity. I can only imagine how satisfying and enriching it will be once we actually start growing things.

FYI, these are the instructions we followed for building the bed. It was really straightforward and easy-to-understand-info for this gardening novice ;)

I want to give a couple more shout-outs to my cheerleaders: Thanks to Liz, who set up a new compost bin for me in the back yard while I was 41 weeks preggers, and my mom who has been around for the last month, always overjoyed to hold Hazel while I do fun homeowner-y tasks such as this.

baby shoe perfection

Coral pink suede baby shoes with beige leather stitch embellishment from Vibys, on Etsy.

Found via Miss James' Pinterest.