ask design mom week/giveaway

do you like design mom? i love this blog. it's full of great design tips, cool sites for kids' clothes, party and craft ideas, and tons of other helpful information. the blog's creator, gabby, is one talented mommy, and i love her ideas and her style. this week she's hosting "ask design mom" week where she shares readers' questions about all kinds of things and gives her tips plus asks readers for more. plus, if you link to her post here you will be entered in a great giveaway! check it out!

check out

this link for a bunch of indie samplers with free downloads at amazon! there's tracks from bon iver, flight of the conchords, fleet foxes, vetiver, neko case, and tons more goodies!
my only problem is that i have most of the goodies already, darn it!

everything's amazing, nobody's happy

found this clip via swissmiss, another amazing blog. i saw it a while ago and i keep watching it; i wasn't going to share it here but i just think it's so true.
just so you know, his language isn't always the best.

go to sleepy little babe

so i know i have been very remiss in introducing blogland to nene's latest great achievement. as you may know we don't say our kiddies names here, so for now we will be calling this sweetie "baby s." i know, not very unique, but we'll see what we come up with later. i can tell you that i have the honor of her being named after me! (middle name.) isn't that sweet? i feel so honored and so undeserving.
anyway, she's now almost a month old! can't believe it! isn't she beautiful in pink, with her gorgeous dark hair?

here is a short playlist of songs for baby s. some are lullabies, some are cute little ditties, and heck, some just have "baby" in the title.

sea of love -cat power
leo & luna -mark kozelek
firefly -don peris
slumber my darling -alison krauss, edgar meyer, mark o'connor & yo-yo ma
asleep on a sunbeam -belle & sebastian
birds and ships -billy bragg and wilco
little eyes -yo la tengo
if i needed you -townes van zandt
sweet child o' mine -taken by trees
gentle moon -sun kil moon
eyes of green, green, green -gorky's zygotic mynci
little flowers -denison witmer
baby i'm yours -arctic monkeys
** click on the song title to hear the track**
p.s. if any of the links don't work please let me know!

more new math

found this website via design for mankind, one of my favorite blogs. it's called more new math. some are hilarious, some are thought-provoking, all are witty.
enjoy.

if you don't expect too much- you'll love it

are you a fan of flight of the conchords? one of my favorite things about their show is looking for the new zealand tourism poster that's hanging in murray's office every week during the band meeting. they usually have some pretty funny sayings on them. i know i'm a nerd but i write them all down. here are some of my favorites:

new zealand: it's not going anywhere

new zealand: come visit us down underer

new zealand: better than old zealand

new zealand: like scotland, but further

new zealand: take your mum

new zealand: ewe should come

new zealand: only 18 hours from new york

new zealand: worth a go

now, voyager

i've always been interested in transformations: makeover shows, movies about people who drastically change their lives, etc. 

if you ever get a chance, watch this movie with bette davis

she plays a woman who is sad, who feels locked in by her life, who still lives with her controlling mother and has some kind of nervous condition. a friendly psychiatrist treats her kindly and helps her to change her life. when he's getting ready to send her off on her own and she's nervous, he reads some lines from a walt whitman poem to her.
"The untold want by life and land ne'er granted,
Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find."

those are lines that i keep coming back to in my own life. they run through my head now and then. i feel lost and stuck sometimes, and i have to remind myself that i'm the only one who can get myself unstuck, and that now is the time to do it. now, voyager.

whacha doing?

listening to:

vetiver's latest album: tight knit. listen to clips here. favorite track so far: maureen.
watching:
yo gabba gabba! CONFESSION: i would watch yo gabba gabba even if i didn't have children. it's just that cool, and i'm that much of a dork. plus, JACK BLACK is going to be on the new episode on april 3!. cool.
reading:
the satanic verses by salman rushdie.

the ubiquitous binky

here is little c., and here is his binky, his pasha, his dummy, whatever you want to call it. the two of them go everywhere together; and just try and separate them, oh-ho, just try. you will soon feel the wrath of the two-year-old. i need to hunker down and get more consistent about taking it away from him, but it is proving difficult. with sweet m. it was a pretty natural progression, we started leaving it at home when we went places, then we'd leave it in the crib and she could only have it for naps and bed, then only bed, then not at all. but little c. is a more stubborn child.
do any of you have tips for getting binkies out of the picture?

northern exposure favorite moments, pt. 1

hi everyone. sorry for the long absence. another computer crash and some never-say-die stomach bugs are to blame. it went around the whole family, more than once.

northern exposure was my very favorite tv show when i was in high school. i don't think i ever even saw it in its prime time slot, just in reruns. but there was something about it that just stirred my soul, y'know? i wanted to marry chris when i grew up, and listening to his philosophizing made me want to read more and get smarter.
i don't know if i would like the show as much now. i've been out of high school for eleven years now and i'm a lot more cynical and a lot more demanding in what i'm willing to call good t.v. but here is a moment from northern exposure that i still think is really wonderful, and reminds me why i loved this show in the first place. yes it's cheesy, and yes there is an enya song playing (double cheese!) but it's lovely.


what t.v. shows have been influential in your life?


p.s. nene had her baby on monday, march 2. but i'll let her tell you all about it! i can tell you mom and baby girl s. are both doing well, and our parents are down under for a month to help her adjust.