All Clogged Up

There is nothing like the resurgence of a clothing trend to really make you feel old. I do have to say though, as was the case with the chambray, I can look back on my clog-wearing days fondly, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the fashion world has once again reclaimed them from middle-aged hippie ladies and chefs- just be sure not to pair them with tie-dye or houndstooth Hammer pants to avoid being mistaken for either of these.

Because, for some reason, my boys refuse to stop growing every 6 months or so, I will likely be spending my Fall clothing budget on miniature coats and velcro tennis shoes, so the outlook on a new pair of platform clogs is not looking good for my feet. Plus, the fact that the two pairs I have my eye on are both See by Chloe further dampens my hopes of owning them. So, should mom have some scraps left over after preschool duds are purchased, I want to be prepared with some sufficient musties to satisfy my clog lusties.

First, we have the slingback, platform variety- I would  also like to add wedge heel to my list of demands, but was unable to procure any wedge-musties- help me out if you spot them, ladies:

LUSTY: See by Chloe Slingback Clog, $270
MUSTY 1 (from left): Banana Republic Ginara Slingback Clog, $140
MUSTY 2: NYLA Calvina Clog, $109

Then, we've got the ankle strap, buckle clog- these ones give me the uber-grabbies:

LUSTY: See by Chloe Buckled Clog Wedge, $270
MUSTY (from left) 1 : Free People Doub Studded Clog, $138
MUSTY 2:  Free People Sonoma Clog, $100

I can already hear myself clip-clopping around.

Say it isn't so... (Caution- True Blood spoiler)

I look back at season one of my beloved True Blood and wonder: How? How could I have been so blind? How could I have let 4-5 inches of straggly Fabio hair blind me from the truth? Had I known our time together would have been so tragically fleeting, perhaps I would have seen beneath the surface to the tailored-suit wearing Scandanavian Vampire I've come to love. It hasn't even been two full seasons since the "haircut that changed it all".You can't leave me yet.

Of course, given the track record of incredulous plot-twists (i.e. Werepanthers), something tells me you're going to pull through. I'm counting on it.

P.S. Bill is lame.

Let's be Friends

I have absolutely no recollection how to do it now, but I'm pretty sure there was a time in my life when I could whip together a bad-ass friendship bracelet. Not only are the ladies of Frieda and Nellie still making some mean friendship bracelets, but they are totally taking them to the next level with the help of a little vintage bling. Check out some of their awesome rhinestone/friendship hybrids:

Return to Oz Bracelet with Vintage Clasp, $130

A Day in the Life Rhinestone and Friendship intertwined bracelet, $150

For you serious accessorizers out there, Etsy seller DolorisPetunia takes this concept to the extreme with this awesome cuff:

DolorisPetunia Custom Friendship bracelet with Turquoise, $215

I suppose this is what you would give a really, really good friend.

The Warm Fuzzies

By now, I think most of you should be familiar with my affinity for long-bodied, short-legged animals. So, it should come as no surprise that I am kind of obsessed with this gorgeous Otter photo from Sharon Montrose's infamous collection of animal portraits that I first saw here. He just looks so distinguished with his perfectly poised tail and his neatly-groomed whiskers. Is it weird that I want him on my family room wall?

Check out the rest of Sharon's prints, which are available at her etsy shop here. I am already planning a purchase of one of the baby animals for non-existent third child's nursery- maybe, this precious baby giraffe print:

And how insanely cute would this litte bunny be hanging on the wall of the daughter-I-will-never-have's room? In the very long meantime, I'll just have to make sure Max doesn't get a load of this guy:

Gross.

Making Time.

Today, for reasons I cannot yet reveal, was an emotionally taxing day. Nothing major, nothing to be concerned about my lovelies- just lots of decisions to be made at Casa Haute Mama and seemingly, never enough time to make them. Sadly, there has been little time and resources available for me to focus on the endless array of wearable goodies that are out there in the webiverse, just waiting to be discovered and coveted and shared with you all, but bear with me, I can only go so long without a thorough covet-session.

The days seem to whizz by in a blur and sometimes I try to stop them dead in their tracks and hold on to those fleeting moments of perfection that may come again, but never in quite the same way. Like this afternoon, when Hud and I laid nose to nose, hiding under the covers of my bed from the lion that was waiting to "chomp" us-  I tried so desperately not to let the thought that his nose would soon be too cool to touch my nose, rob me of the immeasurable joy I was feeling in that instant. My life is so full of these happy little instances, but sometimes I wonder if I'm catching them all. Thankfully, I've got friends to catch them for me sometimes.

Good Catch Linds :)

Devastated.

In a bizarre turn of events, I actually got myself up and looking fairly presentable and to my office by 8 AM this morning. Although I would like to think that I was just trying to get started on my hefty client to-do list, this is not the case. I arrived early for two reasons: because I'd like to leave early and head up to Aptos with the fam before traffic and more importantly, because I wanted to get first dibs on all of the Target collaborations that were going live on Gilt Groupe this morning. I even wore my Tucker blouse in honor of the event.

I was stalking the site like a hungry tiger, but sales didn't go live until 9AM- and wouldn't ya know it- who get's a phone call at 8:57? Yes, you are correct. It was me. Ten minutes after Nine and it is GONE. All GONE. So now, I will have to wait for Sept 20th and battle it out with the rest for the world for the likes of this:

Tucker for Target Printed Tie neck Blouse, $24.99

And this:

Tucker for Target Signature Tie Waist Dress, $39.99

AND THIS:

Tucker for target Printed Crepe Signature Blouse, $29.99

And all of my affordable John Derian tableware. So, anyways,  I'm a little bummed.

Serving up Style

A few months back, we made the switch from coffee table to ottoman and I have to say, it was a wise decision. This particular ottoman happens to be of the storage variety and it has a miraculous way of making the daily explosion of toys that is typically my living room return to a quasi-tidy state in just a matter of minutes.

The only qualm I have with this comfortable and functional toy receptacle, is that it doesn't do a very good job of keeping my wine glass stable while I'm having a Bravo marathon, and we just can't have that.

I've decided a suitable tray is in order and I've had little luck in finding one that I was absolutely bananas over. Until now. Blogger Michelle Smith of I Suwanee recently opened an online version of her store, Furbish,  in Raleigh and among the many other fabulous things she sells, there are several trays that have me rationalizing their slightly-out-of-my-budget price tags.  Like for instance, this one:

Bouquet Tray, $65

And this one: 

Green Quadrille Tray, $65

And I'm pretty sure Max would be a big fan of this one:

Large Python Tray, $50

Tray Chic ;)

Let's Dish.

I was on my own at Casa Haute Mama for two days last week. Sadly, the boys got an early start to their vacay without their mother because she used up all of her PTO time like it was going out of style. The upside of all this was, well... I was on my own for two days last week. This meant doing things like sitting at my computer at 6 PM, guilt-free, and browsing the latest edition of Lonny without any interruptions. Heavenly.

I could share with you several things I found in this issue that I am now longing for desperately, but there are just a few items that I am quite certain I will soon be in possession of. John Derian has collaborated with the geniuses at Target and will be debuting his affordable goodies there on September 5th.

These lovely salad and dinner plates have me plotting an imminent dinner party: 

salad plates, $2.49

dinner plates, $2.99

And guess what folks? It gets better. Target has partnered with Gilt Groupe to offer up some of these lovelies exclusively to Gilt Groupe members this Friday, August 20th (along with two other collaborations that have me all grabby-handed- Tucker & Mulberry!). I am all over it.

Congrats!

Congrats to Christina of Full House on winning the Stella & Dot Giveaway! Christina has twins, triplets, impeccable style, a great blog and apparently, limitless patience. Thanks to everyone who checked out Sara's link and stay tuned- because this is hopefully the first of more HMD giveaways to come!

Stella & Dot GIVEAWAY (yes, you heard me.)

Although it could potentially be viewed as too much time spent oogling material goods in front of the computer (kind of the shopper's equivalent of a gamer?), I am somewhat proud of hitting my 100th blog post mark here at Haute Mama Daily. SO, in celebration of this momentous event, I would like to share the love by offering up my first official Haute Mama Daily give-away, sponsored by the lovely and very haute mama/Stella & Dot saleswoman, Mrs. Sara Maita. All you have to do is visit Sara's link here to the Stella & Dot online store and leave a comment after this post about your favorite piece by 9 pm PST on Monday the 15th and one of you lucky ladies will be randomly selected to win your choice of one of these two adorable pairs of earrings:

Stella & Dot Lady Bug Studs

 Stella & Dot Garden Party Dot Earrings

Looks like you've got some decisions to make!

Potty Time.

Though we have not quite mastered poop yet, as evidenced by the large pile of it that I cleaned up from the back porch yesterday, my littlest man has essentially potty-trained himself and I'm feeling extra-proud of him. I initially resisted starting with him, despite a very obvious interest on his part, because we had some trips planned and it didn't seem like an ideal time, but there really never is an ideal time for spending 70% of one's day next to the toilet. When it came down to it though, all it took was a few marshmallows and this guy was on the program. Max, however, was a more difficult nut to crack when it came to making the switch, so we employed all of the go-to gimmicks- character undies, sticker charts, potty in front of the TV (ok- maybe this isn't a go-to, but we were desperate to get him to spend some time on it)- you get the picture.

So, in honor of all those kiddos who think toilets are lame, I'm posting a few potty training essentials and maybe, not-so-essentials, like these ridiculously cute hand-stitched undies by Etsy seller Small Threads Daily:

Pirate 3 Pack, $36

Fancy Pants Cake Undies, $14

You can also check out Small Threads Daily blog for more adorable hand-crafted kid goodies and places to buy. Turns out I blogged about Small Threads here as well!

And, sure, a plastic bag will suffice, but won't you feel so much more "together" if you whip out this little printed "Wet Bag" for dirty undies from Etsy seller Snuggybaby: 

Zippered Mod Dot Wet bag, $19

You could also splurge on one of these cute potty "incentive" sticker charts ( I got artsy and drew a giant toilet for Max- he was into it) by Etsy seller SweetGumPaper Studio: 

 Custom transportation Potty Chart, $20

Or you could chose from free downloads, like this Dora printable chart here.

Here's to bladder control. Happy Wednesday.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

So, as we all know by now, Operation Wardrobe Accumulation has been temporarily put on hold due to the fact that I do not want my family to be homeless. This, however, does not mean that I have ceased my imaginary shopping, which this evening, finds me over at Need Supply, a site that is undoubtedly too cool and urban for someone who drives a Honda Pilot (and loves it, don't get me wrong- I'm all about reliability these days), but it does have a practicality about it that has me dangerously rationalizing some ominously-close-to-non-imaginary purchases. So, the bottom line is- I may not need anything at Need Supply, but there are a good many things I definitely want. Take, for example, almost any one of Need Supply's amazing selection of super affordable and effortless dresses that I see transitioning nicely into fall with the help of a big cozy sweater like this one. And get ready for this- they're all under $60.

Clockwise from top Left:
Zig Zag Dress with Zipper, $48
Button Down Spaghetti Strap Dress, $58
Polka Dot tank Dress, $48
Stud Shoulder Short Dress, $48

Eureka!

In an attempt to squelch a recent and slightly disturbing case of baby fever that seems to have come over me, I am trying to keep myself occupied and distracted with various domestic projects that do not involve large amounts of cash. Recently, I’ve been spending some (read: too much) time perusing the millions of DIY design blogs out there and am feeling inspired to start work on Hudson’s official big boy room. My head is swimming with all sorts of ideas, but I know that finding the right bed will be the foundation of the entire look. I wanted something with a vintag-ey, or re-purposed feel and recently came across this gorgeous bed while visiting one of my favorite daily reads, With Two Cats. A desperate Craigslist hunt commenced immediately after.

And, I feel as though I may be jinxing my extremely good fortune by sharing this with you all right now, but I'm so giddy that I just couldn't resist! Looky what I found on CL this morning!! Even amidst the dark blue dungeon, it's glistening with the light of possibility. Oh yeah, and it's SUPER cheap.

It's not mine yet, so please know this: if any of y'all try to swoop this out from under me- I will hunt you down.  So, anyways,  I'll keep you posted.

He's All over the Blogosphere.

Was just doing my daily rounds over at the blogging home of my beloved HMOM, Lindsey, and noticed that my handsome hubs (can you spot him?), along with some of my other favorite gentlemen, were making a guest appearance today. Everybody wants a piece of the Ry Pie...

bee tee dubs- sorry for the lack of posts this week- was not for lack of trying, but work was crazy yucky and was ramping up for a little Tahoe getaway with another one of my favorite HMOMs, who headed out this way with her brood of 3 all the way from Brooklyn! I'll be back with a vengeance next week!

BLANK Slate.

It is 11:08pm. I have been sitting at the computer since 10:15 pm and....nothing. I think I have a blockage of thoughts because there are just too many. I think I need to carry around a notebook (or I could join the 21st century and actually use my Blackberry for something other than phone calls) and jot down ideas, because they seem to be leaving me as quickly as they come these days.

While on the topic of jotting things down....let's talk blackboards. I'm currently regretting what seemed, at the time, to be a prudent and thrifty decision to NOT purchase a very reasonably priced and cool, vintage mirror-turned-blackboard for a yet-to-be-determined spot in my home at the Alameda Flea Market on Sunday.

Once the shopping hiatus is over, perhaps I can make it up to myself by purchasing one of these fun Mini Goal Chalkboards by Etsy seller Marykate McDevitt:

Perfect Day Chalkboard, $35

She also does cute clock/blackboards:

Mini Goals Chalkboard, $50

And, speaking of clocks, it is now officially past my bedtime.