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Tag Archives: family

Inspiration

03 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in Our Etsy Store, Party!, Projects, Uncategorized

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Some things from the last week:

*Antique Cast Iron Door Stop in our Etsy Shop.

*Liberty of London Fabric from Purl Soho.  We made covers with Liberty fabric for these inexpensive Ikea feather pillows.  The girls use them to lounge on when reading in bed.

*Detail of Vintage Wooden Sign in our Etsy Shop.

*Large Ironstone Urn in our Etsy Shop, perfect for holding umbrellas.

*View of Asbury Park from the Ocean Grove boardwalk.  We are thinking of those who lost their homes today in an early morning fire.  A heartbreaking loss for our little town.

*Cozy front porch in Ocean Grove.  We are feeling both sad for the loss of some of our town’s historic houses and thankful that no one was hurt today.

*Post Cards to the President.  I send these often, addressed to the White House.  I know he will likely never read them, but I use them as sort of therapy now.

*Lemon, Lemon, Lemon Cake for Josie’s Birthday.  I used a version of this lemon poppyseed cake and this lemon frosting, along with lemon curd from Trader Joe’s. Our backyard hellebores bloomed just in time to use for decoration.

*More Liberty of London.  I have a bit of an addiction.

Stay cozy and have a great weekend!

 

 

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Daily Life

01 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Inspiration, Our Etsy Store

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catsclose2Hello.  Our world is a different place since our last post.  We have been thinking, listening, working, marching, protesting here.  I personally feel energized, enraged, excited and terrified for what will come next for our country and our world.  Listening to the news of refugees on WNYC as our own family sits down to breakfast makes us simultaneously despair and give thanks.  I have stopped censoring the radio.  I have decided to be blankly honest and try to elaborate on things as the kids ask questions.  I often have no idea how to explain to an eight, six, three year old.  I often have no idea how to explain our world to girls.  Ada, Chris and I went to the Women’s March on Washington two weeks ago with another eight-year-old and his mom.  Despite many false reports, there were over a million people in D.C. standing up for Women, Human, and Immigrant rights.  I was reminded of the power I felt in college – an urgent need to fix blatant wrongs in the world and the energy to get to work.  I feel so proud of our city of New York for banding together, living with difference and standing up for the rights of many different people.  We are quite far from utopia here, but I am proud of our progress.  I am trying to combine our daily life with the steps we personally need to take to improve our world.  We have been using an App called Countable which allows you to connect with and contact your representatives and stay on top of upcoming bills and votes.   I will donate some of the income from our Etsy shop to groups that work to improve life for people and refugees in our city and in the world.  We are working on doing at least one piece of activism each day.  We have much work to do from here on out, but I am excited to get started.

 

 

 

 

Ocean Grove, NJ

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Brooklyn, Inspiration, Likes, Projects, Uncategorized

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We have fallen in love with a magic little town on the coast of New Jersey.  Chris and I drove through Ocean Grove one day and were charmed by the tiny square mile of preserved Victorian homes perched close to the shore.  The houses were impossibly detailed and cared for and the town was beautiful, quiet and slow-paced.  The beach in Ocean Grove was voted one of the world’s 15 best by Fodor’s Travel.  A quick stroll on the boardwalk or over two footbridges brought us to newly revitalized Asbury Park.  We joked that we would have to retire there when our kids were grown.

When I learned about the town’s twice annual Giant Flea Market I marked my calendar.  The drive from Brooklyn took me less than 1 1/2 hours and the first time I went to the flea I was hooked.  Wandering around town felt like a dream and each time I visited I liked it even more.  When I returned to the flea this past May I called Chris to tell him I was going to talk to a realtor.  In the whirlwind that followed we ended up looking at 10 houses.  Our plan was to find a house that we could rent when we weren’t using it.  The house we fell for was built in the 1880s and was owned by one family for more than 70 years.   After talking to many incredibly friendly residents we decided Ocean Grove would be the perfect spot to spend time with our girls while they are still young.

The house at 6 1/2 Heck Avenue is calm bright and airy.  It stands fifth in from the beach and has beautiful ocean views.  Many of the home’s original antiques are in use throughout the house.  The town of Ocean Grove was founded by a group of religious leaders as an ocean side retreat in the 1860s.  Our home feels like stepping back into Ocean Grove’s early days when families would escape to the shore away from busy lives.  The home is simple compared to some of its brightly painted neighbors and we love that it retains its original details and quiet beach cottage feel.  Visit our Instagram feed  @oceangrovehouse for more photos.

We are honored to be able to care for the home at 6 1/2 Heck Avenue and excited to share it for 2016 rentals.  Details for the home can be found here.  For rental inquiries and questions please contact Alfredo Fresnedo at (732)-763-2961, alfresnedo@yahoo.com.  We still feel like we discovered a secret hideout every time we visit our home in Ocean Grove.  So many memories have been made in the short time we have owned the house.  We are so happy to share our home with visitors and hope 6 1/2 Heck will be a place for memories of your own.

Home

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in Brooklyn

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Houses

I finished Andrea Elliott’s chronicle of the life of a homeless child in Brooklyn one morning in bed, snuggled next to two of my sleeping children.  I had begun reading the night before, on my phone while feeding the baby.  I quietly shuttled Ada out the door to school and then snuck back under the covers and prayed for the two little ones to stay asleep so that I could finish.  Many of you have likely read the piece by now.  It ran in the New York Times last week.  The piece is so beautifully written.  Dasani’s story is haunting, and both so far and so close to our own life here in Brooklyn.  It broke my heart and has followed me around since I finished the story.  I often wonder how to talk to my children about how lucky we are, and what our good fortune means in a city where the rich and poor live pressed up against one another.  We struggle with how to teach charity and compassion to our girls, without condescension.  Little Essentials is an organization that directly reaches families with homeless children in Brooklyn.  They have been overwhelmed with donations since the article was published, but they still need donations of money and time.  We are planning to work with them in the upcoming year.

Little Paper Houses

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Houses
Ada made these for us.  She woke up early on Saturday morning and snuck upstairs to the art room.  She came back an hour later with a little house for each of us, made from paper and washi tape with black-markered windows.  I find it funny that a girl who is growing up surrounded by high modern buildings and flat-roofed brownstones still draws a house the way I did growing up in the country.

Inspiration

15 Friday Mar 2013

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Instagrams From the Week:

*Sliding Down the Giant Slide at Pier Six

*Family in Josie’s Doll House  (She just re-discovered it this week and has been putting babies to sleep and making everyone visit the potty)

*Fridge Art and Alphabet Magnets

*Josie Loves Daddy (She is pretending to play guitar on the TV remote)

*Giraffes, Bronx Zoo (The strange sky painted behind them made them look like they were in a museum, until they moved)

*Josie Arranging Fabric Spots on the Bed (These are from my scrap fabric box and by far a favorite plaything)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Inspiration

09 Saturday Mar 2013

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Instagrams From the Week:

*Sisters at Breakfast, Bedford Hills

*Ada’s Illustration of How to Do One Braid Instead of Two

*Shrinking Balloon

*Water Glass

*Monster in the Bed

*Happy Plants and Yard Progress

*Have a great weekend!

Early Winter Spring Cleaning: Vinegar, Baking Soda and Baby Oil

14 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Likes, Organizing

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MirrorWe spent the better part of our weekend on spring cleaning. (Yes, I know it is only mid-January), but I’ve felt in a bit of a funk since the holidays ended and a major house cleaning always makes me feel better. The luxury of child-free time to myself to do a major overhaul feels like meditation to me. It clears my head. While Chris took the girls to the park I dug through junk drawers, washed windows, did some secret toy editing. I put away outgrown clothes and took down the bigger sizes. Aaahhh – so much better to wake up to a clean floor and a clear view out the window! Here are some of our essential and non-toxic cleaning supplies:

*White Vinegar – Nothing gets windows, mirrors, or picture glass more sparkling. Fill up a spray bottle with straight white vinegar (the cheaper the better). Spray, wipe with a soft cloth and voila! The smell disappears as soon as the vinegar evaporates, so you don’t need to worry about your space smelling like a pickle factory. Old clean cloth diapers are my favorite cloths for window washing.

*Baking Soda – Make a paste with water, or mix with your favorite liquid cleaner, rub on bathtubs, tiles and chrome faucets and rinse with water. The grit removes soap scum and bathtub rings and leaves tile shiny. My favorite liquid multi-purpose cleaner is Charlie’s Soap. It “Cleans Everything From False Teeth to Diesel Engines” and they aren’t kidding.

*Baby Oil – Unscented mineral oil works magic on our vintage wood furniture. Squirt a bit on a rag, wipe over the wood and let it sit for ten minutes. Wipe off excess oil and polish with a soft cloth. The oil helps hide the scratches left by little hands and toys and evens out any discoloration in the wood. Be sure to test in an inconspicuous spot if you are worried about darkening.

*Miele Vaccuum – I am in love with our vacuum. Chris and I both had our own Miele when we moved in together and neither of us would give up our model so now we technically have two. Mieles are quiet, super-powerful, easy to use and not ugly (an important count in my book). I have never used a better vacuum in my life and it is worth the price. I promise.

*These are our everyday favorite cleaning for everyday messes.

Happy Day!