Stack Away With Von Eshna Jewelry

I’m a huge fan of Marco Bicego jewelry, especially their rings. If I could I would buy and stack every single item from their collection. Unfortunately, it’s pretty pricey and way out of my budget so usually I just gloat over the ads when I come across them. Another thing I’m a huge fan of is monogrammed jewelry. I could never own enough jewelry with my daughter’s name or her initials so when I came across VonEshna on Etsy my heart literally skipped a beat. Their jewelry sort of has that Marco Bicego feel I adore but is still completely unique – some pieces are handmade with semi precious stones - (and with reasonable prices) + they also make amazing monogrammed necklaces. Not to mention their earrings kind of make me want to pierce my ears again!

What more can I say, except that I can’t wait for my next paycheck.

Shipping prices range between $10 to $15,99 (for international shipping) and start at $5,99 for domestic.

(Images: VonEshna)

Vintage Picnic Time

This is pretty random but I stumbled upon this vintage picnic pictorial on Style Sight the other day that includes picnic photographs all the way back from the Victorian era to the 1970’s and it got me thinking that I can’t really remember the last time I had an actual picnic (blanket and all), if ever, to be totally honest. And I’m not counting handbags full of snacks my mommy friends and I take to the park on a daily basis here. But these vintage photographs are pretty cool (especially the one with Sophia Loren) and it kind of makes me want to remedy that…

What do you think? Do you have picnics?

Like I said, pretty random

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Perfect summer dresses from C&C California

As I mentioned in my weekend post, the weather has seriously improved over here and it looks like we’re finally on our way into the summer. We already spent last weekend on the beach and I could see downtown that beachwear shopping is in full bloom. As for myself, I have been on a lookout for a maxi dress (or regular dress) that would double as a beach cover up and something I could throw on for casual summer days as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t really find anything I liked in stores. A couple of dresses I actually liked were somewhat transparent and couldn’t really work for anything other than the beach so I just gave up and decided to go online once again. I checked out a couple of brands but I really loved practically the entire C&C California dress range.

I’ve been a fan of C&C California for quite some time (since my time in the US to be exact). I love the casual tone of their clothing and its quality, not to mention they do tie-dye really well J. And frankly, I think everyone needs at least one tie-dye piece in their closet for the summer!

Shopbop has a pretty lovely selection (+ free international shipping for orders over $100) but you can also check out their official website for more, especially since they offer 40% off full priced dresses until May 19th with the following code CCDRESS40 (international shipping gets pretty expensive though, depending on where you are).

Here are my favorites…

(Images: Shopbop) 

Lovely in Belabumbum

When we were moving a few months ago, I had the chance to sort through my wardrobe, put away things I haven’t worn in a while and basically just do the whole spring-cleaning thing a bit early. I (finally) stored away my maternity clothing and came across those gigantic bras I wore when I was nursing and I thought to myself, man these aren’t sexy at all. They were really comfy and practical, yes. Hot? Definitely not. True, I picked them up real quick one day at H&M, once I realized I won’t be able to get away with my regular bras and never really thought to look elsewhere but looking back on it now, I really wish I had known Belabumbum back then.

Belabumbum (Portuguese for beautiful bottom) was launched in 2001 by two college friends Alyssa Weiss and Heidi Rauch and is designed to be both fashion forward, yet sophisticated and sexy as well as incredibly comfortable. The Belabumbum range includes sweet and sexy intimates, adorable maternity lingerie as well as a collection for nursing mommies. They’re designed for comfort but will make you feel pretty every day whether you’re lounging around the house or going out on the town.

I’m in love with their Copacabana Lace collection and this Morning Glory robe I wish I had when I was pregnant and nursing. Lucky for me now I know, what my destination will be next time

They ship pretty much everywhere, so no one is left out of feeling everyday pretty.

(Images: Belabumbum) 

My Week in 5 + our Weekend

Oh what to tell you, the weather has finally come around and we have been loving this whole week. Dresses, skirts, the beach and most importantly sunshine! + with all these little holidays, mini me and me have had lots of quality time together.

Here are a couple of pictures from our week + this week’s 5.

• I’m not going to lie, I’ve been obsessed with the Vampire Diaries this week. There’s been lots of cheesy romance on TV lately and I’ve got to admit I’m sort of loving it.
• Kate Spade’s new collection of gadget accessories. Can we please talk about this iPhone 4/4S cover?
• Time magazine’s cover?!? and the discussion on attachment parenting. I have to say, that that’s something that doesn’t/wouldn’t work for me/us but I still find the story absolutely fascinating.
• Florence + the Machine. Absolutely obsessed, can’t get enough of Never Let Me Go.

• H&M bikinis. At less than 5 EUR apiece (for certain items) you can rock tons of different styles on a super cool budget this summer.

Have a great rest of the weekend darlings!

Becoming An Aladdin Maven

Hello everyone, apologies for the scarce posting. We’ve been having lots of one day holidays here and France, which result in lots of people taking an extra day off in order to form a “pont” (bridge) with the weekend and voila, you have a few extra days off. So, when I have a day to fully spend it with the little one, very little else gets done. And that includes any blog work, house work, and just work in general. It does include lots of Legos though, but that’s a whole other story.

Yesterday was a holiday as well but surprisingly all the shops were opened so we decided to go for a little tour downtown to browse for some birthday presents (it appears that May is also a month for birthday parties, not just long holiday weekends). We went into one of my favorite shops called “Du Bruit Dans La Cuisine”. I just love going in there, they have the most adorable and yummy things and most of the time I just go in and stare and get my fill that way but yesterday I caved and got another travel mug. Yes, yes, it’s not just the regular coffee mugs that get my coffee on, it’s the travel mugs as well.

So, I got this super cool purple (favorite color alert) eco-friendly Aladdin mug and realized I’ve never checked out any other Aladdin products. I basically ran home to check out what else was hiding on their website, and let me tell you travel mugs will be the least of your “worries” once you check their special artist collection mugs, their BPA free water bottles, their food storage solutions or their stuff for little kiddies. I couldn’t believe I didn’t figure this out before…

So, here’s the scoop. Aladdin has been around since 1908, so I’m thinking they know what they’re doing. And what they’re doing is sustainable, stylish, eco-friendly and above all seriously functional. Their eCycle products are made (on average) from 95% of recycled plastic and each and every one of them is FDA tested and safe. Also, all their products are totally and entirely BPA free. Yayyyyy…

Aladdin products are available at their official e-shop (US only), Amazon (US and & EU) and other specialized stores.

My Week in 5, Sunday Edition

How’s everyone’s weekend going? Over here it’s been all about the trips to the park and falling asleep on the way over there, lots of birthday parties & shopping for birthday presents and, lucky for me, also a little girls night out with a few mojitos to unwind. And the sun is out, which means we’re extra happy campers!

Lots of reading material in this week’s five. I just found so many great articles, I have to share them…

• This crazy piece in the New York Times on how chemicals affect us. It’s pretty scary!
• This cool article I stumbled upon via Salt & Nectar with 15 tips on how to stay married for 15 years. Now, I’m not married but I really appreciated these down to earth tips on what works for someone.
• I’m super excited about the June 2012 issue of Vanity Fair. Marilyn, Obama, Paul Smith, Whitney, can’t wait to have a few minutes this evening and dive in. Vanity Fair is my guilty pleasure for sure!
• Very French Gangsters sunglasses for kids. Makes me wish I were four again because these are outrageously cool!
• I loved this blog post from Jeanne from Shop Sweet Things. So sweet and honest and I could definitely identify with so many of her points. Love, love, love.

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great start of a new week tomorrow!

(Images: The Sartorialist)

Summer Colors: Coral !

I’ve been kind of crazy about coral lately and it shows. Mostly on my nails. A color I would consider a bit much two or three years ago has now suddenly become my favorite thing. And even though I like my neutral pieces, summer is a time to brighten up a little bit and there’s no better way to do it than with some funky nail polish, a colorful pair of jeans or a bright and punchy handbag. Here a couple of coral-y items I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on.

1. Essie’s “A Crewed Interest” 2. Marc By Marc Jacobs Exploded Katie Bracelet 3.Miss Selfridge coral jeans 4.People Tree Oversized Dragnofly Top 5. Orla Kiely Notebook 6. Trellis Pillows 7. Cambridge Satchel in neon coral 8. Quiksilver Breezer Beachy Deep Coral Shorts

What’s your favorite summer color?

Live the Leif Lifestyle

Oh my goodness! There’s no other way to describe my excitement when I discovered Leif. An amazing online shop based out of Brooklyn, New York that carries the lost amazing mix of brands that are a breath of fresh air as well as seriously beautiful. Their concept of how the smallest thing can enrich your daily life and your lifestyle is very close to my heart, whether it is a pretty thank you note, your bathroom soap, a pretty bracelet or in my case a pretty coffee mug from which I can drink my morning cup of coffee. Continue reading »

Sleep In (or Try To) With Zazoo Clocks

Since having Lara, we went through so many different phases of sleeping, from her already sleeping through the night, to me getting up every 45 minutes. I think there were only a blissful couple of weeks somewhere in there where she actually slept until 9 AM. On the weekend! (just imagine my excitement). Unfortunately,  that didn’t last very long and now she seems to have settled into one of those typical children’s routine where she sleeps until around 7.30 AM during the week, if we’re lucky, and naturally gets up at 6 AM on the weekend.

And then just the other day, I found these cute Zazoo Photo clocks for kids that includes pre-programmed sets of “awake” and “sleep” images for kids to look at and see whether it’s morning yet and they should get up or still night time. Such a simple & great idea. The Zazoo photo clock also includes 11 built-in songs and lullabies and can be personalized with your own photos.

For someone who woke up this morning with hand cream all tangled up in her hair because I pretended to keep sleeping after Lara got up at 6 AM and wanted to put some cream on mommy, I say it’s definitely worth a shot. + they’re adorable!

The clocks costs $89 (around 65€), which definitely isn’t cheap but if you have little kids, they’ll surely use it for years. For international shipping you just have to shoot them an email with your request at customerservice@zazookids.com.