Boo!

I know....Halloween is over, but I bet I scared you anyway...being as I've been so scarce. I'm here....just have several loose ends to tie up. I need this week to see if I can get these things done. See you soon and Happy November.

image credit

for the years that slide by.

A wood wall calendar...art that looks great and functions....good choice.

available here

whoooo's thinking of you.

Not all gifts have to come in packages, these days one could show up in your inbox. Remember when receiving a hand written note in your mail box was a big deal to make up for all the junk mail? Wouldn't it be a treat to receive a gift in your email to make up for all the....well, junk mail? These little paper owls can be sent via PDF to your inbox to print and make. Aren't you the wise old friend?

found here via lmnop

friday traffic

I know the posts have been a little sporadic lately. I'm working on some new things for sea and jae and everything worth while takes longer than you expect it to. I hope to be revealing things soon. In the meantime, have a memorable weekend as we make this transition into fall.

May all your traffic jams this labor day weekend be as interesting and exotic as this one. Photo credit belongs here.

i'm wondering

I have a question.....actually, a couple. It is the time of year when I need to be putting together the holiday gift guide. For those of you who saw last year's, I would love some feedback before I embark on this task again. For those of you who didn't, you can click on it in the right side column if you would like to see what I'm talking about. I'm wondering if you liked it with the pages devoted to the recipients like it was or if it could be done in a more general layout. I was thinking about changing things up a bit, but you know the saying....if it's not broke, don't fix it. Let me know.....I can handle constructive criticism if you feel the need. As you can imagine, it is a tremendous undertaking, but I really want it to evolve in a forward motion.

Okay, secondly....and less importantly......have you been checking out the photos on bing? I love google. My kids ask a question and my standard answer is...google it. However, the daily photos on bing are nothing short of amazing.

carhenge in western nebraska....credit and image here

the fly on the wall is me.

I've decided that this morning I'm going to be hovering around some of the blogs that I so enjoy reading, but haven't had the time lately. Have a terrific weekend everyone.....where will you be hovering?

image credit

clean and naked

I'm not sure if I ever told you, but the husband has his own cleaning business, thenakedjanitor. No...he isn't really naked.... He cleans both residential and commercial without using any harmful chemicals.....which is where the naked comes in. I can just picture him carrying this bag filled with his supplies......much like an on call bag. I'd like to have thenakedjanitor printed across the side for extra impact. It has that clean look that would complete his image so nicely.

available here

For those of you without nakedjanitor's for husband's, I can also see this filled with firewood or magazines. To keep in the green theme, it would be a very stylish market bag, too. Tell me, how would you use it?

2010 is coming around the corner.

I'm curious.....how do you manage your calendar? Are you an agenda or day planner type of person where you still write things down or are you someone who enters everything into their phone and syncs to the computer? Where do you put your kids schedules? I prefer to write things down and to be able to carry it around, but I am forever struggling with just the right planner. It is getting to be that time of year again....you know, the time of year when you have to buy next year's calendar or you won't find one when it is actually next year. So, I really want to hear it.......what do you like to use to manage your calendar? I figure since we established yesterday that we all are very aware of the details, maybe just maybe, you could solve my yearly agenda dilemma.

printable calendar available here

randomness...

I've been known to labor over words....blog not always included...the words have to come out fast and furious here, but anyone who knows me will vouch for me. I saw this image last night and I started thinking about names. Our names are the words that define us the most, but we don't pick them. I have been told many times by all kinds of people that my name sounds like a stage name....my last name is shannon for those who didn't know....and technically my first name is jodi....jae comes from the first initial being spelled out. Do you think much about your name? If your name were as bad as this one...would you change it?

image credit from this inspiring photographer via the bedlam of beefy

fly away...

The husband and I are flying up to Minneapolis extremely early tomorrow morning. We are headed to my nephew's wedding and to meet up with the kids...yea....for several days. It will be a whirlwind weekend filled with family. I'll be back to blogging on Wednesday. Be safe and talk to you soon.

intriguing image found here

quiet anguish

Tomorrow morning very early my kids leave on a road trip. They are going to be traveling across the country seeing all sorts of people and places. They are extremely excited so I am doing everything to keep my feelings to myself. I have never really been away from them and I'm getting quite a bit anxious about how quiet it will be without them around. The husband and I will be flying to their destination in a week to meet up with them and go to my nephew's wedding, but in the meantime...it is going to be a different house....one I am sure I will not like. I am going to hurry off today to get all their packing done as early as possible so I can spend some time with them. I hope your weekend is less full of emptiness.

image found here

p.s. thank you joyce! i'm so glad you loved the idea and that the girls have loved receiving them. i'm honored to have graced your pages.

i'm grinning...

I know the customary thing to do if you have been blogged about is to post a link and a thank you on your own blog. I am a little hesitant to link to the latest mention. You see g.'s post at ticklishfromadistance had me blushing so much that I wouldn't be surprised at all if your screens looked a little pinker this morning. She also stole my ability to use words....quite a feat if you know me at all. It really isn't playing fair if you steal some one's words when they are trying to say thank you. So here it is simply...thanks for the mention g. I really am thrilled that you love your bag that much! It means much more to me than I seem to be able to express. And I've decided this will be my philosophy today.





And while I'm saying thank you for the mentions, I have to thank Heidi over at faboolosity. You see, she won the sculptural pencil....how fitting for a graphic designer. The fact that she doesn't want to let it go is very touching.

I am quite behind on updating the thanks for the mention link on my sidebar....as well as, my blog links so if you would like to be included let me know......Have a great Monday everyone. Go check out these two blogs....that is if you like witty humor and good design.

image found here

magical mushrooms

Tonight Lily's friend is spending the night....one last hurrah for awhile. The two of them....and one other friend.....have spent this whole school year talking about capturing fairies. They have spent time in each other's yards gathering tree bark, berries, and leaves to attract fairies to their make shift homes. So, tonight they made real fairy houses. We started with some sculpey clay and made mushrooms. I had them place long pins in the stems so they would stand up later. They painted them and placed them in pieces of moss in jars. If one of them is lucky enough to have the rare opportunity to possess a fairy, I think they'll be very happy in their sweet home.


By the time they finished the sun was setting and it was hard to get enough light without getting too much.

These would make a magical party favor for a girl's fairy birthday party. Tie a ribbon around the top, make custom round stickers for the lids, and include a little bag of glitter for fairy dust.
Hope your weekend is filled with magic.

to ourselves

This morning I got up before everyone...including the ball of fire sun that says summer has arrived in South Florida...and took Newton for a 2 mile walk. We used to do at least that every morning, but lately with school getting out and life, we haven't been able to fit it in. I enjoy this little gift. It is so easy to forget to do things for ourselves. What little thing do you do for yourself? You know, the thing that gets forgotten the minute life gets hectic. The little thing that should be front and center, but is most likely back off to the side.

no this isn't my walk...my superpowers have yet to take affect....photo credit

p.s. Thanks for your sweet comments for Drew yesterday. I think he was shocked I said okay....

Cash is King

Hello. This is Jae's son Drew doing a guest appearance. I jokingly said I would write the post today. Maybe I should be careful what I say. Anyway, if you ever want to give somebody money as a gift (and yes, we kids LOVE that) but you don't know how to present it-here's an idea. Fold it as a shirt and give him a head and legs like Mom did. We've had this guy on our fridge for awhile now, and Mom calls him "cash is king". Here's how to fold the shirt.

green getaway

Something a little bit different for me today. Instead of the normal gift inspired topic, I want to talk design. This amazing new home belongs to the son of one of my mom's closest and oldest friends.

It is featured in this month's issue of Metropolitan Home. The detailing is so well appointed. The fact that it is a green home, makes me love it even more. It is so evident that nothing went into this home without thought. One of my very favorite little details is the green rug in the bedroom. If more than a dozen sliding doors, 130 feet of glass, a spa-like sunken tub, and a kitchen filled with Calacutta gold marble weren't evidence enough of thoughtful design, you just know that rug was placed there to expand the feel of the grass outside.




Read more about the details and about the architect here.
Tomorrow we'll get back to our regular scheduled programming with Father's Day ideas.

the gift that lasts a lifetime

I'm curious. If you did something wildly unexpected this weekend and got a tattoo, what would it be and where would you put it? Maybe it isn't even that unexpected for you. How do you feel about the gift that lasts a lifetime? Are you too fickle for something that lasts...forever? Is it art? I don't have one, but I have always been fascinated by them. So....let's hear it....what would you get and where would you put it? Oh, and I do hope your weekend is that unexpectedly exciting.

image found here

a post about nothing

We had a weekend of celebrating, and I wasn't prepared for this morning. So, I casually said out loud, "What should I blog about?" My son blurts out, "blog about pies." Pies....why should I blog about pies? All I can think of is this sounds like a Seinfeld episode. Just like Seinfeld being a show about nothing, this is becoming a post about nothing. And then it comes to me, wouldn't it be fun to watch the Seinfeld episodes with my son. I love watching him find something hysterical for the first time. I know it is probably on some channel on TV, but I think the episodes on dvd would be a gift he would love....without commercials, too. I remember now, Drew was eating toaster pastries when he said pies.

image credit

it's about time

Dear time,

I wish you were here. I miss you.

Love,

jae

What do you do when there is never enough time for anything? When you feel like you are being pulled in all directions? When overwhelmed is under exaggerated? Is under exaggerate even correct? If you exaggerate something, you make it bigger. If you under exaggerate it, don't you bring it back to normal or does it actually drop below normal? I need a pretty picture.

Ahhh, that's better. Pretty picture found here, of course.

flexing* for flowers

End of the year recitals and performances are here. At the last minute, Lily went to her friend's ballet recital Saturday night. She wanted to take her a congratulatory gift and since we knew her family was presenting her with the traditional gift of flowers, we had to act quickly. We went here and wrapped them to look like flowers. On the tag...flowers for your ballet toes.

*flex - a movement for the feet when they point(down) and flex(up)it is mostly used in warm ups.