It's About Time!

I have decided that my 6 year old is ready to wake himself up in the morning, so it's alarm clock shopping time!! Of course I want to find something adorable that fits the style of his room, while effectively getting him to jump out of bed right on time. I personally use my blackberry's alarm although most mornings my eyes open wide long before it goes off. But this will be a new discipline for him, so it must again be effective but not agonizingly painful. Here are a few of the cute and practical options I'm considering:


Retro and youthful:
Talking Animal Alarm Clocks from Land of Nod (Green Frog, Orange Cat, Blue Dog each with their corresponding animal sounds).


Gentle and sweet:
Early Bird Alarm Clock from Perpetual Kid.


Modern and Minimalist:
Neewer Modern White Wood USB Cube Alarm Clock from Amazon.


The educational multi-tasker:
Teach Me Time Alarm Clock from Inventive Parents.


Combining my son's love of soccer and Legos:
Lego Kids Soccer Stadium Alarm Clock available at Toy Country.


Toning the Lego theme down a bit:
Digital Lego Alarm Clock/Radio in Yellow from Target.

Accent Shells

As a beach lover living in a beach town, I get a bit melancholy as the freezing temperatures start to keep me indoors and off the sand. With the ocean only a block away, I never felt it necessary to overdo a "beach theme" in my own home. I simply have two beautiful shells - one in my bathroom and one in my kitchen - that serve as daily visual reminders of the beauty of the beach. Oh, and I have a basket of driftwood tucked into a corner that I've been meaning to make something out of for months. Perhaps the cold winter ahead will finally inspire that project!

Today's post features creative ways that others have brought just a little touch of beachiness indoors, either for their pure love of the ocean or perhaps just to stay out of the cold winter winds like I'm doing today!


From a list of tips on updating a bath on a budget, I love this simple but high-impact wall of sea life (from The Nest).


From Elle Decor.com, the DC living room of actress-writer Alexandra Wentworth and news anchor George Stephanopoulos strikes a balance between refined sophistication and nautical accents.


A tortoise shell on an antique chair has a sculptural appeal in this Venice, CA home (from Country Living).


A couple of shells from summers past can be invited to dinner every night as serving pieces, as in this example posted on Real Simple.


A casual white-on-white dining room by Kate Jackson Design found on Houzz exudes beachy perfection with no more than a simple trio of framed fan coral on the wall.

Monday Color: Tangerine Tango & White

Happy New Year to one and all! I love the energy I feel in the air when January begins each year; most people let out a sigh of relief that the busy holiday season is over and are bubbling over with enthusiasm for the changes they envision themselves making with the fresh start of a new year. My son and I both made a long list of New Years Intentions this year (Resolutions sounds harsh to me, so I've been opting for the language of Intentions for years). His include advancing from blue belt to brown belt in karate and getting 100 households in our town of Long Beach to stop using single-use plastic bags. He melts my heart. Mine range from getting back into a regular workout routine to finally utilizing my Spanish Rosetta Stone that's been in a drawer for 5 years.

My Monday Color posts are also get a fresh new start, featuring color combinations in 2012 instead of single hues. I don't know where that will leave me when 2013 rolls around, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!!

A while back Pantone announced that Tangerine Tango would be the color of the year for 2012 and I wholeheartedly applauded. I love the fresh energy of this vibrant reddish orange, especially when paired with crisp white, a color combination that feels very aligned with my enthusiasm for all the great things that are in store this year.
































A nostalgic nod to the color's retro past from Design Addict Mom on Tumblr.

A cozy nook from Apartment Therapy's post on Pantone's Tangerine Tango.

A delicious tangerine and white bedroom in designer Mona Ross Berman's New Jersey home (check out those amazing floors!), from House Beautiful.

These vibrant doors framed with crisp white trim have me thinking that maybe my yellow and white entrance needs a makeover.

A bright orange claw foot tub blends right in with this otherwise neutral but eclectic bathroom design, found on Caribbean Living.

The stools in this all-white kitchen found on Klaff's design blog, shows what a tiny dose of tangerine can do in a space.

This living room found on the New England Fine Living blog is another example of how just a few bright accents (a leather pouf, a throw, and an oriental rug with accents of orange) can truly transform a neutral space.

Conversely, India Hicks ups the boldness of Tangerine Tango on slipcovered chairs by tossing in fuchsia and bright yellow too in her home.

CB2's Parlour Chair in Tangerine.

Add a pop to your white walls with Chiasso's Dish Wall Art Set in orange.

For those who are really timid about bold color, perhaps you can start small with desk accessories like this stapler by ANYTHING (available from Lumens.com).

Rachel Ray's Round & Square Dinnerware Set in tangerine.

A half dozen 22" - 28" long tangerine orange feathers could be a show-stopper grouped in a modern white vase (available at Save on Crafts).

Madeline Weinrib's Keri Rug in Coral.

This lustworthy orange mirror is vintage and from Vamp in faraway Capetown, so unless you're boarding a South African-bound place tomorrow, it could be out of reach. However any ornate mirror found at a flea market or garage sale plus a can of Benjamin Moore's Flame would create a pretty good stand-in.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

"LIfe is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter." - Eileen Caddy









Blessings,
Amanda

Christmas Eve Musings

I successfully played it low-key all holiday season and am enjoying a warm Christmas Eve in my little house with a few presents left to wrap and a peacefulness in my heart. Aside from one Amazon.com order, I made most of my Christmas presents or just didn't give any. Experiences like babysitting and coffee dates made up a majority of my gift list.

My parents got wind of my household's Christmas tree debate and delivered a potted tree two weekends ago. That settled that. We decorated with the few lights and ornaments we had on hand, and made a few more to fill the admittedly greater amount of branches than we've ever had to adorn.

My son and I stamped pine trees on the craft paper that fills my monthly delivery of Shaklee products that I'd been saving since October; not a penny was spent on wrappings and trappings, nor did a tree tumble down needlessly just to cover our gifts.

My son's class had a gingerbread house-making party and it was definitely one of the highlights of the past week for both my son and I. My son loved it so much that he put in a last-minute request to Santa for another gingerbread house and, despite kits being sold out far and wide, one of 'Santa's helpers' unexpectedly left one on our doorstep this morning. Santa sure is resourceful!

We started our day today by taking toys and clothes to Salvation Army, filled its middle with a stop at a sports bar to watch the Jets get defeated, and ended it with a simple dinner and batches of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I guess you could say my focus has been much more on the "merry" than the "Christmas," a tradition I plan on keeping next year and beyond.



Our homemade wrapping paper project


A real Christmas tree without the landfill guilt!!


Gingerbread house-making party at my son's class.



One of my crafty gift efforts: a magazine rack that I sanded, painted and decoupaged with images of owls.


Our homemade chocolate chip cookies, thanks to Teddy S.!!

My Short Water Pitcher Filter Story

I changed the filter in my Get Clean® Water pitcher last night and was shocked to see the rusty colored yuckiness it had successfully kept out of the last 80 gallons of water I consumed (the image above features the old filter and a brand new unused one side-by-side).

I have lived in Long Beach, New York for two and a half years now and have certainly noticed that the bath and toilet water run a little brown every so often, but I had never noticed this at the kitchen tap. I decided I needed to learn exactly what this discoloration could mean, since recently published water quality tests in our town had shown no violations in copper, lead or iron levels (although they are present in every sample tested which is why I'm adamant about filtering my water). I hit the internet to learn more and, according to this report on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection website, orange or brown water simply means rust, either within my home's pipes or in the town water mains. It is also likely that the metal compound that's rusting is Iron. Because the discoloration in my home is inconsistent, it is likely in the town lines and there's probably little I can do about it. According to Livestrong.com, low Iron levels commonly found in drinking water do not pose a toxicity risk, and usually only cause the aggravation of stained bath fixtures or wash loads, as well as a metallic taste in unfiltered drinking water.

But I'm of the "better safe than sorry" mindset and will continue to filter the nearly 200 ounces of water I drink every day. Of additional concern is that for the 2+ years that I used a Brita filtration pitcher, I never saw a collection of such sediment, making me extra glad I switched over to Shaklee's pitcher, which is certified to reduce 3 times as many contaminants as Brita or PUR systems and the only pitcher filter on the market that removes lead when present. I popped the new carbon filter into place, poured myself a glass of water before bed, and slept a whole lot easier.



While supplies last, Shaklee is offering A Year of Cleaner, Healthier Water, which includes a BPA-free 10 cup Get Clean Water Pitcher, Refillable Filter Housing Kit, and a Water Filter 3-Pack, all in a free gift box at the special price of $117.65 (or $99.95 for members).

Monday Color: Cobalt Blue

As my Christmas spirit is forced into high gear by my six year old, I wanted to turn away from the blur of reds and greens for a moment and focus on one of my favorite colors, and also the hue associated with the even faster approacher Hanukkah holiday: Cobalt Blue. Cobalt is bold and intense but not totally without the soothing properties of the blue family. Like all blues, it is also incredibly versatile but makes especially good partners with light neutrals and its warm color wheel opposites like a pinky salmon and rust orange. Whether you're dusting off your blue decorations and Menorah in preparation for the festival of lights or just a fan of the hue like I am, please read on to see the many facets of striking Cobalt Blue.



































Images above:

1. A stunning high-gloss entryway from Elle Decor.

2. Pops of Cobalt Blue in a sea of white and light neutrals found on cococozy.com.

3. Accents of Cobalt Blue again, but this time against loads of complimentary orange hues (from Decor Pad).

4. I love the way this kitchen is pulled from the blue and white china held in its colorful cabinets (from Attic Mag).

5. A vignette from an all-Cobalt bedroom, found on StudioTen25's blog.

6. This image on That Bohemian Girl proves that Cobalt Blue makes a beautiful backdrop for virtually any hue.

7. An inspirational post on The Design Traveller showing the more dramatic side of Cobalt.

8. Another collage of blues found on Interiorly.

9. A Cobalt Blue sofa is the signature piece in this eclectic living room, found on Tile Tramp.

10. A simple yet festive Hanukkah table setting found on the Cote De Texas blog.

11. Ginger Cobalt Side Table from Crate & Barrel.

12. Set of 20 Shatterproof Christmas Ornaments in Cobalt Blue from Meijer.

13. KitchenAid's Artisan Mixer in Cobalt Blue available on Amazon.

14. Creatures A-Z Print in Cobalt Blue by Bond and Noble, available from Garrendenny Lane.

15. Recycled Glass Cobalt Blue 15 1/2" Star Dish by Traders & Company, available from Amazon.com.

16. Blue leather Howell Wingback Chair from Anthropologie.

17. Blue Wood Mantel Clock from West Elm, also available in 3 other colors.