plastic is whack

You may have heard - plastic can be bad. Specifically for storing food (leftovers) in. In case you haven't heard, or in case you want a refresher, here is the run-down on why:

Plastics can leach chemicals into your food, including hormone disrupting chemicals. Certain plastics and old containers which tend to leach the most and worst chemicals. Also, don't cook or heat food in plastic as that increases leaching. This article talks about the exact plastics compounds that are harmful and why.

Well, I have to admit, although I knew plastics were not good, I have still be slow to transition away from using them. However, this past week, I finally and fully made the transition. I have chosen to use glass storage containers, but ceramic and stainless steel containers are safe too.

Here is why I choose as my food storage assortment which replaces any plastic containers or Tupperware I had:

• mason jars: Not only do I enjoy drinking out of mason jars and I like to make fridge pickles in them, they are also super handy for food storage. I find the 16 oz. (pint) size mason jars to be good for beverages and storage, and I prefer the wide-mouth as they are easier to get stuff in and out of. These wide-mouth, pint-sized Ball mason jars with lids are available everywhere including Walmart and on amazon.com.
• weck jars: For more stylish glass jars that come in a variety of sizes, look to Weck jars. I find them to be beautiful so I use them for storing stuff that may sit out on the counter.
• beverage jars: When I make a big batch of iced tea or iced coffee, I like to store it in Bormioli's Rocco Quattro Stagioni 33.75 ounce jar. If you put the liquid in while it is hot and tightly seal the cap, it actually creates that seal so that the first time you open the bottle later on you hear that "pop".
• other food storage: To replace my other plastics/Tupperwares that we larger and rectangular, I went to Crate & Barrel. They have a great selection of glass food storage containers and I found the prices to be very agreeable too. I like these Working bowls and lids for large food storage (5.5" and 9.5" diameter round bowls, 19 oz. and 84 oz. respectively). I also purchased this set of three glass storage bowls because they were a nice variety of sizes and are also attractive (i.e. they look pretty enough to serve out of). Lastly, these 16 oz. glass bowls and lids are a great size and price ($1.95 each) so I picked up a couple  of them as well.

I purchased the Crate & Barrel glass food storage options mentioned above for $35 and they officially replaced all my plastic. I already had the mason jars, a weck jar, and the Bormioli beverage jar.

I am interested, what do you use for food storage? Are you still stuck in plastic? Or have you switched to a healthier option?

"if" for girls

Have you ever come across J.P. McEnvoy's interpretation for girls of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" for boys?

I came across both just recently and I immediately knew I wanted to make a whimsical print featuring the girls' version of the poem.

I laid out McEnvoy's "If" in beautiful type, emphasizing certain words within the poem by setting them apart in a script font. I paired the poem with a floral illustration I had in my back pocket, so to speak {it was just waiting for the right project to come along}.

I have made this print available in my Etsy shop as an 8x10" fine art print. It looks just lovely framed in a white gallery frame, don't you think?

And since you cannot tell from the photos, the poem reads:

"If you can hear the whispering about you,
And never yield to deal in whispers, too;
if you can bravely smile when loved ones doubt you,
And never doubt, in turn, what loved ones do;
If you can keep a sweet and gentle spirit
In spite of fame and fortune, rank or place,
And though you win your goal or only near it,
Can win with poise or lose with equal grace;

If you meet with unbelief, believing,
And hallow in your heart a simple creed,
If you can meet Deception, undeceiving.
And learn to look for God for all you need;
If you can be what girls should be to Mothers;
Chums in joy and comrades in distress,
And be unto others as you'd have the others
Be unto you-no more and yet no less;

If you can keep with in your heart the power,
To say that firm, unconquerable "NO";
if you can brave a present shadowed hours
Rather than yield to build a future woe;
If you can love, yet not let loving master,
But keep yourself within your own self's clasp,
And not let Dreaming lead you to disaster,
Nor pity's fascination loose your grasp; 

If you can lock your heart on confidences,
Nor ever needlessly in turn confide;
If you can put behind you all pretenses
of mock, humility or foolish pride;
If you can keep the simple, homely virtue
of walking right with God- then have no fear
That anything in all the world can hurt you-
And which is more- you'll be a woman, dear."

happy

you're my reason for being so happy

Do you have a person or people in your life that just simply make you happy? Those people who "get" you, who you always feel comfortable around, who you always look forward to seeing and want to be around, those people you always find stuff to laugh about with, but it is okay when there is nothing to say, too.

Who would you put on your happy list?

{quote from here :: image from here}

winner: pretty by JL giveaway + coupon code

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and thank you Jenny of Pretty by JL for sponsoring this giveaway! The winner of the braided silk bracelet with three custom charms is Amy H.!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amy, Jenny will be in touch with you via email soon regarding the bracelet you have won!

For everyone else, good news! Jenny is offering all my blog readers 15% off any bracelet in her Etsy shop through the month of October with the coupon code OCTOBERCHLOE15.

color :: pillows

I came across these Scholten & Baijings pillows last week ... I just adore them.

I pinned an unnecessary variation of colors of them to Pinterest, then decided I needed a Pillow board which I promptly created and repinned them to.

Pinterest what did I do without you?

fall colors

Fall has arrived.
Behold the changing leaves,
and enjoy the crisp breeze.
Let your eyes take in the bursts of COLOR.
Transformation is afoot and hope is in the air.
- anonymous

I had to dig out this  print that I did a limited edition run of last fall ... I still love it. The fall I love is characterized by crisp breezes, changing leaves, and eventually falled leaves crunching under foot like mentioned in this quote. I also love that transformation into cozy afternoons and evenings that need sweaters and crockpot dinners. And, as I am mourning the lack of fall that is the reality of Miami I really enjoyed looking back at this post from almost exactly a year ago. It reminds me what I was doing last fall, too - I had just finished the Imogene Pass Run and was enjoying a couple trips over to Telluride. The fall colors on the drive from Durango to Telluride were just unreal. So beautiful. We also had a trip to Denver planned for a half marathon, and the drive from Durango to Denver was darn beautiful, too!

Luckily, I have two trips to Colorado planned for October... I may miss some of those fall colors, but I won't miss fall in Colorado all together!

But, can I be honest with you? It is just not the same making trips there as opposed to enjoying the fall on a daily basis looking out my window, running out on the trails, and seeing the transformation over the whole season.

What do you love about fall?

everyday palette :: good-bye summer

{image source}

It seemed appropriate to say good-bye to summer (it is now officially autumn) with an everyday palette featuring watermelon - the quintessential summer refresher - it's like a food and drink in one!

Use the last of your summer watermelon in this salad!

mint chocolate monster

My favorite "green monster" smoothie of the moment is what I will call a mint chocolate monster green goodness.

I am definitely hooked on this version for now. The cacao nibs and mint leaves in this smoothie add to health benefits that are already packed in to the base!

MINT CHOCOLATE MONSTER GREEN GOODNESS

for 2 servings:

3-4 large handfulls organic baby spinach leaves

1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 frozen, large banana (frozen in chunks)

1/4 cup almonds

1- 1 1/2 dates that have been soaked in cold water in the fridge overnight

6-8 medium-sized fresh mint leaves (depending on minty preference)

1 1/2 tablespoons cacao nibs (I like Navitas Naturals)

4-5 ice cubes

Put everything in your high-speed blender (VitaMix) and process to the consistency that you prefer, until there are no large/visible pieces of spinach, cacao nibs, or almonds.

I sprinkled a few extra cacao nibs on top fo garnish, as well.

Also, don't forget about the giveaway I posted on Tuesday for a silk braided friendship bracelet - it ends on Monday! If that interests you at all, go take a look and enter!

new baby announcement designs

I put the finishing touches on some new baby announcement designs that I had been working on. These original hello there, design baby announcements, along with others, are available to purchase and customize as printed flat cards and envelopes. Available now in my Etsy shop.

Thank you to Jenny of Pretty by JL and Leslie of Ella Belle Photography for the precious photo of Elle in the hello beautiful announcement photo.

Don't forget to enter to win the braided silk friendship bracelet!

my way

all I ever wanted was to
pick apart the day and
put it together
my way

{photo taken by me :: quote from here}

giveaway: pretty by JL

My dear friend Jenny has a passion. Her passion is pretty, well fitting, comfortable, and functional nursing bras {nursing bras are fancy bras that allow you to breastfeed your baby without taking your bra off or mangling it to pull it to the side}. The problem? There are not any on the market that fit her standards (or the standards of many moms). So, Jenny turned her passion into a business (Pretty-Bras for Nursing Moms); she is bringing a new kind of nursing bra to the market. She has been on this journey for several years now, and in fact I am a part of her business, too. I am the design person.

Well, making bras is expensive business. No more expensive than other business, but it takes money nonetheless. Besides passionate, here is some other things Jenny happens to be: determined and creative.

In order to raise the capital necessary to move forward with her business, Jenny created another business altogether - she is making customizable silk thread and sterling silver friendship bracelets. It all makes sense for many reasons, several of these reasons being (1) she loves friendship bracelets, (2) other people do too {they are totally "in" right now}, (3) it gives her joy to make them, and (4) she can sell them for money {said capital mentioned earlier}.

the giveaway 

Jenny sells her bracelets under PRETTY by JL and her shop launched just recently. In celebration of her shop launch, Jenny is giving away a braided bracelet with three heart charms like the one shown above. You get to choose three silk colors for the bracelet and three letters to be stamped on the sterling silver charms.

:: how to enter (up to 3 entries per person) ::

• Like Pretty-Bras for Nursing Moms on Facebook (comment below to let me know you have done so)
• Leave a comment below with which silk colors you would choose (see below).
• Share this giveaway with a friend or several friend (comment below to let me know you have done so)

Giveaway starts NOW and I ends Monday, September 24th at 12 NOON PM EST (10 AM MST). Winner will be announced next Tuesday (the 25th), along with a little treat for everyone!

You can enter in the comments section or through Rafflecopter below.

And for your reference, here are the silk colors to choose from!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I would like :: gold gray brown

:: no. 1 Ankora Chain Link Bracelet  $130 {similar one here}::

:: no. 2 7 For All Mankind The Skinny in Dark Pebble Grey $180 ::

:: no 3 Whisky Slim Hand Crafted Leather Wallet {for business cards} $50 ::

:: no. 4 Yosi Samra Leather Ballet Flats $77 ::

:: no. 5 large ceramic bowl by Julia Paul Pottery $100 ::

tomato, melon, avocado, & pistachio salad

Sound like a little bit of an odd combination? Well, it is delish!

I got the idea for this salad from a delicious salad I had at The Parlor in Phoenix. My version is a little simpler than theirs, but it hits the spot for me. I have been making it over and over since I got back from Phoenix. You may want to make it soon - take advantage of the last of the summer melons and heirloom tomatoes!

ingredients
{for 2-4 servings}

1/2 pint of multi-color mini tomatoes, halved
-or-
2 heirloom tomatoes, chopped

1/4 watermelon, chopped into 1/4-1/2" cubes

1/4 other summer melon (cantaloupe), chopped into 1/4-1/2" cubes

1 avocado, chopped

1/4-1/3 pistachios, shelled and chopped roughly

drizzle of light vinegar (champagne, white balsamic)

salt and pepper

Mix the chopped tomatoes and melon together in a bowl. Give a quick drizzle of vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste. Scoop a serving of the tomatoes and melons onto a place. Add 1/2-1/3 of the diced avocado. Sprinkle generously with pistachios.

Notes: 

• I use organic tomatoes, melons, and avocados. 
• I don't like to mix-in the avocado because it gets ugly and messier. 
• I also do not like to mix-in the chopped pistachios because they all just migrate to the bottom of the bowl. 
• The version of this salad that I had at The Parlor also had feta cheese and frisee, so add those in if desired!

live your way to the answer

"I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters To A Young Poe

This quote really speaks to me for where I am at in my life right now. Moving across the country from Colorado to Florida has thrown me for quite a loop and I have this tendency to over think things, live in the past, or live in the future. Living the questions now is something that I am consciously trying to do. I spend so much time trying to find answers and create solutions; I take comfort in the possibility that the answers might come to me gradually as I live and grow.

{photo by me :: quote found here}

lights!

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I have lighting on the mind lately as we look at lamp and lighting options ... these are just a small sampling of some fixtures that I drool over.

maxi update for fall

This James Perse racerback maxi dress (similar here) that I got back in March quickly became a favorite of mine. I figure with the addition of a few key pieces - like a much coveted leather jacket like this Veda Max Classic Leather Jacket - I can call this maxi dress (or any maxi dress in my closet) updated for fall. I would add this Alice by Temperley Raquel Scarf, these Chanel Bonnie & Clyde glasses (that I shared before here), and these {comfortable} Cole Haan Air Bacara ballet flats. Voila! Maxi dress ready for fall!

everyday palette :: berry colander

{image source}

coffee shops I love

{photo credits: Astro Coffee, Handsome Coffee Roasters, Cartel Coffee Lab, Sight Glass Coffee}

I love a good coffee spot ... delicious strong coffee, good company or some work to do, and good coffee aroma- coffeehouse chatter atmosphere make for one of my favorite ways to spend some time. A morning of work, an afternoon meet-up, shelter from a rainy afternoon, a change of scenery to get some work done.

Although I have only been to one of these shops {Cartel in AZ} , I hope to visit all of them at some point in the future. They are scattered; so it'll take some traveling to get to them, but let's plan on grabbing a cup of coffee at one of your choice eventually, okay?

Not only do these coffee roasters supposedly turn out amazing coffee (several of them sell their stuff online), but their bricks and mortar look like the perfect place to meet up with a friend and chat. From a design and business standpoint, the branding. identities, and logos of these coffee roasters are all spot-on, as well.

Astro Coffee
corktown, michigan {detroit}

Handsome Coffee Roasters
los angeles, california

Cartel Coffee Lab
tempe, arizona

Sightglass Coffee
san francisco, california

I like to pin great coffee shop interiors like these onto a my "shop & cafe spaces" board on Pinterest.

What's your favorite coffee spot? Do you have a great one for me to add to my list?

our home :: master bedroom update

Things are coming together for our master bedroom ... with Brad's (of Pierce & Co.) assistance we have picked out and ordered our bed (light gray fabric swatch shown is the bed fabric - Glynn "Metal" linen fabric) and side chair (this iconic Hans J. Wegner shell chair) . We are fairly certain of our dresser and nightstand decisions (from Room & Board). That pixel-looking diamond fabric is for one long rectangular pillow that will sit across the bed, which has all white sheets and a simple white down blanket (sheets and blanket are from Restoration Hardware). We have a rug picked, but unfortunately I don't have an image of it to share yet - it is made of jute and wool woven together and I can assure you it is beautiful.

We are still deliberating on lamps for the nightstands, a floor lamp for by the chair (maybe), a [very] small side table for by the side chair, and some artwork. We are thinking a piece of art above the bed and a mirror above the dresser. We want to make the artwork meaningful and special (like our bicycle artwork), so we are making that more of a long-term search as opposed to just picking something to fill the wall.

Just like the Rapson chair we ordered for the living room, the Hans J. Wegner shell chair for the bedroom is one of my "dream come true" pieces. This mid-century modern piece was originally designed in 1963 and according to DWR:

"...sometimes called the "smiling chair," his [Wegner's] Shell Chair achieves a floating lightness due to its wing-like seat and the arching curves of its tapered legs. And while it stands on only three legs, this chair has an absolute stability that could only be achieved by someone with Wegner's expertise in cabinetmaking and architecture. Wegner's belief that a chair 'should be beautiful from all sides and angles' is especially evident with his Shell Chair. This comfortable masterpiece is a marvel of grace and beauty."

On a living room note, some of our "homework" per Brad is to start acquiring some coffee table books. To compliment our Rapson chair and our Wegner chair I have found books on each (here and here).  My love of Eames (we went with replicas of Eames plastic moulded chairs for our dining table (hope to have the real deal some day) will also warrant a book about Eames ... perhaps this one, this one, or this one. I have some other ideas for coffee table books, but I will save the rest of my list of book selections for another day.

madewell tees

I actually have a Madewell store in Miami - how lucky! However, I have not been to it yet. I did pop in to the Madewell in Phoenix (three times to be exact) and I saw plenty that I wanted to snap up. I exhibited self control and left with some perfectly perfect tees. The autograph tees are a lightweight, draped tee with a drop hem and dolman sleeves. I am totally in love! These tees look adorable with skinny jeans and flats or cutoff shorts and sandals (I wore them with both). The v-neck pocket tees are a wonderful classic tee. Cute with leggings to be comfy or with jeans and a belt. these were perfect additions to my collection of classics.

color monday :: camel colored leather

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