this, i love - coffee art

Summer got off to a rough start : twin pregnancy, strict bed rest, hospital stay. 

And then, by month 3, enter : Coffeebar -- my favorite cafe ever. 

They do coffee art.  They do creme brulee strudel.  They do outdoor seating.

They are the only place I've dared to order a breve cappuccino in the past 10 years - because a girl gets tired of being disappointed by bad foam. 

[above: our 'average' double latte from Coffeebar]



fab collab : atsuyo et akiko + winnie the pooh

Oh, how i love the recent collaboration between atsuyo et akiko & winnie the pooh.  At first i thought, what?  Disney?  Major mainstream visits a small atelier out of Brooklyn?  But - true to form - the ladies at a/et/a launched a series of images against an organic cotton background that is understated, timeless, & entirely perfect.

flora & henri sale

flora & henri is, hands down, my favorite boutique retailer for children {they also carry some items for adults}.  Based in Seattle, even their most basic "essentials" are exquisite.  

And lately, the sales have been exquisite to match.  Which leads me to wonder ... is this small giant of children's boutiques going to survive?  

I've seen it before -- promotions so good & price reductions so steep that one day, the store is simply no more.  First there was tinymcsmall.com (owner went on leave and just never re-opened).  Then Sons + Daughters in Brooklyn shuttered, followed shortly thereafter by the closure of emma-avery.com

So while I was happy to receive discounts of 70% at emma & avery, the discounts also meant the end of emma & avery. These short term opportunities have long term consequences as the small, specialty boutiques close with no new boutiques to fill the void.  

Now that we have 2 new babies -- and boys this time! -- my fingers are crossed that we are at the beginning of what will be at least 10 more years as adoring customers of flora & henri.  But with sales so steep today, I have to wonder what their future holds ... and stock up while we can ~

the vague 'This'

This will be a chronicle of the things I'm currently interested in.  

And lately, that's a whole lot of motherhood.  I have twin boys {6-weeks} & a daughter {3-years}.  I tend to be holistic about their health & choosy about their duds, so those topics are sure to surface.  And so it begins ... with flora & henri.