My good friend Greg Chamitoff, an astronaut with the latest shuttle mission STS-124, launched on the Discovery shuttle on Saturday. We were not able to attend the launch, but cheering him on via the TV. Greg will be docking with the International Space Station & staying there for six months!!! We wish him an excellent adventure and can't wait to hear all about it.
Check out Greg's website at www.chamitoff.net
Have a super-sweet day!
A huge thank you to Sara Duckett of Sadie Olive for my gorgeous new blog design!! Check out Sara's website for her unique collectibles and great design ideas, all with a vintage French twist. Items for sale include vintage and new papers, garden ornaments and jewelry. Thanks again, Sara, for your beautiful work!
Does anyone out there remember the days of the Kapok Tree Inn? There were two that I know of....one in Ft. Launderdale that my family and I visited and one in Clearwater that my husband's family went to. While our parents may have thought of it as another 70's tourist trap, for us kids it was a magical place, a palace where peacocks roamed the lawns and dinner was served in one of many fancifully decorated dining rooms. I can still remember the taste of the peppermint ice cream, with big chunks of red and blue peppermint candy--the perfect ending to a fairy-tale night.
I am posting a couple of photos of the gorgeous new Paper-Source catalog because they are so delicious!!
. If you are not familiar with this company, they provide
a wonderful selection of papers, stamps and other scrapbooking/papercrafting supplies, both in stores and online.
Unfortunately they do not have a store in my town, but I was lucky enough to visit their shop in Wellesley, MA and it was beautiful.
I have been wanting to mention a great product that I have been using for my son--the Halo Sleepsack by Halo Innovations. This is a wonderful product that helps prevent the risk of Sudden Infant Death (SIDS). It is a wearable blanket, available in different sizes, colors, patterns and materials including cotton and fleece. It is even available in toddler sizes. The Sleepsack goes on over a sleeper in place of a loose blanket.
Available at major and specialty retailers including The Right Start, Target, and Babies-R-Us for approximately $25.00.
I read about ScanCafe in O Magazine, and was curious to check it out. It is relatively new service that scans your photo negatives, slides, and more at great prices. I had previously looked into scanning some of my old slides and negatives at a local shop, but it was too expensive to do more than a few at a resolution good enough to make prints (if I was just interested in viewing the pictures on the computer it would have been okay).
I should explain that I would really like to most of my boxes full of negatives and slides, as well as my parents' archives. A number of years ago, I took possession of the family photos, since the rest of my family doesn't like to deal with this stuff... took everything out of yellowing adhesive albums and put it into archival storage from The Container Store, one of my favorite organizing resources. I also made a beautiful (if I do say so myself) scrapbook for my dad for his 60th birthday. However, I have been dreaming of transferring everything to the computer and putting together a family history.
I was intrigued by the low cost and impressive website of Scancafe. The site has received some excellent endorsements, including from Money magazine. The site tells you exactly how to pack your media, and provides a cool tracking feature that shows you where your order is in the system. I was all ready to send off my slides when I read the fine print and noticed that everything is sent to Bangalore, India to be scanned. This alarmed me at first, as it seemed to greatly increase the likelihood of my family photos being lost. The company states that it has never lost any orders and being the risk taker that I am, I decided to give it a whirl with a set of slides. (I figured I was more likely to lose the slides in my own house as I am a bit of a pack-rat). I also sent a set that I would not be devastated if I lost.
So, I sent off my slides in late March, and am watching my order in the tracking system. One negative (which I was aware of) is that the process takes at least 8 weeks, much longer than other mail-in services. However, according to the research I did, the quality of the scans was rated much higher than the other sites. Stay tuned--I will update you on the progress of my order.
I love the May issue of Parents Magazine and therefore it wins my new monthly designation as "Magazine of the Month". The May 2008 issue has some great articles. I particularly liked an article on natural remedies--what works, what doesn't (what can even be dangerous), great ideas for birthday parties- the magazine's website has a really cool party planner), and 5 ways to cook pork tenderloin, which my husband loves, but I don't really and can never think of new ways to cook it. Check out the website for more great info.
In case you haven't yet checked out this site, the current sale is a great reason. See Jane Work is offering 20% off the entire site by entering code "domino" (for domino magazine) at checkout. You don't have to be a domino subscriber to get the 20%. The site has beautiful things for home, office, or the home office, including many great mommy products, such as packing and shopping checklists.
I just placed an order for some great Mother's Day gifts for my sister and I few items for myself too. Check back for a review of the products I purchased.
I sent my DH to the Whole Foods to pick up some cookies for weekend guest and he came home with the delicious new City Girl Country Girl cookies.
I love to make homemade oatmeal cookies and I am not exaggerating when I say that these taste just like homemade. We sampled each of the varieties--chocolate chip, chocolate chip with almonds, and white chocolate with cranberries. Each of these s made with oat flour and other wholesome ingredients--no white or wheat flour, eggs or refined sugar. They are also relatively low in fat (compared to other cookies). They taste wholesome, but are also rich and incredibly satisfying. I really cannot say enough great things about them. Look for them at Whole Foods Market and on-line at City Girl Country Girl.
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