Kids Haus

Violet Coccoon Sleeping Bag

Hi again...oh, where do I begin? Perhaps you've noticed a lapse in my blog posts and honestly, I haven't been reading any of my favorite blogs either - haven't had a stitch of time. My Google Reader is almost foreign to me. For some who know, we've been opening a restaurant here in Seattle called Bastille Cafe & Bar that just opened this evening. My part in the restaurant conception was almost null except for the fact that I've been trying to stabilize the home while my husband spends nearly every waking (and sleeping) minute consumed by designing and opening his dream restaurant on schedule. Our normal routine has been shaken up in recent weeks, so that is my reason for pausing briefly - sometime it's just necessary.

I received a nice email from Cécile at Smallable who introduced me to a new-to-me French shop that is loaded with beautiful, beautiful things for children. I actually thought this cozy goose down Violet Coccoon Sleeping Bag by Swedish designer, Margot Barolo, was so appropriate after a whirlwind week. I would love nothing more than to curl up in a cozy little nest, surrounded by warmth and comfort tonight...sounds perfectly wonderfu, doesn't it? (or is it just me?)

 

Knoll Kids

One of my all-time favorite chairs is the Womb chair by Eero Saarinen which was designed for Knoll in 1948. If you've never had the fortune to sit in one, it would be impossible to understand just how comfortable it really is and why it was so appropriately named. I got an email from the marketing folks at Knoll today introducing their recently launched line of Knoll Kids furniture that includes reduced versions of the Womb chair, the Barcelona chair, Cyclone side table, the Diamond chair and several others - and they're all made of the same quality as their bigger counterparts. 

Rag & Bone Bindery

A few weeks back, I was in our local toy store (Clover) and saw Rag & Bone Bindery's beautiful baby books on display. It's refreshing to see handmade and uniquely designed baby books in contrast to the typical ones that are predominantly found in the marketplace. Sometimes I've wondered if it's too late to start another baby book even though my babies are well beyond those years but then I discovered Rag & Bone's "Twelve Wishes for Baby" books.They come with twelve fill-in-the-blank pages that read “I promise I will always keep…,” “A special place I hope you'll visit someday…,” “My wish for you…,.” among others. It also features photo pages and a “five simple rules” section to write down basic rules for any child as they begin their lifelong journey (perfect!). Rag & Bone bindery is a collective group of artisans out of Rhode Island who make their books all by hand - a true art!

Summer!

Let me just announce that summer has made up for all of the whining that occurred during our tough winter months - she's been kind enough to give us a lovely dose of warmth and sun so that we can enjoy the greatness that summer has to offer. For starters, we planted a mini-garden (pictured below)! Our yard is fantastic but it doesn't have an ideal area for planting a garden at the moment. Next year, I hope to build a couple of big planter boxes so that we can have an abundance of fruits and veggies but I thought I'd start small and purchased a kiddie pool for a quick fix. A mere $7, I just drilled some holes in the bottom, filled it with dirt and transplanted our seedlings. We've got lettuce, kale, strawberries and a stalk of broccoli so far. The girls have been watering their little veggies but mostly have enjoyed digging around for pill bugs. I think this is the first year that I've begun to think that I could really get into this gardening stuff.

Here's C with her ice cream bar today - of course I made her take off her shirt to save it from a melted disaster. Summer! I hope you're enjoying yours...

mimishop rattles and musicbaby

This week has been a whirlwind of activity but I see the light at the end of the tunnel - which is encouraging when the days blur into the night and the to-do lists seem practically endless. We're in the midst of building out a restaurant (actually my husband and his partner) and I've been working on the website in the evenings after the girls' are fast asleep - so any hopes of writing a blog post, even a brief one, fell quickly to the wayside. I took a break tonight and decided I would check out Etsy since it's been almost a week since I said "hi". As I was perusing, I randomly decided to type the word "rattle" into the search field just to see what results would come back and to say that I was pleasantly surprised to bump into mimishop is an understatement. Her rattles and pacifier clips are so refreshing and fun! Adorable! Then, to top it all off, the Owl Musicbaby is a modern twist on the traditional musical toy with a mechanical music box sewn inside. No need to change batteries, it plays Brahms Lullaby for approximately 2.5 minutes each time you pull from the string. Fancy that!