Oh man! Did you guys read this article in Wired Magazine about cars that drive themselves? I started the article thinking: No way, the whole idea scares me. But by the end, I was thinking: How have I lived without self-driving cars for all these years? Not even kidding — I’m kind of geeking out about it!

If you read it, I’d love to hear what you think.

When I was growing up, my father would always give flowers to his four daughters on Valentine’s Day (flowers for Mom too, of course!). Nothing fancy. Often just a single rose or carnation. But I loved it! It made me feel loved and acknowledged — especially during those years when I was longing for, but not receiving, a love note from a particular boy at school.

I really like the idea of small, simple tokens of affection and I thought this series of 24 pretty projects would be perfect for anyone who wants to give a sweet nothing to her daughter this year.

How about you? Did your parents ever give you Valentine gifts?

P.S. — In case you’re curious, the brothers weren’t left out. My Mom would have a little box of chocolates or other tiny treat for each of them. : )

Crocheted hearts by Sabahnur.

I have read countless birth stories and spoken to plenty of new mothers and each time, I am scanning the page or scanning their eyes in hopes of finding a story like mine. One that isn’t beautiful or precious or ends with a picture of a blissful mother cradling her child. And not one where the child is unhealthy or, God forbid, doesn’t survive. I am looking for the one where the baby is perfect, the delivery was textbook and yet the mother holds her new baby in her arms and feels…nothing.

Let me back up. I struggled for over a year to get pregnant, finally turning to IVF. I was very lucky and got pregnant on my first try. My pregnancy was the absolute best time of my life. I was healthy the whole time, rarely tired and stayed active. Years of struggling with my body image and appearance gave way to a feeling of absolute peace with myself. I felt beautiful for the first time in my life. A life where I often hated even looking at myself in the mirror was replaced with one where strangers were complimenting me on the street!

The world just rose up to greet me, in so many ways. I loved having my belly touched (I know so many don’t!), I loved discussing my due date, baby’s gender, name choices…you name it, there wasn’t any intrusion into my personal life that I resented. I was so proud, so excited to bring a baby into this world that was so full of loving people.

At 2am on December 15th, I started having contractions. I had been working a night shift the evening before, so I had only gone to bed a couple hours before. What I didn’t realize at the time was that that was the last time I would so much as shut my eyes for the next 48 hours, a fact that I think played a major part in what was to follow. I labored at home for a little more than a day (after being sent home on my first attempt to be admitted) but I was blindsided by back labor, which made it impossible to even get out of bed. Any loss of counter pressure on my back was excruciating and even with it, the pain was constant. My partner finally convinced the hospital to take me the next day. They started an epidural and I had immediate and complete relief. My desire to have a natural childbirth faded when given the option to end the excruciating pain! The next 12 hours were a return to my blissful pregnancy. I felt no pain. I loved the kind attention of the staff and the excitement that we would soon get to meet our baby.

At 11:33 on the night of the 16th, my son was born. When my partner placed him on my chest, my first thought was that his nose was huge. Really, that’s it. I felt no connection to him, through a bit sad that he was no longer a part of me. It felt perhaps like a bad arranged marriage…you are supposed to build your life with someone who you just met and you’re having reservations. Everything leading up to this moment had convinced me that there would be an instant connection with my baby and a part of me immediately sensed something was very wrong.

We finally got to our room around 2am on the 17th. At this point, I had been awake for a full 48 hours or, since I had only been asleep for a couple hours when my labor started, I’d had two hours of sleep in the last 56 hours. Looking back, I was clearly somewhat delirious from sleep deprivation but I didn’t know enough to take care of myself. My world as I knew it had ended and the idea of putting me first to heal before I gave my whole self to my baby was so contrary to everything I thought was appropriate. This theme would continue for months.

I spent the first night in the hospital plotting my escape. My son was a horrible sleeper initially and couldn’t be put down for more than about 20 minutes before he’d wake up crying. This theme would also continue for months! But having only been a mother for mere hours, I was too afraid to sleep while he slept in my arms so I continued my sleepless stretch. When my partner was holding him, I was in the dark, crying, wondering how I could leave, whether my friends and family and partner would forgive me for leaving my own child. I cried most of the remainder of my hospital stay. The nurses chalked it up to the “baby blues” so I did as well. I had read somewhere that they usually last for about two weeks, so I was secretly holding onto that timeframe. It’ll just last a couple weeks and then it will be better.

Things didn’t get any better when we returned home. I cried more often than I didn’t. My son refused to be put down so we held him in our arms all night and day. I was afraid all the time. I dreaded the long, scary, lonely nights and the fear would set in every day at dusk. Considering this was the middle of December, dusk came way too early every day. I dreaded the long lonely days after my partner returned to work. I had no appetite and barely ate. I continued to wonder how I could leave, desperately wanting to fall down the stairs or contract some horrible illness that would force someone to take care of me, to fix me and to give me a break. But I wouldn’t allow myself any breaks. My mom and sister came to visit after about three weeks and, while they did allow up a couple nights of blissful sleep, I insisted on always being with my son. I really believed that I might never want to take him back if I allowed someone else to care for him without me. The idea of not taking care of him was so tempting; I was convinced that I had to be there all the time. I didn’t trust myself. I honestly believe I would have given him up if I hadn’t been so afraid that my friends and family would ostracize me. The idea of this now is so horrific and shameful to me, but it truly is how I felt.

I knew about postpartum depression but it seemed too convenient an excuse. Having a diagnosis would mean this wasn’t my fault and I was convinced I was a monster. I was convinced I was too selfish to want this baby and that I was not the good person I always thought I was. But a part of me hope, desperately hoped, that it was PPD, which meant I could do something about it. That part of me reached out for help, thankfully fairly early on. I started seeing a therapist who specialized in PPD and went on medication. I was hoping for immediate relief but that wasn’t to be. The medication actually made my anxiety worse initially. But I was too desperate to stop so, with help from my therapist, my dosage was adjusted until things began to improve. I’d have a string of really good days, only to be unable to get out of bed on others. But slowly, things began to shift for me. I was absolutely convinced I would never be able to love my baby but gradually, it began to happen. Within four months of giving birth, I was feeling joy again and the overwhelming love for my son that I expected in the beginning.

Post partum depression took so much from me and my son and my partner. What should have been a time of celebration was a time of such darkness. My son was formula fed because the stress of breastfeeding was crushing me, pushing me further from him. And while I am pro-feeding-choice, I would have loved to have that time back to make my decision about breastfeeding with a clearer head. I’ll never know what my son felt in those early days, whether he knew on some level that my love wasn’t there and whether he carries any of that with him today. On most days, I feel confident I masked my feelings enough to provide him with everything he needed in those early days but on others, I can’t help but question each thing he does and wonder if it is a reflection of some disconnect created right after he was born. That doubt is my depression’s darkest legacy.

My experience did have some positives, however. I do believe I see the world differently. I will never know what kind of mother I would have been had a not been depressed; however, I do know that I really don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. Once I made it through the darkness, things in the light just don’t look that bad. I have also developed great empathy for others and a better awareness that none of us really know what anyone else is going through. I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that if I could go back and do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing, but I have definitely squeezed as much good out of it as I can. Take that, depression.

So that’s my birth story. I just reread my first paragraph and I realize that my birth story does end with a blissful mother holding her child! It took a lot longer than expected but here I am!

From Colette Sanborn.

P.S. — Here’s a beautiful birth story by Lindsey Cheek, with gorgeous photos shot by Millie Holloman.

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Note from Design Mom: throughout my 6th pregnancy, I posted reader-submitted advice, memories and stories about pregnancy, childbirth, adoption and growing a family. My baby is hardly a baby anymore — here’s her birth story and her newborn photos — but the series has been so popular that I’m continuing it indefinitely. You can find all the stories in this series by clicking here. Have a story you’d like to share? I’d love to read it. You can send it to me at gabrielle@designmom.com.

A few weeks ago, we discussed an article that made French mothers sound a bit monstrous. Well apparently, French parenting is a hot topic. On Saturday, The Wall Street Journal printed this article about French parenting and it’s practically glowing, it’s so positive. Here’s an excerpt:

“When I asked French parents how they disciplined their children, it took them a few beats just to understand what I meant. “Ah, you mean how do we educate them?” they asked. “Discipline,” I soon realized, is a narrow, seldom-used notion that deals with punishment. Whereas “educating” (which has nothing to do with school) is something they imagined themselves to be doing all the time.

One of the keys to this education is the simple act of learning how to wait. It is why the French babies I meet mostly sleep through the night from two or three months old. Their parents don’t pick them up the second they start crying, allowing the babies to learn how to fall back asleep. It is also why French toddlers will sit happily at a restaurant. Rather than snacking all day like American children, they mostly have to wait until mealtime to eat.”

What do you think? Do you purposely and pointedly teach the ability-to-wait-nicely to your children? I can’t say I’ve been particularly good at it. But it does seem like such a valuable real-life skill!

The article isn’t too long, but it definitely has me examining my parenting methods. I hope you have a few minutes to give it a read — I’d love to hear what you think of it.

P.S. — Thank you to all the readers who sent me the article. So glad you did! Also. The photo of June doesn’t have much to do with the article, I just found it irresistible. : )

Nicole seems like she has endless amounts of patience. Rooms full, actually! Nearly every corner of her home is adorned with art she has created with her four young daughters, yet none of it looks messy or hastily made. Rather, it looks intentional, harmonious, and made with care. There is a difference, isn’t there? Anyone who has attempted a handmade décor knows it’s definitely a trick to execute, and Nicole does it very well. You’ll see. I hope you enjoy the interview and the inspiration!

Q: Please tell us about the artists who live in this handmade home.

A: I am Nicole Shiffler, mother of four lovely little ladies: Caroline (6), Johanna (4), Ainsleigh (2), and Annabelle (2). My husband, Bobby, is one outnumbered man in a home where dolls and tutus can be found strewn across every room. I am a stay-at-home, blogging, homeschooling, want-to-be artist who knows very well the privilege of me-time. I absolutely love creating with my children and for my home. It is a stress-relieving, gratifying, incredible process to create. It is even more so when I can share it with my children.

Q: Tell us about your home and how it came to be yours. What’s the first feature you remember that made you gasp and know that this was the one?

A: We actually rent our home. Life just so happened that we sold our last home when we found out we were expecting twins, and began the hunt for a larger home. Once the twins did come, we ended up spending what would have been a down payment towards a house on NICU bills for two preemies. Thus, the rental hunt. We were so blessed to find a four bedroom home to rent (what are the odds of that?!) and have called it home ever since. I’ve worked hard to make every room uniquely ours without painting a single wall or renovating it in any way.

I first fell in love with the finished basement where I now sew while my children play. We’ve had play restaurants, marketplaces, a baby hospital, and the likes down there in their playroom. Truly a dream come true for all parties involved. We also have a yard, which is a first! My older girls have created an outdoor house in the trees behind our home, complete with boulder chairs and table.

If I could change something with our house it would definitely be to have hardwood floors in the dining room. Come on now, who puts carpet in the dining room? Definitely not home builders with toddler twins!

Q: How would you describe your style? Has it changed since you’ve added kids to the mix?

A: I’m still trying to put my finger on my style. I would say it is colorful, fresh, and eclectic at times and vintage, old, and purposefully meaningful at other times. I’ve definitely arrived at this style stage from having children. I see the beauty and unpredictable, unrestrained innocence of childhood in my children and want the walls of our home to reflect that.

The colorful and fresh side of my style comes mostly from my creations and my children’s creations, things that reflect us now and the life within us. The vintage and purposefully meaningful side of my style comes from my past and history that I want my children to grow up with: my Granny’s treasures and outdated fabric, my great aunt’s embroidered hankies, my father’s ceramic yellow teapot which was his first attempt at pottery, and an old family friend’s suitcase turned into a nurse’s kit.

I’d also say that my style is all about recreating something new from what you already have. Re-purposing rather than buying new, like stapling fabric over old canvases to create an instant, bold bulletin board. That’s one of my best makeover tricks.

Q: Where do you find your inspiration for designing your decor? How much input do your children have on your family’s style? Is there a planning process for projects and forums for ideas?

A: My inspiration first comes by deciding what is needed in a space in terms of functionality. Because we live a homeschooling life within our walls (and outside our walls), we rely heavily on functional spaces while living and thriving in our home. I am very conscious to create a nice marriage between function and aesthetics in our decor.

After deciding upon the optimum function of a space, then comes the exciting part; brainstorming what raw materials I have on hand to make it all come together. Hopefully beautifully!

My children play a major part in the family style of our home. I learned years ago that there is so much beauty in the absolute innocence and untrained creativity of a child, whether through art, sewing, or even setting a table. I try to let their creative personalities be seen in our home by celebrating it in every room. Their art and other handmades are just as much art as mine. Every wall in our home is literally decorated somehow creatively by the very people that live in it. It makes for a very warm and friendly feel with Johanna’s red water-colored girl next to a wood block print I made for Bobby when we were dating.

There is somewhat of a planning process for all of the projects we do in general and for our home. Most Sunday nights, I sit between my oldest girls and we look over our many lists of things to make, create, sew, or bake, and decide the most important ones to add to the calendar that week. We always have at least one baking day and one project day, although many days we end up doing both. I aim for both structure and spontaneity in our days together.

Q: Materials you always have on hand for crafting…

A: Lots of fabric, ribbon, paints, brushes, oil pastels, crayons, buttons, popsicle sticks, canvases, good paper, IKEA frames, glass jars and bottles, and anything random that looks promising from garage sales or thrift stores. You’d be surprised what you can do with wooden embroidery frames and wooden frames. Sticks and leaves, and really anything from our backyard, are thankfully always on hand for projects.

Q: Tell us of an average day in your house. How does it work best?

A: An average day starts with the house looking like we don’t have any children. Within the first hour of play and breakfast and kitchen clean-up, somehow everything has been pulled out onto the floor. Even things that weren’t intended to be pulled out! Some mornings after we are all dressed, laundry is started, and the big girls’ morning jobs are completed, we might bake our week’s snack or other baked goods around the island in the kitchen. Everyone drags a chair in to participate.

Or our morning’s activity might start at the dining room table with homemade play-dough or a specific project. Homemade stickers are on the calendar this week! When we aren’t together doing or making something, you can usually find my older girls situated in the art room writing stories or upstairs whipping up plans to open a bakery.

After lunch together and taking the twins upstairs for naps, we spend most of the afternoon in the living room. I designed the living room to be a space for a lot of living, with the kids’ books, my favorite books, blocks, a few simple toys, and our computer. The girls know mom needs her quiet time resting on the couch for a bit, and then I get to have time with my older girls learning or exploring whatever we’re most interested in at the moment.

The evening winds down in the kitchen and then dining room, with my little dinner helpers coming in and out preparing the table for dinner. We turned the top of our lowboy into a dinner helper station where everything is in one place for the table setters. Even the toddlers like getting involved. After dinner and clean up, we return to the living room for closure from the day together, maybe playing a game of Fish, or Bobby reading a classic novel aloud, or a big pile-up on Daddy.

These are the moments, surrounded by the homemade stick horses and fabric garland, dolls in their cradle by the fireplace, that I feel satisfied with the simplicity of life. No frills or extravagances, just real life and its props.

Q: Advice for parents who love the idea of DIY but have a hard time with the mess!

A: Train your kids to take real art supplies seriously. Art aprons are a requirement with paints, watercolors, printmaking inks, and ink with quill pen in our home. Use an old tablecloth on your table for really messy projects. When it is warm, we like to take our painting projects like painting frames or glass jars outside on the grass. The kids and mom get to relax a bit.

We actually have a room specific for the less-messy art projects, which we affectionately call our art room. Yes, at the end of the day I beckon my girls’ help to pick up millions of little pieces of paper someone cut up and buttons that my toddlers were pouring from bowl to bowl and they somehow ended up on the floor, but the girls are learning they are free to create if they then are responsible for the clean-up.

Q: Best DIY you and your kids made together? You can tell us the horror stories, too!

A: I have a few. Our outdoor letter rocks that welcome visitors at the door and encourage my girls to spell, printing our own personalized labels, and the soft books we made for the twins when they turned one. Being literally surrounded by so many things we’ve created means that I and my girls are constantly reminded that we, together, contribute to something much bigger than ourselves. I know they feel it because they value and take pride in those special things.

I would have to say that attempting to hand-trace my girls’ silhouettes from a photograph to hang on our wall was beyond frustrating. A few of the silhouettes are decent of my girls while one of them is remarkably reminiscent of Curious George!

Q: How do you incorporate handmade into your daily life?

A: I believe incorporating handmade into our day happened by accident. My love of creating and handmade homemaking has been observed so much that my children see needs in their own world, like needing something in their bedroom and automatically beginning to plan how to make a solution. All they really know is making their way through curtains, decor, toys, treats, and gifts for others.

My girls hear the phrase “find a creative solution” almost daily. We just made a fabric curtain using a branch as the curtain rod the other day for Caroline’s doll who was apparently suffering from the bright sun in her bedroom. They rarely think of buying first, but set out in their minds to make first. Our homeschooling life allows for the simple and complex creative solutions throughout the day, like the essential doll curtain.

My girls are a part of the many necessary processes of the day that force us in many ways to slow down: baking bread, sewing up a pair of needed pants, making refills of homemade cleaning supplies, tidying between projects, prepping a meal, and so forth. Living a slower life means enjoying the process of these tasks that feed us, clothe us, clean us, and entertain us.

I’ll be the first to admit that slow living doesn’t come naturally for me. Living alongside my children every day, though, and seeing their curiosity and enthusiasm for life helps me live in the moment much more. This is one of the reasons I wanted to home school; to be there for every discovery and to encourage their curiosity further.

Q: What projects would you like to accomplish this year for your home?

A: I’d love to paint the hand-me-down dressers in our master bedroom a bold color this spring. And I’d really like to be able to walk through my basement storage room without risking my life…or the life of the many stacked boxes!

Q: Describe your favorite time of day.

A: My favorite time of day is definitely early afternoon. My Ainsleigh and Annabelle would hopefully be napping upstairs and I would be sitting between my big girls, feet propped up, reading a good book to them as the afternoon sun begins to peer through the living room windows, flooding the entire back end of the house with light. Those are precious moments shared.

Q: Please finish the sentence: I wish I had known…

A: How much paper my little artists go through a day!

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Thank you, Nicole, for sharing your beautifully-made life with us. You may be renting, but you’ve made that home belong to your family. I love it.

Friends, don’t you have three new tabs open following Nicole’s DIY project links? At least, right? Tell me: Are any of you living a handmade life, or wishing you did? I’d love to hear your stories!

P.S. — If you’d like to share your home with us in my Living With Kids series, drop me a note. I’d love to hear from you!

DIY project contributed by Danyelle.

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I’m a big fan of fun candy-free Valentines. This project was inspired by the mounds of paper fortune tellers that fall from my daughter’s backpack daily. Apparently, making paper fortune tellers is THE thing to do in her fourth grade class. I have a feeling her classmates are going to love these.

To make some paper fortune teller Valentines with your child you’ll need to print out the PDF and have a paper trimmer or scissors handy.

Cut the excess paper from the fortune teller along the dotted line. Your fortune teller should be 8.5″ x 8.5″ after it’s trimmed.

Fold the fortune teller in half, making a nice crease.

Make another fold, this time going in the opposite direction. This creates a “X” in the fortune teller when it’s opened.

Turn the paper so the printed side is facing down on the table top. Turn one corner at a time towards the center point of the paper and make a nice crease.

Flip the fortune teller over so the heart and number graphics are facing down on the table top. Next, turn each corner one at a time, towards the center of the paper. When you are finished, all of the numbers should be visible and your fortune teller should be in a nice square.

Flip the fortune teller so the four colored hearts are visible. Fold the fortune teller in half making a nice crease and then re-open. Do the same thing, this time going in the opposite direction.

Slip your fingers inside the fortune teller as shown in the images to fluff.

Have fun playing!

You can print your own fortune tellers. Download the free pdf here!

I love Mem Fox’s books. If you haven’t been lulled to sleep by Time for Bed or wishing for a moment or two of invisibility like Hush does in Possum Magic, you are definitely missing out! Her website is wonderfully full, too. And entertaining! I was so tickled to read Ms. Fox’s list of Loves and Loathings. Among her loves are green paper clips, world peace, and a clean kitchen sink. Among her loathings are cleaning up dog vomit, racial intolerance, brown clothes, and mobile phones in airport lounges. Agreed. Friends, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

Q: If you close your eyes and think back on your earliest memory of your youth, what’s the one image that springs to mind?

A: Playing a game with stones, a game that included a chanting rhyme, with other little girls on the mission I grew up on in Africa. The others were all African. None of us noticed.

Q: Were your parents creative or did they encourage you to think differently?

A: Very creative indeed. Both were published writers and politically out there, into social justice and equality in a country whose whole system was based on racism. We were taught never to be one of the crowd, and to think outside the current givens in our society.

Q: What do you think contributed most to your creativity?

A: Probably all the books I read. How can a writer not have been a reader?

Q: Possum Magic was rejected nine times over five years, but went on to become the best-selling children’s book in Australia. Did you ever doubt that you’d make it as a published writer?

A: Oh, yes!

Q: Did you ever doubt your talents?

A: I still do!

Q: Was the publishing of Possum Magic the point when you felt you could make a serious career with your writing talent?

A: No, not really. I had published three books before I saw it as a possible career option. I didn’t take up that option until 14 years after Possum Magic was published. I loved teaching too much to say goodbye to it.

Q: Your first love, as you’ve stated, is teaching. What’s the best advice you can give parents when it comes to teaching our own children?

A: Read to them endlessly, for the sake of the love between you and not the educational duty of care.

Q: What, in your opinion, makes a child fall in love with reading?

A: The same: reading endlessly, many books a day, often the same book over and over again. Don’t just read here or there a couple of times a week. Read my book Reading Magic and it will all fall into place; your child will not fail to learn to read easily and quickly and happily.

Q: What is your best and never-ending source for inspiration?

A: Life and what it throws at me.

Q: What’s the first book that made you cry?

A: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Q: The one book you wish you’d written?

A: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Image by Jo-anna Robinson.

Q:  Describe the view from your office.

A: None: it’s internal to the house with high windows into the sitting room below. I didn’t want a view. I felt it would be mighty distracting.

Q: Your perfect day would include these things:

A: Sleep and more sleep, and then a little nap.

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Thank you, Mem! It’s so reassuring to hear that you still doubt your talents…even though we certainly don’t!

Friends, I have to be honest; every time an author, whose books we adore and read often, agrees to an interview, I’m always a little star-struck when they respond! I’ve told you this before, but our landlords so graciously left a stack of books for the kids that we found the first night we arrived to La Cressonnière, among them several by Ms. Fox, so she will forever be connected to our memories of our time here in France. I like that connection very much.

I’m curious: What would your perfect day include? I’d love to hear all about it!

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You can find the entire Author Interview Series here.

Image from my instagram stream. I’m gabrielle_designmom if you want to join me.

Wow. We had a real snow storm! We hear it’s very uncommon for this part of the country, but we think it’s a treat. You may remember, we live in a very rural area, so you can imagine the country roads piled with snow. We didn’t even attempt to drive the kids to school today — I’m 100% sure we would have slid into a ditch!

Instead, we have a roaring fire going, and the kids are building snowforts in the garden, while I type away at my laptop. Not bad for a Monday.

I hope your week is off to a great start as well!

Hello, Friends! Are you well? I’ve had a fun few days. One of my very best friends from high school has been visiting (her wonderful mom, too!), and we’ve been running around all the touristy places in Normandy. But. It’s the coldest weather I’ve seen since we moved here! So the monuments and hot spots have been completely deserted. It’s interesting to see a place like Mont St. Michel with hardly a soul around. Have you ever toured in the off-season? Did you like it?

Our guests took the train to Paris today, so it looks like we’ll have a cozy family weekend at home. We’ll be keeping the firewood burning, and I’m predicting some baking too. I adore baking when it’s freezing outside! While I think of yummy baked goods, here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:

- Today I’m inspired by furniture painted by children. Thank you, Karey!
- Did you hear? Alt Summit is offering ONLINE classes. Smart, inexpensive and starting on Monday with a class from famous Erin Loechner. Grab your spot!
- 5 Valentine projects to sweeten up your home.
- I’m a believer, but I like what he has to say.
- Let’s make ribbon wands.
- Have you ever considered life without a TV?
- What a fun party! I want to copy the juice box covers.
- Remember the Swedish workmen? Here are some French ones. Thanks, Claire!

I also write for Babble. Here are this week’s posts:
- 10 candy-free classmate valentines.
- Custom Viewmaster reels with YOUR photos. Genius for a reunion or party!
- The prettiest dishes for kids.
- Makes me think of warmer weather.
- The coolest new ABC book.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And I hope you stay warm! I’ll be sending thoughts of knitted hats and woolen scarves your way. : ) I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already!

kisses,
Gabrielle

P.S. — Thank you, thank you for the amazing discussions this week. Your stories about taking a leap, and becoming (or wishing to become) a mother have stuck with me.

Image by Moss & Isaac for Alt Summit.

Hey guys! If you’re around today at 2:00pm EST, come join me for an online chat all about Alt Summit! The chat is hosted on The Motherhood and all the Kirtsy Girls — Laurie Smithwick, Laura Mayes & Sarah Bryden Brown — will be chatting too.

We’ll be talking about the highlights of the conference and remembering some of the little details. If you’re homesick for all things Alt, come share your favorite parts. And if you’re never been to Alt Summit, join us to find out what it was like.

Looking forward to the chat — talk to you at 2:00!

P.S. — Speaking of the little details, one of my favorites was snowcones during the white party. My brother Salem made shave ice for all the guests. There were several different flavors, but all the snowcones were white! And they were served in sweet little silver cups. My sister-in-law, Megan, even sewed a white cover for the shave ice machine. Love those details!

I love today’s giveaway — and I bet you will too. House 8810 is offering a prize package featuring 8 awesome items!!

The winner will receive a Dipped Serving Spoon, a set of Valentine Lace-up Cards, the Harriet Apron, and these adorable Crochet Potholders. And there’s more! The winner will also receive a Fresh Fruit Tablecloth, a light blue Kitchen Timer, a Things To Do Notepad, and a floral Everyday Bag.

Man oh man. That’s $170 worth of fabulous prizes!

House 8810 is one my favorite sources for really hip, cool house products. Their wares make fantastic gifts — perfect for housewarming parties and hostesses. It’s always fun to browse their site!

Visit House 8810 and leave a comment below to enter. The winner will be announced on Monday. Good luck!

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Adrienne Conner is the lucky winner. Thanks for playing!

If you close your eyes and remind yourself of the biggest chance you ever took, where do your thoughts send you? Somewhere lovely, I hope. Every single story I’ve heard reinforces my belief that the greatest leaps bring the grandest adventures. It just takes that first step. The five daring bloggers I gathered to answer my latest question prove this beautifully. Here’s how they finished this week’s question: The biggest chance I ever took was…

Shannon of A Mom’s Year:
…adopting a child after having three biological children. I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but I worried that I wouldn’t feel the same way about Lily Aili that I did the children I’d given birth to. Not only that, but I had nursed my first three and it had been an incredible bonding experience. How in the world would I bond with a 13-month old?

But then something amazing happened.

I settled into a chair with Lily in one arm and her bottle in the other. There we were, complete strangers — now mother and daughter — faces just inches apart. As I helped her position the bottle, our eyes met and held. I gazed into those brown eyes and saw Lily’s guard begin to break down, ever so slowly. I don’t know what she saw in my blue eyes, but I like to think it might have been a certain fierce protectiveness. You’re mine now and I will take care of you.

As the hours and days and weeks went by, we experienced a growing familiarity, then tenderness, then love. Now Lily is a happy, thriving, glorious seven year old. I watch her with her siblings and laugh to think that I ever worried. It’s so obvious that we belong together.

And one of the loveliest blessings from this chance I took is that when someone whispers that she’s afraid she won’t love her adopted child enough, I can say with absolute certainty that yes, you will love this child just as much as if you’d given birth to her. You belong together.

Rosa of FlutterFlutter:
…trying to have it all.

After high school, I was trying to decide whether or not to move to the States to attend a well-known art center in Atlanta, or to stay in Vancouver and attend a local art school; a decision made harder by the blossoming relationship I was in with a pretty great guy. I worried that by staying put I would be giving up the chance to be successful as a graphic designer, but also worried that by leaving I would be giving up any chance we had of sustaining the relationship.

I took a chance, choosing love and a local school, and I haven’t looked back. Art school introduced me to amazing friends, followed by both great and not-so-great design jobs where I learned from such talented people. And the relationship turned into a fabulous marriage: 13 years, two kids, and counting! Now, as a full-time mom and part-time graphic designer, Etsy seller, and blogger, I realize that having it all doesn’t mean that I can have everything. But I’ve also discovered that everything I do have is all that I need.

Sandra of Raincoast Cottage:
… leaving a successful career for a new one in a completely unrelated field.

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved people and creativity and beautiful things. But when it came time to go to college and have a career, she took the responsible way out; she became a business consultant and made lots of money. But do you know what? She didn’t live happily ever after. At least, not at first.

That girl was me.

I was good at what I did. I was successful. I gave speeches. I taught courses. I wrote articles for magazines. I worked overseas in southern Africa. But when I was alone and quiet, I kept hearing a little voice that asked, “Is this the life you want? A life that revolves around your paid work with very little time for your passions and interests and fun?”

One day I took a big chance – the biggest chance I ever took, in fact! – and I decided to change careers. I left the consulting world, and became and marriage and family therapist. Of course it didn’t happen overnight. I first decided to change. Then I researched graduate schools. Then I applied. Then I was accepted. Then I resigned from my job and did some contract work while in school. And finally, two-and-a-half years later I had a graduate degree in counseling psychology.

What did I learn? I learned how hard it is to change when the people from your old world don’t quite understand why you are moving to a new world. I learned that it’s hard to be a beginner again. It’s hard to be really, really bad at something, especially when you have been really, really good. Humbling stuff! I learned that you must follow your dreams. You need to find your tribe…your community that shares your values.

Make no mistake: it wasn’t easy, and there were many bumps along the way. But I learned that I’ll always regret what I don’t do much more than what I do, no matter how it turns out.

Christa of I Know How Is Babby Formed:
… quitting a full-time job that was local to write remotely for a company located across the country. In some ways, it was an easy choice because I’d already put in a few years of light freelance work for that far-away company. In other ways, it felt like an immense risk; I’d be a contract worker with no benefits and no guarantees.

But it was a good thing ultimately, because I needed that flexibility desperately when my daughter was born six weeks early.

Now, a few years later, I’m back in that exact same boat. It feels like an odd replay of my mid-twenties! I’m working locally again with aspirations of starting my own business and attracting enough clients via word of mouth and my editing and writing website to be able to work from home and to make my own hours again. It’s no secret to my blog readers that we’re trying to conceive again, and I want to be able to give my future children the same sweet mama-at-home time. Hopefully sometime soon, I’ll be taking the same big chance again on my own terms.

Lisa of Little Monster:
… trying to have a baby. This decision was huge for me. I will never forget the sound the birth control pill container made hitting the bottom of the trash can. It sounded like a hundred tons of bricks hitting hard concrete on top of a microphone. I knew I wanted to be a mom, but I wasn’t sure if I was prepared enough, strong enough, happy enough, accomplished enough, ME enough to take the leap. You name it, and I worried about it. It had taken me years to get comfortable in my own skin, and now I was thinking about doing that for my own child? Surreal!

But really, the reason for my hesitance was garden variety fear with a big dose of insecurity. I did overcome these feelings long enough to conceive. I mustered up the courage to have a very stern conversation with the voices in my head. I told them to take a hike. There was no need for them where I was heading. It took a couple of these heart-to-heart chats and a lot of coaxing, but thankfully it worked.

I think I was right to be scared, up to a point. Bringing a person into the world is the most important thing you can do, and with that comes responsibility. But having Rowan is the best thing I have ever done. I have never been more inspired, tired, happy, sad, strong, weak, loving, and loved in my entire life.

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Thank you, ladies, for sharing your stories. I’m sure you’ve inspired more than a few of us to take that first step. Your turn, Friends! Will you tell me of your most daring leap and answer this week’s question, please?  The biggest chance I ever took was…

I know you’ll inspire me leaps and bounds!

Little bird found here, but I wish I knew the photographer responsible for capturing such beauty.

Image (plus recipe!) by Tish Boyle.

A thoughtful French reader, Annabelle, wrote in to make sure I knew today was Chandeleur. Apparently, it’s a holiday that involves making and eating stacks of crepes.

I’m totally on board with any holiday involving stacks of crepes! I’ll take mine with berries and whip cream, please. Or maybe Nutella and bananas. Feel free to join me in celebrating. : )

P.S. — Fun fact: When I looked up the wikipedia entry on Chandeleur, it mentioned that in the U.S. and Canada, this holiday was replaced with Groundhog Day. (Happy Groundhog Day, by the way!)

Happy February, Dear Readers! I’m so glad we have Valentine’s Day this month to distract me from how cold it is. : )

I think I’ve posted about these wax paper, melted crayon hearts at least 5 times since I started this blog. They are so pretty! And they look so easy. And still, I’ve yet to actually ever make any. Do you think this is the year?!

How about you? Are you putting up any Valentine’s decorations?

P.S. — I’ve got some fun Valentines-y ideas I’ll be sharing over the next week or so. Stay tuned!

You probably know by now how I feel about mothers and their babies! I can’t help but marvel at the miracle of life, and every story surprises me more than the last. My smart friend Emily recently shared the all-virtual International Museum of Women‘s newest project with me, and I’m already hooked. I can’t wait to see what it becomes.

It’s called MAMA: Motherhood around the Globe, a collection of compelling stories, policy-changing ideas, and gorgeous artwork from more than 60 countries. It’s incredibly eye-opening to hear from mothers of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and drastically different cultures talk about motherhood.

I’m curious. How did motherhood happen to you? For those who aren’t there yet, how will you determine the right time — if ever — to bring a baby into your life? I’d love to hear your stories and opinions!

Oh my goodness you guys, I keep forgetting to tell you, but we bought a painting! It’s pretty big — about 4 feet across. It’s titled “L’Amerique.” Also. It’s the coolest! I’m actually pretty nuts about it and point it out to any one who shows up at our door. : )

There’s a little story behind it too, in case you’re curious. In December we went to an art exhibit featuring the work of Jean François Sineux. You might remember me mentioning the Sineux Brothers — we’re renting this house from one of them. The entire exhibit was a series of cows:

Maybe a hundred of them. And they were so good! We missed the opening night, and when we visited on the second night of the exhibit, almost everything was sold. But our favorite piece was still available. So we bought it before it was grabbed up! In fact, instead of exchanging Christmas gifts, Ben Blair and I decided this would be way more fun. The following day, we brought the kids to see the exhibit too. They guessed which painting was ours immediately.

I know we have that adorable, crazy old car that will make a fantastic souvenir (if we can just figure out how to get it home…), but I think I’m even more excited about this painting.

It’s such a perfect memento of our life here. It reminds me of country roads, fresh milk, and the cows that wander in the field around our house. Best of all, it reminds me of the Sineux family — they’ve been so generous and kind to us, and my memories of France will always be intertwined with thoughts of these good people. Seriously, it feels like the best souvenir ever.

This is the first piece of “big” art we’ve purchased. It felt like kind of big deal, like it was the beginning of our own real live art collection. Tell me, please. Are you a collector of art? Have you ever seen a piece of art and felt compelled to buy it?

P.S. — Want to hear a bit of trivia? If we had stuck to our original plan, today is the day we would be moving back to America. That blows my mind! It seems like we just arrived a few minutes ago.

I’ve been living with the assumption that Swedish homes are born crisp and gorgeous, but the effortlessly stylish Johanna might disagree just a little. She and her husband are midway through a home renovation with two busy daughters, yet she somehow makes it seem far less stressful and much more of a joyful, organic process not to be rushed. So many of us have probably found ourselves in the middle of something messy and wishing for a fast-forward option, haven’t we? But as Johanna sweetly reminds us, some of the happiest moments exist in the right now. Regardless of the mess or little girls standing on desks! Please enjoy the tour.

Q: Who are the lucky ones who live in this bright home?

A: I’d love to introduce my family! I’m Johanna, and I’m a designer at Tretorn. My husband, Andreas, is a 3-D artist. Our daughters are Lillo, age five, and Elsa, who is one-and-a-half years old. We love hanging around in this house and our garden, spending time with friends and family.

Q: Tell us a little about where you live.

A: We live in Helsingborg, situated in the south of Sweden. We found our house two years ago after many years of searching. It wasn’t nicely renovated, so it wasn’t love at first sight. But we saw the potential. Step by step, we have tried to release the inner beauty of this home. It was there all along, just very well hidden under soulless details, plastic floors, and ugly wallpaper.

Q: How would you describe your style? Who inspires you?

A: We like retro. We gravitate toward things with history and personality, like furniture from the fifties and sixties. Our home is in constant change. Alive, I guess! I collect inspiration from everywhere: blogs, magazines, friends’ homes, and flea markets.

Q: You’ve experienced a lot of major events lately! There’s been a family wedding (loved the photobooth!) and a kitchen renovation, right? How did you keep calm through it all?

A: There are long periods where we don’t do anything at all in the house. Everyday life is enough. To avoid stress, we’ve decided to only renovate when we feel like it. But then we have to be fine with unfinished details everywhere.

We want to live in our house for a long time, so why hurry and be depressed and stressed when you can drop all the musts and lists and feel good? Then the energy to renovate appears by itself, and you have fun doing it. But I’m not gonna lie; of course we have had times when we both felt that we just want to be finished!

Q: What are the lessons you learned when redoing your kitchen? What would you have done differently?

A: We made a budget renovation of our kitchen. We kept what was original from the sixties, like the cabinets, and repainted them. Then we removed the black plastic floor and found the wooden original floor underneath. The black tiles on the wall were replaced with standard white tiles.

The kitchen is not ready yet. It’s still missing the final touches, but I’m so glad we decided to keep most of the original kitchen. We originally had thoughts of removing one of the walls to integrate the kitchen with the living room.

If we were able to go back and do anything differently, it would be the floor. At first we decided not to sand the old wooden floor. To save time and money, we just painted it white. The result was, of course, not that good. So we had to go back and do it the expensive and time-consuming way. But now the floor is perfect!

Q: I see a few Matryoshka dolls; do you collect them? What are your favorite, instant happy-making accessories in your home?

A: I guess I do have a few sets! I like that they are both decorative and the kids love to play with them.

I like the decoration we have on our walls: a mix of old and new photos of family, illustrations, and art. Above the stairs on the wall, I hung lots of photos and they make me smile whenever going up or downstairs.

Q: What’s your philosophy on decorating? Where do you buy most of your treasures and furniture?

A: We buy almost all toys at flea markets. It’s often better quality, and you can just give it back when the kids are tired of it. I love recycling! Almost all the furniture in our house is also second-hand.

We have a white base in the whole house, and then add lots of color in accessories. I think our home would be seen as a bit messy if we had colorful wallpapers together with the colorful accessories. So when I find beautiful wallpaper that tempts me, I just frame a piece and hang it up on the wall!

Q: What’s your favorite spot in your home?

A: Our grey wool couch in our living room. I love to sit there with my husband at night when the kids are asleep and the house is cleaned. We drink some tea, watch a good movie, and just relax.

Q: When does your home work best?

A: During the summer, when the days are long and bright. Our door to the garden is always open. It makes the house feel bigger and everything is easier. The kids have another “room” to play in!

Q: Finish this sentence, please: If I had only known…

A: I started to realize recently that you just have to love the mess: the dishes, the cleaning, and the picking up of toys and the pile of dirty laundry that never ends. This is the life I chose to live, and I wouldn’t want to change it for the world. So I have to remind myself sometimes when I sigh over the mess everywhere.

Grab your partner, wash the dishes together, and talk about the day. We did that yesterday, and it was actually one of the nicest moments that day! And the kitchen was cleaned in no time!

So…If I had only known that the key to happiness is making everyday life work!

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I can’t possibly add anything to that beautiful advice. Thank you so much, Johanna, for sharing your home with us. It took my breath away…as did Lillo’s daredevil furniture jumping!

Friends, the case for all-white walls is growing stronger, isn’t it?

P.S. — If you’d like to share your home with us in my Living With Kids series, drop me a note. I’d love to hear from you!

My head is still buzzing with big ideas and small details from Alt Summit. (like the vintage light bulbs above that were part of the Friday Night Mini-Party decorations). I’ve actually made a little list so I can remember my favorite parts.

But before I get to the list, I want to share a quote from the Huff Post write up about the conference: “Whether you are a newbie or an old pro, the environment is supportive and encouraging; more about camaraderie and esprit de corps then competition (the message is clear: this new lifestyle community is no place for mean girls).”

That sums it up for me so well! If you attended, I hope you feel the same way.

Some of my favorite things about the Alt Summit 2012:

- It was wonderful to work with my family. Each year, my brothers and sisters and inlaws come together to put on the conference. They help out in a dozen different ways — running microphones, transporting gift boxes, driving attendees to the airport. I feel like my family especially shines when we’re working hard on a project.

- I loved getting to introduce the Keynote Panel featuring Pilar Guzman, Editor in Chief of Martha Stewart Living (and the founder of Cookie), Deborah Needleman, Editor in Chief of The Wall Street Journal Magazine (and the founder of Domino), and Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, Editor in Chief of Apartment Therapy. I could have listened to them talk for hours — and I know attendees felt the same way.

- Diner en Blanc. Attendees were intimidated about what to wear to this dressed-in-white party, but I’m so glad people joined in. The effect was magical!

- Hearing Ben Silbermann, founder of Pinterest, speak. The crowd got a bit emotional as we gave him a standing ovation. It was a remarkable talk.

- Hosting a Chinese New Year party with the Kirtsy Girls. I love any opportunity I get to be with Laurie, Laura and Sarah! Also, I love fortune cookies! And I was completely geeking out about the custom wallpaper from HP Wall Art. (I think I need to do a whole post on it, because it is awesome.)

- Meeting Anya, Project Runway Winner. Friends. She is gorgeous! And she couldn’t be more gracious — she even signed a photograph for my kids. I brought a suitcase full of Reeses and Sour Patch Kids back to France, but the kids were by far the most excited about Anya’s photo. Thank you for bringing Anya, HP!

- Getting to spend time with keynote speaker, Gretchen Rubin. I was really struck when she was talking about work life balance and said she had stopped trying to achieve it. Instead, she tries to think like this: “If I cram my life full of the things I love, there is no room for the things I don’t love.” Put that on a poster and I will buy it.

- This year, The Grand America left their holiday twinkle lights up and the grounds were stunning. Also, the food was amazing this year. High five to the Grand America cooking staff!

- We had 3 official photographers working the event this year, Brooke Dennis, Justin Hackworth and Moss & Isaac. Go take a look at the photos. They did an outstanding job. Plus, they’re really cool people and fun to hang out with! (The images on this post were shot by them at the conference.)

- Coming home with a stack of business cards. I met so many wonderful people! Old friends and new. At Alt Summit, I always wish there were 3 of me, so I could attend panels and have long conversations and handle attendee questions all at once. There are so many wonderful people to talk too!

- Most of all, it’s hugely satisfying to see the panels and programming I’ve been working on over the last year come to life.

Alt Summit is one of my happy places. Maybe I will see you there next year…

Allysha sent me this video and it got my heart pumping. A gorgeous reminder of why it’s worth every effort to get outside (even though it’s cold out there!).

I had the great good fortune to grow up near several National Parks and they are still some of my very best places to vacation. Do you have a favorite spot in the National Park system? Give it a shout out in the comments! Go parks!!

A  couple of weeks ago, my friends Kacy and Lisa, gave me this vintage book of Fairy Tales. Such a cool gift! It’s a big thick book with loads of stories, and it was compiled by the editors of Parents Magazine the year I was born.

I love having several collections of fairy tales in the house. It’s so interesting to share several different versions of the same story with my kids, see their reactions, and discuss the differences. Some are vastly different!

It was such a neat book to receive. It made me want to search out a good vintage book source for my own gift-giving. I’m assuming Ebay has a ton, but what are your other favorite sources?