Month: July 2011

by Allison

say hello to someone you love

Recently I had the chance to sit down and write a handful of notes to some friends I love.  It’s not that rare of an occurrence for me, telling people how much I love and adore them.  I’m the girl who runs up to people at conferences to profess my undying love.  I email people on a regular basis just to say “hello, I adore you”.  So it was a natural thing for me to sit down, pen in hand, and compose little notes to the people in my life who’ve made a big difference to me in the last year.

Hallmark card

I sent one to my sister-from-another-mother Rachael, and to my long lost twin Marie.  And I think it’s fair to say I got as much happiness from the love I sent in the mail as the recipients of my cards.  Is there anything better than a hand written note in the mail? 

I don’t think so.

greeting card

Growing up I was pen pals with my cousin in Florida and I loved getting the mail, sorting through all the bills, looking for my name written by hand.  My cousin and I went on writing letters all through elementary … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

What’s in your purse week fifty seven

This week’s What’s in Your Purse Series purse is from Kimterese.  Thank you!

– P.S. you guys, I need more purses.  If you love this series and want more of it, submit your purse.  I only have a couple purses left in the lineup, I’m totally dried up in my stash.  It’s time to get a move on.  If you want to submit your purse to the series take two photos of your purse {nice, clean non-blurry ones} one of the outside, one of the inside, along with a listing of the contents to allisonATpetitelefantDOTcom.

coach purse
what's in her purse

My handbag is by: Coach. The design is a Chelsea Handbag.

A little bit of info about me. I work at the for the County Library System as a Library Technical Assistant. I have a toddler and she is almost 2 years old. I can’t believe it, Time does fly!
I also can’t believe that I manage to stuff all of those:quite many- but necessary items in my handbag! Go figure, I must be a Mom and know how to pack.

Here are the contents:

Two books:
The First 1000 Days Baby Journal
Water for Elephants
Musical toy giraffe
Smaller Kai Red Maryjane … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

What I wore Wednesday denim on denim

I had a photo shoot for a local broadcasting company last Wednesday.  I played *mom*.  I didn’t even have to pretend when they wanted me to get mad at the kids for eating junk food.  Anyhow, they needed me to look bohemian, so I did my best.

denim on denim

I’m wearing:

denim shirt dress: JCPenney

denim jeans: White House Black Market

vintage black leather purse: it belonged to my grandmother

long silver necklace: Forever 21

pink flower ring: Charlotte Russe

sunglasses: Forever 21

 

brown leather belt

brown leather belt: Lands’ End

leather moccasins

leather moccasins: T.K. Maxx in Warsaw {T.J. Maxx is T.K. Maxx in Europe.  I loved it there too.}

Here are some other What I wore Wednesday outfits I like to wear … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

great summer beach read

Let’s talk about one of my favorite authors for a minute.  Ann Brashares.  She wrote the series The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which I loved.  In fact if you ask me, I think the best contemporary literature is found in the YA section.

ann brashares

I stumbled upon her first foray into adult literature at the library one random day, and it’s now one of my favorite books.

The Last Summer of You and Me is beautiful.  Brashares’ writing has a bit of an ethereal quality to it, and her characters are so drawn out and imperfect, they feel like a reflection of yourself.

Ann Brashares

I found a used copy at a thrift store last week and I almost squealed out loud, I was so excited.

I read it, and then re-read it, just to get to the best parts all over again while the emotions were fresh in my mind.

Take it to the beach, to the pool, to the hammock, to bed at night.  It’s in my top 5 favorite books.… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

What’s in your purse series week fifty six

This week’s What’s in Your Purse Series purse is from Cora.  You’re the best Cora!
– P.S. you guys, I need more purses.  If you love this series and want more of it, submit your purse.  I only have a couple purses left in the lineup, I’m totally dried up in my stash.  It’s time to get a move on.  If you want to submit your purse to the series take two photos of your purse {nice, clean non-blurry ones} one of the outside, one of the inside, along with a listing of the contents to allisonATpetitelefantDOTcom.
brown leather purse
what's in her bag
Bag: brown leather, from a Dutch company (Manfield)
Contents:
  • my day planner (with the pretty fishes)
  • an extra pen
  • a memory stick
  • a notebook for work (blue)
  • my private notebook (called ‘Darn Itch’, by Paperblanks, from the Good Dog series)
  • tea bags (because I’m a tea snob)
  • a pack of gum
  • shea butter lip balm
  • my wallet
  • a brush
  • sun glasses and case
  • my phone
  • and my ‘make up bag’, filled with tissues, band aids, hair bands, an extra lip balm, and no make up

not shown: my keys. Usually, I also carry a book (or two)


… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

A good playground is hard to find

If you were to ask my children to recount a favorite story about Europe, or to pick the best thing about any one of the amazing cities we visited, they wouldn’t tell you about ancient cathedrals or moats left by the invasion of the Turks.

metal slide

No, they don’t care so much about those.  What they will tell you about is the most amazing onslaught of playgrounds since the beginning of mankind.

Giant 60-foot metal slides, zip-lines, merry-go-rounds, rope swings, giant 30-foot rope structures for climbing.

zip-line in Prague

None of this bark nonsense.

Viktor and I were so impressed we launched into story after story, reminiscing our childhoods filled with “real” playgrounds with metal slides, and swings over concrete patches of play yard.

rope play set

I still have bits of pebble embedded in my elbow from a mishap on the swings in the 3rd grade; when I whipped that out to show the children, Viktor pulled up a pant leg to reveal a scar of his own left over from a hot slide in the playgrounds of New Orleans or L.A.


merry-go-round

We had a lot of conversations with the children about the state of play in America.  We reminded them over and over and … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

Matching red sweatshirts

About a week before we left for Europe, Hanes sent us a box of clothes.  Because they’re awesome like that.  And aside from the socks and underwear we’ve come to love, Hanes has a handful of clothes I really like.  T-shirts, sweatshirts, cute tops, shorts for the kids.

I packed a small selection in the kids suitcases, and didn’t think more of it until we had a layover in New York City on our way to Paris.

JFK

I changed the kids into pajamas and handed them each a red sweatshirt from their luggage for the long, chilly plane ride to Paris.

They wore the sweatshirts to Paris and then on to Warsaw.  They wore them all over Warsaw.

metal slide

And in the trains and train stations all over Eastern Europe.

prague

Budapest.

sweatshirts

Prague.

Prague

Vienna.

royal palace

And back again to Warsaw.

I’ve never been one of those moms who loves dressing my children in matching clothes.  Anyway, when it comes to Precocious, dressing her has never been an option.  But I loved that each of them had one warm thing to wear, both a bright red that stood out in crowded cobblestone streets and busy train stations.  It simplified the laundry, the … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

Ingredients for a happy summer

Last week I went to the gym for a couple hours {stop the presses!} and came home to a contented, totally decked out Charming.  Precocious had a friend over, and between the two of them they glittered, pony tailed, gelled, and hair sprayed Charming to within an inch of his life.

blowing bubbles

He loved it, obviously.

I found him on the driveway, bubbles in hand, enjoying a pretty summer night like only a small child can.

children

Even though I had a million other things to do, I started snapping photos. Because I’d just been to a few photography workshops at EVO and was feeling extra inspired.

bubbles

I realized the ingredients for summer happiness, at least where Charming is concerned, are few:

  1. Getting dressed alone
  2. Being fussed over
  3. Glitter
  4. Transportation {scooter}
  5. Bubblegum {not pictured}
  6. Cold drink {Capri Sun}
  7. Bubbles

blowing bubbles

And in taking out a few moments from my day, capturing him in the essence of his personal happiness, embodying all that summer should be for a kid, I shot one of my favorite photos of him.  Ever.

blowing bubbles

 

Ah, Summer.… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

European Summer fashion part 3

The third girl in my European Summer Fashion series was spotted in Prague.

polka dot dress

This girl was the cutest. She was French, and with a guy who was most certainly not her grandfather {because eww, grandpas don’t do that}, but definitely old enough to be so.  She was lovely and flattered I asked for her photo, and had a certain something something about her.

Here’s what she had on:

  • polkadot shirt dress
  • skinny leather belt
  • black ankle boots
  • sunglasses
  • leather cross shoulder purse
  • feather in her hair {swearsies}

She’s the second girl in the summer fashion series I spotted abroad not to be wearing any accessories {minus the feather and the sunglasses}.  Something to think about.… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.