Eleanor was pretty excited about the Method soap that came this month. She claimed the pink bottle for herself and declared that the green one was for August, then washed her hands about twenty times. I told my contact over there that they have got the toddler market covered.
Inspired by the pink your sink campaign this month, I gathered a few options for a cute, girly bathroom.
Here’s a little storage trick that works for us. I added hooks to the back of our kitchen door to keep all of our bibs, reusable shopping bags, and a couple of aprons. We also keep one tote there to act as a laundry bag for the bibs and dish towels that need to be washed. We almost always keep the door to the kitchen open, which means the side with the hooks is up against the wall. Everything is accessible, but we don’t have to see it all the time.
Series One Peg Rail
So minimal and lovely! So not like the hooks I actually have!
Cotton Canvas Tote
We keep one large tote to store dirty bibs and dish towels until laundry day. Ours is a grocery store bag that’s not nearly as pretty as this one.
Reusable Shopping Bag
I keep a few reusable bags in my purse at all times, and store the extras in a pouch on a hook. I like the ones from Envirosax and Baggu.
Woodland Tumble Embroidered Bib
Bibs are still handy for the kids when we’re having a messy meal.
Dryer-Activated Fabric Softener
We used to use dryer sheets, but I was pretty excited when Method sent over some of their new softener. It’s good stuff (but we do keep this in the laundry room, not the kitchen!).
Kitchen Apron
I’m kind of over cutesy aprons, but I love this simple one. Works for men and women.
Of course, that was the magazine-perfect fantasy version. Since owning a single beautiful bib isn’t actually practical, our door really looks like this.
(Trivia: That shabby chic bird hook was the first thing I ever bought from eBay.)
I’m the sole provider for our family now. Officially.
I posted a single political link out of a dozen cute and fluffy links in last Friday’s Honor Roll, and it got people all riled up. One person was so incensed that she tried to insult me personally, calling me out for enjoying my “fancy shopping trips” while Brandon was collecting unemployment. That’s not true, but I hadn’t realized the misconception I may have been fostering by not providing an update sooner. It’s hard stuff to write about and I’d been putting it off, but no longer. Here’s what’s going on with us.
Brandon and I met in 1999, when we each worked full-time at Barbara’s Bookstore in Oak Park (making just over $6/hour in the beginning — go us!). We began dating in 2001, moved in together a while after that, and were married in May of 2004. Just before we were married, Brandon left the bookstore for a job in printing that paid more. He was there until he lost his job in January.
I left the bookstore in late 2004. I had already been working a second job which was to continue for a little longer, and I took a seasonal retail job at the first west elm store. When that was over, I decided to pursue my dream of owning a stationery business and I started Pink Loves Brown. I also took on freelance web design projects as Smart & Lovely while the stationery business took off. I started this blog in 2007, and I realized that the blog would eclipse the stationery shop a couple of years into it. The money I made from advertising was a nice bonus at first, and eventually it became enough to call the blog “a job” with a straight face.
Brandon liked the work that he was doing (managing prepress), but the environment was a bad one. We’d always hoped that he could quit eventually, but it helped support our family and provided health insurance. When he unexpectedly lost his job earlier this year, he was on unemployment for a few months while he looked for work. As I took on more projects though, it became clear that we could make it work if he wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. In July, he stopped collecting unemployment. We got rid of COBRA and bought our own health insurance (which was difficult and expensive). It’s scary to be the sole supporter since I have such a non-traditional job, but it’s working right now. If we need to reevaluate in the future, we will.
I make money in advertising and sponsored posts here on Making it Lovely, and I also write for Babble, Better Homes and Gardens, and Glidden. I’m saying yes to a lot more work than I would have before and I’m working a lot, but we’re doing well. Last year was the first year in which I earned more than my husband. This year I’ve been doing even better, and I hope to eventually be able to replace his lost income.
It wasn’t under ideal circumstances, but it seems I’ve managed to cross another item off of my Lovely Life List. A big one.
Thank you, everybody, for all of your support over the years. Especially recently. We wouldn’t be able to do this without you, and I’m humbled by you and grateful.
That picture of my kitty, Violet, in the sink is from early 2008. I went back through my photos to see how long we’ve been refilling the same old Method soap bottle, and it turns out it’s been four years now. They don’t even offer this shape anymore, but I’ve never found a soap dispenser that I like better and this one has held up, so we’ve kept it. I’m working with Method though, and they sent a couple of bottles from the new Orla Kiely line… and I think I may have found a replacement.
Cute, right? (Although I’m still holding on to the old bottle too! Ha.)
There are four Orla patterns in the new limited edition line, and each has a signature scent (primrose, vanilla chai, bay leaf, and pear ginger). They became available online and in Target stores last month.
p.s. I really ought to update the bathroom, eh? It’s the only room in the house we haven’t done anything to, beyond hanging a shower curtain!
This post is brought to you by Nestle Toll House Birthday Sugar Cookies. Bake some birthday love.
Brandon and I met in a bookstore. We both worked at Barbara’s Bookstore in Oak Park, an independent book shop that is now gone but was once amazing, and so clearly we have a shared love of books. We read to the kids like crazy, and Eleanor and August seem to share our enthusiasm too. There has been a whole lot of reading in the Balch house lately (we know how to party, whoooo!), so I thought it would be fun to come up with a bookish birthday party theme.
I chose a plant instead of flowers to keep it from feeling too fussy. I thought it fit the book/library feeling well, and it’s such a sweet little plant. I added a few dried billy balls in front, and a few more on the other side of the table with some crazy mushrooms on sticks. (Say what? I don’t know — I liked ’em.)
I had a couple of cute ideas for the book theme. Idea one: bake sugar cookies in the shape of books! (That would be rectangles, yes.) I sandwiched them together with white frosting for the pages, then added fruit leather binding. Bookies, if you will. Super cute idea! Note the lack of closeups on that one! (The kids were still very into eating them.)
Cute idea number two: Book garland. (This one was more successful.)
Cute idea number three: book risers. I took the dust jackets off of several hardcover books, and stacked them on the dessert table. I thought about recovering them with kraft paper or plain white, but I liked the look of the books as they were with their spines turned toward the back. I added in a couple of different-sized apothecary jars and a glass pedestal with a dome to vary the heights even further.
And of course, a birthday party needs a cake. This one was ready-made red velvet from the grocery store. I’d never tried it before (I’m not much of a cake fan), but we brought it over to my sister-in-law’s house to share with the family and it was delicious.
Wouldn’t this be a sweet kid’s birthday party? I think it works for all ages, really. I’m turning 32 this month, and I’d be pretty happy with a bookish birthday too.
Brought to you by the Brita Bottle For Kids: Help teach your kids to learn to love water. Learn more.
Brandon used to eat buttered noodles as a separate dinner from the rest of his family. I was of course a darling, perfect child who ate the same thing as the rest of my family: pizza/burgers/hot dogs. So yeah, when I became a mom, I wanted to do better. We’re not perfect at all, but Brandon and I have done a pretty good job when it comes to getting our kids to eat well. Here’s what worked for us.
They eat the same foods we eat. Sometimes they don’t want to eat much of what they’ve been given (even when it’s something we already know they like) and that’s fine, but they don’t get a separate meal.
The kids drink a lot of water. They like their milk and juice too, but I offer water more often than not. I even gave up soda a couple of years ago so I’d be a better role model, and Eleanor likes to “cheers!” with me and we clink our water glasses.
We do insist that they at least try everything. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to eat it, but they have to give it a fair shot. And we gladly enlist the help of Yo Gabba Gabba tunes on this one. (“Try it. You’ll like it!”)
And yeah, we still do the pizza/burgers/hot dogs thing sometimes too. But hey, I get some water in there for the girl at least!