Music Musings

Jean Ritchie .. really any of her songs but listen to this one
and Krzysztof Komeda ... cul-de-sac

xx

Cacti | 02

this is not a cactus.
it's a palm frond.

I drew it for you.

xo

52nd street beach

On a heat soaked afternoon whim this weekend, we decided to head to the beach.
En route we noticed that waze was quoting the same amount of time to drive to Venice as it was to Newport Beach.
Just the thought of Spaghetti Bender for dinner was enough to point the car in that direction...So to Orange County we headed.

We arrived with enough time to have our tank tops and beach cover ups feel appropriate,
but within an hour it started to cool off while the sun began its dip to the sun setting place.

I changed under a towel, as you do, and Ila let it be known that a diaper change in the cool breeze was not ok.

We wrapped up and walked back to the car slowly, pitching ideas on how we can get back to living on the beach.
The conversation continued, power ball, indeed, commuting, as we sat in the car for a good 30 minutes,
just to allow some time to pass for a more decent dinner hour. Ila turned the car buttons and climbed all over the front seats.

Newport Beach, you're something special.

Cacti friends | 01

I drew these Cactus friends this morning while Ila was napping.
I think I might do all my cacti and succulent friends.

xo

Things to do with kids in LA

Descanso Gardens.

Descanso Gardens.

It's HERE and you really should just go if you can.
Ila very much enjoyed running up and down the winding trails of wood chip, dirt, rocks or asphalt.

A true respite from the city.

Basically within an hour I was insisting we needed to trade in our day tickets for the yearly membership.

This place is fantastic.

Laura Bear Likes...

Just stuff I like, that's all

From top to bottom -
1.) Moon Cycles Poster  2.) the snow in Chicago 1 year ago... no snow for us this year - here's another one
3.) Amazing Illustrator Lan Truong  4.) Good Job Terrain, love this banner
5.) Ila Rose brushing the horses hair in the office <3  6.) a tunic I might buy for Ila - made in LA, I'm loving Ode to Jeune

Hope you are having a nice week
xx

Bedroom Makeover begins with Minted

Well it's 2015 and it's time...
it's time to update my bedroom and make it the cozy dream land of, well, my dreams.

The only thing I have ever required for my bedroom is white bedding.
But the recent purchase of new bedside tables has inspired a new bedroom outlook on life.

I want stuff.

I want a headboard. I need a cute cover on that lumbar pillow. And those coral reef fans have got. to. go.

So the first place I start with any room in my house is the walls.

I really feel that a room full of beautiful art can make the shabbiest of furniture feel A-OK,
and when Minted reached out about collaborating on a post, I new it was time.
It's time to up my sleep quarters game and get some beautiful art on these walls.

I'm opting for the following..

1. A mineral / gemstone grouping above the wicker chair.

Mineral 03 limited edition print by Lily Hanna /// Unearthed limited edition print by Josh McClendon
Prism Diamond limited edition print by Paper Monkey Press /// precieux limited edition print by Marabou Design

2.  Celestial / Galactic feel should meld nicely with my gilded Mary + Jesus above the dresser

Planetary Neighbors limited edition print by GeekInk Design /// Constellation limited edition print by annie clark

3.  Peachy Geometric meets blues and stone for a calm bedside.

Mineral 01 limited edition print by Lily Hanna /// Poly Agate limited edition print by JoBeth Fink /// domino limited edition print by Carrie ONeal

What I like about the Minted Art Marketplace is that it offers pieces from actual artists that are workin' the struggle to get their name out there.

Through ongoing design competitions, the minted community votes on which pieces should be for sale.

So it's just the good stuff ... " At Minted, all that matters is good design."  Love that.

So, what are your thoughts? Which pieces should I snap up first for my bedroom?

Curtains, a headboard and lumbar pillow excitement tbd and coming soon.

xx

Laura-bear

*ps. Thanks for supporting that brands that in turn support Laura Bear <3.

#IlaRoseBabyBear - 1st Birthday Party

Delayed on posting these but...

Ila's 1st birthday.. She wasn't so sure about the whole party idea,
mostly because she was napping at the start and woke up to a house full of enthusiastic guests.
But as soon as she tasted her first bite of cake, well she was all in.

the cake decorator wrote "Happy Birthday Ila" and then asked me "it's spelled I-L-A, right?"
and he wrote I-L-A below the cake text box..which was then translated to be a repeat of her name -- ah well :)

 ^^^Ila's not so sure

^^the cutest sisters ever... slow clap for the parents of triplets +1 cutie.

Also  polka-dots, flowers, elmo, pink... the theme of this children's birthday party was "all the things" 

yeah...

:)

Laura Bear Christmas 2014

We made a real mess of the place, did things we aren't usually allowed to do (like slap on mama's keyboard, or drink mimosas on a weekday before noon).

It was a wonderful christmas just the three of us.

We flew out the day after for a winter wonderland in Northern Michigan; in which I successfully ignored my phone and camera.
There are a few memories on instagram here but I am happy to say there were so many more moments un-captured but burned in my mind forever.

and here we are a week into 2015.  wow.

My 2015 resolution is to chill the fuck out. so that's off to a good start.

xx

Decorating for the Holidays in our new place

 HI
Can you believe it is almost Christmas 2014?! WHAT!

This year really got away from me. Like Whoa.

One of the few things I actually enjoy about moving is having a new space to decorate for Christmas.

This year's tree is 7.5 feet of pretty.

Our house is really tiny so this tree feels HUGE.

Also please note the super high tech dvd player creche/manger
and Ila's early x-mas present... a mini table + chairs. It is pretty much her favorite thing ever. like ever ever.

Thank you Ikea for making children's furniture that is affordable and not pastel colored.

Here's another view of our tree IRL.

Typically heavy / large ornaments go at the bottom, small ones at top and
ugly-but-can't-toss ones in back.

This year, breakable goes on the top. Felt and no break-y items on the bottom.
(This includes the weird sentimental value teddy bears that I used to shove in back as filler that Ila really loves and wants within reach.)  

Ila pushed that chair up to the tree in, what I can only imagine, was an attempt to scale the tree.

And kitchen utensils everywhere because those are Ila's jam. 

This tiny house had me moving furniture to new places to fit in the tree.

I think I like this chair / lamp combo that happened.

Anyway, here's last years decor. And this was our Christmas tree last year, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

I hope you have a great start to your week. This is the last full week of work for our family until 2015!
yeay!
xx