sneak peek #2: bread and butterflies

Here is a question I get asked a lot.

How do you balance three school-age kids, a three-week-old, two horsedogs, a marriage, and a business? How do you do it all?

Here is the answer.

I do not.

Most days I do not even do some of it.

Today I swept up enough dog hair to weave a sweater for my 6'5" husband. And a matching one for my newborn.

Tomorrow I will probably not sweep up the dog hair. In which case, the dog hair will pile up, and so the next time I get around to it, I'll close the door to my bedroom and quietly tap my head against the wall while I think about the atrocious living conditions I'm providing my children.

Lucky for you, I have a separate studio located several miles from my horsedogs, and there is no canine hair near the yarn I'm about to show you.

Here's the next sneak peek of our new collection: Bread and Butterflies.

I think dinner is burning right now. Something smells weird.

For real. It smells like burning chicken.

And -- I swear to God -- my dog Rosie just threw up in the living room.

Twice.

Oh, but look! This makes me feel slightly better.

Does it make up for the dog vomit and the burning dinner?

Maybe?

Next to me are two baskets of unfolded laundry, which we will probably just clothe ourselves out of rather than systematically folding and putting away. Today I figure clean clothes stored improperly are good enough.

This colorway is at the top of my favorites list. I can't wait to show you more of it.

But first, I have to spend more time snuggling Baby Shamrock.

Yeah, she has magenta diapers. White is so 2011.

She is fantastic, thanks for asking. She's a good nighttime sleeper (I take no credit, totally luck of the draw). She is doted on and snuggled and sniffed, and I wouldn't trade her for a perfectly cooked dinner, well organized drawers, and non-shedding, non-barfing pets.

Want to tell me about how you don't do it all, either?

Please?

Sneak peek #1: fireside chat

I have 34 new colorways for you. They're going to be debuting during Fall Premiere Weekend at retailers all over, and I thought I'd start by giving you some sneak peeks of what's in store.

This colorway is for all you earth tone lovers out there: Fireside Chat.

Fireside Chat is also a rainbow. Which makes it just a tiny bit less serious and more whimsical.

But if you're hell bent on being serious, you can ignore the previous statement and just look at the earthy browns, greens, coppers, and purples in this one.

You know, because we all need a little less humor and lightheartedness in our lives. It's better to take life too seriously and overthink every single decision, no matter how trivial. That's the ticket to Happytown.

When I was in college, I was assigned a roommate who shared a last name with a popular animated character, which she never, ever let you forget. She was a chronic overthinker, which is rather annoying when you have to sleep in the same room with someone. She once woke me up at 5:30 in the morning to ask me if I thought that navy socks would be OK to wear with jeans. (Yes.) She once wanted to know if it was better to organize her biology vocabulary flashcards by topic, then by alphabet, or if they should all be integrated alphabetically.

I told her it probably didn't matter that much, as long as she learned the words and understood what they meant. She thought about that for about 15 minutes, then came back and asked me, "By understand what they mean, do you mean understand the English words on the card, or understand how they are related to biology?" (Both are useful, don't you think?)

But you know what she did not overthink? She didn't overthink the Pink Floyd blacklight poster that she tried to hang on my side of the tiny room. She didn't overthink the idea that other people might not count Nine Inch Nails as an appropriate bedtime music selection. She didn't overthink loaning her undergarments to one of her former roommates when they knocked on the door one evening complaining that they didn't have any clean skivvies.

But back to Fireside Chat. Our retailers have spoken: this is one of their favorites in the whole collection.

 I think you'll like it too.

In the coming weeks, we'll post a list of participating retailers so you'll know just where to go for instant gratification.

And just because I can't resist, here's a new picture of sweet Baby Shamrock:

Dead of the cuteness.

She could not be more sweet and well mannered.

I know they say babies don't smile for real until they're six or so weeks old, but this baby makes eye contact and smiles at least five times a day.

Her siblings -- both human and horsedog -- are totally enamored.

I wish l could bottle a little of her magic for you.

Shamrock is here!

And she is gorgeous, delicious, wonderful, and sweet.

Born 7/10/12 at 4:44 am after a long and challenging labor, she is healthy and chubby. 9lbs, 7oz, 21". We named her Louisa Timothy Bridget. Timothy is after my husband's only brother, who passed away last year.

Mama and baby are both doing well!

Sorry for the phone post... Will have more pics when I can!

The room of requirement

I think I may have mentioned a time or 300 about my beloved -- but quirky -- old house.  Up the secret back stairs is a tiny bedroom with a window that looks out into the hallway. From a weird angle that you could never possibly squeeze yourself into. It has a sloped roof and minimal square footage.

For a time, it was my son's room, until we decided to reconfigure how our house operated and moved him into one of the larger bedrooms, moved our two girls into what used to be the master, and moved the master bedroom downstairs into the spacious library -- a room that sadly sat idle.

When we found out we were expecting Shamrock, we decided to transform this teeny but sweet bedroom into her space.

I started by painting the walls a pale aqua. What other color could it be?

We added some of the most beautiful crib bedding I've ever seen.

These lovebirds. They make my heart flutter. They're hand drawn.

(And yes, we will be practicing safe sleeping. Don't get your knickers in a twist about the bumper pad.)

Look at the coordinating hand drawn damask on the crib skirt. It's so charming, whimsical, and unexpected.

I took this dresser -- a free hand me down -- and painted it charcoal gray. I added accessories given to me by friends and family.

See the strange little window? I'm still puzzling over its existence.

I opted for two layers of curtains -- one a gauzy white, and the other a room darkening deep charcoal. I like how they add a touch of elegance to the otherwise juvenile room.

The rug makes the space seem decidedly feminine. I found it on one of those daily deal sites for an incredibly cheap price.

The white chair was repurposed from my Front Porch Makeover, and the footstool was on clearance at Target.

This changing table has been in the family for at least 15 years. It was given to us by a relative, and we've used it for all three of our older children. It's one of those pieces that prides itself in utility -- solid maple, Italian construction -- but didn't have much charm, style wise.

I painted it a pale pink, then overlaid that with a light gray and did a little distressing. The pulls are from etsy -- they are actually made from the same lovebird pattern as the crib bedding.

You can see the alcove -- not tall enough to walk in -- to the left. It's just wide enough for a roll away twin bed to pull out for guests.  One of my good friends stays with us whenever she visits Duluth, and my kids have taken to calling the bed "Auntie Stephanie's bed."

I have a weakness for baby shoes. And fluffy, colorful cloth diapers.

As of right now, Shamrock has not made her appearance. But she will be here any minute, and I've had a lot of fun fixing up this little room of requirement to be just for her.

We're ready when you are, baby!