Happiest Easter to you!

Weekend :: Links

One of M's favorite mtn biking pictures from Switz.

Happy Easter weekend! Wesley and I are hanging in Luzern while Mark is on a mountain biking trip with some friends in Italy until Tuesday...and, basically all of my friends have skipped town! But it's ok, we are enjoying the cozy snowy/grey/rainy weather and taking the opportunity to organize around the house (before I head back to work this week *sad face*). We're also attempting some "baby led weaning" - have you heard of this? I just stumbled across this concept and am intrigued. Wesley explored a strawberry this morning...but it also makes me a little nervous so I'm advancing cautiously. I def like the idea of not having to make baby food all the time though.

Ok bye!

Links I Like.

+ Think I'll get the Z10 just so I can get this weather app
+ I tried this DIY sea salt spray for beach waves..i liked it a lot!
+ Would you sleep under the stars in the middle of a safari like this??
+ Actresses without teeth....gracious.

Maybe you missed...

:: Some great shirts under $33
:: The perfect summer dress
:: Great pillow decor
:: Gift idea for new moms: initial bracelets
:: Fonts

Village on:

Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook & Pinterest

Spring/Summer dreaming

I'm loving the look of this big flowy dress. I could live in it this summer I think.
(via)

Cool Pillows

Fun pillows from Society6. Each design is also offered as framed art, canvases, iPhone cases, totes, shirts, etc..

Gifts for new Moms (Under $30)

There are babies babies er'where these days. Before I had my own I would have been freaking out because babies scared me and I always thought I would drop them, but now I'm totally cool with them. In fact, I even like them. This morning I got lost in Etsy and all of the possibilities of little gifts for friends who are becoming new moms. It was amazing to get so many gifts for Wesley, but I was always touched when someone brought me a little gift too - it's so thoughtful. I love little delicate bracelets for everyday, so these options are something that I think I'll be giving out too.

1. Avnis Jewelry (18) 2. Bella Donna (13)  3. Mirit Levin (30) 4. Hibiscus Days (22) 5. Frosted Willow (18) 6. Lilas Chocolat (14.01)

As I think of my blog, a re-design and some new ideas for it, I will be re-thinking and updating my sponsor package options in the coming months. But did you know that it's only $5/month to have a  button displayed in the side bar? (This will continue to be an option for shops and blogs). See current offerings for more info. Email with any questions.

fonts.

I love this collection of fonts. I've been thinking of a blog re-design and fonts, for me, are pretty much the starting place. Love these.
(via miss moss)

Shirts, Lately, Under $33

I was perusing my Wardrobe Pinterest Board (things I need of course) and realized that sheinside.com had some pretty great choices lately. I've ordered shirts from the site and its basically hit or miss...sometimes they fit perfectly and sometimes not...sometimes the quality is questionable and sometimes it passes. but free shipping, quick disposable fashion and with shirts like these its basically worth a shot?

1. Black Leather ($28.48) 2. Totem Print ($29.68)3. Tiger Print ($33) 4. Geometric Print ($30)
(tiger print shirt from chicnova)

Weekend + Links

Some gorgeous tiles of Lisbon for sale at an antique store (the city is known for its ceramics)

Well, you guys, have a great weekend. I'm just doing the usual + tons of cooking. I'm 6 days in to Whole 30 and it's been an interesting week with how my body has felt, new recipes, etc. Maybe at the end I'll write a post about it if you're interested? Today I ran, grocery shopped and cooked a healthy breakfast all before 11am. Miracles do happen! Have a great weekend!

+ The perfect black maxi

+ 3 Parenting Mistakes: a great article to bookmark

+ An Etsy shop full of blogger layouts for the best prices I've seen in awhile.

+ How to be a perfect parent..hilarious

+ Fun necklace

+ Customize your iPhone screen

+ 5 Blog Tips I'd give you if we were BFF's

And things you might have missed here:

+ A gorgeous bag
+ A 'hotel' I need to stay in
+ Great tourist outfit
+ RIP Google Reader and some alternatives. I'm a fan of 'The Old Reader'

If I could..

 buy this, I would.
(via)

Whitepod Resort - Switzerland

This resort is probably going to have to go on my to-do in Switzerland list for sure. To read more about it, visit this article at Newly Swissed.

Lisbon Look

I can't shake the feel of Lisbon, are you sick of hearing about it yet? I'm sick of talking about it...but can't shake it. It's all serendipitous that the book I read that made me want to go there (Night Train to Lisbon) is now a movie that is actually playing in Luzern at the moment. I still want to share the rest of the pics sometime!

Anyway, how was your weekend? Mine was silly...you see, I was happily going about my weekend and just BAM like that at like 10pm on Saturday - stomach flu. You can imagine. My friend had to put me in a cab home. Then, I slept most of the night on the bathroom floor. But Sunday I got to recover in bed. And by Sunday night I was like a soldier and headed to Shamrocks for a Guiness because I can't ignore St. Patricks day when my fave bar is Irish and all my friends were there. I know right? But I think it made me feel better...the iron in the Guiness and all.

Today I'm better, but Mark is now home sick! Please almighty whatever, do. not. let. wesley. get this.

ALSO, today is where I start whole 30. I had breakfast, and black coffee (gross). But so far so good, nothing exciting or life changing to report yet. Ok bye!

1// Topshop booties 2// Random Umbrella 3// Dark Jeans 4// LC aviators 5// Zara shirt 6// Mango Bag

RIP Google Reader.

My world is caving in. There have been meteors, sink holes and now I found out yesterday that Google is shutting down Google Reader on July 1st!! WTF, universe. wtf. I thought it might be an early April Fools joke? But no.
I use it ALL the time and its the only thing that keeps me organized as I participate in this crazy blog world. I'm not alone in this as the internet has cried out to google and someone even started a petition at the white house page, ha! (they shut it down).  Did I hear that the topic trended over the new Pope on twitter? (or am I starting a rumor?)
So, I feverishly started researching and was on a mission yesterday to find something that looked the exact same. Obviously, that didn't happen but I did come up with some alternatives that I'll be testing out. Come on Google, whats next, Gmail?

I'd love to hear what you use and if you have any suggestions or reviews or tips? Here are some that I've rounded up:

1. Some friends gave me feedback on Facebook about their plans which included Feedly and Netvibes and *update* The Old Reader. The Old Reader looks good at is most visually similar to google reader. 

2. My friend Dimitri from the popular site Newly Swissed clued me in to this mysterious new reader called 'Read' that you can sign up for early access as they develop it

3. One of my favorite sites, LifeHacker, wrote a great post about alternatives and how to import your google reader

4. I personally signed up for Newsblur but am having issues importing my google reader via their easy import option as so many people are signing up for it at once after the google news. I like it so far and hope they can handle the traffic soon. I definitely want to stick with a web based reader so that I can access it anywhere.

I will try out many before settling on the perfect one so will keep you posted!

Ball of Light

One of my friends recently posted this project on FB and it kind of captivated me. The neatest thing? There is no photoshop involved...just light painting and an amazing photographer, Denis Smith. He describes it like this, "The Ball of Light is created in a single exposure by swinging lights around. There is no “Photoshop” here at all. It is super challenging, and certainly adds a new dimension to long exposure photography."
Very inspiring. You can read more and see more photos at his website, Ball of Light

Lisbon Flea Markets

One of my fave things to do when visiting new cities is shopping (surprise surprise) - which definitely includes checking out their random flea markets. On the recommendation of Barbara I visited the Saturday flea market along the Avenida Liberdade. Mark was all "I really want to walk up that street" and I'm all with a sly smile, "sounds great!" little did he know that I knew that this was there ;) For myself I found a pretty black and gold watch, that ring and a set interesting coasters. For my beautiful grandma I found this little hand embroidered gold mirror that I think she'll love :) (and now I'm ruining the surprise if she reads this!)

Wesley proved to be a much more willing thrifting buddy than mark ;)

Hope you guys have a great day. I'm going to go back to listening to Wesley screech at a decibel level that is unheard of. Ciao!

Wesley loves Lisbon

We are back! Here are some of my favorite 'family' shots from Lisbon. It was a fantastic trip but its always nice to come home. I'll be sharing more photos later this week of the gorgeous city!

Weekend + Links

 yo! I'm in Lisbon! I hope, I scheduled this post, so if I'm not in Portugal that would really suck.  Thanks for your suggestions on that one post, it was very helpful...especially because we're the kind of people who just kind of show up in a city and expect to be entertained. I tried to do a little planning this time though, but mainly I'm excited to check out the ceramics, markets and to eat. Always to eat.

If you have time and really want a treat, you need to watch this mockumentary called The Centrifuge Brain Project about insane fair rides, its hilarious and fascinating. The picture above is an excerpt from my favorite part :)

Here are some other fun links from around:

+ Best roundup of summer necklaces
+ I keep playing this song by Seabird
+ 20 pieces of advice for women about men
+ Man spends 7 years drawing this intricate maze
+ A social media venting session. and great discussion in comments

Things you might have missed here this week:

Pictures from skiing
Favorite style pins
Betsy and Iya Jewelry

Have a great weekend!

March Betsy & Iya Picks

I can picture just about any piece in this shop going with my simple streamlined neutral-ish (the amount of white/grey/black I own is a bit ridiculous) wardrobe. I think their necklaces, earrings, etc would add a certain amount of interest to anything. These are my favorite picks this month.  You can check out their store here!

catenary ring necklace
the crossing earrings
glowing isis necklace
corrollary triangle earrings
sun cup ring
fremont bridge cuff

Favorites

I was looking through my "Looks" Pinboard the other day (which I'm in love with if I must say so myself...or maybe its just Pinterest in general) and decided that right now, these are my top 4 favorite looks there..

(from left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Skiing Engelberg

I definitely made that skiing thing happen! (and here are some pictures from the day) Mondays are always so much better when you've had a full and fun weekend. One of my best friends has moved to Tokyo a couple months ago but was in town this past week...so the weekend was spent spending a lot of time with her! We kicked off Friday with some karaoke (german speaking people singing american songs has got to be the funniest sounding thing ever). Saturday was her going away party until the early hours of the morning and then we were up early on Sunday for some skiing under bright blue skies and a lot of sun! Seriously, I felt like I was on a mini vacation - it was the best.
And now its Monday...I feel rested, content and happy to have a quiet day with a happy little Wesley :) ....and a sun burnt face which feels like summer!
I hope your week starts well my people!

Weekend + Links

There's Wesley and I watching ducks. That kid....no words.
Have a gorgeous weekend you. I want to ski, I'm going to make it happen. That's all...

Some entertainment...

+ 8 new punctuation marks we need
+ 11 problems people had in the 00's - so funny
+ great article about mom jeans and different fits
+ an awesome dresser makeover
+ 35 helpful articles on running