1 Oliver’s new hair cut / 2 Living room coming together slowly / 3, 4 Spring color palette / 5 An incredibly well-written, inspiring book sent by my dear Nora / 6 Floor pillows, blankets / 7 Spray roses in the dining room / 8 Beginning of a timeline Oliver’s been looking at a lot lately / 9 One of my father’s Paris prints, possibly my favorite / 10 Book shelf
The photos tell the stories best — the few days of spring-like weather, that every possible moment was spent outside creating things with our hands and muddying our knees and bare feet, that the boys have spent innumerable hours on the trampoline, that the sound of their laughter carried across the neighborhood until we had a pack of kids in our back yard, our front yard, inside our house… life is good right now. We did yard work and had friends over, gathered around a fire in our back yard when the sun went down, we milked the warm air for all it was worth and went to bed satisfied and physically exhausted. These are the days I am reminded of just how much energy we expend playing and exploring with our kids when the weather is nice. They just have so much energy! 
Traces of the little girls in our neighborhood lay scattered across our back yard and deck: pink shoes, rainbow socks, princess dresses that were discarded when their limits were learned. Their sweetness and rule-following balances out our boys’ wild worlds, their chastisements of brother-fights put them in their place, even when coming from a very small four-year-old with big blue eyes and curly blond hair… 
And neighborhood mamas and papas jump with them, showing them tricks and fun, and that there are more adults in this world they can trust and share experiences with, that they can go to in addition to their parents. It takes a village, and we’re so glad to have ours!
I hope you have a wonderful Monday!
Nadia Reid — “I Will Reach My Destination” — Thank you, Mary, for the recommendation!
Ibeyi — “Mama Says”
Dan Auerbach — “I Want Some More”
A sweet 18-month-old Oliver in bunny ears… my how I miss those chubby cheeks!
And though it’s nowhere close to Easter yet, this weekend is going to feel a lot like spring in St. Louis — bring on the low 70’s and a nice breeze, please! Have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy these links from around the web:
A beautiful post by Milla about loving where you live and making promises to oneself.
… And speaking of rabbits, have you ever eaten rabbit? I keep thinking about how good this recipe sounds.
Also? I just discovered this St. Louis food blogger and I’m in love. Check it out!
I am so inspired by Nashville painter Emily Leonard Southard’s warm and inviting home, and her amazing style. Scroll down to see pictures of her amazing studio. Lucky lady!
On being wrong.
I’ve been listening to this album constantly this week.
This is one of the prettiest bras I’ve ever seen.
These photos taken from space in 2015 are breathtaking (especially of those storms!). There’s something about photos and videos of our world and the Milky Way that gets me choked up every time. Also, have you read Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars?
Also beautiful: the Endangered Animal Portraits of Joel Sartore. Scroll through to see them all.
What do you think about Himalayan salt lamps? Healthy or hype?
Also, my sister just sent me this video making fun of the hipster “maker” culture and it totally made my day. Hilarious!
And finally, whenever I’m feeling a little down, I picture Harbour Island (Bahamas) and can’t wait for our trip there this summer with friends. It has been so long since we’ve been to the beach! Better get those passports ready!
I’m really loving all the sweet, whimsical plate designs I’ve been seeing lately. I picked up a few of these The Farm dessert plates by London artist Holly Frean for the boys and they make dinner time (and breakfast time, and lunch time) a lot of fun… especially when we put English cucumber slices over the eyes to look like sunglasses!
The rabbit in the upper left (which I found in West Elm for $5) is from artist Rachel Kozlowski’s collection Dapper Animal Plates. The quality of the plates is very good — already these have been through the dishwasher a few times and banged around a bit with no chipping. I would say that the West Elm collection is even sturdier than the Anthropologie plates — thicker and more substantial if you’re going to use them with kids. 
I have my eye on this owl to add, but unfortunately it was not in the store and I couldn’t justify shipping one plate!
While we’re on the topic of plates, I am also crazy for this design by New Orleans artist Shelley Hesse. Aren’t the colors beautiful?
Happy dining!