second best

I saw these Liberty Print pajamas in the J.Crew catalog way back in December and instantly wanted them... until I saw the price tag. I have always loved Liberty prints, and Pink Wiltshire might be one of my favorite prints ever. Even so, its mighty hard to justify spending $200 on something I'll never wear out of the house and will probably spill ketchup on while I'm eating breakfast. 

So Christmas came and went (apparently Santa didn't want to shell out the big bucks either), and I crossed my fingers that they would go on sale. J.Crew is crafty with their sales though, and the best stuff always seems to disappear from the website as soon as a big sale is on. At one point, I saw them listed for $120, but my size was sold out...and then poof! They were gone.

...and I was sad. 

Fortunately, my old pals Gilligan & O'Malley came to my rescue. I happened upon these pajamas at Target a couple weeks ago for only $25! They may not be made of luxurious Liberty fabric (which actually costs more per yard than this whole pajama set), but the quality is surprisingly good. I love how bright and crazy the print is, and they even have contrasting pink piping! I'm quite pleased with them, especially considering I could buy EIGHT pairs for price of the J.Crew set. 

Now my only question is: What am I gonna do with all the money I saved?!?

P.S. The Target set also comes in more boring subtle prints, but I think you might as well go bold when it comes to pajamas.

[left pajamas from  J.Crew, right from Gilligan & O'Malley]

inspirational investment

Dear trusted friends and associates, 

I am writing to you today with an amazing investment opportunity! First, let me assure you, this blog has not been hacked by a Nigerian Prince offering a generous inheritance and a deal on a timeshare. Rather, I'm here to tell you about a gorgeous magazine that *could* be seen as an investment. 

Kinfolk. Now in its seventh volume, it is an example of what seems to be an emerging trend of book-magazine hybrids. At first glance, the format suggests its a magazine. But once you thumb through its sparsely designed, thick matte pages, you quickly realize that it is far more than your average periodical.

Kinfolk's tag line is "a guide for small gatherings". According to its manifesto, the Portland-based magazine's selection of recipes and entertaining ideas serves as a "blueprint for a balanced, intentional lifestyle". Each volume is chock full of features meant to inspire you to gather your loved ones around a rustic wood table and bond over your shared love of small-batch ice cream and freshly-gathered wildflowers. The features are so achingly hip and the writing is so precious that you may sort of hate yourself for liking it, but in the end, you may go on liking it anyway. And you certainly won't be able to stop yourself from admiring the genius styling and beautiful photographs.

Sure, that's all well and good, but how does that make this an investment? Well, I'll stop you right there. Can you put a even put a price on the vast amount of hip inspiration rolled up (or maybe flattened) into  this one slim volume?

It just so happens that you can put a pretty hefty price on it actually. If you were looking into purchasing the previous volumes of Kinfolk, you would find that several of the back issues are sold out on their website. If you were to then look on Amazon, you would discover that many of the back issues are selling for far more than the original purchase price. I can only assume this is because the magazine is printed in a small, limited run (though I haven't yet figured out why Volume Four is currently listed for close to $900!).  

So, my friends, if you were to purchase this magazine now (and handle it very carefully, maybe wear gloves, or get like a plastic sleeve?), you could be looking to earn tens, possibly hundreds, of dollars once this volume sells out! Why invest in your IRA when a stack of these puppies is like money in the bank! Think of all the artisanal ice cream you could buy! 

And if Kinfolk doesn't turn out to be a profitable investment, at least it'll look good on your coffee table...


[All images from Kinfolk Magazine Vol 7. Images 1, 3 and 4 via Kinfolk. Images 2 and 5 via Trendland]

faux bois pedestal

I stopped by Williams-Sonoma over the weekend and instantly fell in love with this faux bois cake stand. I have a weakness for anything faux bois, and couldn't resist adding to my growing collection of dishes. 

I opted for the larger size, as I decided it was more "practical", but they also have a  smaller size that is absolutely adorable. Perhaps it might be a time for a woodland-themed tea party?

winter brights salad

Though the weather here keeps flirting with spring, mother nature hasn't seemed to make a full commitment to it yet. At the farmer's market yesterday, the sun was shining and I was craving a crisp spring salad. Unfortunately, it looked like most of the early spring vegetables hadn't quite made their debut yet. 

I was determined to find something crunchy and  refreshing though. I didn't think I could take another week of my usual winter rotation of kale, kale, chard, kale, broccoli, and more kale.

dexter's muttmover

The weather is starting to feel like Spring here in sunny California (sorry East Coasters!). Today was perfect bike-riding weather, so we took Dexter with us to the farmer's market in his new dog backpack! Even though he's giving me the stink-eye in this photo, I think he enjoys riding around in it. 

The backpack is designed to carry dogs, so it's much more secure and comfortable than other bags we've put him in over the years. My favorite feature is the mesh sides. They can either be unzipped so he can stick his head out, or zipped up when he needs to go into "stealth mode". When the sides are zipped up, it's hard tell there is a dog in the backpack unless you look closely. This comes in handy when we need to sneak him in places he's not supposed to go (shh- don't tell the people at the farmer's market!). 

You can get one for your favorite little mutt from Timbuk2.