Mama needs some pretties...

and I'm loving everything from this shop.

via Design Mom

A Belly Full of Boy

These are the photos I'm using for a little project I'm doing for my sweet baby boy, and I'm really excited about how they turned out!

All photos by my mama.

Homebirth

****This post is in no way meant to be an attack on the choices you've made or the choices you will make concerning your body/baby/birth. I feel that women are the first to criticize how other women have chosen to give birth + parent, and I hope that I can convey my experiences in a supportive and loving way, while still presenting alternative, safe options for childbirth.****

My friend and midwife, Briana, posted these videos this morning, and I just had to share. I had my daughter, Sela, at home two years ago and I am planning a home birth for this sweet baby, also.

Home birth with a skilled, professional midwife is a safe option for a normal healthy pregnancy. Pregnancy and birth are not emergencies. Pregnancy and birth are not illnesses. Pregnancy and birth are natural, normal experiences that are uniquely feminine and hold a great amount of influence in a woman's life and our societies as a whole.

I recently finished Sheila Kitzinger's book, Rediscovering Birth, an anthology of the birth cultures found worldwide, and I couldn't help but mourn the lack of birth rituals in our culture, and how little respect we have for women and their roles as life creating, life carrying, and life bringing individuals. In the midwifery model of care you are in charge of your body and the things that happen to it during the prenatal, labor, and postpartum stages. You are empowered, supported and treated as an equal partner, you "manage" your birth.

I hope that you enjoy these videos, they are full of happy people with happy, healthy birth stories...

Guess Who's Turning Two....

Hello, friends! How are you?

I'm peeking in to show you all the shenanigans we've been up to...



Can I just be 2 again for a single day?
please?

p.s. I totally stole the kickin' party hat idea from Jordan

p.p.s. I totally missed you guys!

It's time to say goodbye...

I will miss sharing the little bits of my every day with all of you, but it's time to move on. Time for something new. Time to do more and blog less. And have a baby....in July. Crazy, right? It seems that all I want to do these days is play with my daughter, rest, make good food, and not blog. So that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Thanks for reading + sharing so much with me. I will miss you.

Goodbye, my friends!

Resolutions

One of my New Year's resolutions is to prepare healthy and more frequent meals at home. We usually eat pretty healthy around here, but I really want to focus on whole, unprocessed foods and try to put a more conscience effort into eating locally and starting my own garden of heirloom vegetables.

The February issue of Bon Appetit is full of great tips, recipes and recommended reads...50 of them, to be exact.

Here are a few books that caught my eye:


Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating
By Mark Bittman

Read a great review here


Edible Estates: Attack On the Front Lawn
By Fritz Haeg

check out the projects here.

If I were to do it all again.....

I would love these kissy, cuddly, red balloon-y engagement photos.

There are a bunch more, so check them out here!

via Cup of Jo
photos by Max Wagner

A Review

Whew! What a great two weeks! We spent time with family, made some fondue, ate lots and lots of German food (mostly German cookies), flipped through new magazines, made resolutions, spent an obscene amount of time in our pajamas, and "cooked" a million gazillion meals with Sela's new pots and pans + dishes. You haven't lived until you've tried Honey Nut Cheerio, alligator, rock, chocolate frosting, and lemon soup....seriously.

Christmas is so fun with little kids. It seems that as soon as you become disenchanted with the holidays, you have have children and everything is magic again.

How were your holidays?

photo via all the luck in the world, spotted on abbey goes design scouting

Charmed

I think these photographs by Sharon Montrose are gorgeous and hysterical at the same time. That spunky goat makes me laugh out loud, the owl looks so breathtakingly wise, and that baby deer? So sweet.

But it's this old guy...

that makes my heart oh-so-happy. Who knew reindeer were so charming?

I hope all of you have a safe, wonderful, and happy holiday season this year!

see you soon!

xoxo

Rachel

Anna Kern

Anna Kern's photography is just lovely....I LOVE that lemon print bedding.

via desire to inspire...of course :)

Fancy + Festive

I am loving this post by Victoria over at sfgirlbybay, it makes me want to put on a twirly dress, shimmery shadows, glistening gloss, and bangles to my elbow.

photo by Beklina

Liar Liar Pants On Fire....

That's me. So sorry...

Our internet is finicky(at best) these days, especially during blizzards, and our camera is dead...forever( I think). So the long anticipated (by me) kitchen reveal was completely and utterly ruined, not to mention all of Sela's Christmas memories this year will be undocumented. Here's hoping for a decent tax return, eh?

Anyway, here are a few things that have been a buzzin' around my brain lately.....


Blonde Redhead's rockin' pad


Christmas...naturally
Checks + pretty shoes
A giant Shiitake Mushroom log spotted on In(side) the Loop: Gift Guide


Not exactly Zeppelin, but a pretty awesome album all around.


Well, there you have it, randomness at it's very best!

From now on, I'm going to be peeking in a little more often, I promise :)

A Bloggity Blog Post

I'm still here! Well, kind of...

In the last month we've moved, painted our new apartment, been sicky sick, and have been busy preparing for Christmas. I've had waaaaaaaaaaaay too much on plate and had to let something slide, so it was either blogging or showering. Yuck, right?

Also, I ran out of ideas + worthwhile inspiration to share, and that makes blogging impossible.

But the good news is that I'm back and I have lots to share! Sela's kitchen is mostly finished and there are so many wonderful images + ideas that I can't wait to post.

I'm excited to be back in the swing of things and to catch up on what you've all been up to!

Check back tomorrow for Sela's Kitchen Makeover!

brilliant image via ffffound!

Frenchie

I bought this book over the weekend and I can't get enough of the gorgeous photos + sweet observations of French life. My favorite chapter is Le Femmes, which is devoted to beautiful French women and the importance of surrounding yourself with beautiful things.

I want to be French. Seriously.

Chalkboards + Pink + Totally Random

I absolutely love this.

more gorgeous photos here.

Samantha Hahn and Her Lovely Ladies

Samantha Hahn's girlies are exceptionally gorgeous, don't you think?

I'm in process of locating a print of the top one, Dancing Girl, because my very own girlie thinks those girlies are so very special. And I couldn't agree more.

Naan, Anyone?

Try this recipe today and I promise you will feel like a culinary genius! The Swan household has been naan-crazy for the past few days, and I'm tempted to make another batch today!

Naan
(adapted from Allrecipes)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2-4 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix the warm water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar in large bowl. Proof yeast for 10 minutes or until yeast mixture is frothy. Add sugar, milk, egg, baking soda, salt and just enough flour that a soft dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 6-8 minutes, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let rise for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

Punch down dough and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough, about the size of a golf ball. Roll into a ball and place on baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise for 30 -40 minutes, until doubled in volume.

During the second rising, heat up your frying pan to medium/high heat.

Roll out the balls into thin circles and place in lightly oiled frying pan. Cook until lightly browned and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes. Flip over and brush cooked side with butter. Cook 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and continue until the process until all of the naan has been prepared.

image via here

Lisa Mahar Interview

I found this interview incredibly interesting. I love how her children's rooms are filled with objects that are relevant to who they are, what they are learning, and how they actually live.

Click here for more lovely photos

via Stephmodo

Handmade Holiday Cheer : Sela's Kitchen

On Saturday I picked up this old wooden play kitchen at a thrift store for $5. I came home and did a quick search on homemade play kitchens, only to find that ohdeedoh did a round up of DIY play kitchens just last week!

Aren't they fantastic?! My favorite one is Neva's Budget and Earth Friendly Play Kitchen:


Everything Katien used was recycled...cabinets, paint, hinges, even the cute little sink!

Needless to say, I am really inspired and excited to start on Sela's little kitchen! I'm thinking bright white paint, a pretty curtain for the top shelf, lining the drawers with cute paper, and little vintage crystal drawer knobs.

What do you think? Do you have any teeny tiny kitchen ideas?

Happy Hippie Friday

" You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. "

-Albert Camus

Cold, dark weather always makes me a little sad. I spend all of the dreary, melancholy days of winter counting done the hours until spring(and eating copious amounts of potatoes!). I've been busy coming up with projects + ideas to keep my mind in happy place during this long stretch of solitude, and this post has been on the top of my list....

via abbey goes design scouting
originally posted on even cleveland

Cross Dressing + Gymnastics Comedy

All Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed.....

Sela just looked at my screen and said, "Owls, cuuuuuute!!!"

My sentiments exactly.

You can find these adorable owlets here.
via ali loves curtis.

So Pretty...

My obsession with pink + gold + gray continues....


via this is glamorous

Dear Miss Lela,

Will you please come to my house for Christmas? There is a little girlie here who already loves you and is ready to play.

Hope to see you soon!

Love,

Mama Swan


Find more Lela dolls at mycakies....but hurry there aren't many left!

Handmade Holiday Cheer

I picked up Martha Stewart's Holiday magazine last night and I'm currently experiencing inspiration overload. So many great ideas! So many yummy treats! So many pretty papers + fabrics + ribbon-y ribbons! Martha's people are simply the best!

I couldn't find a picture of the current magazine ANYWHERE, but many of the templates and instructions for the handmade gifts are online.

Hip hip hooray for handmade Christmas!