links I love.

"I do not need you to be with me. I need you to be with yourself. When you are with yourself, you are with me."
A wonderful reminder to remain in the present moment, and more thoughts to consider in the voice of the universal child, shared on the Peaceful Parenting facebook page.

Have you seen this video? I hope this type of technology soon becomes commonplace.

A healthy recipe to try this week and a healthy food blog with beautiful pictures to drool over. 

Considering that I only have one pair of wearable shoes at the moment, made this purchase for myself today!

An article by one of my favorite bloggers, Danielle Hampton, about what it's like to be visibly tattooed. It's given me a lot to think about in considering the decision I've made to become more heavily tattooed. 

I was introduced to the German company Weleda by a friend in North Carolina, and am now in love with their  natural baby products!

Ladies, I recently discovered Revlon's Lip Butter and Balm Stain! The lip butter, which feels like a lightweight lipstick, healed and moisturized my lips within two days. The balm stain is non-drying, long wearing and provides a lovely pop of color. I highly recommend them!

Are you interested in browsing The Local, German news in English?

The most beautiful story I read this week. 

And lastly, how cute are these?!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! 

links I love.

A seven year old said, "mom, I'm fat." This is how her mother responded. I was a blubbering mess by the end.

Anne Roiphe, a first-generation femininist and author, wrote this lovely piece about what makes her feel beautiful. 

I wrote a little bit yesterday about how I have cut most sugars out of my diet. Here's an informative article called, The Politics of Sugar: why your government lies to you about this disease-promoting ingredient. 

Finally, a recipe for muffins that doesn't call for heaps of sugar! I will have to find a substitute for the egg whites though...  I am so excited to try this recipe next week, once I can gather all the ingredients. 

No one wants to hear the word "no." Let's learn to respect our children's emotions when they get angry or frustrated. Here is a great example of how to do that. 

I really enjoyed reading this post on toddler discipline, by blogger Melissa Jordan. 

A touching read about a boy sticking up for his little brother. 

This dress is perfect in so many ways. 

The things every pregnant woman wants to hear.  

Here, have a kitteh!

links I love.

This is a well written story about a woman's experience with charity. Definitely made me rethink my perspective. This year, I donated a whole bunch of never-used formula, toothbrushes, toothpaste, other personal care items, and canned tuna fish and pineapple. I'm thinking we can afford to give a little more this year.

Moon and Sable on Etsy. I love the V drop earrings, the lone wolf necklace and the crystal fragments duster earrings!

I adore Modcloth. I've bought all of my clothes in the last year from this store, and love every piece! They sell retro, vintage inspired, indie and overall stylish clothing I haven't seen anywhere else. I'll have to make a "what's in my closet" post some day!

This article talks about how, in my home state of Rhode Island, formula companies are no longer allowed to use hospitals to send samples of formula home with every new mother. Formula will still be given to those who may need or request it, but is no longer given indiscriminately. I hope this gets more mothers and babies off to the best start possible!

I made this Quinoa and Green Olive Stew (without the chicken) last week and it was delicious! I might just make it again today! I've been really getting into using quinoa in my every day cooking, since I have accidentally gone mostly-vegetarian since Marius left.

Rhythm & Ritual is a blog I stumbled across at some point recently and I found it really interesting to scroll through.Very inspiring images. 

I look for a lot of my tattoo inspiration here. A lot of it is not my style, but it's still fun to browse! I have two small tattoos currently - the first was on my lower stomach when I was 19 and the second a symbol on my inner wrist a few years ago. I have been planning a few larger pieces for several years now. When we get to Germany, Marius and I are definitely planning on actively pursuing getting tattooed some more. He's got three right now, one of which is a piece covering most of his back. Here is one of my favorite artists in the US, Thomas Hooper!

links I love.

Yesterday morning, I tried cake in a cup for the first time. Coffee cake in a cup, to be exact. It literally took about 5 minutes to make and has all "real" ingredients! Iris took a few bites of it too. It will definitely be a regular breakfast in this home from now on! 

I bought these cat treats for the Kitty a few weeks ago at Trader Joe's. He loves them so much more than the typical brands you can buy at the supermarket. They actually smell like fish food, which is weird. I find myself treating him a lot more often now that Marius is away and he's lonely and feeling a little bit neglected.

Kitty sad, even though I was playing with him at the time.

I'll be starting to work on our PCS (which stands for Permanant Change of Station) soon, as we will be leaving for Germany early next year. Many things need to be organized and prepared for our overseas move and I'd rather not be doing it all last minute. This blog has some great suggestions about the things which can be taken care of early on. 

My friend Lena and I made this Ancho Pork and Hominy Stew last week. It was sooo good. I recommend it with some toasty bread for a cozy autumn meal. We just used normal chili powder instead of the ancho type, both because we couldn't find it and thought it might make it too spicy for our babies.

I think I'm going to buy these boots in black. My other pairs of boots are very worn and falling apart at this point, though I do wonder if I can get them fixed as it's mostly issues with the soles. Anyway, the price is right on these and they look nice... but these zippered boots are lovely and these red suede boots are brilliant...

I ordered this book for Iris last night. She already has a few books by this author, Karen Katz, and she loves every one of them. I plan on collecting all of them because she gets that excited about the illustrations, especially the 'lift-the-flap' books. She already has this Halloween book and loves it.

Nap time in Mama's arms.

A lot of my older sweaters have little holes in them. No idea how it keeps happening, but I suspect it's my rings catching on them. I found this great tutorial recently on darning. New project!

If you're looking for a good laugh, go here. You won't regret it, assuming you have a sense of humor!

Autumn is starting to make an appearance here in NC! This weekend, Iris and I are going to a local pumpkin patch with a few friends! Iris is going to love running around, and it's supposed to be a perfect 60ish degrees. Definitely looking forward to that; I'll be taking lots of pictures of Iris and her little friends!

treats I want to make.

Living in North Carolina means easy access to 

extremely delicious local peaches every summer.

Joy the Baker makes a scrumptious and fresh looking peach and raspberry crumble that makes me drool just looking at her photos.

I love s'mores. They are one of the staples of summer.

I remember my first one, at a family friend's house when I was around three. 

I can still feel how the melty marshmellow stuck to my fingers and hair.

If you don't have access to an open fire, these s'mores bars over at The Alchemist look amazing!

I can hardly wait until Iris is old enough to learn about bumblebees

and help me make these adorable little cookies!
My sister in law is going to make them with the children she babysits for.
I'm excited to hear how it goes!

So far this summer, I have made cinnamon swirl banana bread, Marius' favorite brownies and my mother's recipe for rhubarb pie, which is always a hit.
Have you made anything tasty this summer?

links I love

I love to drool over handmade toys on Etsy. 

Here are a few of my favorite wooden ones! 

Jupiter's Child

Hand carved forest animals. I would almost buy these for myself...

Manzanita Kids

Stacking puzzle.

Mark Bryan Art

First cellphone. Not sure about the nail on top but I love the rest.

Linen Kids

I loved "lacing" toys as a child. This one is so unique!

Ticki Tacki Toys

Stacker toy.

Arks and Animals

Push or pull rabbit. I imagine Iris toddling around a year from now, 

pulling this bunny along.

links I love

Way back in the days of my childhood, I knitted scarves and beaded jewelry profusely. These squirrel and oak mittens make me want to pick up arts and crafts again. I'd love to make matching pairs for myself and Iris to wear next winter!

I've been in love with this etsy shop for months now! The owner makes the sweetest headbands and hair clips for little girls. I've had it bookmarked for ages but still haven't bought one because I'm finding it impossible to pick just one! Maybe for Iris' birthday and Marius can choose!

What a cool idea!

Recently, I discovered Blowfish Shoes and fell in love. It's very rare for me to buy shoes, maybe twice a year at the most. I am coveting these Casita shoes to go with my summer dresses. Especially considering I've been wearing the same summer sandals for the last 3 years! If only I weren't so completely broke after a trip back to the northeast as well as investing in cloth diapers.

Speaking of cloth diapers, I would love love love to try this Rumparooz one size diaper. I recently purchased their wetbag for Iris' room in the EcoOwl print and it's great so far. A few people have interest in my cloth diapering excursion, so I'll be posting about it soon. 

Marius posted this link on facebook a few days ago. Such a sad story. 

So much for your gun control, UK. 

Iris has recently shown a love for her cloudB blanket with satin around the edges. It's a very heavy blanket and not really suitable for year round use, so I've had these Aden and Anais blankets 

in mind since I saw them in a children's store this past weekend. 

That's all for now! Hope everyone is having a great week!