like mother, like daughter

my little gal got her hair cut on friday. the awesome french gentleman who cut her hair gave her a bit of a different style than her usual angled bob, but this suits her personality so well. pixie-like and a little crazy, just like her.

when i snapped a few pics of her that afternoon, i literally gasped when the image {above, left} came up on my computer screen. 'i've seen that picture before', i thought. i went to our other computer to pull up all the old family photos i've got scanned, and immediately found this picture of myself {above, right} from when i was just 2-1/2. it's one of my favourite pics of myself as a wee thing, i've always loved it.

i guess that's why i was so shocked by the picture of my little 2-1/2 year old d. because, beyond the blonde hair and green eyes, that was me staring back from the screen. right down to the crooked smile.

memories

we decorated our christmas tree last night. i still get really excited when i unwrap all my childhood ornaments. each one carries a flood of memories, filling my head with thoughts of holiday seasons past. waiting {not so patiently} for dad to string the lights so that we could go nuts with our ornaments. wishing i could hang my parents' special ones. dad moving our decorations around after the fact, so the tree would be more balanced. i think i inherited that trait from him. and the tinsel, only one per branch. he was a stickler!

this little wooden cradle was always one of my very favourites. i remember hanging it from it's three strings, carefully balancing it among the boughs, finding it a perfect spot, front + centre. my little d hung it for me this year. she delighted in the sleeping faces of the children, tucked into bed in their red gingham covers.

i'll share more of my tree over the next couple of weeks, more childhood favourites. i wonder if you have ornaments hanging around from when you were a kid. do you still love them, and hang them from your tree?

ps - yes, it is a fake tree. i am trying to convince my husband that we need a real one. next year, it will be mine.

kindergarten

how did this happen so fast? surely i was just holding you in my arms a couple months ago, meeting you for the first time. my, how time flies.

my little kindergarten boy, so excited for everything fresh + new, so ready to soak up the world.

and so like your dad...i love this photo, perfectly in step!

someone else wanted to go to kindergarten, too. she missed you today, her favourite playmate + partner in crime. we all love you, little guy. go off into the big world, and find your place.

from my parents' bookshelf

while i was visiting my parents a couple of weeks ago, i went through their kiddie bookshelf to choose a story to read little d before her nap. she picked one of her old faves [good night moon], but i was totally excited to come across these fun picture books from when i was little. i had forgotten about them completely, and had a great time flipping through them with o, making up stories, thinking back to my childhood.

'in the town' [above] and 'in the home' [below] fold out to create a scene with four flip panels of sweet illustrations to create your own story. what fun! like a choose your own adventure picture book.

the home version is particularly funny to me, as the images portray a lot of stereotypical roles in the family [these were published in the 70s]. mom wears an apron as she cooks, vacuums, irons, and tidies the pantry, while dad shovels dirt in the yard, paints the door trim, and smokes his pipe by the fireplace. my favourite panel is when the milkman shows up at the door. he looks pretty excited to be there.

the other fun picture book i found was 'a shufflebook', produced by golden books. it's a large deck of cards, printed with funny pictures on each side and a verb or noun written above, so that you can make your own story. the words don't flow together all that well, but the idea is great, and i think this is a fun way for kids to start creating their own stories. i plan on getting some hard cover blank books to encourage o to write some stories with me this summer.

i really love the wizard. he's all psychedelic + fantastical, with a tiny bit of evil thrown in for good measure. and i love that 'my mother' is wearing the most styling super-short mod dress. nice!

en francais, mes amis!

yesterday, we found out that our little guy got into the french immersion program at school. we are all super excited, he did a little happy dance when we told him. he just cannot wait to learn to speak french. i'm feeling quite nostalgic, myself. he'll be going to the very same elementary school that i went to. it seems pretty surreal that he's already old enough to go to kindergarten, and now that he'll be stomping those same halls that i did, well, it makes this mama feels a little weepy.

images via shops as listed below, top to bottom.

i'll love you forever [in french] :: pennywishes

grey french word tickets :: pacokeco scribbles

bonjour banner :: wood and fabric

life mantras. organic lavender bags :: la pomme

c'est la vie II 8x10 print in grey gardens :: tessyla

croquet party

today, i'm going to pretend that the sunshine outside my window is warm + soft + welcoming, rather than the wintery, blustery, freezing, crisp sun it actually is. in this glorious sunshine, i will go outside and have a cheerful croquet party. won't you join me?

i'll be wearing a sweet vintage seersucker dress

and a lovely little hat to top it off.

we'll have a croquet party with my painted croquet set

and pause for tea, from this delightful turquoise tea service.

we'll snack on pink macarons

and catch the crumbs with our birkin cocktail napkins.

we'll head home feeling refreshed + happy + free of worry.

wouldn't it be a delight?

the candy tin

when i was young, both my sets of grandparents had a candy tin, filled to the brim with a rotating selection of sweet treats for when the grandchildren came to visit.

nana + poppa had a black tea tin with a floral pattern, and a lid with a round knob [very similar to the top centre, below]. i can remember the slight resistance when i'd try to lift the lid, and the soft *pop* of suction as it would release, revealing the candies inside. they usually stocked a variety of hard candies, my favourites being these fruit-flavoured ones where you'd come to a soft squishy centre after you sucked for a while.

gaya + poppa 'c' had a jaunty red rectangular tin made to look like an english double decker bus. inside could be a wide range of goodies, but my faves here were the individually wrapped trebor gummies, mainly the long rectangular jujubes covered in sugar.

i trolled around etsy for these vintage candy tins today, they are so delightful. i love the idea of my kids seeing them on my parents' shelves, and wondering what kinds of treats are inside. perhaps this old tradition will continue.

vintage printed tin :: vintage daisy folk art tin :: vintage dutch tin

vintage bisquick tulips tin :: vintage art deco tin

vintage tin box from soviet union :: vtg floral tin

this past winter, i lost both my remaining grandparents within a couple months of each other. while it was a difficult time, i have had the chance to reminisce a lot about the things i loved about them, and the memories i have of growing up with them in my life. i would say i'm pretty lucky to have had almost 32 years of grandparents, and that i got to know all four. they are so unconditionally loving. it always amazed me that no matter what, they were there to listen and to love. even in those really awful + awkward teenage years, when i know i wasn't at my best.

when i think back to the furthest memories i can muster, i realize that my son is now even a little older than i was in those memories. meaning that when he's a grown man with kids of his own, he'll remember himself, at this very age, doing the things that he does. and that the time he spends with his grandparents, the special bonding moments and the everyday routines, will be etched in the far reaches of his memory.

i wonder what he'll think. i wonder what he'll remember. what he'll cherish. and i think that maybe i'll have to get a candy tin for the grandparents.

spirograph

these spirograph paper goods are looking good to me. i loved that toy, it provided hours + hours of entertainment.

images via shops as listed below, top to bottom

mod spirograph cards, blackbird letterpress

hand-embroidered moleskine cahier, papermode

custom monogram stationery set, red red orange

rainbow war

did you see this super fun scavenger hunt birthday party on oh happy day? jordan throws the most amazing parties. always impeccably styled + beautifully executed. anyhow, her pictures from the colour fight at the end of the party reminded me of this short film, Rainbow War. it was made for vancouver's expo '86. i loved that movie. i saw it several times at age 8, and i've just watched it again now. still love it. check it out here, 19 minutes of pure nostalgia.

image via brcweb.com