KUJANA

Night night

Julie Blackmon
Floatie, 2006

A custom address embosser is a cheap way to make all of you letters seem special. They are strangely hard to find though. The best price and most user friendly ordering process I have found is on Horchow.com. Here’s to bringing back letters!

I have seen Cook’s Illustrated on my mother’s kitchen table my whole life and never picked it up. Yesterday I was intrigued by the beautiful oil painting of figs on the cover and the headline “Complete Guide to Grilled Vegetables” something I always struggle with. When I opened it I was amazed at how beautiful the layout of the magazine was and even better that there were no advertisements. I’m not joking. There is barely anything left in the world with no advertisements. The lack of flashy adds makes it so enjoyable to read and the tips actually work! I grilled corn on the cob last night as they suggested with the thinnest layer of husk remaining on it and it was delicious. Cheers to great find!  

I prefer to use the furniture that people already have when designing an interior layout. Of course I love buying new things - who doesn’t? However, when it comes to someones home and making it look and more importantly feel great, I prefer to use the stuff that has been acquired over the years. I become invigorated by the challenge of making all of the pieces come together. I love giving new life to things that people thought were useless. Adding things to the layout is usually a must, but I like it when the original layout can be filled with a client’s own things. This approach also allows people to make changes to their home without being intimidated by a limited budget. It is so rewarding to watch a client’s excitement when their own stuff comes together well.

This happened yesterday when Harrison (my assistant) and I helped rearrange Tory’s apartment (see pic above). It was so fun to watch the things that she thought were give-aways become very useful. Afterwards she was so thrilled with the result but completely exhausted by the process. I was also thrilled with the result (especially because she was so happy) yet I was more awake than I had been in days. It just goes to show that when we do things we love it brings the life back into us!

Harrison is using the potty! Many mommy’s have been asking me how we did it, so I thought I would write a list of our essentials that made it possible. 

1. “Toilet training in less than a day” by Nathan H. Azrin and Richard M. Fox

2. “Betsy Wetsy” (or any other doll that pees)

3. Bambino MIO training underpants (I recommend not using Pull-Ups because they can’t feel when they are wet which is an important part of training)

4. A comfy potty (we are using Baby Bjorn’s high back potty)

5. TREATS to reward the behavior. Harrison’s first time linking words was after he had his first treat. He said “One more treat”.

* I recommend waiting until they are 20 months old and obviously feeling out your own kid. If they seem overwhelmed let it go and come back to it in a week or so.

Lately, I have been thinking about how to chose the right charities to support. How do you chose a place to give? Do you give because you want to go to an event? Do you give because you friends ask you to? This weekend I was inspired by TOMS shoe company. They say “the One for One movement is about people making everyday choices to improve the lives of children”. When you buy one pair of shoes from them they claim to give a pair to a child in need. I feel good about philanthropy being a part of my everyday life. Making choices each day that promote a better world. Whether that means buying a pair of shoes for Harrison or sending a check to support a cause true to my heart. Lama Tharchin Rinpoche once told me “When you think of yourself you will always suffer. When you think of others you will always be happy.” This is seems like a good place to start when deciding where to give.

Every year or so I go through a spell of hating New York City. The summer is a particularly easy time to absolutely loath this place. The hot smelly streets, the 100 degree days back to back, the grumpy people stuck here while their friends are at the beach, the constant hum of the AC units…seriously I could go on. But today all of those thoughts fade away as I lay out our freshly picked vegetables from our CSA. I see the beauty in our lives here. It isn’t the countryside or the ocean, but it is the place where you can take your toddler out and spend hours watching fire trucks and counting taxis. It’s the place where strangers who you will probably never see again, in those moments on the street or in the park, are your friends. It is perfection in all of its chaos. It has limitations (sigh) but New York City is my home.

At last, a long over due blog post.

Introducing Pear Juice

It may mean nothing to some however, for those moms with backed up babies this is the golden cure. After eatting rice cereal Harrison always had trouble going and nothing seemed to help. Prune juice is a joke and suppositories are SO horrible. Everyone seemed to have a cure but nothing really worked until I discovered pear juice. So here you are ladies, the cure to a backed up baby and a restless night worrying about it.