Photo and text by Gabrielle. We’re in Norway! The big Fjordieth trip is finally happening. We checked into our hotel late last night and I can hardly believe we’re here. Hooray for Ben Blair! I love this photo of him donning his gloves that I snapped last winter. I think he’s definitely channeling some inner viking! Rain is scheduled for much of our trip, but right this minute, we have a perfectly sunny day in Oslo, so we’re going to make the most of it. Feel free to join us on our adventure via Instagram. P.S. — Something else I can’t believe: Flora June Blair is 3 years old today! Remember her birth? (Wasn’t it two seconds ago?) We woke up early and filled her bed with balloons, then served the traditional breakfast in bed. She was over the moon about it! Man oh man we love that little girl.

Images and text by Gabrielle. Friends, I’m kind of freaking out about how wonderfully Episode 23 of Olive Us turned out. (Sorry for the brag!) It’s called Le Petit Chaperon Rouge which is the French way of saying Little Red Riding Hood. This video is stunning. It’s simply magical. Oh. And it’s all in French! Entirely narrated by Betty, who also plays the girl in the red cape. Now don’t you worry, even if you don’t speak a lick of French, I’m betting you’ll be able to follow along with the very familiar story line. : ) If you’d like a translation, you’re in luck. Ben Blair made a pdf with a side-by-side French and English translation — you can find the pdf link here. I’m dying to hear what you think! And if your kids watch it, I’d love to hear if they enjoyed it — or if the French threw them off too much. From what we’ve seen so far, for little ones, the language doesn’t seem to matter at all! Consider this a great way to expose your kids to a foreign language in a familiar context. I also want to say that we didn’t make this alone. Not at all. A huge thanks goes out to Miranda of One Little Minute. who put together the stunning costumes. She started with what we had in our closet, added pieces from thrift stores, then sewed the rest. She re-made the iconic red cape from a women’s red wool coat she found at a second hand shop. It’s thick and cozy and wonderful — and it kept Betty warm on the cold November day when we filmed this. Another big thanks goes to Merrilee Liddiard of Mer Mag for the title illustration. I love how it turned out! I think it would be cool to have a poster of it made for our wall. Lastly, we are over the moon about Tiger in a Jar’s vision for this episode. We think they captured the story perfectly. Fun Fact: the forest scenes were filmed around the corner from our house, in the same trees that we filmed Christmas Tree Hunt. For the exteriors of Little Red’s house and Grandma’s house, we actually filmed at the Apple Juice Farm you’ll remember from this video. Fantastic, right? The old half-timber buildings on the property were absolutely perfect for a fairy tale! If it’s not showing up for you in this post, watch it on vimeo here, and find all the Olive Us videos here. …

Olive Us: Episode 23: Little Red Riding HoodRead More »

Images and text by Amy Christie for Design Mom. You know I love a sewn paper garland, and with Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday, I just had to put one together for moms. Big or mini, I think ‘I ♥ MOM’ says it all. This tutorial is the same as the tutorial from a few months back — it’s carefully feeding paper through the sewing machine. But letters pose a little more of a challenge. Making use sure each letter is pierced at least once to hold it in place can be tricky. But don’t be frightened, I’ve got tips for you below. And I should note: to make the hearts, I used watercolors on paper and then punched them out. I love the texture the watercolor adds! Add the garland around a wrapped bunch of flowers or use it to tie up the gift for the best mom in the world. I think it would be perfect to put on a breakfast-in-bed tray. You ready to get started? …

DIY: Mother’s Day GarlandRead More »

Text by Gabrielle. Photos by Gabrielle and Ben Blair. [ UPDATED with a full report. ] Here it is! A report on our trip to Venice. I’ve been promising this for months and now it’s ready to share. Here’s the thing about Venice. It’s not like Rome. Or Florence. In Rome and Florence, there are specific things you want to see, and that you stand in line to buy tickets for — like the Colosseum, or the David. In Venice, the thing that you want to see? Is Venice. Yes, there are museums, and yes there are ruins, but if that’s what you’re looking for, pick another city. You can go island hopping, you can walk 30 minutes to visit a church, but the alley around the corner might be just as cool, or cooler. Venice is the attraction in Venice. You can’t take a bad photo. If you’re looking for photos opps, choose Venice. There is no bad light, there is no bad angle. It’s just photo after photo of heaven. And we tooks hundreds of photos, and I included way too many of them after the jump. (I need to beg your forgiveness in advance.) When you’re there, it almost feels pretend. As if it’s a stereotype of Venice. As if Disney had created Venice as an amusement park for grownups, and they had staged all the texture and exposed brick — no detail too small. I had to keep reminding myself that people really live there. There are grocery stores and schools. Venice is all about texture. It’s like a city in constant decay, but the decay is beautiful, it’s what draws us in. And if you visit over New Year’s, Venice is COLD. We bundled up like crazy. As long as it was dry, we spent the day outside and explored… But we did have one rainy day. On that day, we visited the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, then spent the rest of the day in our hotel room having a movie party — it was too cold and wet to be tourists. As I’ve written before, traveling in the off season has worked great for us. No lines, no waiting at restaurants. But there are some disadvantages. An example in this case: the most recommended gelato shop was closed! You can even see a photo below of Maude trying the locked door. Sad face. I’m going to write up a list of what we did, but really, just show up and walk around and take photos. Walk until you’re hungry. Then eat. Then repeat. That’s all it takes to have a grand time in Venice. …

We Took 6 Kids to Venice and Nobody Fell in a CanalRead More »

Photos and text by Gabrielle. This post is about Honfleur and Deauville. Two neighboring towns here in Normandy that we never tire of visiting. We’ve been to both many times, but the photos in this post are from a visit last May. Spring in Normandy is very wet, and often cold, so when the sun comes out, you can bet we take advantage of it. These first images show Honfleur. It’s a small fishing port that is big on charm. And the light here is so remarkable that it won’t surprise you to hear this little town is considered the birthplace of impressionism. In fact, it’s not unusual at all to see painters with easels set up near the water, capturing the boats and flags and sails on their canvases. We’ve been told there are particular things to do in Honfleur — churches to visit and towers to climb — but we’ve never done any of them. Instead, we like to walk through the narrow side streets, window shopping, and stopping for ice cream. We might ride the port-side carousel or watch the boats come in. And then we’ll eat a late lunch or early dinner at one of the touristy restaurants that line the wharf — there are a dozen to pick from. …

Honfleur & DeauvilleRead More »

The Loire Valley is the region along the Loire River, a little south and west of Paris. It’s famed for its numerous castles that tower above the river. And lucky for us, driving to the region only takes about an hour and a half from our house.

So last year, on the last Sunday of May 2012, we hopped in the car after church and made a day trip of it. Our goal was to see two castles and to get a general sense for the region. We knew one day wasn’t really enough time, but figured a day trip would almost be like a scouting mission for a longer trip. The first castle we stopped at was Chateau Chenonceau.

Some castles are more kid-friendly than others, and this one is probably the most family-friendly that we’ve visited — lots of options for roaming and free-ranging, and the weekend we were there, it wasn’t too busy at all.

There are gardens to explore, bridges and moats, a grand checker-board hall with views of the river, and on the way out we explored the garden maze and had a little picnic. Also. We took a TON of photos. So please forgive me if this feels like a photo dump. : ) Hopefully it will be helpful for anyone out there who’s considering a visit to the Loire.

…

How to Visit the Loire Valley in a DayRead More »

By Gabrielle. Les Nageuses by Florence Douyrou. Ed Hawkins retired at 33, pressing pause on his prime earning years and choosing play instead. He’s tended to his fireplace and read books all winter, looks forward to sitting by the pool in the summer, and by September his petanque game will be marvelous. It’s all much simpler now: no more rushing deadlines, blinking for hours on end at an endless screen of information, or checking his Blackberry for urgent updates. He is, in his words, relishing his temporary freedom. Of course, he doesn’t have kids or a wife. Just an equally bold girlfriend who thought this was an awesome idea! Because it is. What do you think about flipping the concept of retirement? Diving in to a life of leisure while everyone around you is still swimming laps? Consider this: If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. Will you still look cute in your bikini? ;) Or is this something better left to those without a lot of responsibilities and dependents? Do you know anyone — or, better yet, any other family — that has opted out of the usual life sequence and lived in a different order? I would love to hear HOW and why they did it! (I hope it was you who did something wild and crazy, and that it is working!)

By Gabrielle. A lot of discussions about living with kids, especially during the early years when you’re just starting to get the hang of it, includes a fair share of IKEA talk. Do you IKEA, or don’t you? I’m always surprised about the strong opinions in the comments section of home tours that feature their furniture! But, as Marianne explains below, it’s a great place to source sleek Scandinavian design and still be able to feed your children! All five of them. And it doesn’t hurt that she and her family actually live in Scandinavia. Oslo, Norway to be precise. Which makes IKEA the natural choice, don’t you think? You’re going to love this peek into Marianne’s Oslo home, so let’s get to it! Q: Tell us who lives in this Oslo home! A: Welcome to my home. This is a typical Norwegian house from the 1970s, with an upstairs living room and kitchen, and bedrooms both upstairs and downstairs. I live here with my husband Morten, who runs a company that develops apps and websites, and our four boys: August (13), Markus (almost seven), the twins Peder and Magnus (four) and our daughter Alva (two). The house is rather large by Norwegian standards; we bought it for that very reason four years ago when the twins arrived as we needed all the space! At the moment the youngest ones share rooms next to our bedroom, but when they grow older they will move into the downstairs bedrooms. It will be kind of a teenage area. I’m already not looking forward to cleaning those rooms! The house was built in 1972, and we actually bought it from the old man who built it. Nothing had been changed for almost 40 years, but it was in really good condition so we have not started any major renovation yet. We have done smaller alterations like painting the walls and changing the carpet downstairs which used to be a sad green color, but the kitchen and bathrooms are as they have always been. When the kids get a bit older we will hopefully have the energy to start such large projects! When we do, we will definitely try to stay true to the style of the house’s architecture. …

Living With Kids: Marianne JohnsgårdRead More »

Two years ago we made our first trip to Amsterdam. On that trip, we saw the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, took a Canal tour, ate the best-rated Frites in town, rented bikes, spent a day in Vondelpark, visited the Floating Flower Market, did lots of window shopping in the Nine Streets district, ate amazing Indonesian food, and had an extended visit to HEMA. Plus visited the tulips, too — we caught the very tail end of the season. You can read about all of our travels to The Netherlands here. But this trip was totally different. With the exception of  a return visit to Vondelpark, it was all new! Based on this trip, there are 5 things I want to pass on for those of you planning your own visits to Amsterdam.

Your Hotel Location Changes Everything

On the first trip, we spent our entire visit in Old Town and it was charming and walkable and lovely. This time, we tried a different area, outside the tourist runs, and saw an entirely different view of Amsterdam, which was also charming, walkable and lovely. And it was kind of by accident. When we tried to book a hotel, we noticed almost everything in town was sold out — the whole country was gearing up for their big national holiday, Queen’s Day, made even bigger this year, because the Queen abdicated her thrown and her son became King. (Next year, the holiday will be King’s Day!) But Ben Blair found space at the Lloyd Hotel and we LOVED it. The building has a long fascinating history — it was originally the hotel for immigrants, and had a stint as a prison as well — and we found it to be super cool and unusual. We had corner rooms with two-story windows and these amazingly tall working shutters. Insane! But apparently, all the rooms are really unique, each one created by a different designer — we hear there’s one with a gigantic bed that sleeps 9 — sounds just right for our family. : ) Staying outside of Old Town meant riding the tram to get back and forth to our hotel. We bought 24-hour tram tickets from the hotel check-in desk and ended up using them a ton. We would climb on a tram whenever we needed a walking break. [ A little sidenote story: On our first tram ride, we went into Old Town and got off at Central Station, right away we happened upon a store with displays that were too cool to resist. It was actually a 3-part establishment with a shop called Options, a restaurant called Stock, and a hotel above those two called Exchange. (Great names, right?!) That same night, I was in back at the hotel, talking to the staff about a display wall in the hotel restaurant. I asked if the display items were for sale, and they mentioned that yes, the hotel owners owned a shop in town called Options, where I could buy the items. I about died! I went all fan girl and ended up emailing the owners of the hotel and told them how impressed I was with their work. The next day, the owner made a point of saying hello to my family in the lobby and taking us all on a personal tour up to the highest tower in the hotel. Very cool! ] Staying in a different part of town was wonderful. In fact, just blocks from the hotel was some of the best shopping we encountered, including a huge Sissyboy Homeland store. And the restaurants in the area were 100% non-touristy. It was easy to tell because the menus weren’t offered in English. : ) Our favorite meal of the trip happened on the first night, right across the street from the hotel. We ate tapas at Puerto Pata Negra. It was a Sunday night and the restaurant was rocking! Live music and everyone so friendly. Tapas is perfect for a family like ours — everyone gets a bite of everything. While we’re on the topic of food, I should mention we also ordered poffertjes every time they were on the menu. They’re a miniature puffed pancake — I like them best with butter and powdered sugar. And we had bitterballen twice. Yum!

Tulip Season Is Flexible

If you’re planning your trip to coincide with the tulips, even with the most careful calendering, you might miss them. But that’s okay. It’s beautiful anyway! Because we pretty much missed the tulips on our last visit, we were excited to get this second chance. And we carefully, carefully studied the calendar and the tulip websites and picked days that were predicted to be right at the tulip peak. But once again, we missed it! Hah! In fact, it has been so unexpectedly cold this year, that the tulips are on a 2-week delay. So instead of getting the peak, we got a peek. There were a few tulip fields in bloom and they made a dramatic neon slash across the end-of-winter landscape. Simply gorgeous! Plus, there were lots of earlier blooming flowers still around, specifically fields of hyacinths and daffodils. The hyacinths scented the air for miles. Seriously remarkable. We drove with the windows down so we could enjoy it. There were busload after busload of tourists who, like us, had also planned their trips for the peak of the season. We all took photos of the few fields and had to laugh about it. But really, even the few fields were pretty darn gorgeous. And even if there were no flowers at all in bloom, the windmills would still be something amazing to see.

Everyone Speaks English

We sort of remembered this from our last visit, but talked about it more on this trip. I swear, the Dutch have a gift for languages. In addition to their native Dutch, it seems like everyone we encountered could slip into English, French and German as well. And with ease! If not-speaking-the-language makes you nervous about traveling to a foreign country, Amsterdam would be a good destination for you. Yes, the signs are in Dutch, but everyone speaks English, so potentially frustrating language situations become a non-issue.

Watch Your Step! There Are More Bikes Than You Can Imagine

Amsterdam is all about the bikes. You’ll see bikes in all European cities, but nowhere we’ve visited compares to the bike culture in Amsterdam. It’s kind of mind-blowing, and it’s hard to describe how truly pervasive it is, because there’s nothing to compare it to. I find it so unusual that it makes me super curious about how it developed. In Amsterdam, we remind the kids to be aware of their surroundings constantly. I’m sure it becomes a sixth sense if you live there, but as visitors, it was sometimes tricky to identify when we were on a sidewalk versus a bike lane versus a road. There are parts of the city where all 3 blend together! There were a few times that one of our distracted kids had close call with a bike. So pay attention!

The Line at The Anne Frank House Moves Fast. And It’s Worth It.

Because the point of this trip was to film an Olive Us episode, we knew we wouldn’t have very much time for culture stops, but the Anne Frank House was at the top of our list. There was a line, but it moves fast, and friends, it was worth the wait. The thing is, this is not just a really well-done museum. It’s the actual space where Anne and her family lived and hid for two years. You get to walk through the actual rooms! This is not a toddler visit sort of place. I mean, our youngest was happy and there was plenty to distract her, but it’s quite a somber visit. The older kids, who are similar in age to Anne herself, were really moved by the visit. I’d say this is a good stop for 8-years-old and up. At the end, there was an exhibit talking about cultural questions of freedom and how they sometimes come in conflict with each other. Fascinating stuff! Highly recommended. One last tip: To keep ourselves occupied while we stood in line, we went over the wikipedia page about Anne Frank with the kids, so they would know what they were about to see. Oscar was entranced. We also took photos. This is one of the views from the queue — not a bad place to spend some time. I hope you find these notes helpful! Writing them up makes me wish we’d had a longer trip. I really, really like Amsterdam. I think it might be my favorite European city. There’s a very cool, creative vibe there. And I love how the city has layers and layers of ancient and modern right on top of each other — with a scribble of bikes all around the edges. Yay Amsterdam! P.S. — These last shots below are of our return visit to Vondelpark. They have the most amazing play structures there. So high and vast. They look absolutely death-defying!

Image and text by Gabrielle. I’ve mentioned we have one more big trip on the schedule before we hold still for a minute — hold still to enjoy the rest of the days and weeks here in this fairytale French farmhouse. I was going through photos the other day, and was reminded there are several adventures I haven’t written about yet. Like our New Year’s trip to Venice, or a whirlwind weekend from a year ago, where we took my niece to favorite spots all over Normandy. So before we make that last big trip (we leave to Norway next Monday), I thought I’d share some of our yet-to-be-written-down travelogues this week. Four to be exact. Starting with a report on last week’s visit to Amsterdam that will be posted tomorrow. I hope you enjoy them. And I hope they will get you psyched for your own travel plans. Which reminds me: What are your travel plans? Have you started thinking about summer vacation yet? Will you be visiting cousins? Camping? Flying somewhere exotic? I’d love to hear! P.S. — I snapped the instagram at top in Ireland.

I was in the middle of an article about Lauren Bush Lauren —  the niece and granddaughter of two of our presidents, as well as the daughter-in-law of Ralph Lauren — when I stopped reading and wondered if she ever had second thoughts about taking her husband’s surname. Lauren Lauren? There must have been a conversation or two, don’t you think?

It reminded me of that scene in The Wedding Singer, where Adam Sandler’s character giggles about what Drew Barrymore’s new name would be after her wedding: Julia Gulia! I got lucky in the surname department with Ben Blair (all of the letters in Blair are found in Gabrielle, and I think they sound nice together), but I confess, I identified so strongly as a “Stanley” that I really went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to change my name at all.

How about you? Did you change your name? If yes, did you hesitate at all, whether it was an odd one or because you simply loved your own? Or had you been doodling your new moniker from the minute you met your mate? I know you have amazing stories — and the funniest new married name you’ve ever heard — to share!

P.S. — Courthouse wedding via Wedding Lovers Anonymous.

Remember the 2-week school break my kids had in February? Well, they have another one happening right now. (Sidenote: I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love the French school schedule. It’s something like six weeks on, 2 weeks off, which is ideal for fitting in roadtrips without missing school. We’ll miss this schedule when we’re gone!)

This is the last break we have before we move back to the U.S., so you can bet that we have big plans to make the most of it. Yesterday, we said goodbye to our house guests at the train station, then hopped in the van and drove to Amsterdam. We’re here to see the tulips — and we’re filming an Olive Us episode too!

Amsterdam was one of the first places we visited when we moved here over 2 years ago. It’s such a cool city! (You can see my posts about that trip here and here and here and here.) On that visit, we caught the very tail end of the tulips, but we’re hoping we’ve timed it better this year and will get to see them in all their glory this time around.

Also, I want to eat a dozen servings of poffertjes too!

Tell me, friends: is Amsterdam on your travel wishlist? Or have you already been?

P.S. — With astroralph, mimiblair, oliveblair, blairben and designmomblog (that’s me) all snapping away, I’m pretty sure every inch of this trip will be covered on Instagram. : ) Feel free to join us.

P.P.S. — Ben Blair found our hotel (pictured at top) on Hotwire, and I’m really digging it. It’s called Lloyd Hotel and has rooms that range from 1 star to 5 stars — something for everyone!

Text and images by Gabrielle. I’m super excited to share this Olive Us episode with you! It’s called The Story of Kish, and we’ve been working on it since last July. We’re so pleased with how it turned out! Kish is a story written by Grandpa Blair (Ben Blair’s dad), so it has great meaning for all of his children and grandchildren. Grandpa Blair is a linguist and uses this story as an example of how to learn a new language. And the coolest part: he’s the narrator in the video! What a treasure this is for our family. Grandpa’s words, Grandpa’s voice. And it was filmed near Snow Canyon in Southern Utah, one of the very favorite spots from my childhood. The scenery is magnificent! We had lots of help on this episode. The wardrobe was sourced from my sister Sara’s legendary costume closet. The amazing music was written and recorded especially for this episode by Ben’s cousin, Geoff Groberg (he also wrote the Olive Us theme song). The illustrations and title graphic were done by the ever-talented Merrilee Liddiard. And of course, Tiger in a Jar brought their epic talents to the table in the filming and editing. We hope you enjoy the episode! If it’s not showing up for you here, you can view it on Vimeo. And please subscribe to the Olive Us Newsletter so you’ll be the first to know about new episodes and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks. …

Episode 22: The Story of KishRead More »

Image and text by Gabrielle. This is just a little thing, and maybe it’s not particularly French, but one thing we noticed after living her for about a year, was that our traveling French friends always send us postcards during their trips. It seems to be part of their vacationing habits or traditions. And of course, it’s totally charming! Postcards from Australia. From England. From Spain. And when I traveled with Caroline to New York, one of the first things she wanted to do was send postcards home to her family and friends back in France. We’ve received more postcards in our time here than we did in our last 15 years in the U.S. I’m not totally sure why the postcard tradition surprised me. I suppose it’s because I rarely if ever receive postcards from my American friends. When I think of why Americans don’t send postcards very often, I imagine it’s partly because when Americans vacation, they often take short trips — typically less than a week — which isn’t really enough time for a postcard to reach home while you’re away. And I’m sure it also has to do with texting and Facebook and Instagram and all the modern ways we stay in touch — making checking in with postcards less necessary. But from what I can tell, the French seem to take their vacations really seriously and stay at their destination for a couple of weeks, or even longer if they’ve traveled across the world to reach their destination. So sending a postcard makes perfect sense. How about you? Have you sent or received a postcard lately? And have you ever taken a long vacation? Or do you squeeze them in over an extended weekend? P.S. — Even though we don’t send them, it’s not unusual for my family to buy postcards when we’re traveling — especially at art museums. They make great souvenirs and additions to scrapbooks and journals.

By Gabrielle. A few weeks ago, my friend Kyran asked if I’d write a post about what kind of music the French kids are listening to, and I love that idea! So I asked my two teenagers, Ralph and Maude, for a consultation on the subject. First, they said that mostly, their French friends listen to the same music their American friends listen too. When Adele is popular in America, she’s popular in France too. Phoenix gets lots of play in both places. Dubstep is popular at parties in both places. That said, they did come up with a bunch of songs that their French friends listen too, but their U.S. friends do not. I had them send me links to 10 of them, so you can get a little glimpse of what might be added to your kids’ playlists if you lived in France. Some are French songs, but many are from other countries. The links go to videos on Youtube. Be aware, a couple of the videos are sexy — might not be your thing on a random Wednesday. (I did try to create a playlist on Spotify, with just the sound files instead of videos, but I couldn’t find a bunch of the songs. Le sigh.) I hope you enjoy the list. I’m embedding the first video here, because it’s a fun one! 1 Elle Me Dit by Mika. 2 Coups et Blessures by BB Brunes. 3 Dota by Basshunter. 4 On se Connaît‬ by ‪Youssoupha, featuring Ayna. 5 The Night Out by Martin Solveig. 6 Random Access Memories Look by Daft Punk. 7 Vamos a la Playa by Loona. 8 Happy by Ft. D.Martin by C2C. 9 Down the Road by C2C. 10 I’ve Got That Tune by Chinese Man. Bonus track! The kids aren’t listening to this one anymore — it was popular a few years ago. But I love it and asked Maude to learn to play it on guitar as my Mother’s Day gift last year. It’s so lovely. 11 Quelqu’un m’a dit by Carla Bruni. One of the things I wonder about since we moved to France, is what it’s like to grow up mostly listening to songs that aren’t in your language. I hear popular songs, in English, everywhere I go here. At the grocery store and in the shopping districts. The French kids know how to sing along, sort of. But many have no idea what the words are saying. I suppose American kids will experience more and more of that (Gangnam Style anyone?) as the internet continues to shrink the world. Did any of you grow up mostly listening to songs that weren’t in your native tongue? Do you have any favorites from the list Ralph and Maude made?

By Gabrielle. I can’t wait for you to meet Laura Tremaine. As her blog’s name suggests, she is a Hollywood housewife. Equal parts red carpet and playdates, she has a sweetly grounded view of an L.A. life that would prompt me to pinch whoever was next to me! Not Laura. She still calls Oklahoma home, even though it’s been years since that’s been true. I know most of us who’ve moved out – but never really on – will understand this. Home is sometimes a tricky place to define, isn’t it? Lucky for Laura, her Hollywood house also plays the role of home quite convincingly! I know you’re going to enjoy the Tremaine tour, Friends. And, action! (Also. No fish were harmed in the making of this tour. I promise.) Q: Please tell us all about the family who makes this stunning house a home. A: We’re a family of four who makes our home in the Hollywood hills of Los Angeles. I’m a blogger and a writer, and my husband Jeff is a producer and director for both television and film. Together we’ve created a spunky little girl who is three, and a hilarious little boy who is one. Our life is unusually chaotic. We live in a beautiful area of a glamorous town, but our red carpet life has a hefty dose of kid vomit and toddler tantrums. We celebrate both the very surreal and the very normal parts of this season. …

Living With Kids: Laura TremaineRead More »

Text and images by Amy Christie for Design Mom I adore the Downton Abbey series, you too? For those who are unfamiliar, Downton Abbey is a British period drama set in the post-Edwardian era and tells the story of an aristocratic family and their servants. The styling is out of this world!! The ensemble of characters makes the show award-winning. However, Violet Crawley — the Dowager Countess of Grantham, portrayed by the indelible Maggie Smith, is my very favorite. She has the best lines! With her unforgettable one liners in mind, I remembered this inspirational pin and these napkins came to be. With the help of a letter stencil, the words of Violet Crawley will make for fun dinner conversation. And wouldn’t these make a great gift for the Downton Enthusiasts in your life? So find your favorite quotes, Downton or otherwise, and let’s get started. …

DIY: Quote NapkinsRead More »

By Gabrielle. I smiled all the way through Heather‘s tour, but especially so when I read her clean house philosophy: “Our house will become a mess every single day. I accept that. I feel like we’re succeeding if at least once a day, the house is as neat as I want it to be, and at least once a day it’s as crazy as they want it to be.” It’s a refreshing compromise, don’t you think? Everyone seems to win, at least for a few hours! Friends, this is clearly a home where the children’s informal preferences have merged with the adults’ decidedly more formal leanings in every room, which must be a dream for the kids and make them feel like this is where they belong. Someday, the formal side may win out. Until then, I’m pretty sure no one minds being seated at the kids’ table! I really hope you enjoy the peek into Heather’s home as much as I did. Q: Tell us about the neat family making this house a home! A: Hi, I’m Heather. I’m a mom, blogger, and opera singer (by way of Russian literature and law school). I live in this house with my best friend Kent, a patent attorney who is much kinder and funnier than his job makes him sound. We’ve been married nine years and we have three little sugar plums. There’s my honey-love preschooler, Fluffy, and my twins, 21 month-old twin agents of anarchy, Salty and Peppers. I personally would love to use my kids’ real names, but I promised my husband long ago that I would use pseudonyms for them when posting on the internet. When we bought this house, my style was very, very formal. Six years and three kids later, I’m down to very formal. I know what you’re thinking: “Ring the police! Children being raised by a formal mother! Bring in the governess to make them play clothes out of old curtains!” It’s not like that, really. I’ll admit, my house is a little high maintenance, and most days I’m okay with that. Our home is filled with special, beautiful things and people that I love and take care of. …

Living With Kids: Heather CrawRead More »

Text and images by Gabrielle. Something interesting about our French school (and from what I understand, all French schools), is that needlework is part of the curriculum. I realized this during our first year here, when (then 9-year-old) Olive’s school class completed two separate cross-stitch projects — both the boys and the girls. I asked around, and apparently, this wasn’t unusual at all. …

Needlework for Children in FranceRead More »

By Gabrielle. Hey all you Spring Breakers. Looking for some rainy day fun? Have I got an Olive Us episode for you! It’s called Shadow Puppets, and yep, it’s exactly what the name implies — lots of fun shadow puppets for you and your kids to try. And I’m betting that after they watch it, that’s exactly what they’ll want to do. In fact, Ben Blair sent out the Olive Us Newsletter last week (you can subscribe here), and in it he shared this episode. Then all weekend long, we saw tweets and instagrams and emails of Olive Us viewers who were trying their own shadow puppets too! Really, really fun. Made us all grin like crazy. I hope you enjoy the episode. And if you’re having trouble viewing it here, try it on Vimeo. P.S. — Happy April Fool’s Day! In France, it’s Poisson d’Avril — children stick paper fishes on their friends’ backs today. Hah!