A Girl Named PJ

Top 10 Infant Toys

March 6, 2013

While I’m celebrating the arrival of baby Max with my family, I’ve asked some friends to fill in for me on the blog. Our second guest blogger is Brandi from Little Brim Baby. I can’t recall where I first met Brandi, but I follow her on both Twitter and Instagram. Since she writes a baby gear review blog, I thought she’d be the perfect person to share her top 10 infant toys.

From the moment I found out I was expecting my first child, I have done painstaking research on everything having to do with pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, baby gear, and parenting. My son is now fifteen months old, and last year I decided to launch my first website, Little Brim Baby, to share my research and reviews with other parents with the goal of finding the best products for our families. We have focused on reviewing and highlighting the items that we have found to be the most helpful and useful.

Now that I am currently in the toddler-rearing phase, I thought I would take a look back at the top ten infant toys that were the most popular with my son–and we have tried them all. Sophie la Girafe is one of the most gifted baby shower and infant toy items, so we have excluded her from our list for now. Hopefully this will introduce you to a few mostly inexpensive items that have lead to months of entertainment in our home.

… READ MORE!

Cinnamon Apple Chips

March 5, 2013

While I’m celebrating the arrival of baby Max with my family, I’ve asked some friends to fill in for me on the blog. The first of three guest bloggers this week is the lovely Ciera Holzenthal, a talented graphic designer I met at Alt. Like me, she doesn’t do much of the cooking in her household, but she has a super easy snack recipe to share with us fellow non-cooks. Take it away, Ciera!

Hey y’all, I’m Ciera from Ciera Design, here today thanks to the lovely PJ! While the focus of my blog is design, photography and DIY, I also love to post about my everyday life, including cooking. My boyfriend is usually the cook in our house, but when I want something sweet, I take over! Today, I’m sharing a recipe for cinnamon apple chips which may be the best thing I have ever made! The light dusting of cinnamon and sugar over the fresh apples makes this the perfect sweet snack!

Ingredients: 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 2 large apples.

Directions: Preheat oven to 250°. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Using a knife or mandoline, thinly slice two apples. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheets; sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake the apple slices, turning every half hour, until dry, about 2 hours. Remove and transfer to racks to cool.

Please stop by and say hi on my blog, Facebook or Twitter, and let me know if you make these cinnamon apple chips! And thanks again for having me, PJ!

Recipe modified from Rachael Ray.

Desktop Designs: Wallpaper for your devices

March 4, 2013

I’m so excited to share the second installment of Desktop Designs! Mariah totally nailed this month’s wallpaper design, which features a quote from Coco Chanel: “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” Not only are polka dots tons of fun (and totally on-trend!), but I think that rainbow-colored spots perfectly illustrate the idea of being different.

Throughout my life, my desire to fit in with the popular kids (whether they were high school classmates or big-name bloggers) has been at odds with my desire to stand out from the crowd. In my 30s, I’m finally starting to understand that, in a world of sameness, people are often attracted to those who are different, who are brave enough to speak their minds or go against the conventional ways of doing things.

Take blogging, for example. I’ve often felt jealous of the success of other bloggers, many of whom share a similar aesthetic, tone, or point of view. (Have you noticed that many bloggers nowadays sound alike?) In the past, I thought the way to attract readers was to emulate those popular blogs; however, I now understand that I’d be doing myself a huge disservice by trying to copy their style. Why? Because there would be no reason for you want to read my copycat blog when you could read their original versions. In order for my blog to earn a spot in your RSS reader, it needs to offer something different.

And, yes, I’m still working on that.

So this month’s Desktop Design is a reminder to showcase your individuality, to feel confident in expressing your unique perspective and opinions. But the idea of being irreplaceable is not limited to blogging. I think it can be applied to all aspects of one’s life, from work to friendships. What do you think?

Download this month’s desktop wallpaper here!

1920 x 1080 / 1600 x 1200 / 1440 x 900 / iPad / iPhone 4 / iPhone 5

PS: The polka dots also remind me of this book, a childhood favorite of mine and now one of Levi’s go-to reads.

Have a great weekend!

March 1, 2013

I’m meeting my nephew for the first time this afternoon! I’m so excited that I can hardly concentrate on putting together a proper blog post. I hope you’ll forgive me.

In the meantime, check out these links and be sure to come back on Monday for March’s Desktop Designs. I have to say, it’s even better than last month’s desktop wallpaper!

The Oscars were a big disappointment this year, from Anne Hathaway’s dress to Seth MacFarlane as host. (Attention, members of the Academy: Bring back Billy Crystal!)
Do you buy organic clothing for your baby?
I love Meg’s #GSD series for teaching me how to get more shit done in my day-to-day life.
Confession time: Are you guilty of typing like thissss?
For how infrequently I drink wine at home, this may actually be a great solution to keeping it fresh longer.
Briscoe would love to be dog-stalked by Kate! He’d also like to visit the House of Harvey.
Enter to win a Whitney English Day Designer on Wendy’s blog. (On second thought, don’t enter because I want to win!)
Speaking of giveaways, you have until Friday, March 8th to enter our Beso giveaway. Win $100 towards your Everyday Essentials collection.
Mind the gap! An illustrated look at 150 years of the London Tube.

Have a great weekend!

{my iPhone photos}

Beso Giveaway Deadline Extended!

March 1, 2013

Yesterday was supposed to be the deadline to enter our Beso “Everyday Essentials” giveaway. However, I’m extending the deadline until next Friday, March 8th.

Why the change? Well, some friends and I were chatting on Twitter about how we’ve been feeling sluggish and slow lately. We all seem to be in dire need of extra coffee and a swift kick in the pants!

For those of you have have also been dragging this week, taking an extra-long time to cross off items on your to-do list, I thought you might like more time. So I’m giving you an extra week to get your mojo back. Once you’re feeling like your motivated self again, click over to enter our Beso giveaway.

Remember, the winner receives $100 to spend on any item from their “Everyday Essentials” collection or from the collection I put together on Beso. It takes just a short amount of time to put together a Beso collection, and it’s fun!

Any questions? Lemme know!

PS: Check back later this morning for March’s Desktop Designs!

PPS: Don’t comment on this post to enter! All entries must be posted here.

{photo via newlow}