A Girl Named PJ

Levi the Duck

November 5, 2012

Stores may have already swapped their Halloween decorations for Christmas, but I can’t resist sharing a couple of photos of Levi in his duck costume! My original plan was to buy Levi a Pottery Barn Kids costume when they went on sale closer to Halloween; the Carter’s duck costume was a back-up I purchased at Costco. Although the PB Kids costumes did get marked down a couple of days before Halloween, I still couldn’t justify spending $34.99 on one for Levi. Besides, he’s still crawling, and we weren’t even planning to go trick-or-treating!

The more I thought about it, the more the $12.99 duck costume made sense — after all, Levi knows how to quack! He looked adorable wearing it to story time at Barnes & Noble and to his weekly Baby Maestro class, where all of the babies and toddlers were dressed in costumes for Halloween. The room was packed with cuties, including Levi’s buddy, the black and white puppy dog! (Which, by the way, was a Pottery Barn Kids costume purchased on sale!)

Let’s take one last look at Halloween 2012, shall we?

What did your little one dress up as for Halloween? Was Halloween postponed where you live because of Sandy? Share your Halloween experience in the comment section below!

PS: Pottery Barn Kids put all of their Halloween costumes on sale the day after Halloween, but they’re even cheaper in store. I picked up one for Levi to wear next year!

NYC Unplugged & Some Friday Links

November 2, 2012

I grew up in New Jersey about 30 miles outside of New York City and lived in Manhattan before coming to Omaha. My parents still live in NJ, as do both of my grandmothers, and my sister and brother-in-law are in Manhattan. I have family in Long Island and friends who live across the Tri-State area, including Connecticut.

Although I live in Nebraska now, I am still an East Coast girl at heart, and I’ve been glued to the TV all week watching Hurricane Sandy coverage. My heart goes out to all those affected by the storm, especially those living in New York and New Jersey where Sandy hit the hardest. I can hardly recognize places I once knew so well–Point Pleasant, Seaside Heights, parts of lower Manhattan. The destruction is mind-blowing.

These long-exposure images of New York City were taken by photographer Randy Scott Slavin the night after Sandy made landfall. The streets were literally pitch black, he said. Using a tripod and long exposures Randy was able to see in the dark, so to speak, and created a series titled “NYC Unplugged.”

A few other things that caught my attention this week:

Emily’s blog A Denver Home Companion has a beautiful new design — check it out!

Check out The Craft Pack’s new e-book A Hip Handmade Holiday for projects, videos and printables. (I wish I had the crafting gene! Ugh!)

I’m really into the modern shape of this lightweight hoodie.

I really like Cait’s monthly mantra for November.

Why we need to get over ourselves right now.

All proceeds from this incredible print will go to the American Red Cross to assist those affected by Sandy.

I’ve always loved the storytelling aspect of charm bracelets. (Also, isn’t Garden and Gun the strangest name for a magazine?)

Do you watch The New Girl? I laughed out loud when Nick was in the haunted house during this week’s episode. He and Schmidt are the best characters on the show, hands down. Max Greenfield, the actor who plays Schmidt, is pretty funny in real life, too. He wrote about his Emmy experience for this week’s goop.

I’m starting to post more non-blog related content on Bunny & Dolly’s Facebook page, so please hop over there and “like” us! There are always lots of great conversations happening.

Have a happy weekend!

{photos by Randy Scott Slavin via Peta Pixel}

5 Ways to Become a More Efficient Blogger

November 1, 2012

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be contributing a series of blog posts on writing and editing for the Alt Design Summit blog! Head over there today to learn my 5 tips for becoming a more efficient blogger.

PS: I also wrote about the Dos and Don’ts of Writing Conversationally!

{illustration by Jessica Swift}

Go-To Baby Gifts

November 1, 2012

Last week I met a friend’s one-week-old baby girl and brought with me small gifts for her new daughter and toddler son. If she and I were very close friends, I might have splurged on an outfit or two because I can’t resist adorable girlie clothing. Or I might have purchased something practical from registry. But since we’ve only known each other for a couple months (and I couldn’t find a registry online), I went with my go-to baby gift: Books.

I found a sweet cupcake bib at Target that I wanted to pair with the book You Are My Cupcake but couldn’t locate a copy anywhere in Omaha. Because I didn’t have time to order it from Amazon (that’s what you get for last minute shopping!), I wrapped the bib with a toy that suctions to a high chair for a mealtime-themed gift. For the new big brother, I bought the appropriately-named Now I Am Big! book. I love its retro style!

Last week I also posted my first-ever Facebook poll. Here’s what you told me about your go-to baby gifts:

Books were a universal favorite. I like Hello, Animals! and Hello, Bugs! because they feature high contrast black-and-white patterns perfect for an infant’s developing vision.
Sara said she loves giving “shoe socks” like these Trumpette Skater Johnny’s Socks and Trumpette Lucy’s Big Bow Socks.
Kerry’s new go-to baby gift is actually something for mom–Mom’s One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book, an easy way to record all of the random yet memorable things that happen each day.

What gifts do you most frequently give to new or expectant mom friends? Tell us in the comment section below!

Pardon our appearance!

October 31, 2012

You might have noticed that the blog was down yesterday. That’s because we were migrating it to a new server, but it seems not everything survived the move. I’m having a mild panic attack over here as we try to restore our fonts, logo and sidebar layout. I’m clueless when it comes to the technical aspects behind the blog–and JB finally admitted at 11:30pm last night that he can’t figure it out either.

So please pardon our appearance for the time being! Everything else about the blog should be working normally, but if you notice anything weird or a that feature is missing, please let me know. You can leave a comment or email me at bunnyanddolly at gmail dot com.

Thanks!