After a stormy Sunday here in the Bay Area, the skies are clear and the sun is shining! It’s the perfect morning to have on this cheerful Monday. For the first time in a while (especially on a Monday), I woke up excited to jump in front of my computer and get to work. Yes, it could be the extra hour of sleep (don’t you just love when we all Fall forward?!), but it could also be that my months and months of experimentation are starting to pay off. I put a lot of weekend work into a new blog that I am creating. It’s a project that says more about me than most projects I have taken on, and I’m excited that I’m feeling confident enough at this point to share it. I’m also having a blast writing for other blogs like Dog-Milk and I hope to continue on with my freelance writing career. I love it! It’s so wonderful to have a creative outlet outside of the work I do with LAMA. So on this happy and sunny morning, I have two motivating messages I would like to share based on my own experience…

AND MOVE…

Experiment and move forward. Sometimes you discover really amazing things about yourself. Happy Monday!

*images courtesy of friends of type*

A few months back I was invited by the master of all that is handmade, Jen Wallace of Indie Fixx, to be a contributor to her latest issue of Joie Magazine. Joie is an online only publication that is “all about the art of joyful living. It’s a lifestyle mag and covers art, craft, living, design, fashion + more.” This issue revolved around the theme of “merrymaking” so when I was asked to conceptualize an article to write, naturally I thought about my favorite merrymaking activity.. parties!! I came up with a fiesta inspired holiday party concept complete with DIY decor ideas and a menu that is affordable and easy for anyone to recreate (I even included an idea for a cute party favor!) Want to read all about it? Be sure and check out Joie and please consider contributing $1.99 to the magazine to help support the talented folks that have helped put this together.

Lately it seems that everyone I know has either had or is getting ready to have a baby. I’m still obsessed with puppies and know very little about babies, except that I’m a bit frightened of them. I am, however, extremely flattered and incredibly excited when someone asks for baby style advice! Recently, one of the wonderful companies I work with from Buenos Aires, Picnic, released a large line of baby merchandise. I love the showroom space they set up to show off their new line! It’s full of inspirational objects and design schemes for nurseries and children’s rooms.

I’m crazy about the adorable teepee. I wouldn’t mind crawling in it myself!

The hanging fabric pod looks like a comfortable and cozy place to swing back and forth. That would put me to sleep in a second. Also, how cute is the carpet?

The shelved and wallpaper moose cutout is such a fun a whimsical design element in this room. Though it may be a challenge to recreate, the idea is fantastic. I’m also a fan of the chalk board play letters. I would probably paint that with chalkboard paint on a wall. Those sweet cloud hooks are also too adorable. I love dreamy little touches like that.

I love oversized, simple pop art. The silhouette of the little boy with his teddy bear is cool, modern, and so charming. The colors are just perfect in this space. I’m a big fan of custom art like this. It’s such a personal touch.

The metallic tree behind the crib is very cool. I don’t know that many people would have elected to paint with silver in a nursery, but clearly, it works! The sleek rocking chair with large dot fabric in grey is also spot on (no pun intended). It’s a great chair for modern mommies.

Last but not least, I adore this paper crane pendant lamp. I think this a great DIY project for expecting parents to do together. Searching around the web, I came across the photo below. Check out this blog post via What’s Up Whimsy for lighting fixture suggestions and a great video tutorial on how to make a paper crane.

I recently shot this photo for a fun spread with a very cool online magazine. (More on that later). I’m not a photographer but I was quite pleased with how this turned out. You may be asking yourself, “what’s with the confetti?” Simple. This is no ordinary cup of coffee. Oh no! This is coffee with a kick! So why am I sharing this today? Well, if anyone out there has had the kind of morning I’ve had (the LAMA site was down for hours mid super sale!) I figured, we could all use some coffee with a kick today. I say, go ahead! Kick up your coffee and have a wonderful day! Enjoy the recipe below… you’re welcome.

Coffee with a Kick

- brew a pot of coffee

- add raw sugar and cinnamon for a sweet and spicy flavor

- like yours con leche? add some leche.

- Now here’s the kick.. Kahlua! How much? A solid kicks worth.

- Drink responsibly of course.

When I was a little girl, my mother’s aunt from Ecuador knit me a pink poncho that I was completely smitten with. It had fringes and strings around the collar with little pink pom poms hanging off. It was gorgeous! I wore it constantly. I even used to tie it around my waist and wear it as a skirt when it was too hot to wear as a poncho. Yes, I invented boho-chic years before Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were even born! (Unknowingly, of course). So, I’ve been super jazzed to see ponchos having a huge fashion presence this year. In my search for the perfect Fall sweaters, I keep coming across ponchos! You can be sure I’ll be sporting one this Fall/Winter. Check out some of my fashionable favorites.

Ryan Wrap by Dolce Vita

Delta Sweater

Double Cape by Phillip Lim

Ellen Poncho by Missoni

Shakuhachi Fringed Poncho

Oversized Cardigan by See by Chloe

Liam Poncho by Tory Burch

Crochet Poncho from Zara

Pendelton Fringed Poncho

I absolutely love when pop culture influences fashion. It’s such an exciting and inspiring medium to showcase cultural phenomena that have occurred over time. The collection below by Portuguese designer Felipe Olveira Baptista was released back in the summer of 2008 but I just had to share it anyway. Inspired by Mexican wrestling masks Baptista’s “Les Catcheuses” collection is a fabulous fashion play on the Mexican pop culture icon, the Luche Libre. Combined with luchador mask shirts designed by Natale Cree, I was totally blown away by this incredibly sophisticated approach to Mexican wrestling.

This collection may have also inspired my Halloween costume this year. I’m thinking something fashionable and colorful, with a little bit of fringe, a cape, and a luche libre eye mask… I’ll be fashion luche libre!! I think it’s the perfect follow to last year’s fashion witch.

This is my favorite time of the year! The weather is gorgeous, the air is crisp, the trees are turning orange and red, and Halloween is just around the corner. Halloween was always fun as a kid. I loved getting dressed up for the Halloween parade at school and planning the trick-or-treating evening with my friends. It was a great time. As an adult, I’m happy to say that Halloween is still a ton of fun! I still dress up. Last year, I was fashion witch and I threw a pumpkin carving party with my neighbors. We also made Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls and played Guitar Hero (check out last year’s post for fun instructions on how to make your own sugar skulls). This year I’m already having a ton of fun dressing up Miles for Halloween. Yesterday he made his Dog-Milk debut as a shark (with an underbite of course).

Miles’s shark costume was part of my Halloween Hounds roundup that I had SO much fun putting together. Of course, I had to throw some great Latin costumes into the mix. How cute are these Mariachi and Carmen Miranda costumes from Bitch New York?!

This little Taco Chihuahua didn’t make the final cut but I couldn’t resist sharing him here. My parents have three and a half Chihuahuas (one is only half) and I can’t even imagine how cute it would be to send out an entire taco Chihuahua platter!

I still haven’t decided what I’m going to be for Halloween this year (any ideas?) but at least Miles is ready to go (and he looks fierce!) How is everyone else getting ready for Halloween? Is anyone else dressing up their dog? I would LOVE to see your photos and post them here for the holiday! If you’re dressing up your dog this year, please send me a photo and I’ll send you a great discount code to use at the LAMA shop. Trust me, with all of the great new products coming in, you’re going to want this code! Send all photos to info@lamadesigns.com with the subject dog costume. I can’t wait to see you’re wonderful photos! P.S. cats are welcome too!

Lately I’ve been working extra hard as I am currently in the process of redesigning the LAMA site with my wonderful graphic designer, Hijiri K. Shepherd. Along the with site redesign, I’m also in the process of ordering, receiving, and photographing new products for the shop. Product photography has always been a bit of a daunting task for me as I am not a trained photographer. In fact, I barely know how to use a camera. I often spend a lot of time searching the web for simple but beautiful product photography inspiration. I was excited to recently discover a beautiful e-shop from Praia da Aguda, Portugal called Loja de Estar. I adore the simple, colorful, and effective product shots taken by the shop’s owner.

I take all of my product photography in my own apartment and these photos make me want to paint all of my walls bright and brilliant colors! Unfortunately, I don’t think my landlord would approve. Oh well.. here’s to shooting the new line of products! (wish me luck)

Have you ever felt like you bit off more than you can chew? This is precisely how I’m feeling this morning. Actually, this is precisely how I’ve been feeling for the past few years. It’s this constant feeling that I have overextended myself to the point where nothing is going to get accomplished. *sigh* After really feeling the burden of this over the past few weeks, the three and a half hour dinner I had with four very inspiring local business owners couldn’t have happened at a better time. We were asked to sit down together and discuss a variety business topics and issues we face everyday. We were being filmed by a major client in NYC who wanted to know all about our day to day lives as entrepreneurs. The food was great, the conversation was exciting, and despite having a large camera and a big fuzzy microphone in my face, I had an amazing time and met some very inspiring people.

Yes, I have A LOT on my plate right now. I have made a lot of commitments and a lot of promises to myself and others. The thing that always keeps me going is knowing that these are common issues shared amongst all of us no matter what it is we do. Spending time with these incredibly hard working business owners has really motivated me to put my head down, focus, and get things done one step at a time. So on this Motivation Monday, I’ll leave you with the illustration below by fashion illustrator Edith Head.

Happy Monday! Here’s to the beginning of another week…

Today I’m scrambling a bit to get myself back on track after a week in NYC. My inbox is screaming at me (at least it would if it could), meetings need to be attended to, phone calls need to be made, products need to be ordered, an entire new site needs to be designed, and Miles needs visit the groomer. Not to mention the all of the side projects I have agreed to take on that all have early October deadlines. Where did September go?! On top of all of that, I am thirty minutes away from finding out if I have to attend jury duty today. Ahhhh!!! Looking down at my three page long “to do” list, I thought I would post a little Wednesday Motivation (because I missed my usual Monday Motivation and I can sure use a little pick me up).

Via The Love Shop, this print leaves me feeling a bit more optimistic about the next few weeks of my suddenly SO busy life. I can’t wait to sit back and yell out an emphatic “DONE!”

Happy Hump Day!