I love mirrors. Not because I’m particularly vain, but because they’re shiny and (as I’ve mentioned), I’m a bit of a magpie.

I like sparkle and I like light and mirrors help with both of those things.

Enter Anthropologie’s Collected Memories Mirror:

This handmade collection is made of found mirrors, which means no two are exactly alike. I would want one just like the one shown in this picture!

How great would this be for a big, blank wall?

With a $700 price tag and no sure idea of what it will look like when you get it, I don’t see myself purchasing this guy anytime soon. But a girl can still drool, right?

Could make for a fab DIY project though, couldn’t it?

In a world where money is no object and it makes perfect sense to buy expensive clothes for my juice-spilling munchkin, these are some of the pieces we’d have to pick up while back to school shopping.

A lover of glittery, girly things, the color blue and zebra stripes, I think these pieces would suit her perfectly…

clockwise from top left: Burberry, J. Crew, Tea Collection, J. Crew

Lilly Pulitzer :: Milly Minis

clockwise from top left: Stella McCartney, Catimini,
Hanna Anderson, Mini Boden

Her first day of kindergarten is tomorrow and, while I said I was ready for September, I’m having some issues with this transition. I know she’s going to love it (she’s been requesting worksheets this summer), but I just can’t believe my baby is this big!

I’ve been thinking about storage solutions a lot lately– specifically a solution to hide Samantha’s ever-growing pyramid of toys. While Barbie legs and My Little Ponies peeking out of every corner of the house might be somewhat expected when you have two girls, I’d love it if my living room didn’t look like a volcano erupted in it, spewing pink lava as far as the eye can see.

So like I said. I’ve been trying to think of creative (inexpensive) ways to store her mess that doesn’t involve buying more plastic bins. My hunt has led me to the wonderful world of vintage trunks and suitcases.

via Country Living

It’s perfect! Cheap, eco-friendly, and interesting–which is always a winning combo in my book. Better yet, they’re the perfect size to hold dolls and tea sets while keeping them all together and out of sight.

Plus, she and my nephew love to pretend they’re going on trips whenever he comes over to play (usually Africa by boat or train but sometimes they take a plane to California). When they inevitably dump all the toys on the floor, they can use the suitcases as toys too (I’ll just have to bribe them with chocolate to make sure all the toys end up back in the suitcases in the end).

Suitcases also happen to be a perfect big girl storage solution. I love the idea of stacking them to make a bedside table like in the photo below.

via Elements of Style

It’s a great place to store extra blankets (lord knows I have a never-ending supply of those!) or off-season clothes–just make sure you don’t put something you use a lot in the bottom. That would make this look go from cute to unbearably annoying in no time.

I think my favorite idea is the one above from Design*Sponge. They give an insanely easy DIY tutorial on turning a vintage suitcase into a table. How cool is that? It makes for a great conversation piece with lots of charm and it lets you stash your junk out of site. I love it!

Here are some vintage pieces that I found on Etsy…

1 via The Vintage Treehouse :: 2 via Simply Chic Treasures :: 3 via Ets Place
4 via California Senora :: 5 via The House of Oliver :: 6 via West on Cole

I’m kind of in love with Lisa Lillien right now. Who is she, you ask? She’s the woman behind Hungry Girl, a brand that started as a daily email to her friends and family and has blossomed into New York Times bestselling cookbooks and a show on The Food Network.

Lillien basically shows you how to eat delicious foods while cutting out some of the calories because, as she says on her website, “she is obsessed with food—how wonderful it is, and how much of it she can eat and still fit into her pants.”

I caught a piece of her show this weekend while I sat for a second to feed the baby. She was making cannoli-stuffed french toast nuggets that made my mouth water. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of french toast and a huge fan of dessert (hence, my love of brunch!). The combination of these two things makes me shake with glee!

So instead of rambling incoherently, here is the delicious recipe and all of its glorious details (click the link for a printer-friendly version on the Hungry Girl website):

Cannoli-Stuffed French Toast Nuggets

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 228 calories, 6.5g fat, 395mg sodium, 31g carbs, 3g fiber, 10.5g sugars, 12.5g protein — PointsPlus® value 6*

Prep: 10 minutes, Cook: 5 minutes (MAKES 1 SERVING)

Ingredients:

Directions

My husband turns up his nose, but bear with me here.

It’s sweet. It’s salty. It’s creamy and crunchy. How can you really go wrong?

Better yet, a serving of the ice cream is only 3.5 grams of fat so as long as you are well behaved in the portion control part of your little dessert, it’s a guiltless indulgence.

I use sugar free syrup because I’m hypoglycemic and syrup makes me have a major sugar crash later on. But there’s no reason why you can’t use the infinitely more delicious pure maple syrup if you don’t have any sugar issues (again though, portion control!)

As a chocolate lover I didn’t think I’d love this concoction as much as I do. It totally hit the spot on this steamy evening!

Yum.