Sure it’s part of an e-commerce site, and sure my husband works there, but the new incarnation of Live Love Home (aka the One Kings Lane blog) is well worth bookmarking just for the inspiration and ideas (and recipes and storage tips and beautiful photography and cocktails…) If you then just happen to click over to the main site to buy something… well… that’s not my fault now, is it? The profile of designer Julia Leech is particularly enticing…

I love Molly Yeh, although I do not know her. I love her recipes. I love her photography. I love her kind of obsessive crazy incredibly endearing writing style. I love her craftiness, and I love that she calls her blog My Name Is Yeh. I could do with slightly larger type, but that’s just my tired eyes talking. And the smaller type is prettier, truth be told.

I always enjoy a visit to the Free People Blog for it’s fairy princess fashion, recipes (clearly I like to eat) and slightly hippie DIY’s like Mason jar herb gardens and dry shampoo.

My 2.1 million best friends and I love A Cup of Jo and visit it regularly for Joanna Goddard’s sweet, smart and thoughtful posts on everything from talking to your kids about death, to Mother’s Day gift guides to, yep, delicious recipes…

When it comes to travel, I’ve lately found myself checking out Tory Burch’s Tory Daily and Conde Nast Traveler’s Tumblr for fantasy purposes. But I always check out Momfilter for more realistic ideas.

The Nova Naturals blog has lovely and seasonally appropriate kids crafting ideas that I actually want to do. (as opposed to making things out of paper bags that then have to lie around for weeks before you finally clear them away under cover of darkness.)

And last but most certainly not least, in order to ensure that I don’t fall too far down into the Old Navy/Crewcuts trap for kids clothes, there is the glorious Coohs and Ahhs to guide my path away from the mass produced and onto a road less traveled… and with nicer fabric.

A great way to celebrate what the Earth has to offer is to plant a garden, right? And this very old school Japanese knife-digger-scraper thing (otherwise known as a Hori Hori) is kind of a one stop shop when it comes to digging, weeding, planting… you name it. It’s made of stainless steel, so it’ll last forever. And it just looks badass.
Stainless Steel Serrated Edge Hori Hori, $35 at HandEyeSuply.

The Earth is always hungry and loves nothing better than to snack on the fruits (and vegetables) of it’s own labor. So of course we all compost, right? It’s super easy to do in NYC, as there are spots at all of the Greenmarkets where you can just drop off your scraps. And now we can all graduate from keeping our compostables in a plastic bin under the sink (or worse yet, just out somewhere) to this sleek actually attractive counter-top compost bin. Phew.
Noaway countertop walnut compost bin, $150.

Unfortunately, time spent outside means time spent with ticks (at least in the Northeastern US, where I spend most of me time) But there are some great all-natural alternatives to the typical DEET-filled spray. Like rose geranium oil, for one.

Who says you need a garden to garden? Check out Apartment Therapy’s brilliant post listing 10 ideas for how to grow on patios, balconies and even indoors!

These super cute tin container gardens are another way to plant in limited spaces.

Take your kids on a listening walk and discover all of the sounds of your neighborhood. Paul Showers’ lovely book (aptly titled The Listening Walk) gets you inspired.
The Listening Walk, $6.99 at Barnes & Noble.

And when you’re done with all of the above, check out Krrb’s list of links for even more ways to get involved in actively supporting our planet.

And while we’re on the topic of this new sense of possibility, here are a few projects I’m thinking of undertaking with all of this extra energy the warmth and light is supplying… Anybody with me?

I am going to start making a scrapbook. Maybe I’ll even make a bunch of them, like Elsie from A Beautiful Mess…

I am going to stop hating packing a lunch for my daughter. In fact, I am going to embrace it and not feel overwhelmed and like going to bed every time I have to figure out what to make. (This is highly unproductive, as she needs to eat pretty much every day) And I am going to achieve this goal, despite the fact that she is beginning to get sick of the dumplings I’ve been serving her 3 x a week this entire school year. But hey, I’m not alone. Food world superhero Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen also hates packing lunch. When I read her rant on Food52, I felt a bit better about myself.

Maybe buying this lunchbox will help.

I’m going to make these yarn hearts (thanks Momfilter!) with the kids to give as mother’s day gifts. I’m pretty sure neither my mom or mother-in-law read this blog so we should be all good…

I am going to make at least one new dish a week, and I’ll probably get the recipe from the New York Times Cooking site, because I’m addicted and also because they’ve finally gotten an iPhone app.

I am going to eat less sugar. I am not cutting it out entirely, but I’m going to keep the amounts as low as I can while still giving myself a treat every now and then. I wish I had more willpower and were able to cut it all out, but I don’t. So there.

I am going to get control over my e mail. Not sure which method I’ll choose, but this 21 day version looks good. Or maybe I’ll just erase all 5,000 unread messages and start from scratch.

Spring break is over and we are back to real life. I have a to-do list a mile long and have made almost no progress. Our bags sit, mostly unpacked, in the middle of the kitchen. So instead of unpacking, I give you some links to things I’ve been noticing on the web lately..

My husband forwarded this article on the horrors of sugar to me the other day. Took a while for me to open it and I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole topic, but I would be remiss if I didn’t pass on the info.

The folks at WNYC’s Soundcheck have put together an incredible 12 hour looping playlist of their favorite and most influential women in music. It’s called Women On The Verge and I’m happily listening to it right now. So far they haven’t missed.

I’ve always been a big fan of wallpaper, though I have trouble making the commitment. This comprehensive post on A Beautiful Mess has re-introduced me to the world of this decorative mainstay and started my eyes casting about the apartment searching for an appropriate wall to cover over. Hmmmmmmm….

Do you feel like in front of a movie after filling out all of those tax forms (that I’m sure you all handed in already, right?). How about learning something at the same time by checking out one of Domainehome’s list of 28 must-watch documentaries. It’s divided into category to make choosing one that much easier. And all of these films are available to be streamed even as I type this.

Thank you oh thank you Joanna Goddard for sharing this tip for how to gently teach your child not to interrupt. Although my daughter is a bit older than the kids in this post, I am going to try it with her TODAY!!

I admit to being semi-addicted to those articles/posts that feature an interesting person and a bunch of stuff that they love. But when the venue is the style blog I Want To Be Her and the subject is my favorite jeweler (and super close friend) Jill Platner and the five things she’s particularly into right now, I want to jump into the picture on the screen, listen to the music she recommended while wearing matching jumpsuits and drinking juice made with her Vitamix. As soon as you read the post, you will too.

Leave it to Flavorwire to put together a list of the weirdest vintage musical performances on Saturday Night Live. David Bowie in a skirt, Kate Bush in gold lamé, the obviously drunken Pogues … need I say more?

Watch the above video so that you can explain to your kids (or your roommate) what Daylight Savings Time really is.

And then before you argue about whether or not changing the clocks is worth it, read about how, evidently, the U.S. economy lost $433,982,548 in 2010 because of daylight savings time and is poised to fare similarly today.

One fact that is indisputable: Spring is around the corner. And with that, the sudden need for spring cleaning. Or maybe you’re like me, and the more pressing issue is that your in-laws are about to come to town. Whatever your motivation, it’s time to get scrubbing. Apartment Therapy has a Floor-to-Ceiling Guide to Spring Cleaning that is bound to make life a tiny bit easier– at least on the planning end of things.

And to get the job done in the greenest (and often most economical) way possible, check out Krrb’s super simple recipes for all-natural cleansers.

Clutter doesn’t just come in the form of magazines and snow globes… probably the most overwhelming pile of clutter in any of our lives these days is the digital variety. Here’s a list of 17 apps to help us all deal with clearing the cobwebs out of our hard drives.

Of course we are supposed to be cleaning up our bodies as well as our bookshelves… but if you’re not feeling up to a juice fast, just take one of these cleansing baths instead. So much more civilized.

Or maybe you just want to get out of your house and not think about this stuff at all. The Bjork show opened at MOMA this week and they built an Icelandic cave for the occasion that looks well worth checking out.

Engadget is profiling African American pioneers in the universe of science and technology. Check out how Annie Easley helped make space flight possible and then go here to learn about other groundbreakers.

The 50 essential African-American independent films, according to the master listmakers at Flavorwire.

This month, Stylelikeu decided to keep the Black Lives Matter conversation going by asking groundbreaking African American trendsetters with inspirational personal style and asking them what it means to be black and all sorts of other stuff. Start with their moving profile of style icon Lysa Cooper and then dig around for more.

I just listened to this recently discovered 1962 speech by Martin Luther King, Jr and was struck both by the power of his words and by how far we have yet to go to achieve the dream.

Listen and be inspired by the music of the Civil Rights Movement by checking out this playlist on 8tracks. Or if you’re feeling flush, this Smithsonian Folkways CD called Voices of the Civil Rights Movement looks pretty damned good.

A book is always a great place to start when tackling difficult subjects with your children. Here’s a list of 11 kids books that address and celebrate the African American experience from the Huffington Post.

History is being made every day. Consider being a part of it by checking out what the people at #BlackLivesMatter have to say and keeping the conversation going.

If you really want to go for it, you should give your valentine tickets to Sweden and a stay (with you, of course) at the TreeHotel, where every room is a unique and distinctive tree house. Just you try to come up with something more romantic.

Walk away from the giant hypnotic pull of Hallmark and make your own Valentine’s Day cards with your kids. Begin with this great template from the lovely Nova Naturals blog and then go as simple or elaborate as your fancy takes you…

Give your sweetheart a leather journal into which he can pour out his feelings of love for you (and then when you’re having a tough moment, hopefully he’ll go back to it, read over what he wrote and that original flame will burn once again…)

Add a little vodka induced heat to your evening with this spicy hot chocolate cocktail from the New York Times.

How about helping cure what ails your sweetheart by giving a foot massage that has some actual basis in reflexology? Joanna Goddard from A Cup of Jo hooks us up with some basic knowledge…

If you can go online to order your meals, your movies and pretty much anything you need for your house, why not mail order the makings of a perfect date night? I kid you not. The age of datetodoor.com has arrived.

No Valentine’s Day is complete without doing something a la Martha Stewart… If you’ve got to hand out multiple gifts, how about making these pink and chocolate heart shaped cookies?