Living room trapeze

My friend Sophie (of the children's brand Oeuf) might be the coolest mom ever, since she hung a trapeze in her Brooklyn living room. Her kids like to "swing really high and scare people," she says. "They love to triple-dog-dare our poor guests to do knee hangs." I interviewed her for Martha Stewart Living, and you can read the full interview here, if you'd like.

P.S. Alex and I took a trapeze class and bombed:)

(Photos by Stephanie Deleau)

Simply Networking! We support the Bride's Up North Tweet Up's for second year running....

The Brides Up North Tweet Ups are networking parties especially for wedding industry professionals organised by Julia Braime creator of Top UK Wedding Blog Bride's Up North and supported by Wedding Ideas Magazine.  (If you are a bride-to-be you can also check out their packed calendar of events for you by clicking here).

For the second year Simply Bows and Chair Covers were delighted to not only attend these great events but support them by dressing them with our own fabulous style! 

Please find photographs below taken by the following wonderful photographers....

North East www.mandycharlton.com

Yorkshire www.indiahobsonweddings.co.uk

North West www.martinhambleton.com

The North East Tweet Up took place at As You Like it in Jesmond, a quirky venue that just needed a touch of flair to acentuate it's fabulous wooden chairs, tables and beams...

Simply Bows and Chair Covers MD Sarah with Sales Director at Close House, Elain and Wedding Flowers for You Director Claire.

The Yorkshire Tweet up took place at The Mansion, Leeds. The Mansion is the perfect romantic venue so we tried to reflect this with our romantic, wistful decor....

The North West event took place at the gorgeous Belle Époque in the beautiful town of Knutsford, a unique venue that we added a touch of oriental opulence to....

 

Real actors read Yelp reviews

Do you ever read Yelp restaurant reviews? They can be really over the top. So, this actor doing a dramatic reading of a bad review made me laugh out loud.

(Via Eater. Thanks, Megan!)

Olympics photos

Have you been watching the Olympics? These photos show the crazy emotion of the games. I can't imagine how nervous the athletes must be the moment before their competition starts. See more here.

Monday giveaway!

Today's giveaway is from So Young Mother, a small company (owned by a mom) that makes amazing diaper bags. Each diaper bag has a rugged canvas exterior, lots of wipeable compartments, a cell-phone pocket and even backpack straps. Bonus: They're unisex, so dads will be happy to carry them. Diaper bags are typically not cute, and your keys and phone get lost in the cavernous interiors, so these great bags are a godsend for new moms.

(She also has the cutest toddler backpacks!)

For a chance to win, please visit So Young Mother and leave a comment below. A winner will be chosen at random tomorrow. Good luck! xo Update: Suzie L. is our lucky winner. Thanks for playing.

Have you had that baby yet?

This website makes me laugh. Wouldn't it be great to send it to everyone you know (especially in-laws) as soon as you hit your ninth month of pregnancy?

(Old photo of me)

Motherhood Mondays: On being human

Motherhood can have ups and downs. Exhausting, beautiful, hilarious, frustrating, magical, overwhelming. I used to joke to Alex that new motherhood was like traveling abroad. You're tired and jetlagged, and you haven't showered and you have a cramp in your neck and you're sort of inexplicably sticky, but then you look around and the world feels beautiful and otherworldly and you're glad you came.

My friend Leigh wrote a fantastic post last week about how motherhood can sometimes feel tough to navigate, and it reminded me that everyone's life—no matter how effortless and polished it may look from the outside (when you see women on blogs, in magazines, even just on the street)—without a doubt includes the same tricky moments, worries, doubts, ups and downs. That's what it means to be human and real, and we should celebrate and love ourselves for that.

Recently, I came across this poem (excerpt below). I have such respect for all mothers, and women overall.

"The Lanyard" By Billy Collins (an excerpt)
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
(Top photo of Toby and me. Bottom photo from Nirrimi)

Have a fun weekend.

What are your plans for the weekend? We're going swimming this evening in a public pool in our neighborhood; hoping it's refreshing without too many floating Band-Aids:) Also, I'm psyched to share our bathroom makeover next week. Have a wonderful weekend, and here are a few fun links from around the web...

A song for your weekend.

An adventure print that would make a sweet wedding gift.

Murray's Cheese just opened a restaurant!!! Or, as they call it, a cheese bar.

A toddler speaks up about dinner.

Cheeky doormat.

Cute bulldog sweater.

Jemima, the mom.

Mason jar salads.

Who's up for cloud gazing?

Cool travel photos.

Michigan tees. (Thanks, Jennifer)

Instagram cookies.

Holy smokes, this is a subway station!

Finally, Lookmatic is giving Cup of Jo readers a great deal on glasses and sunglasses. Enjoy! xoxo
(Illustration by Gemma Correll)

Pinterest loves

A few things from Pinterest this week...
Rick Nunn's rad ampersand tattoo.
Chocolate-chip oatmeal pancakes.
Ombre nails.
Beautiful Rib & Hull leather bag.

Hope you're having a good week. And thank you SO much for all the feedback on the redesign yesterday!!! xo

(Flowers photo by With Style and Grace, ampersand tattoo of Rick Nunn, via Creative Bloq, nail polish photo by Ms. Renaissance, pancakes by Minimalist Baker, leather bag by Rib & Hull)

Simply Table Plans... help is at hand!

We often have brides and grooms ask us for our advice for recommendations of suppliers and for guidance on certain subjects and we are only too happy to help. One of the frequently asked questions as pressure mounts toward the big day seems to be about family politics and who should sit where, how do you work out who sits next to who, how do you do it without getting totally stressed out etc. We recently came across Top Table Planner via one of our brides and thought you may be interested in finding out a little bit more about this clever company.....

What is company name?
We are called TopTablePlanner.

What is your line of business?
We offer an online seating planning tool that helps to take the stress and headache out of arranging your wedding reception seating plan.

Instead of having to mess around with scraps of paper (that easily get blown around, moved by the cat or lost altogether) you simply drag your guests and tables around the screen until you’ve created the perfect plan.

If you want to make changes, it just takes a moment to load your plan and edit it, and because it’s web-based, you can make changes from home, work (just don’t tell your boss) or even on the train!

How and why the company begin?
Back in 2006, we were planning our own wedding and quickly realised how hard arranging the seating can be. Being from a technical background, I figured there must be a simpler solution to this and TopTablePlanner was born!

Are you married? If so tell us a little about your wedding….
Yes! Miranda and I were married at Windsor Guildhall (the same place that Prince Charles and Camilla and Elton John and David Furnish also got married at) in November 2006. Our winter wonderland themed reception was held at a restaurant in nearby Dorney – we even had a snow machine! :o) 

  What is in store for you in 2012/13
As always, we’ll be adding new features to the software and making it even easier to use than it already is.

We’ve already released a major update this year to make the software compatible with touchscreen devices such as the iPad and iPhone. To our knowledge we’re the only seating planning tool that lets you edit your plans on such a range of devices!

Tell us something super interesting about you or your business that we wouldn’t already know…?
TopTablePlanner has been used to plan the seating at a few celebrity weddings, and we’ve even seen Royalty on some guest lists!

Where are you based and where can you supply?
We’re based in Leeds, but the software can be used anywhere in the world! Since our launch in 2007, we’ve helped plan the seating at events in over 70 countries.

For more info on TopTablePlanner visit their website on www.toptableplanner.com