The Good Old Summertime

June 1st is officially noted as being "Children's Day" or "Stand Up for Children Day" both in the United Stated as well as internationally and yet this is the first year that I even knew about it.  Believe me I would have exploited it for gifts somehow back when I was a kid. For me, June 1st marks the start of summer and so today I have for you a variety of summer themed items for children:

Paola Lakimi captures all the best parts of summer in this sweet print.

You can't go wrong with this monkey in a teeny weeny pink bikini from Twinkle Kids 2.

 

Ensure your baby's cool factor with this felt Surfs Up Mobile by Pink Perch. 

For hippie kid chic, no one does it better than Art & Soul. I don't have kids yet, but I buy gifts here all the time. Everything is unique and absolutely precious.

What is better than spending a summer day relaxing in a hammock? Robyna's ZaZa Recycled Baby and Children's Hammocks are upcycled using vintage fabrics are a calming summer treat.

And finally, while I normally try to promote small businesses and handcrafted items, I am in love with Pottery Barn Kid's Beach Ball Sprinkler Toy and I just have to share it with you. 

I kind of want one....or three....in the corner of my yard for my BBQ party...

 

The End of the Affair

This weekend was the Delray Affair in downtown Delray Beach, Florida.  We walked over from the house and spent the day out hoping it wouldn't rain. Despite the overcast sky, we had an absolute blast and picked up some great stuff too.

Here are some of my personal favorite things at the Delray Affair and a peek at the brand new sweet shop, Cupcake Couture.

Gainesville, FL artist Christine Green is also a hypnotherapist. She used her work as inspiration for this painting whose beautiful colors are not done justice in this photograph.

The piece is calming and the paint technique is lovely. http://www.studio214laneroad.com/

Lizard Key Designs from Ft. Pierce, FL create the coolest stained glass art pieces. We bought a fan pull to match our bedroom's 1950's kitchy nautical  theme but I LOVE the 70's Peace pieces.

http://www.lizardkey.com/

Stopped in for a drink at Johnnie Brown's. The place was jam packed but we

snagged a table out front and did some people watching.

The booth name caught my eye - The Batiki Hut (cute!) and their merchandise did not disappoint. I am obsessed with the octopus lately and I was excited to see it featured on pillows, t-shirts & more. They don't have a web site but look for them at your next local art fest!

I am a collector of words - quotes, poetry, books, crumbling pages of foreign text, old diaries, postcards and letters...you name it, I love it so it was natural that I fell for the Alphabet Photography seen above by Art of Letters.  Artist Brian Smith is updating the web site but you can normally find him at http://www.artofletters.net/. 

As we headed around the corner by Swinton Ave. we saw the mini-carnival.  Pretty certain it was only for kids, my husband wasn't thrilled about going on the rides, but I convinced him to join me on Barrel of Monkeys.

Since he was such a good sport I promised him something sweet so we headed over to the brand new

Cupcake Couture.

Since my husband's color is lime green, and mine has always been pink, the decor actually looks like most of the rooms in our house, lol, but the interior looks like it was done by Willy Wonka's House of Couture. It is funky and fashionable and delicious. 

Limey Pulitzer is my favorite cupcake so far but my husband loved the Guiness. Totally digging the countertops - real gumballs in resin - too cool!

Did you head out to the Affair this weekend? Tell us your thoughts, faves and best buys!