Haba is a German manufacturer of quality wooden children's toys and furniture. O loves her Flori beech wood clutching toy. The wooden pieces are crafted to withstand humidity and mechanical strain. The little bells and mirror discs are carefully integrated into the wooden pieces for safety and durability. She also loves her orange Grrow-l clutching toy.
You can purchase Haba from Moolka.com or Oompa.com. Both websites offer imported toys that may not be available in your local toy stores. Have fun browsing!
If your dog is anything like my destructor, Rz, then you need this toy. I cannot give him plush toys anymore because within seconds of me giving it to him, it is shredded into oblivion. I bought him the Bamboo combat toy "five star general" because it comes with a "battle-tested" guarantee. Which means, if you or your dog is unhappy with the toy, you can send it back and get a replacement..Believe it or not, Rz has had the toy for a couple of years and it is still pretty much intact. Granted the edges are a little frayed, but it is still going strong. There are other combat toy shapes available. And, if your dog is a water-lover, the toys float in water. Bamboo also sells basic grooming and home essentials. I bought the toy from a store in NYC, but you can also search for a store in your area.P.S. I finally figured out how to sync the iPhone to my Outlook calendar...what a pain. It basically requires an upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 and recreating the calendar events in the 2007 version. It is apparently a common complaint. Maybe it will be sorted out shortly between Apple and Microsoft. YEAH RIGHT!
...here comes the iPhone! Last weekend, architectdad and I braved the traffic and went to the suburban mall to do a little shopping. Little did we know, it was June 29th, the release date for the iPhone. The Apple Store didn't open until 6 PM, but there were at least 50+ people waiting outside to get their hands on the newest and greatest. The line literally wrapped around the balconies of the mall atrium. We thought it was a little bizzar; but hey, whatever rocks your boat.Today, when I came home, architectdad surprised me with my very own iPhone!!! Apparently, my complaints about my current phone has been answered ;-) Is it as sleek as they show it in the commercial? Oh, yeah! Is it as easy to use? Oh, yeah! Is it easy to set up? HECK NO!!!It took me 2 hours to set up my Outlook email and I still haven't figured out how to sync my Outlook contacts and calender. I've always thought of myself as pretty computer literate, but apparently not.But it's so PURRR-TY!!!
O's first tooth has finally arrived!!! Her lower left incisor made its debut today. She has been chewing on everything she can get her hands on--including my fingers. Today, she bit down hard and I felt the tip of the tooth. It was a proud moment indeed.
In addition to her Tiffany silver rattle rings, she also loves to chew on her Kushies Zolo "friends." In particular, she enjoys chewing on the nodule of one of the stuffed characters on the Linko Clip Together Teether and Toys. Ever since she was 3 months old, she's been able to find that nodule on the long strand of linked toys and stuff it into her mouth. Now that she has teeth...ahem, tooth...she will most likely destroy the nodule in no time. O also enjoys sitting and laying under her Shangrila activity mat.Kushies was originally a Canadian doll company, founded in 1953. It now offers not only toys, but children's clothing and accessories as well. Zolo is an American company that offers toys and designs for the home. I am not certain what the connection is between the two companies, but I suspect Zolo is the designer and Kushies is the manufacturer. In any case, the award winning team produces well-designed, quality toys. And more importantly, the babies find the toys irresistible. Hey, if the National Gallery of Art sells them, they must be good, right?!
Architectdad, O and I spent the afternoon with architectdad's relatives. Cousin M reminded everyone that all of us have been in the U.S. for at least 25 years. In fact, my family and I immigrated to the U.S. on the 4th of July in 1982.This country has offered all the opportunities that my parents dreamed of for my brother and me. It is truly an amazing country in that respect.Happy 4th of July!!!
You'll be surprised how many people say this to me everyday: "Hey, looks like you're going on a foxhunt!" Dude. Beagles hunt rabbit and hare, not fox. While their hunting instinct is still strong, our prince and princesses would probably not do well out in the field all day with the pack.
But they'll look good trying. I bought them hunting collars so that we can play pretend. Well, how can I resist ORANGE polyurethane-coated hunting collar?! Actually, they are very practical for everyday use as well. The polyurethane-coated nylon collar is soil and odor resistant and water repellent. Warm soapy water is all you need to keep them looking new. The ring-in-center design rolls over to prevent the hounds from entangling themselves on fences or bushes. As an option, you can even attach a brass name plate directly to the collar so there's no dangling tag to lose. In addition to orange, there are six other sunglo color choices.
If you are partial to leather collars, I also recommend the leather beagle collar. The ring-in-center style is available in leather as well. Since I am not a big fan of dangling, jingling collar tags, the flat name plates are perfect for our hounds. All of these products can be purchased from Morrco online. I have had very good experiences with my purchases, and the shipping is fast and efficient.
Marimekko is a Finnish textile company that designs, manufactures and sells clothes, interior design textiles, bags and other accessories. While browsing through fabrics for O's custom Bugaboo cover, I came across some of the most beautiful designs by Marimekko. Most of the hand screened prints are quite large in scale (55" wide with 93" vertical repeat, for example), and are therefore not suitable to use for the Bugaboo cover. However, they would be great to use on interior design projects.Another Scandinavian textile company worth mentioning is the Danish company, Kvadrat. Alongside its American partner Maharam, Kvadrat is a favored textile source for architects and interior designers alike.O's Puo made her a couple of tailored terry cloth covers for the Bugaboo. They fit so well and are in some ways better than the Koeka cover. Puo took the original fleece cover and made a paper pattern which can be used over and over. Can't wait for her custom Marimekko Bugaboo cover!
Haba is a German manufacturer of quality wooden children's toys and furniture. O loves her Flori beech wood clutching toy. The wooden pieces are crafted to withstand humidity and mechanical strain. The little bells and mirror discs are carefully integrated into the wooden pieces for safety and durability. She also loves her orange Grrow-l clutching toy.
