Make yo bed!

Do you make your bed every day?  Specky makes her bed every now and then while Sally can't think about entering a bed that hasn't been made.  Sally and her husband have a rule that whoever gets out of bed last has to make the bed (this makes it easier to not hit the snooze button as well).  Gretchen, over at The Happiness Project, suggests getting into a bed-making routine if you have a hard time sticking to resolutions as it's a quick task that provides a nice sense of accomplishment.

Have you always made (or not made) your bed?  Why do you think you're in the habit of doing so?

Circling back to the thank you card

We are by no means experts on etiquette, but we are super square rule followers who enjoy sending out thank you cards when we receive gifts.  Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.  Here are ours:

• We don't think it's necessary to give your partner/spouse a thank you card for a gift.  We do find an unexpected thank you note for being awesome or doing something sweet is always appreciated!
• Christmas: If the person who got you the gift is there to watch you open it, it may be alright to forgo a thank you card...but this still makes us a little itchy. 
• Birthdays: For whatever reason, we still like to give cards even if the gift-giver is there to watch us open it.  If you're like us, you probably got some new stationery for your birthday so may as well give it a whirl now!
• If you are ill and cannot pen a note, do not fret - Only a-holes would expect a thank you!

That's pretty much it though.  We like to keep a stash of thank you cards at home and also try and teach the kids in our lives that sending a thank you note is not only nice manners but motivation for people to get you more gifts (hehehe ulterior motive).  Kids obviously like gifts so hopefully they'll get the spirit of the thank you note when they're a bit older.

Full disclosure: We both love stationery so it is very possible that our love of sending out thank-yous stems from our love of buying and hoarding stationery.

NOTE: We do not judge those who do not love the act of giving thank you cards, so by no means should anyone be thinking, "Oh poops. I didn't get her a thank you card. I hope she's not mad." 

Happy Friday

By 5pm today, Specky will officially be on maternity leave.  Let the 11am viewings of Golden Girls re-runs begin!  Our weekends will be filled with...

Referring to this handy guide and writing some thank you notes (Specky's friends and family have been so generous with gifts for the baby!)

Testing out this Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. 

Thinking of any excuse to make this fortune balloon garland.

Being in awe of this composite photograph constructed with over three thousand
photos of the same location over the course of a year.

Enjoy your weekend! 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

When she was little, Specky wanted to be a cardiologist so she could fix her grandpa's troublesome ticker, a singer or...

January Etsy finds

Behold - Our favorite Etsy finds this month!

Pretty much everything in Jenna Rose's shop is fabulous, but we're particularly fond of this pillow:


Embrace your inner bookworm (and Sir-Mix-A-Lot fan) with this hoodie...

Hide the balls

Reason #1 moving from “co-worker” to “friend” status is awesome: A little game we like to call "Hide the Balls"

Specky and Sally have been playing this game for years now.  It consists of hiding, in plain sight, a paper clip that looks like a pair of balls around each other’s office...

Splashing around

We have seen some pretty amazing rain boots out there now that it's finally raining!  We particularly love Kamik rain boots, a Canadian brand, because they're great quality and you don't have to leave them outside for a month to get rid of the terrible off-gassing smell.  Sally picked up a fun, flowery pair two rainy seasons ago and couldn't be happier.  Specky's toddler has been splashing around all over town in his little red boots.  

Happy splashing!

Happy Friday

It's cold and rainy here so we may have to indulge in some homemade hot cocoa this weekend.

We love this video of our local coffee truck.  Happy belated anniversary, Reveille!

How amazing is the idea of presenting someone with sixty years of memories?

Clean and keep your kitchen clean for 30 days.  We smell a challenge!

Let's all practice how to take a compliment (you can do it).

Lastly, GO NINERS!

January *children's* book recommendations

Can there ever be too much bread and jam?  Frances finds out!



Learn to defy skeptics with The Carrot Seed.  Fun fact: this book has been in print continuously since its first publication in 1945!



Weird, funny and full of silly illustrations.  This ain't Good Night, Moon!

Swearin' like sailors

Do you swear often?  Specky swears every now and then while Sally has the unabashed mouth of a sailor.  She even tried to curb it once as a Lenten sacrifice; it worked during Lent but she picked it right back up on Easter - makin' JC proud we're sure.  

Perhaps we'll try to adopt these 10 steps to stop swearing as we'd really like to class up our act and avoid passing this habit on to the little ones in our lives.  Let's face it - sometimes swearing is an effective, powerful way to express yourself (like when you slam a finger in the car door) but too much and it just clogs up your speech ("You've gotta be effin' kidding me! It's so effin' cold out! That's really effin' expensive"). 

Wish us luck on our swear jars for charity!

When your favorite lipstick is discontinued (and other champagne problems)

Do you wear lipstick?  Sally was a stubborn clear-gloss gal UNTIL she tried Specky's "Rush Hour" lipstick and cheek stain.  Now that she's obsessed, it's discontinued and can only be found on amazon and eBay.  What's a gal to do?!  There may be some hoarding in Sally's near future...

Photo: Amazon

How to Deal with Slow Walkers

Having a quick clip ourselves (well not so much for Specky these days as she now waddles everywhere she goes) we couldn't help but laugh and marvel at the simplicity of this idea:

We plan to test this out at the Ferry Building asap!

Happy Friday (the 13th! spooky!)

Are you triskaidekaphobic? Don't walk under any ladders today.

Check out these cute and affordable office supplies from Staples and Martha Stewart.

Curious as to what happens when you give thousands of kids thousands of stickers? Now you know.

We love this life advice from elderly "experts". 

Also, a big birthday shout out to Kristen Carlson! You are amazing!

Happy Weekend!

Ugh! I have the WORST song stuck in my head!

The top songs that consistently get stuck in our heads are:

Sometimes the song is not that bad to begin with (i.e., "Single Ladies") but, because it gets stuck in your head so often, it turns into a song you want to avoid.  What are the most common songs that plague you? What brings them on?

Lastly, we are sorry if any of these get stuck in your head...

Real Talk: Male Massage Therapists

Have you ever had a massage by a male massage therapist?  Sally just did and she feels silly to admit that she felt a little uncomfortable.  While he was completely professional, she couldn't fully relax (and wished she had done a more thorough job shaving her legs that day!).  Specky used to be okay with male masseurs until she saw At First Sight....awkward.

When selecting a massage therapist, do you request a specific gender?

Affordable Art

We're at the point in our lives where we're tired of our thumbtack-dotted prints we had in college but not quite ready for hefty art investments. Luckily, there are some great sites out there for quality artwork that doesn't break the bank.

20x200 offers photographs and paintings in a variety of sizes, with our without frames (Sally bought this one).

Michelle Armas' colorful paintings and prints put us in a good mood.

Sharon Montrose's animal photographs melt our hearts.

Studio Gallery in San Francisco carries a wide selection of artwork from local artists and even hosts receptions where you can meet the artists!

Looking for frames? We love Signed&Numbered which sells durable frames that are handmade from reclaimed wood.

P.S. If you really wanted to mess with your houseguests, how about purchasing these rowdy prints?






Ick, but hysterical!

Photos: 20X200

Baby gifts

Specky is getting close to delivering Baby #2!  Here are her ideas for baby gifts should you need to purchase any in the near future:

This Big Book of Names and Faces would come in handy for young 'uns who are learning to talk and recognize faces.


The book "On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep" by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam.  A friend of Specky's sent this book to her when she was pregnant with her first kiddo.  Specky was skeptical at first, but when her newborn was sleeping consistently through the night at 9 weeks old (and is still the best sleeper!) - she never looked back.

Anything from California Baby

The Sleep Sheep.  Hands down THE BEST thing ever.  There's even a travel size! 

Check out the Twilight Turtle while you're at the website too!

Sally's sister received a few housecleaning sessions for after the baby arrived and Specky remembers thinking that was very cool.

Also lovely, Specky remembers one of her friends giving her a gift and including a note that read, "Don't you dare even think about taking the time to write me a thank-you note.  Your time is best spent taking care of yourself and baby."  AMAZING.

Photo credit: California Baby, Cloud B

Happy Friday!

This weekend, we are looking forward to...

Trying some new seasonal recipes.

A few knitting projects (may attempt this set).

Cleaning out and organizing a few closets. Thank you, Real Simple for all of the tips.

Rug browsing at...anywhere a certain husband will go. Don't you love this one?

Continuing to prepare a certain almost-two-year-old for the arrival of a sibling. Perhaps this article or this book will help.

Have a fabulous weekend!


photo: myvintagevogue.com

January Book Recommendations

The funnyman Martin's latest and greatest makes us want to own art, be promiscuous (jk!) and move to NYC



It's official, we want to be BFFs with Mindy.

If you haven't yet read this trilogy, you are in for a treat.  Read it before the movie comes out in March!

Happy Reading!


Photos: Books Inc.

Oil Fiends

During these cold winter* months we often find our skin chapped, dry and itchy. After a recommendation from a friend, we both tried using oils as moisturizers.

There are so many options out there - Argan Oil, regular ol' Olive Oil and really expensive lovely smelling facial oil. We have to admit that we were skeptical before we tried any, but, after months of use, we are believers. Specky has been using olive oil for the past year and her skin has never felt or looked better. Sally is hooked on Kahina Giving Beauty's Argan Oil and loves the product, in addition to the company's aim to provide jobs to Moroccan women.

What moisturizer works for you?

*Yes, we live in California and, yes, we are wusses

Photos: Kahina Giving Beauty, StoneHouse and Beauty Habit

Happy New Year!

In the spirit of New Years resolutions, here's a great DIY project that we found helpful throughout the last year:



Have you heard of calendar journals? Each day, you write one line about your day (it can be the best, worst, smallest, biggest, funniest or saddest part of your day). As the years go by you gain a sense of your own history by comparing it with years prior. We like this because we are busy gals and it allows us to see a snapshot of our pasts without committing to massive amounts of journaling. For example, last year on January 1, Sally wrote "Hungover. Breakfast and football watching at Gus's house" while Specky wrote "Spent the day with the Bonfiglio's (her in-laws)". Fun stuff!

To read how we created ours, visit the original post we were inspired by on Design Sponge. Happy journaling and best wishes for an amazing 2012!

Photo via Design Sponge

Bienvenidos!

We had such fun blogging together about our year of not-shopping (R.I.P. Conscious Closet) and we were sad to see it come to an end. We racked our brains with ideas of what to blog about next and, rather than focus on one specific niche, we realized that we have the most fun together in our day-to-day conversations. And, so, we present to you: Specky and Sally (common mispronunciations of our names).

Specky had pollen in her hair for days after this photo was taken. Seemed like such a good idea at the time.

These sunglasses were $350. Sally did not buy them.

Happy Reading!