Two things I reallyreallyreally love...

Do you know about Bruder Toys?  Until a coupla months ago, I didn't.  But now our whole household is smitten.

When you are the only female creature out of the 6 creatures living under one roof, sometimes you have to put the pretties aside and get down and dirty.

We bought only wooden toys for the first two years of Grady's life.  Plastic is kinda scary to me, and as a former Montessori teacher I just thought the wood looked better.  But lately Grady is way into detail, and that's one area where beautiful wooden trucks are lacking.

While plastic, these guys are made in Germany-- European plastic isn't as scary to me as Chineese plastic.  And they are tough.  Plus,they do really cool stuff.  All the handles crank, the steering wheels actually turn the wheels, they have working chutes to spread stuff with, and too many crazy articulated parts to count.  I'm rather partial to the CAT grader above.  And before you go nuts after seeing the price tags, remember I'm a bargain shopper above all else!  I've gotten every one I've purchased 50% off or more, and my kids, with their December and January birthdays, tend to get a whole lot of stuff all at once then nothing else all year long. 

I also loveloveloveloveLOVE  Eddie Ross

A former Style Editor at Martha Stewart Living and House Beautiful, his style is such a perfect mix of traditional, quirky and sophisticated.  And I especially love the fact that most of his lovelies are pieces that most people would see as junk.  Case in point.

Here's the before shot-- ugh!

From  "egad" to "Oh, my GOD!"  Love.  I'm really hoping that my birthday present this year will be a trip to shop Scott's in Atlanta with Eddie and his parter, Jaithan, who run these amazing flea market shopping trips all over the country.  And since the kind of broad hinting I do for my birthday presents usually involves me choosing, ordering, and wrapping them myself, I think I might make this one happen.  (In case my husband is reading this: Love you honey!  You're super-great at LOTS of other things!)

So the point of this really long and totally mildly stalker-ish post is that Eddie needs our help!  He created a breathtaking vingette for Elle Decor in the window of Bloomingdale's, and it's up to us decide who the winner is.  You can vote two ways-- by texting 1 to 89800 AND by clicking here.  You'll have to sign up to vote-- it takes two shakes-- and then you can vote once a day until the 28th.  I vote every single day (dork, yeah, and proud of it!)  If you love the underdog (and I LOVE me some underdog!) click on over and vote for Eddie.  Also, Grady wants you to.  The poor kid spends a whole lot of lap time cruising design blogs with his mama.  And he saw the three choices and announced firmly that Eddie's room was GOOD.  He cited the bold use of orange and blue as the reason for his preference.  That's my boy!

And a BIG thank you to those of you who are shopping our Sample Sale (and continuing to challenge my ability to master international shipping.  Thanks for keeping me on my toes!) Stuff is flying off the shelves, so be sure to stop in and see if there's something for a little on in your life!