Old Photos

I found a great japanese website called wanokoto that instantly makes your photos old and weathered. It's in japanese but it is very easy to figure out, just upload your photo and click to convert. I was up all night converting our favorite photos. Check it out.

via

Some Crafty Bastards

This weekend we ventured into DC to the crafty bastards show. Family outings are such a big ordeal now with two kids in tow, but it was fun and Otis mostly slept konked out in the bjorn. He's looking like a buddha these days. We got to meet Shauna and Stephen from Something's Hiding In Here and bought some fun stuff from them. Holly picked out the Forget Me Not elephant, much to her dismay she found out it wasn't the chocolate elephant she thought it was.

A rainy but still fun day in dc.

Sneak-A-Peek This Week

Here's a quick look at just some of the items coming to the shop this week during our Monday and Thursday morning updates. Wicka wicka wicka whaaa?!

Thursday Update

Check the shop for today for our Thursday shop update. There's a great selection of wood letterpress type and many more fun and unique items. Enjoy!

Olives + Seaweed + Spinach = Yum

This year is the first year I'm packing lunches for Holly. It's weird for me. I was a latch key kid, both my parents worked and I always purchased my school lunches. So I went all out and purchased a fun bento box lunchbox for, which I found there is even a flickr group dedicated to. I try to pack her stuff she will eat but Holly has a unique palette. Some of her favorite foods are olives, spinach, any filipino food, broccoli, anything with a strong garlic flavor, sushi (california rolls mostly), and cauliflower. She won't touch a sandwich.

Stu and I think her teacher must think we pack her weird food.

Today's lunch consisted of:
-rice
-seaweed (she likes to make her own sushi)
-sauteed spinach w/ sesame oil
-cucumber slices
-oyster crackers
and a string cheese

Down on the farm.

Scenes from a trip to the farm that Stu + Holly went on for her preschool yesterday.

Sneak-a-Peek Sunday

Here's a glimpse of what's in store this coming week.
Monday + Thursday, check it.

this weekend...

This weekend...
-someone is going to be two months.
-we're eating a bushel of maryland crabs with family.
-we'll all try to take some naps.
-i want to bake an apple pie.
-feels like it's really fall.

Have a great one!

ps don't forget to check our blog on sunday for a sneak peek of what will be in the shop.

a song while you shop.

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes

Shop update today, take a look around...
You can also go here and download this beautiful song by Fleet Foxes.

a dream house.

A few weeks ago we were driving around and happened upon a sign on the road for an estate sale. We don't usually go to estate sales but thought we would check it out and see. Much to our surprise the estate sale brought us to a home that was nestled in the neighborhood of our dreams: Hollin Hills.

Each house here in this quiet wooded neighborhood is amazing. Clean, modern, simple and so so beautiful. It's located just outside DC and with further research I found it was designed by architect Charles Goodman, who was a key player in the development of the Modernist aesthetic in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Hollin Hills is located on a wooded hillside and each mid-century home is tucked away in it's own little wooded dream. As we drove around slowly in the neighborhood we took in the lovely details of each home an orange door, beautiful steel typographic house numbers, flat rooftops, walls of window, open coridors, and just the straight and simple lines of the homes. We're glad we discovered Hollin Hills and are dreaming that one day maybe we'll live in that one with the orange door...

photo credit: (bottom left) Eric Laignel

small fall

I love these photos from the autumn issue of small magazine. I think i'm ready to rake leaves, carve pumpkins, go apple picking. and wear my cozy sweatshirt. Are you?

three potato four is ONE today!

We can't believe it has been one year since we started our shop. It has been an amazing first year for us. Stu and I put all our heart and lots of hard work into Three Potato Four and are so happy about the adventures our shop has given us this past year. Looking forward to many more. Thank you to everyone who has supported us! Here's a fun look back at a few of our "shop windows" this past year...

p.s. don't forget to check our blog every sunday for a sneak peek of the products being added for the week.

p.p.s we are now updating our shop every monday AND thursday!

*Sneak-A-Peek Sundays*

Tomorrow marks our one year anniversary of Three Potato Four. It's been such a great year and we're excited for year two and already have so many fun and exciting things planned for the shop. The first of which is Sneak-A-Peek Sundays, here's how it works:

Every Sunday night on our blog we'll be posting sneak-a-peek pics of new/vintage items which will be added to the shop that week. Updates will now be on Monday mornings AND Thursday mornings.

Here's the sneak-a-peek for this week! (just a glimpse of nearly forty items coming to the shop this week)

Love this.

beautiful mobiles by puka puka.

Pages from a book.

Since Otis came early I didn't have time to decorate his nursery. Right now it's very minimal with just the basics - his crib, changing table and a rocking chair but I've been slowly decorating it. Finding pages in our favorite children's books and enlarging them for the walls in his room.

Marching Along.

Monday, Monday... Now that school has officially started I'm looking forward to getting into more of a schedule again. Holly will be in school five days a week now in the mornings and so hopefully I can help Stu more with the shop. It's been quite an adjustment juggling two kids and our shop. But we're getting the hang of it. It's almost going to be our one year anniversary for our shop and we have lots of exciting new things in store for year two of Three Potato Four. Hooray!

HOW!

We got an email from HOW magazine that our shop Three Potato Four was included as one of their Top 10 Websites For Designers. We're super excited and honored, as both our backgrounds are in graphic design and HOW magazine has always been a great resource for us. It's awesome to be recognized by HOW!

The photos above are collections from a great article I found on their site. It's about designers and their personal collections. It explains how "Designers seem to be predisposed to collecting objects, likely because of their keen eye for details and deep appreciation of aesthetics. You can get a glimpse at some collections and read full article here - Designers' Inspiring Collections.

First Days

Holly began Montessori preschool yesterday. When Stu and I were deciding between traditional preschool and the Montessori program, one of the things that drew me to Montessori were the materials - the educational toys the kids learn from. They are so beautiful and so wonderfully simple. I love that most of them are made from wood. It's a refreshing change from the all the junky plastic toys for kids these days.

Over breakfast before I dropped her off at school, we discussed what her first day might be like. How she'll make new friends, be learning new things, meet new teachers... so many exciting things! I asked her about her favorite part of her day when I picked her up later that afternoon and she preceded to tell me in enthusiastic detail about the small toilets that had in the bathroom that were just her size. I guess little, simple things make her happy too.

Happy first day of school!