GIMME SHELTER

so, in my humble opinion, my gorgeous friend julie of shelter interior design has the most incredible design blog out there.  i always look forward to her daily posts and she is an inspiration, in the way she lives her life, not just as a designer/blogger.  she's one of the strongest gals you could ever hope to know and despite having one of the busiest schedules, she always makes time for her friends.  she actually took the time to travel into boston, delicious homemade veggie dip and stack of glossy design mags in tow, to visit me when i was on hospital bed rest with c & p.  the dip was a very welcome change from the cafeteria food and the company was even better.

i have to share her post from this morning because it truly brightened my day.  she featured shots from ruthie sommer's fabulously decorated home from house beautiful and one in particular grabbed my attention (altho they are all incredible!)

my extremely talented sister in law has this very similar nina campbell wallpaper in the sitting room of her 1760's home which is a delightful work in progress.  LC has impeccable taste and i'm hoping she'll let me feature much more from her unique and lovely home.

please do yourself a favor and head on over to shelter (if you haven't already) for the rest of victoria pearson's gorgeous photos of ruthie's dwelling.  perfection.  it won't just make your heart smile, it actually might sing, too!

thank you, julie. . . from the bottom of my heart

hoot hoot! party time!

so i am quite busy here at casa de crawford working on lots of fun, fun details for saturday night's soiree.  my fabulous friend meredith nelson will be documenting the affair (before we let her drink her share of wine) so stay tuned for awesome pics!

until i have images of my current parties, i'll be sharing some from 

"my former life".

i was blessed to be a wedding planner at the most magical place on the planet {no, not disney world!} for a season of glorious weddings {before my bebes entered the world.}

elihu island.

my hubby and i were beyond fortunate to hold our 4 day wedding celebration on the island (details at go-to wedding blog style me pretty) and then my amazing wedding planner and friend, lucinda wesson of chocolate creative design and glitter, glue & fireflies allowed me to take her place for a time. . .

it was an experience i'll never be able to thank her enough for.

here are some images from one of my very favorite weddings. . .

and the kind and loving bride and groom had A LOT to do with it.

alice & brennan had lived in hawaii and wanted to incorporate some tropical elements in a "non-cheesey" way - no easy task- but i think we pulled it off!

what do you think?

images by jamie collins
board by chocolate creative design

flowers by hana floral design, paper by stonington design and paperie

dresses by the white dress by the shore

sassy silhouettes

i am always thrilled to find things that capture the attention of those of us who are still kids at heart, not just raising them. . .

i was DELIGHTED when paige of paiges of style posted about an LA groupon deal for carter kustera's silhouettes. . . {sorry folks, the deal expired pre-lil hoot blog or i certainly would have let you in on it}

i have long admired these awesome creations on jonathon adler and at barney's co-op.  but finally an opportunity way too good to pass up. . .of course the deal was only good for two and i want 4. . . maybe 6. . . {okay, in an ideal world my bathroom would look like a barney's fitting room.}

let's just say it's good {for me} to have boundaries as i have been known to get carried away with this type of thing.

so i just need to decide which two c. family members will carter grace our home with. . . first.

george and looloo in the living room?  hubby and i above the bed in the master?  c & p for their upcoming big girl room?  and then need to choose colors and the fun part. . . captions!  stay tuned. . . i'd love your input. . .

all images via carter kustera

the first year the girls were born i did a silhouette Christmas card.  not sure how i pulled it together since they were only 6 weeks old.  must have been some form of escapism.  anyway, here was the cover. . .

and on the inside

with a photograph of the pups and a teeny weeny c & p.

and i've had this frenchie silhouette here in our living room long before george and looloo came along.  i think it is old school pottery barn.  a little foreshadowing? 

 (pun intended. . .obvi)

what a hoot wednesday! meet Jensen

i always appreciate when someone shares an awesome one-liner from their kiddo.  you know the kind that no-way, no-how could be made up.  this is certainly something that makes my heart smile.  

i knew just who to turn to for my first what a hoot wednesday post.  mr. J's mama is an FB friend and i always enjoy her posts with quotes from her lil guy.  so in the words of rilla, the "cutest mommy" herself. . 

Jensen is an “I’m almost 4 yr old” who lives in Nashville, TN. Loves anything that crawls, flies, wiggles, or climbs…especially his doggies, music (not country though…in Nashville, go figure!), playing outside…playing inside, reading at least 5 books a night “ How about three books?”       “No,five.” “Maybe four?” ‘No, five”, all sports that involve a ball, his friends and “my best friends, Mommy and Daddy”. He has a heart of gold and a smile that will always get him out of trouble. 

"You are my cutest Mommy." Feb. 10 2011

"Jensey can I just sleep in here with you?" "No Mommy, maybe someday when I have a bigger place." Jan. 25^th 2011

"I'm in love. With you. You're my baby".  Jan 22 2011

J. and I built a fort out of the kitchen table. He is in there with his Transformers playing and I keep hearing him say "Work with me people." Jan. 13 2011

Apparently I say "I could die." when I am excited. So I pick J up, tell him I got a new Christmas movie for him to watch and he says "I could die about that. That means I am excited." Dec 2 2010

Me: Jensey can I have a bite of your apple. J: Uhmmm...no. Me: (pouting) Thats not very nice sharing. J: Its ok Mommy. You'll get through it. Nov 2010

J. yelling to me from across the room: "Hey, hot stuff!" Oct 2010

Me:"Jensen pick up your shoes please." J: "No, you can do it." M: "I am making dinner, you do it, they are your shoes." J: "Ok, the young boy scowled." NO idea where we got THAT one. Oct 2010

“So Mommy, you picked me out at the kid store because I was the best right?” Oct 11, 2010

hey, jensen - you're a hoot!

i am so looking forward to C & P chit-chatting it up, i mean beyond their favorite words  'no' and 'barney'.

if you have wee ones and don't have this book, i highly recommend getting it.  also a great gift! one of my go-tos. . .

if you think you're lil one is a hoot, contact me at sarah@lilhootparties.com to share some of the smiles. . .

night owls

excited to share some goodies from one of my favorite times of the day, bedtime! 

jammies are my favorite thing ever, especially for the little ones. keeping with this week's theme,  i've put together some valentine's day treats for my first
"night owls" post. 

img via pinterest

looks like the lucky princess who sleeps here is ready for valentine's day, every day!

you can find these sweet hearts at the gap.

you'll be hard-pressed to find a kiddo that can't be bribed with a curious george book when it's time for tuck-in.  my little munkys love this one!

these super soft pillows are cute all year round

we have this image in c & p's nursery.  i had this wonderful etsy vendor remove the line about calories because i don't think little girls need to know anything about those.
 but doesn't it just make your heart happy?  LOVE.

happy day after valentine's day!

wishing you an early bedtime and very sweet dreams

whooo do i love more than owls? frenchies, that's who!

my babies (2009) photographed by the amazing corinna raznikov

so i have a confession to make. 

 i'm not that into owls. 

 i mean, my daughters adore them and we did have a super-fun owl-themed 2nd birthday party . . .

and well, then i guess i named my business and blog after them, too!
 mr. hoot is pretty darn special but my real soft spot is with french bulldogs.

two in particular : george and miss looloo. {derived from my maiden name, loomis}

and if you follow this blog you are bound to feel the frenchie love.
in fact, i'm going to dedicate at least one post a week to my beloved best friends, so bear with me!

i'm in good company as a frenchie owner (ac slater excluded).
 here are some other "famous" frenchies, although none are as cute as mine.

hugh jackman & peaches

zac & rocky

christina ricci & ramon

shawn white & rambo

mario lopez and julio cesar chavez lopez

denise richards & hunk

reese witherspoon & coco chanel

leo & django

ashley olson & her frenchie

and here they are . . . queen & queen of the frenchies. . .francesca & sharkey.
it has been a long time dream of mine to meet them.
 {and i guess it would be cool to meet martha, too}

image via martha stewart

martha, if you're reading, what time should george & looloo {and I} arrive in bedford for our playdate?

be you. be loved.

beholden.

move over vera and monique, maybe even manolo. . .

anthropologie has officially launched their wedding collection and it is . . .
EXQUISITE.
the only thing wrong with it is that it is about six years too late.

images all via BHLDN

happy valentine's day to us!  

my heart is pitter-pattering all over this incredible site.  

hey anthro, you really nailed it!