A Weekend in the Ozarks

    We had our first family Ozark experience over the weekend. The setting was beautiful and the trip was quite an adventure. We ate in the oddest places - a double-wide and an old gas station-come-general store - swam in the swimming hole, and explored the area around Mulberry Mountain Lodge on bicycle and foot. 

    The culture there is really interesting; the people are incredibly friendly, but there's also a lot of poverty and priorities are very different. One girl I talked with told me that her school is very small, ten children in her class, and that today had been a good day - five were in attendance. That girl and her older sister (one of our waitresses) were the sweetest, most polite kids I've talked with in a long time and I chatted up their grandfather for almost 20 minutes, about everything from his granddaughters to the pitfalls of owning a restaurant. Making that local connection was one of the highlights of the trip, along with the incredible natural beauty of the mountains. 

Outdoor Perfect

    I mentioned last week that we are in a mad dash to find outdoor furniture now that the weather is getting warmer. Dining inside when its so nice out is the cardinal sin of the summer months. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a set that suits us, though. Everything seems to be either too traditional (read: old) or too modern; finding something in the middle is more difficult than we thought. Especially when my inspiration is LOMBOK.

    Ah, LOMBOK. Imagine if Restoration Hardware was less heavy and depressing and more influenced by the East: that's LOMBOK. I love this brand. The craftsmanship is astounding - you can see it in the pictures  -  and when reading about the company on their website, their pride in their product is nearly palpable. Their aesthetic is fabulous as well; the mixture of classic, rustic and modern is perfect. Its exactly what we need sitting outside our little cottage. Why must you be based overseas, LOMBOK? Don't you know what you're doing to me?

    Even though the larger furniture probably won't be making the trip to my home in Kansas (and more's the pity, because its beautiful), I've got my eye on the stool and butler's tray above, as well as the Lamp Phoenix. This is really something you have to click over to see - look at it unlit, then view it lit. Whether its magic or design crack I'm not sure, but I can't quit it. 

L to R: Bima Arched Carved Stool | Sambala Wooden Outdoor Love Seat | Greywash Butler Tray | Moorish Iron Windlight | Sambala Wooden Outdoor Side Table

Does anyone even read these things? Neither Prairie & Co., nor I,  received  payment or compensation for this post. All opinions within it are my own. Cheers!

    

That Mountain Air

    Summer has officially begun here, as hard as that is to believe. Lena had her last day of school yesterday and both of our babysitters (one of whom we've had with us since Eli was only six months old) have graduated and are moving away. We've had three picnics in two days and the kids played in the backyard half naked yesterday. It sounds like summer to me! 

    Today the family and I are heading down to the Ozarks for a long weekend of outdoor fun. We're staying in a mountain lodge, which I'm so excited about. I hope its the cool kind of lodge and not the other kind. You know what I mean: chintz and honey oak just aren't my thing.

   When we get back, though, the real work starts. A project I've been brainstorming for a while finally clicked last night, so I'll be hard at work next week putting that all into place. Also on the books are a new bed for Miss L (the monkey is much too close to climbing out of her crib) and an outdoor dining set. With this beautiful summer weather, dining al fresco is more and more attractive. 

    Due to our travel plans I'm taking tomorrow off, but make sure to follow along with our adventures via Instagram! (You can find me at meganhemphill in app, or follow along here.)

   Here are a few of my favorite links from last week to keep you company until I get back. (Because you can't live without me, right? Right.)

• This plain and simple post from I Suwannee had me yearning to redecorate. Which, seriously, happens every three or four days....Does anyone have a money tree I can borrow?
• This spring picnic looks like something out of a fairy tale. Why have I never thought of grass placemats? Brilliant!
• I love #3 in this post on maximizing your creative output.
• My favorite of all the Mother's Day recaps out there. Sharon always touches my heart with her words and makes me laugh even as I'm tearing up. 

    And, um, that's it. Because, hey, this is Thursday morning. I'm at a serious disadvantage, here. 

    Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Fun With Kids | The St. Louis Zoo

    
    You may remember we took the kids to the St. Louis zoo last week. I highly recommend it, if its within traveling distance for you. Its a beautiful zoo, nationally ranked, and free as well, so if you're only there an hour, it doesn't matter - you've not wasted any money, you've only gained an hour's worth of fabulous memories. 
    In addition to the zoo, St. Louis has many other kid-friendly attractions. The Magic House, City Museum and Grant's Farm are three of my favorites, but if you're looking for more make sure to check out the St. Louis Kids page over at Explore St. Louis. 




    And just to illustrate that you can take the kids out of the zoo, but not the zoo out of the kids, here's their picture with Nana. Frame-worthy for sure, but probably not in the way my mom wanted. 

Megan Recommends | Lumitrix: Affordable Photography for the Home

    Can a person ever have too much art? I'm going with "no", although that's certainly arguable. If you decide to take up the argument, first take a look at photography gallery Lumitrix and see if your mind is changed. 

    If you haven't heard of Lumitrix you have a good excuse - they're still new here in the States. In fact, the gallery is still new in its homeland of the UK as well, but has already stirred up quite a bit of excitement. (They're in the current Elle Decor's Hot List, which is akin to being mentioned in the Bible as far as I'm concerned.) 

    The idea of Lumitrix is genius in its simplicity: they offer beautiful, limited edition prints for just $80 apiece. So $80 can purchase either a piece by an established photographer such as Leonid Tishkov or one by a rising star like Ritti Tacsum. There are currently ten photographers that span that spectrum represented by the gallery. 

    The website is an absolutely wonderful experience: apart from bios on the photographers and the art itself, there's Lumitrix Living, which showcases their images in stylish homes worldwide and is a fabulous source of inspiration in itself. They've also began offering interviews and behind-the-scenes videos with the photographers (the first one is Matilda Temperley) via Lumitrix Live and, for anyone who loves art, their blog is a keeper. 

   You owe it to yourself to visit the stunning images in the Lumitrix gallery. I've been every day for a week and am trying so hard to pick a few pictures to grace the walls of my office. No luck, though. They all want to come home with me. Be prepared to get lost in it for a while; its hard to tear oneself away and you'll find yourself going back again and again. Seriously, Matilda Temperly! Excuse me while I geek out for a minute. 

Images, from top: Tone Elegance by Astrid Harrison | Magdelene Fjord, 2010 by Leonid Tishkov | Fes No. 1 by Ritti Tacsum

I was not paid or compensated for this post in any way; any and all opinions in it are my own. Images were used by permission of LUMITRIX.