Forgive me All, I've been lazy about my Dia Blog lately. Easter came and went, and we did the whole egg-decorating thing at home, which was a huge hit with the SO*. Incidentally, having religious affiliation to any holiday is not a prerequisite for celebration in our household; we will indiscriminately adopt any holiday that involves decorations, gifts or good food, which pretty much covers all of them. Then we set off for Italy with our little girl in tow for a few days. Ah! Travel-with-a Toddler – don't get me started! Actually, to be fair, our intrepid little traveler munched happily on porcini mushrooms and bresaola like a natural, ate more ice-cream in four days than she has eaten in her entire life so far, (and managed not to bounce off the hotel walls in a sugar-induced frenzy), and tagged along quite happily from car to bus to plane to horse-drawn carriage and back again without any major incidents…she did us proud! But I will say this; I could use a vacation right about now.

You would think that I would have come back with a suitcase full of fabulous clothes for myself and the SO, given that there were beautiful windows calling out to me on every corner. Yes, well pushing a stroller into a changing room and then having the patience to try things on while your child is creating original artwork on the shop floor with pink gelato (she always asked for pink), is a feat more heroic than I dare to aspire to, so the shopping spree will have to wait for the next trip, sans SO. It's a good thing that Beirut has plenty to offer.

In the last blog I had promised to give a little guide about cool threads for the little ones around town- so here we go. I'll cover a few shops in this series, but the first stop has to be Plum. Two brands from Belgium are my big favorites at the moment; Maan and Simple Kids. Maan tends to be a little more subdued, with softer tones and designs that stand out for being well-cut and classic. This makes them fantastic for matching with items you already have. For girls, throw on top one of the adorable little hand-made pendants by Georges et Rosalie and you're in business. Simple kids pieces make more of a statement, with flashes of color or bright patterns. In both cases, the clothes are super-cool, but not in an annoying "my-kid-is-better-dressed-than-your-kid" kind of way. Because we all know that the first rule of being fashionable is to never look like you're trying too hard.

* Scrumptious One

Georges et Rosalie