Hey Baby.

It's still hard for me to believe that I am a Mom. Feels like yesterday I was climbing trees at Cardiff Elementary School. Life is strange. Someone once said, "Kids reinvent your life" Boy is that true. I can remember me being 6 months pregnant and walking around Babies R Us with Tim. We were both extremely quiet, eyeballs as big as saucers. I know we both were thinking the same thing. Do we need alllll this stuff!? Some people tell you "Ya DO!" some people say, "You don't". Now sitting on the other side of the fence I'd be the one to say "You DON'T" On average there is waaay too many options out there. Crappy options. Humongous neon monstrosities that are sure to reinvent your life in an in-your-face kinda way. Yes, I know....kids are learning so bright toys are fun for them to look at but are good color combos not considered when it comes to baby gear? I mean come-on people. Let's think these pantones through. Now I'm babbling. One of these days I just need to design my own stuff!

Back to topic. Here are a few baby items I love. They make great gifts and or would be a perfect addition to your new additions little life.Let me know what you think Alphabeasties Flash Cards. Adorable artwork, and equally as cute framed as inexpensive art for a girl OR boy room :)

Alphabeasties, Anthropologie
$16 I'm always laying a blanket down on the ground for Weston to play (barf) on. This mat I need to buy. Nice cause it's small and light enough to trek around with you but sturdy enough for him to roll around on.

Lillabo Playmat, Ikea
$10 Lets face it. A teething baby is no fun. You'll hand them just about anything the chew on to take the pain away. Why not these! They are soo cute AND are vanilla flavored. How fab tied onto the top of a gift?!

Vulli Vanilla Flavored Rings, Amazon
$9And another teething toy. everyone who has "Sophie" loves her. Plus if she gets caught in one of your candid moments she isn't an eye sore. Gotta love that! Sophie, Amazon$20 For the Mom-To-Be. Sure, you can spend big bucks on belly cream. Go for it! I personally spent $10 on this and don't have a stretch mark-period. Plus, it may seem strange but i still use it! I dab it around my eyes, laugh lines, and even smooth some into my hair when the ends are "fuzzy" The pumpkin seed, and olive oil combo are multi functional! ;)

Mama Bee Belly Balm, Target
$10Lastly, I stumbled onto this on Etsy. I mean, who doesn't love a hot air balloon? How stinkin' cute! It's amazing what one idea can do when it comes to a nursery. Something like this could give you the inspiration for the rest of the room and BAM you're done. Talk about bang for your buck. Plus, they removable fabric decals so no worries if you move baby's room. OR when you are done with them pass em along to a friend in decor need ;)

Up Up and Away Reusable Fabric Decal, etsy
$105

Articles Of Dress

It wasn't until a few months back when my friend Shannon was going to NYC that I realized I was the proud owner of TONS of accessories. She asked to borrow a few things (or maybe i offered? Can't remember) but I started pulling out scarves, hats, necklaces (Oh my!) and it hit me. Wow. I've got a lot of this stuff! For whatever reason I seem to buy more accessories than anything else. I pondered this for a while. It kind of pissed me off at first. WHY do I do this!? Why don't I spend the money on clothes or items of more value? Hmm. I suppose I like the idea of changing up a simple ensemble with a pair of glasses and a scarf for $40 rather than buying a new shirt? Well, now of course, things must change for me (only a short while i hope) since my nearly 6month old likes these 'articles of dress' as much as I do. Likes to eat and yank at them that is :/


Just as it's important to edit your home, the same should be done for your wardrobe. I don't know about you but I have bins (cute raffia floral bins, but bins nonetheless) that hold most of my scarves and hats. They are placed up high, and whenever I go to grab the bin, 12 items fall on my face and or floor and royally annoy me! My jewelery and sunglasses? Equally unorganized! That will have to be the next project after putting my house back together ;) Once that's done, I have a feeling those 'articles of dress' will come to more use.

Here are a few Bec And Call worthy items I've found and love. Lets start with a couple pictures first of two favorites ladies of mine displaying the use of accessorizing. Quite nicely really.


Who doesn't want to look like Grace Kelly in the beach? Yes yes, that's a tall order but at least a girl can try.

Happy to see Sienna Miller coming back around with her fashion sense. She went a little haywire for a few years there. Perfect use of summer accessorizing, might i add.

First item I found. This awesome hat. Hats are extremely underrated. They hide bad hair AND make you look stylish and pulled together. Not to mention prevent the sun from frying your skin. Love the whimsical brim on this one. Reminded me of a girl version of Clyde. From Bonnie and Clyde.
Asymmetrical Linen Cloche, Urban Outfitters
$28

Some people like to spend hundreds on sunglasses. Don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of this. However, it seems to me like my most expensive pairs always get dropped, lost, sat on :/ and scratched. Why is that?! I end up stressing over them like they are a second child and so I've come to the conclusion that I won't spend a lot on sunglasses anymore.
Until I have money coming out my ears anyway.

Equally as lovable as all the others on the market and hey, you can buy both colors! Who doesn't look good in the cat frame shape anyway?
Betty Shades, Anthropologie
$28

Or for the more vintage retro type......
Caroline Sunglasses,. Anthropologie
$28

Not that I need another scarf to add to my heap but if I did....Here it is.
Beautiful also worn over a little black dress as a shawl :)
Flounce Trimmed Scarf, Forever 21
$8

LOVE, a must! Get me in the car, gotta have. And seriously $7?!
Oval Encrusted Ring, Forever 21.

So lets cut to the chase here. At the end of the day it's the girl that makes the outfit and not the other way around. Agreed? There's no point in spending too much.


Happy Saturday!
-Bec And Call

Home Stale Home

Maybe it's because I'm home more than I've ever been -thus making my surrounds feel stale-, or it could just be the hereditary chameleon-like gene in me passed down from my Mom, who would re-arrange all the items in our house growing up on what felt to be, a weekly basis. But (yes I started a sentence with BUT) I'm itching to gut and re-do some areas of my house. OK, my whole house. For most of us though it's not that simple. Unfortunately. Budgets, time, confusion on what to do....all these things get in our way and make us retreat back to stale-hood. Don't they?

You should have seen the look on my husbands face this Saturday as I darted around the house removing all artwork from the walls. "Uh.....what are you doing?" he asked. "I can't handle it anymore!! I need to see bare walls, this stuff is blocking my creativity!" I semi yelled back. Even I was surprised by my dramatic response but truth is, that's how I felt. We don't realize it sometimes but our stuff, bought to make us feel happy, limits us and can tend to make us feel closed in after a while. It's like we forget it can be removed, re done, given away, or moved to a different spot. Working on the Visual Team for Anthropologie for nearly two years taught me this. That company is amazing how it takes ordinary objects or materials and turns it into something unique and well.....quite clever really. When we would re-do the store, the formula was always to clear out the area FIRST. Otherwise, if you layer in new things onto the old (which most of us tend to do) you end up with a cluttered, Hodge Podge and not quite "fresh", "new feeling" space.
Well DUH, why don't I do that at home? So yesterday my husband Tim came home from work and I was vacuuming under the sofa. Again, i got the same "Uh, what are you doing" response. Only this time it was a look, not actual verbiage. You see, that's part of it too. Cleaning the space will also help inspire you. I know I know, it's no fun but I PROMISE once you start, you will be addicted to the possibilities you'll see.
My final advice, PLEASE donate what you aren't in love with anymore. YES, there MAY be a need for it at some point down the road but chances are there WONT. And if you don't love it now, you most likely won't in a year from now. It's just stuff, and its very freeing to get rid of it. Imagine your world with fewer, more PERFECT items in it.
Here are a few things that I've seen around that make me happy. It won't take much, just a few new tweaks here and there will do the trick!


Artwork can be daunting! First of all, it's expensive if you are the average Joe retailing it out at some home design store and it can also be hard to visualize what you really want. Can I just say for the record that 90% of people hang their artwork TOO high (it should be at your eye level, not Andre The Giants eye level) and also people tend to buy artwork that is too small for the space. Here is a girl I found on Etsy.com who will do custom art. I'm all about custom art. You can pick the perfect size and colors to fit your style and space. Plus how cool that it's one of a kind and not the typical that most people have hanging in their homes? I'm all about supporting creative independent people too. This is cool because it's a flower print backed onto vintage french linen and then is stitched with thread on top.
Try finding that at Pottery Barn!
Khaki Queen Ann Lace Stitched Linen Canvas (say that fast 5 times) www.etsy.com
$65

Think of a small wall or space like a bathroom in your home. Something like this wallpaper would revolutionize that area. You wouldn't need much else (in other words i would NOT hang complicated art on top of this for the risk of having you eyeballs bug out of your head). In a year, if you hate it REMOVE it or paint over it. No biggie. But how fun to do something completely different for now.
Skottie Wall Paper (cranberry) Urban Outfitters
$19 for 56sq. feet!



Lastly, something I have at home and like is this storage box. It also comes in a bigger size. It's doesn't look like much here on web paper :) but spray painted a fun color and filled with all your nick nac crap it's pretty awesome. Put it in a bathroom with a terry cloth cushion on it, or maybe perfect for a kids room with toys inside? Hol Side Table Ikea $30

Happy Situating!
~Bec and Call

Friday, I'm in love

I don't know about you people, but I plan to be beach bound tomorrow. In a perfect world, I'd have these lovely's to bring along with me :)

Perfect summertime hue, and refreshing that it isn't a DRESS.
Gotta love Free People~sale~
Merrie Ruffle Romper $30
Growing up my mom burned into my brain (no pun intended) not to get too much sun on my face. It's rare to see me at the beach without a hat on. I bought a similar one to this a few months back, only not nearly as budget friendly as this one. Wish I'd have known about you, little sunhat:/Love the face coverage of a floppy hat and that you can lay down on your towel comfortably with it still on.
Besides, they're classic in a Patti Boyd on the beach sorta way
Target Floppy Hat $13

Those who know me well know I'm a sandal-a-holic. If I had to walk for 20 miles I'd prefer to wear sandals over actual shoes. It's true. Marathon or not~no summer ensemble is complete without a pair of sandals. These make me happy.
Forever 21 Latticed heeled thong $8 (really?! really..) So I've been on the hunt for a round dining room table. Still hunting.....in the process I stumbled upon this perfect beach chair! LOVE the sleek and simple design and the fact it has no arms makes me happy. Just pop a magazine in your hands and what a perfect day. I'd say! CB2 Pucker Folding Chair~sale~
$30 It's Friday, I'm in love.

Bec and Call

Yes, here I am starting a blog. I like to think i haven't a "bloggy, techy" bone in my body, but the more I ponder that statement the more I disagree with it. Truth is, there is something freeing about posting something and having no clue as to who will find it useful, funny, amusing, or just plain BORING. Also on the techy side, I enjoy meandering around a web page clicking my way to a finished product.
The purpose (yes there is a purpose) isn't just to get my thoughts out there, but to be useful to all you people looking for what I consider a good bargain. You see, I get a thrill from finding something inexpensive and equally awesome. Consider me at your Bec and Call for such types of things. I won't however have good grammar, or perfect spelling so you can just throw that judgement out the window RIGHT now. In my opinion, most people can have decent style if they've got money. The people with true originality have it without deep pockets. It comes from creativity, thinking outside the box, and knowing who you are. Problem is, sometimes finding things on a budget takes a bit more time. That's where I come in. My goal is to post as many awesome, budget friendly items as I can throughout the week. They will be everything from clothing, to gifts, to kids items, house decor, etc.

Enjoy. I know I will...... And please, don't be shy. Let me know what you think. Please.

First up....An "entertainer" as I like to call em.
Bought one last week for my son, Weston. I was so stoked when I saw this! Simple, stylish, compact, and kept him busy for hours. Best of all? affordable
$25, Ikea [leka baby gym]

Since having been pregnant I have a new-found appreciation for my waistline. I realize now that I didn't embrace it enough before :) What a better way to play it up than this belt? Perfect thickness, amazing colors choices, and stretchy so you don't wanna pass out after a few hours. Oh yeah, it can be worn on the waist or hips. Besides, who doesn't want a good reason to stroll around anthropologie?
$34, Anthropologie [Cylindrical Braid Belt]

I mean, how stinkin cute would these be as a gift with an ice cold pack of cokes to go with it? Maybe it's just me, no?
$5 Urban Outfitters [Coke glasses]