Weekend List!

Sarah's List: 

Check out the When Nurture Calls Campaign.

My new obsession is buying quality, consignment clothing for my children. African wear and tear is hard on their clothes. And I can't run to Target for new toddler leggings when their knees poke through. Do you know about the world of online consignment shopping? A lot of the clothes on these sites are brand new with tags, others have only been worn once.

Here are my favorites:

Moxie Jean: Upscale Resale. It's easy to sort through the options on this site. They add new clothes every Monday and Thursday.

Schoola: More great consignment clothing. 40% of each sale goes to a school. Win-win. Plus, I had a few kid's items sitting in my shopping cart for less than 24 hours and they sent me an email saying, "We noticed you haven't made your purchase yet, we'll give you free shipping." Um, okay. Win-win-win.

thredUP: This one's a little bit dangerous because they have clothing for kids and adults. And purses and shoes. Oh my.

There is a shocking number of these kids consignment clothing websites. Do you have another favorite?

50 Completely Unexplainable Stock Photos No One Will Ever Use.

Sara Rich talks race, class and privilege in Congo. Good work, Sara. Good work.

This girl is always thinking.

And here's what happens when you try to read too many Onion articles from abroad...

Jill's List:

This is what I have been Googling today.  We have a mirror and an amazing print by Arno Debal that I can't figure out how to transport on a plane to America intact.  Any suggestions, fellow travelers?

Print by Arno Debal.

Photo by Jill.  Packing composition by Johan.

Spring (or "Rainy Season", depending on your location) hair.

I finally joined Instagram this week. My 7th graders told me I was dumb because I hadn't yet and so I did. This is my favorite thing to follow. (Some of my photos of Kinshasa street life are supposed to be appearing in the related Everyday Africa Project.  I'll keep you posted.)  And this was my inaugural photo:

Loulou, constantly perfecting the death glare.  I told her to smile before snapping the shot.

In 2006, I nicely asked the city of Seattle to let me defer my jury duty until I was done breastfeeding my baby.  They said okay.  I assumed they would.  Turns out, I should have been surprised. (Thanks, Alice.)

Eli and I in 2006.  Not serving on a jury.

Long live the library!  (Thanks, Olivia.)

Our most complicated packing issue.  Books are heavy.

A little magic is coming to Kinshasa.  As in a magic show.  Here.  Halle de Gombe. June 3 & 4.  (Thanks, Becca.)

And.  Kima Mbangu 2014 is done and dusted.  Still waiting on the grand tally raised for our partner organization, Les Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises.  A real, visible and holistic impact on the lives of Congolese women.

Tweet

Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

Look what I found while packing up our house...

Compare that total to this, giving birth in the U.S. is more expensive than any other country in the world. Total costs average $18,329 for a vaginal delivery and $27,866 for a C-section, with the bulk of the bill going to insurers. However, families with insurance still have to pay about $3,400 out of pocket. Wowzers! Thank you South Africa for my first class and affordable birth.


A fascinating read on the man who first "discovered" Ebola and his return to Congo 40 years later.

  by  theglobalpanorama 

Congratulations to the first female coach in men's top-tier, professional soccer!

Roger Federer just had his second set of twins?! Those Swiss are so gosh darn efficient.

Ever notice how many novels about Africa have an orange sky and acacia tree on the cover?

From Africa is a Country.

We're making our shopping list for our summer trip to the States. Check out The Sweethome. They do all the comparison shopping for you.

And here's their sister site for electronics: The Wirecutter.

Not that I'm in the market for one, but has anyone ever heard of Korea's answer to the Ergo baby carrier? Folks on Amazon are freaking out over the Pognae.

Pognae USA!

Jill's List:

Congolese airport as playground.  "The Land" in real-life. (If you want to see more truly spectacular images from around the world, check out Michael Christopher Brown's Instagram and professional pages.)

Permission to use photograph given by artist.  Thanks, Michael!

A new, stylish online mothering magazine.  Happy Mother's Day!

Go here to read beautifully photographed articles about magazine-y type topics with a mother-twist.

And then, there's Instagram moms.

Fancy coffee.  Can't wait to occasionally indulge at a few of these spots.

Johan's Father's Day fancy coffee 2013.  This year, he'll be celebrating NY style.

Rappers rule (linguistically speaking). 

Robots tackle malaria.

Loulou explained in the moment above, "This is my baby, Mary. She has malaria."

What do your children call their Baby Boomer grandparents?  Us:  Omi & Pop, Gma & Boss.  (Yes, there is a story behind "Boss".)  A non-traditional favorite of mine?  "Pippi"!  I have two friends who use this instead of "Grandma".

This video made me think of the Ndaya original we have in our house.  Leaving Congo and want an amazing reminder of your time here while supporting a local artisan?  Try a handmade guitar.  Call Ndaya (center, below) and he'll meet you in an alleyway in Bandal which doubles as his workshop. 

And.  KIMA MBANGU (Run Fast)!  Our Annual 5K Run/Walk will be held next Saturday, May 17 on the TASOK campus for those of you in Kinshasa.  Even if you are in a different time zone, you should still take the time to read about Les Fonds Pour les Femmes Congolaises, an amazing local organization making a real, visible and holistic impact on the lives of Congolese women.  All of our proceeds will go to these great projects for the third year in a row.  An excellent partnership!

Tweet