I am sending this dispatch from France, specifically from the waiting room at the ferry station where my husband and I sit after missing the boat to attend a wedding on an island off the coast of the Atlantic.
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 06.11.18
I am off to Paris in a few days to attend the wedding of a beautiful couple. Could there be a more romantic place to get married? I plan to hit a few markets and antique stores while I am there and consume my weight in pain au chocolat! What are your summer vacation plans? If you need a little break sooner than later, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Me, My Shelf, and I
In my kitchen, I have open shelving over my desk. This is where I try out my collections before they go into the shop. This process allows me time to consider the way objects play off each other. I am a matchmaker but sometimes the results surprise even me. For example, I really liked this collection of chinoiserie that I paired with gold dinosaurs. But I didn't know why right away. Then one day I walked in with a bag of groceries and it hit me. This vignette represents Godzilla in Tokyo. And since one of my nicknames in middle school was "Mothra", it all makes sense.
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 06.04.18
The beginning of June always has me dreaming of my summer camp days. How I long to return to those carefree and blissful days. If you need a little time with your head in the clouds, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreThe Child Bride of Buckley Hills
I remember the day of the wedding dress imbroglio. And when you are a child and there is an imbroglio, the cause is sure to be boredom.
This was the 1970s after all, and toys had not yet been invented. There were, instead, adult accessories made smaller and marketed as toys – steel-tipped lawn darts, jack knives, real chemistry sets, eardrum-rupturing air blasters, BB guns, easy bake ovens, mini motorcycles. My father, a pediatrician, and my mother, a nurse, were safety freaks and forbade all of these excellent things.
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 05.28.18
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend filled with beautiful weather and some downtime to unwind and relax. If you need a little procrastination before diving into the week ahead, here are some of my favorite links from around the web...
Read morePasaquan and the Bodacious Mystic Badass of Buena Vista
What happens when a man veers off the road travelled by his fellow humans and walks alone into the wilderness? When, like Henry David Thoreau, he decides to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life?" This is the story of such a man. Born in 1908 the son of a Georgian sharecropper, Eddie Owens Martin eventually became St. EOM, the visionary artist who transformed his backcountry farmhouse into a trippy acid-colored temple he named "Pasaquan" and who died, alone, in 1986, never receiving affirmation or recognition for his flamboyant artistic genius.
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 05.21.18
The heart-warming and beautifully groundbreaking wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this past weekend seemed to lift everyone’s spirits. If you’re looking for even more inspiration and joy, here are a few of my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreSurvey Findings and a Big Fat Thank You
From me to you, a virtual bouquet of flowers thanking you for all the valuable feedback you gave me in the survey I sent out recently. I've hired two women, Alicia and Alexis, who are helping me with the blog and shop, and both of them encouraged me to poll you. I'm so glad I did. Your preferences will shape my blog and newsletter going forward.
I know you are staring at a bunch of pixels right now but the more subtle truth is that we have a thing, you and me, a give and take relationship. I want to give you content that you care about and that you enjoy. In return, I hope you will click on my content, maybe leave a comment or a 'like', maybe even share it from time to time.
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 05.14.18
What are you looking forward to this week? I’m meeting up with my son’s ex-girlfriend for coffee. Is that odd? They are no longer a couple but she and I have stayed in touch. Plus, I love being around millennials and giving them crap face-to-face, which they richly deserve. (Okay, kind of kidding.) Honestly, I do believe that the secret to brain elasticity is learning from young people.
Here are my procrastination links from Friday’s post if you need a little break from your week…
Read moreA Portrait of a Mom
My son Nicholas is an artist. That is a self-portrait of him sitting on my dining room buffet. That is a portrait of his wife on the wall next to the buffet.
I remember that as a toddler, Nicholas didn't scribble. He simply began drawing faces. His favorite subjects were his grandfather who got a squiggly mustache and his father whom he always drew with a swooping necktie.
Read moreA New Direction? A Chance to Win $250?
I'm asking for opinions today. Yours. If you are a reader, I want to hear from you! Your opinion will help me form a plan going forward. Because change is a-comin'.
Also, if you do take my survey, you will be entered in a drawing for a $250 gift card to that one-of-a-kind boutique, Finder Not Keeper.
Click below. It'll take four minutes. FOUR minutes. That's less time than it takes to make a cup of tea. And it helps me greatly!
I'll be back next week with a cool post about the most bizarre and beautiful artist enclave I've ever seen. Thank you for your time!
Photo of me in a boat yelling to no one in particular,"Let's go there!" by Renn Kuhnen.
How I Procrastinated This Week 04.30.18
Every week, I go to the ends of the Internet so you don't have to. Here are the highlights of my wanderings:
Read moreMeghan Markle, Tea Towels, and Some Greasy Fish and Chips
We are a few weeks away from Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle and I just heard the news that the British are not exactly overjoyed about Diana's second son marrying an American.
I get it. The last time a British royal married an American divorcée, things got discombobulated, throne-wise. Edward VIII was confined to a life of pugs, pins, and pained smiles.
But Harry is sixth in line and as likely to wear the crown as Sonny Purdue is to occupy the Oval Office.
Read moreThree Days in Savannah
We were at Wormsloe Plantation (above), remarking on the flora and fauna along the Skidaway Narrows when I noticed a girl, probably thirteen or so, standing nearby. I screamed at her, "Watch out!" She didn't flinch. Not even her eyelids moved.
"Did it work?" I asked her, referring to her hiccups and my attempt to startle them away.
To which my husband said, "You mean did you convince her you're crazy? Yes. Yes it worked."
She looked at my husband. She looked at me. And then she hiccuped.
Read moreAn Entrepreneur's Lessons: How to Begin and How to End
Last week I shared my friend Margaret Maggard's bright and happy bungalow filled with family history and vintage treasures. This week, I'm diving deep into Margaret's experience as an entrepreneur. It's been a few years since Margaret retired from her jewelry design business, but her transition from a stressed-out mom stringing beads for relaxation to a successful entrepreneur with a long list of customers including First Lady Michelle Obama is fascinating. Those of us who love watching "Shark Tank" or listening to "How I Built This" will find Margaret's story compelling and full of lessons.
Read moreJewelry Designer Margaret Maggard's Dynamic Denver Bungalow
I'd like to introduce you to my friend Margaret Maggard. In this photo, she is positioned on her sofa in such a way that you can guess she was once a yoga instructor. She also used to run her own successful jewelry business, Bhati Beads, which was born out of the handmade wrist wraps she wore while teaching yoga. Margaret's designs were favored by many celebrities, most notably the former First Lady, Michelle Obama. For seven consecutive years, models in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition wore slivers of spandex on their breasts and bottoms and Margaret’s wraps on their wrists and ankles.
Read moreContests! I Love Contests! Part Two
Remember that writing contest I entered two months ago? I had eight days to write a 2,500-word short story using an assigned genre (action/adventure), a subject (a boat race), and a character (a biographer)? How excited I was?
Well, here is an updated confessional on that whole experiment. I spent a week writing drafts, getting feedback, and then ripping everything apart. Not since 1975 when I penned an ambitious junior high version of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" have I dabbled in fiction. It was hard!
Read moreHappy Persian New Year via Instagram
This Tuesday, the northern hemisphere began its tilt back towards the sun, and Iranians around the world celebrated the Persian New Year, also known as Norooz. (It can also be spelled Norouz or Nowruz, as it is a phonetic approximation of the word as written in Farsi, the language of Iran. This inexactitude drives me a little crazy, tbh.)
In Iran, Norooz is an ecumenical holiday, meaning no matter your faith, you take part in the celebration. I liken it to the American Thanksgiving because as a holiday, it boils down to sitting around a table with your family for hours. On Thanksgiving, we express gratitude for the blessings we have enjoyed in the past. On Norooz, we express hope and joy for the future.
Read moreFinger Puppets Gone Missing!
This is an all points bulletin. My finger puppets, last seen above in front of Cinderella's Castle in Orlando Florida, are AWOL.
Somewhere in the Magic Kingdom, I left them, careless mother that I am. And not the first time either. Once, years ago, I lost a human child in Disney World. Every staff member within a 2-mile radius sprang into action and George was found quicker than you could say bob's your uncle.
Not quite that reaction from the staff this time.
This is a huge issue for me but maybe you're with the staff on this one. Do you care? Have you ever cared? Have you just tolerated these puppets this whole time and now you're secretly relieved?
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