Under a Blue Moon

Flickr

I love Flickr. I especially love the Favorites feature. Kathleen from Liquid Sky Arts just did a post listing her favorites and I thought it was fun to see what appeals to other people. I not only like collecting my own favorites but seeing what YOUR favorites are too. It’s kind of my approach with finding new and interesting blogs to read too.

You can see a certain trend with my favorites now can’t you? When ever anyone asks my favorite color I can never decide if it is blue or pink that is my favorite. Looking at the above I would say it’s pretty equal and that I especially like them together. Blue skies and pink roses ~ I don’t think anything is prettier.

I can totally lose a few hours searching on Flickr. I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon. No matter how varied my searches are (like blue house, millinery flowers) I’ll have the same photographers come up over and over again. How weird is that? It’s not like they have the most pictures out of the bajillion that are on Flickr.

Another strange thing is that quite often when I do a search a photo will come up in Flickr that was taken by bloggers I read regulary. So you’ll see a good portion of my favorite pictures come from my favorite bloggers.

Collecting favorites reminds me of a decorating tip I read ages ago and embraced wholeheartedly. It said to save magazine clippings of decorating trends and ideas that you liked. So I started a folder, mostly with kitchen ideas. I collected them pretty steadily for about five years then forgot about them. Then last year after we had started our kitchen remodel I remembered them and pulled out the old file. The kitchen I had planned was almost identical to the pictures I had saved 15 years earlier. If nothing else I’m consistent.

Since my house is pretty much the way I want it inside most of my Flickr longing is garden related. We plan on moving in the next year or two to a smaller and hopefully sunnier location. I can pull up these favorites when I’m getting ready to start garden planning. I’m just wondering where I can get my hands on a white peacock.

Note: If one of my favorites pictured above is one of yours – Thank you! And if I’ve breached some sort of blogging etiquette by posting your picture and you would rather it not be here please let me know. I’m not sure what the rules are – I’ve linked back to Flickr so you can see who the 18 photographers are.

Christmas Cheer

Do you think I’m in danger of totally being sick of Christmas by the end of November at the rate I’m going? I placed an order with Bayberry Cove and received it lightening fast. And I got a sweet little note from them saying they were so happy I found them and my items were on the way. Now that’s what I love in an e-tailer.

I bought a selection of items from Dee Foust and Bethany Lowe. I find Dee’s work to be a bit more whimsical and Bethany’s to be especially sweet – look at that little face on that child. I just need a big white Santa – and I have my eye on this one. Why do you suppose Santa needs to carry switches though?

I haven’t actually started decorating. I’ll wait until 12:01am 11/23. I think anything after Thanksgiving is permissible.

I am going to start wrapping presents though. I’ve got a pretty good inventory of gifts already purchased and hidden away. I am just loving the idea of Christmas this year. Last year our house was a total disarray with remodeling so I didn’t even decorate. This year I am going all out.

Le bain ~ Le art

I keep meaning to post about the his and her hand towels I won from Madaspen|Home. I never win anything. Ever. So winning something from them, when we know how much I am enamored with them, was really special. The towels are exactly the color combination I love – white and flax.

I cannot, however, for the life of me take a good picture of them in my bathroom. I’m bedeviled by the light. There was a brief moment this morning when the natural light was coming in through the small window in the bathroom but it was fleeting and I could only snap a picture or two before it flitted away.

The picture above the towels, in the shadows, is an old favorite of mine. Spirit of the Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw. I bought an 8×11" print and then went over it with some gloppy stuff (I think I used decoupage goop with a heavy hand) to give the surface some texture. It turned out a little glossier than I wanted but better than the flat print it was before.

Here’s another trick I do with prints – remove the glass from the frame. Makes the print much easier to see (by getting rid of any glare) and I think it just looks nicer. So until I can afford the real deal I’ll buy prints and put them in a fabulous frame. It works for me.

There is a print that I am dying to get my hands on. I don’t know who the artist is but I’ve seen prints in antique shops – The name of piece is "Dreaming of Love" or "Dreams of Love" and it could be that the artist is French (since I’ve seen the name of the print in French). The first time I saw the print it was hanging in a booth at a local Antique mall. It has a gorgeously shaped frame but the frame was painted blue – not a color I decorate with much. I passed it up and then a week later after thinking about it non-stop I went back and there was just a blank spot on the wall where it had hung.

The subject is a woman sleeping in a very elaborate looking bed with a bear rug on the floor beside her. You can see her dreams in the forms of cherubs flying around the room. There is an incredible amount of detail in the painting.

I saw it at another shop but it was in a very cheap looking frame and about three times what I was willing to pay.

Well, I thought, I’ll just order a print online and frame it myself. Not so easy – I searched for weeks, not quite having the name right and finally I stumbled across a small e-tailer that had the print. They didn’t even have the name of the piece or the artist’s name but there it was. Eureka! Now let me say up front that I have always had fabulous luck ordering online. Never once have I had a problem with someone taking my money and me never seeing the item. Except this time. I ordered it and they instantly took the money out of my PayPal account. I got a confirmation email saying it would ship in 10 days. After about three weeks I sent an inquiring email and nothing. No response. After another week I sent another email and the next day I sent another to a different email address on the website and still nothing. So finally I had to dispute it through PayPal and after a week and half I got a refund and FINALLY an email saying they thought they had it in stock but turned out they didn’t. Well fine – why didn’t you tell me that in the first place. I’m a nice person – I would have understood. Just don’t take my money and then ignore all my emails.

Anyway still looking for that print. I think it would make a great guest room print.

Happy Veterans’ Day!

I realize I’m a day early but I’ve been meaning to take a picture of this particular fence line for months now. The homeowners have the flags up every day (barring inclement weather of course) and I think it is so picturesque. This morning I decided to take a walk over there and finally do it.

I’m trying to incorporate a little exercise into my life. It just does not come naturally or easily to me. I’m a slug, what can I say. Actually there have been periods in my life when I have been fit and exercised regularly. And I looked great during those times. I get into a nice routine of running every dawn and then something happens to my schedule and the next thing I know my fat clothes don’t even fit me any more.

Other programs I’ve started haven’t been successful. Oh there is the Gold’s membership that I faithfully pay for each month and I’ve gone to exactly once in the past 11 months. That’s $439.89 for 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

After my oldest son was born and the doctor said I could start exercising I decided to embark on a swimming program. The community pool was right by my parent’s house so my Mom could watch after the baby while I swam laps. I thought this was a splendid plan. The night before I was going to start I decided to try on my bathing suit and see how bad things were. I had a standard issue black Speedo. My fat little thighs bulged out of the leg holes. My squishy belly wouldn’t be smoothed down by all the lycra and I still looked like I was about four months pregnant. Even my underarms looked fat. Not good.

I tried on the bathing cap and goggles just to get the entire picture and had a fit of giggles. It was so awful it was funny. This was too rich not to share so I thought I would sneak down the stairs of our townhouse and just poke my head around the landing into the living room so Rick could have a laugh too. He wasn’t going to see all of me, mind you – Good lord no. Just a peek at my head so he could see how funny I looked in a bathing cap and swim goggles. So I quietly started down the stairs. I rounded the first landing and because I had goggles on I miscalculated the next step and slipped. And I slipped spectacularly, flailing and screaming the entire way down.

I ended in a heap at the very bottom of the stairs, on my back, head first with the rest of my body twisting up around the bottom landing. Rick, hearing my death cry, came flying out of his chair and over to the stairs. I peered up at him through my goggles and looked up at his very dumbfounded face. "What on EARTH are you doing??" he asked. Mustering as much dignity as I could I popped up, straightened my goggles and marched up the stairs and into our bedroom. I can still hear him laughing. I removed my bathing suit, the goggles and the bathing cap and that was that. So much for swimming.

If this nice weather holds out I hope to get a walk in just about every day. It’s a start and there is less chance for public humiliation.

Girly things

www.fresh.com

Something most people don’t know about me is that I love beauty products. Especially to look at me on an average day when I can’t be bothered to attend to my toilette more than to brush my teeth and hair. But it’s true – Makeup, perfume, lotions, you name it I like it and know a lot about it. I especially love makeup. I think I almost love it for the packaging as much as the hope it will transform me into a gorgeous, luminous creature. Of course I haven’t found that particular product just yet so the hunt continues.

The Fresh perfume quartet actually caught my eye because I really like the box it comes in. I’m not actually sure I want to smell like Sake ("Truly officer – that’s my perfume."). The pattern on the box is just so delicate. Fresh also has a fairly new scent out called Cannabis – again – not sure I want to smell like that (okay – actually the reviews I’ve read for it says it is more of a patchouli type scent and it’s marketed as a unisex fragrance).

I also like smaller sizes of things – that way I haven’t made a full on commitment to anything and can try a variety at the same time. In that regard I want this, this and this.

I think it’s the fact having facials, getting manicures, wearing cosmetics is such a feminine endeavor is what really appeals to me. I have this mental picture of a glamorous woman sitting at her vanity in her satin dressing gown applying powder and lipstick. Before she dons her evening gown and pearls for dinner and dancing.

I actually bought a beautiful mirrored vanity just for that purpose (well except for the evening gown, pearls and dancing part. And the glamorous bit too, I suppose). I thought I had a picture of it but all I have this this little tidbit – the entire thing is mirrored. Very sparkly and pretty. And chairless because I can’t find a chair that I like to go with it. I didn’t care for the little mirrored stool that is supposed to go with it (too much sparkle and mirror, even for me). And I don’t really care for the standard, ruffly stool that one generally pairs with vanities. I’ll know the chair when I see it. In the meantime it doesn’t get used. Look closely in the picture – you can see my beauty mascot – Beatrix Potter’s Lady Mouse, holding a hand mirror and admiring her reflection.

So for now I stand at my sink to beautify. I have a celery glass filled with dozens of makeup brushes that sits on the counter and a magnifying mirror that extends from the wall (sadly necessary item). Belle thinks the brushes are her playthings. She loves nothing more than to nuzzle her face up to them and pull the occasional one out and bat it about. Silly, pretty little Belle. She must just want dinner and dancing too.

Christmas Inspiration

I’ve officially started my Christmas shopping. And a true harbinger of the festivities is that I’ve started my annual XMAS_200n.xls spreadsheet (with n being the current year)(In case you didn’t know that)(In case you even cared). Once a dork, always a dork.

I can’t really talk about what I’m buying because a good contigent of my readers are related to me and are on said spreadsheet. I will say that this year I’m determined to scale back a bit so my budget doesn’t go into a tail spin and I’m also determined to enjoy the gift giving process and not stress overly about it. So things will be simpler and sweeter this year.

I’ve been looking for the Martha Stewart Homemade Holiday Gift magazine for a week now and finally found it, along with the December Home Companion issue on Saturday afternoon. The cover of Home Companion is gorgeous with it’s frosty cream colored Santa and white bottle brush trees. After seeing it I’ve definitely made my decision about the auxillary tree. It’s going to be a white Christmas around our house. I was also inspired to go online and buy some Bethany Lowe Christmas decorations from Bayberry Cove. And while I was at it I ordered some of the white bottle brush trees. Now I just have to find just the right white Santa to round out my idea for the library table in the entry way.

This year I’m going to do more holiday baking and candy making. My sister Kate is the all time champion of the Christmas Cookie so there is no point in even going down that road. I could only pale in comparison. So I think I’m going to make candy for each family as a little extra (sorry to ruin the surprise, guys). Last year I hit the after Christmas sales with the sole intent of getting good holiday wrap. I scored 20 of these great pop up gift boxes at a bath and beauty shop that will be perfect containers for little cellophane bags of fudge or toffee.

I’m on the lookout for a good toffee recipe so if anyone has one they would like to share please email me. One of Rick’s coworkers always gives him his wife’s toffee during the holidays. It is the best toffee I have ever eaten anywhere, anytime. And she will not share the recipe. This type of behavior flat out drives me crazy. First of all we do not run in the same social circles so it’s highly unlikely I would steal her thunder in any way shape or form but whatever. I’m sure there are other toffee recipes out there from kind, generous people that are willing to share.

If I ever utter the words ‘family recipe’ or ‘secret ingredient’ just smack me upside the head with a cookbook.

Ooh look how quickly I get stressed about the holidays. This is not good. I need to find my happy, holiday place. I think I need to go update my spreadsheet.

Both magazines are worth taking a look at. Martha’s has a lot of doable homemade gifts. And a marmalade recipe that I know someone is looking for. The Home Companion is pretty to look at but what I really like about it is it gives all kinds of online sources for a lot of the content in the magazine. I love when magazines do that. If I can manage not to step into a store during the holidays I will be in my happy, holiday place.

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