Tuesday Collage

Good morning! Here are some more of the beautiful things that caught my eye on We Heart It.  Favorites: the full moon (did you see it last night?!); blue china; Venice; antique books with jeweled bookmarks; a seed pod shaped like a heart; rainy weather.  xoxo

(Photos, credits and more lovely things on my I Heart It page!)

Lolitas.se

From Lolitas.se, the absolutely charming Swedish blogger.  I LOVE the moving profile pic on her site. Wonderfully original!

Silhouettes, Part Deux

Continuing with my obsession du jour -- silhouettes -- I was thrilled to find these beautiful papercuts by San Francisco artist Tina Tarnoff on Etsy.  

She says: "I like the female shape and I like the sense of movement, and I use that a lot in my papercut art. I think what attracts me to papercut is very much the sense of building something, a sense of sculpting, the clean cut aspect of it and the immediate result. " 

She blogs too!

On This Rainy Morning

I'm still savoring Jen's Simply Breakfast blog, even though she finished her project there on Jan. 1. I love going back through her old posts....

A Favorites Collage

Hello everyone. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I wanted to share with you a quick cut-out collage I put together of some of my favorite images from We Heart It, the new photo sharing site. I can't decide which one I like the best. They're all so lovely: Pink tulle, white tulle, an old record player, Marilyn Monroe, a carnival ride, a blue typewriter, red shoes.... Bliss. I have everything I need.

(Photo credits: the links and more details are on my I Heart It page. This website breaks down a lot, so be patient!)

Have a happy Monday.

xoxo

French Blogs!

Alas, the tea party is over.  It's raining again. I spent some time this evening reading my favorite blogs in Australia before moving over to France. At the moment, my most visited French decor + photo blog is Gris-bleu, created by the incomparable Phillippe, a graphic artist and photographer. (See above)  It's like falling into a Marie Antoinette fantasy land. He has fantastic taste (and blog links!) Also recommended: Ciel d'Orage, La Mule de Pape and Les Jardins de Kahlan.  

Update: I've started a "Blogs Abroad" category to list some of the wonderful blogs overseas. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

xo

Saturday Tea, Anyone?

The sun is finally out, a short reprieve before a new storm. I thought I would celebrate by having tea in the garden this afternoon. (Which inspired the above post.) I love Los Angeles after a rainstorm. You can see from the mountains, to the ocean, to the islands. Beautiful. I'm trying to decide whether to make blooming jasmine tea (bought at the Tea Palace in Notting Hill) or Earl Gray (from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.)

(Photo credits: Liquid Sky Arts, Corrie Bond, Mary Ruffle, Antony Chammond, Cha Cha Havana.)

Silhouettes

I'm crazy about black and white silhouettes. Country Living recently did a fantastic slideshow, including some of the images above, on its website. (The chair silhouettes in the second photo are my favorite.)

PS: I couldn't resist ordering one of Lucky Me Beads's silhouette pendants on Etsy last week. 

ALSO! Check out artist Tina Tarnoff's charming silhouettes on Etsy!

Friday

Wishing everyone a very lovely weekend!  xoxo

(Photo by Rodney Smith via Absolutely Beautiful Things.)

What's In Your Filofax?

I realize this is probably complete decadence, but I've managed to collect seven Filofaxes over the years. I've tried -- lots of times -- to give them up for Palm Pilots and other electronic devices, but I can't.  I use my pink Filofax as an address book, my red one for recipes, and so on. 

My green one is my portable inspiration file.  The contents:  

An old NYT magazine Domains profile of the late John Mortimer (He drank Champagne every morning for breakfast, which I applaud); Lists of interesting words; Various magazine photos; A picture of my husband (featured in an LA Times ad long ago); An Equinox schedule; Megan Stack's fantastic LA Times profile of Vivian Edde; A gorgeous snippet from Michael Cunningham's book, "The Hours;" Harry Eyres' "Autumn and Essences" column from the FT; And finally, a picture of JLo (and butt) to inspire me to go to the gym. (I hate the gym.)

What's in your Filofax?

Rain, at last

It's raining in Los Angeles, which makes me very happy.  My plans for the evening are very basic. The highlights:  Make dinner (something from Trader Joes), take a long bubble bath in my clawfoot tub and curl up with a book. I just started Ian McEwan's "On Chesil Beach." I usually wait until books come out in paperback because it's easier to write in the margins and underline beautiful passages. (Plus I always feel bad about marking up hardbacks.)  I thought "Atonement" was brilliant, so I'm interested to see how this new one compares!

(Photo by +Lyn)

Coffee Break

Good morning, Loves. I'm rushing this morning to finish my column for tomorrow's paper. But I wanted to share with you another amazing photo by Petrina Tinslay. I find her photographs beautiful and comforting. By the way, I'm working on a very special post for you for later today!  xoxo

Evening Toast

It's evening and I finally have a chance to relax. I've been continuing to flip through the Toast catalogues online. I spotted this picture. I love this look: Boots with black tights and a print skirt. I also love how the scarf matches the jacket. What do you think?

Tea (and Toast) Break

I adore these images from Toast, the UK version of Anthropologie. (The catalogues are awe inspiring -- and online.)  The robe in the top photo is gorgeous and I love the staircase... And now I'm off for my real tea break. 

Love Note, Found

Thank you...

....to everyone who visited my little corner of the Internet today. (And thank you to LA Observed for the mention!) The Pulitzer Prize winning critic Jonathan Gold proclaimed my blog "girly."  A compliment, indeed! Stop by again....t.

(photo credit: Corrie Bond.)

Not Your Mother's Embroidery

These embroidered handkerchiefs by illustrator Kate O'Connor made me laugh. I especially like the Facebook one. I was recently rejected on Facebook by someone who went on to friend my husband. Ha! O well. 

Charms...

..for a happy life, as captured through the lens of the amazing Sydney-born photographer Petrina Tinslay.....

1. A green velvet curtain with silk embroidery and trim, with little tassels. A flea market painting of pink roses.

2. White linens, preferably vintage. Red shoes, with rosettes.  A white organza dress.

3. Travel books, to faraway places.

4. Moroccan slippers and a blue silk cushion from India. 

5. Little cakes with sugar frosting. And raspberries. 

Which do you like the best?

(PS--there are even more beautiful things on Petrina's webpage.)

Summer Dreaming

I've officially been blogging for a little more than a month now. When I started, I had no idea that the most incredible joy of all would be meeting people from around the globe.  Today, while escaping the Super Bowl frenzy, I spent the late afternoon on an amazing blog, Rummage, authored by Nanette Louchart-Fletcher in Canberra, Australia. It's summer there and Nanette's photos (above) bring to life the season in vivid detail:  Tomatoes from her garden, handmade cotton dresses, a jar filled with nasturtium. On her companion gardening blog, acacia_et_coquelicot, she talks about the trials of growing a pincushion plant. "I did everything bar of sending it off for a spot of psychoanalysis," she writes. Witty girl!

Rummage and acacia_et _coquelicot are more delicious than a double scoop of Daiquiri Ice on a sugar cone.

For a bonus, visit Nanette's flickr site.  The Corners set made me swoon. 

Summer love!

Weekend

The weather in Southern California has been beautiful this weekend...I think the beach would be the perfect escape from the Super Bowl!

(Photo credit: Rodney Smith.)