Let's throw a dinner party...

Who do you want to invite? What shall we serve?? (Macarons and champagne?) And what albums should we play on the stereo? Oh so many decisions....


PS: I love this GIF, built by the very beautiful and clever Katarina at Lolita. I'm showcasing several of her GIFs on my blog this week! Scroll down for more surprises!


UPDATE: The talent Tina Tarnoff said...
I think we would have to invite Oscar Wilde, because he knows how to enjoy his champagne, and would be the wit of the party, Julian Schnabel to bring some artistic bad temper and excitement, Tallulah Bankhead for some passionate table dancing, Simone de Beauvoir for brains and early morning philosophical discussions, and Henry Miller for a bit of controversy. Oh, yes, and we would play Cinematic Orchestra - Live at Albert Hall, and I think we would be most happy drinking champagne and eating macarons all night.

And from the lovely Giulia:...
Agree with Tina about guests. So that's done. (with additions at some point). Macarons & champagne, great. But I would like some savories...will stinky cheese be allowed? If so, it wouldn't be terribly awful, but I do like Fourme d'Ambert & since we're fantasizing & it's gone up to about $19/lb, I'd love to pretend to have it. Or bleu d'Auvergne (which is from near where I lived in France). Also what about oysters (so good with champagne)? OK, past lunchtime on East Coast, that's quite obvious. Happy planning. xo

So many reasons to miss Paris...

...but here's one: the macarons. I know this is horribly devilish of me, but which flavor is your favorite?


(Photo credits: here.)

Glass of Bubbly, Anyone?

It would have been so much fun to drink champagne with Marilyn Monroe...


(Millions of trackbacks here.)

Rodeside Proposal

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the charming "roadside photographs" by Jen Zahigian of Oakland, California. (They're for sale in her Etsy store.)

Jen noticed that I adore love notes written large on walls. She sent me an email with this lovely picture.

She explains: "I was walking near the BART tracks in West Oakland (not the snazziest of neighborhoods, but interesting and full of photographic opportunity!) and saw that a lovebird had painted `Will You Marry Me' on a billboard. The billboard was up for a few days and then of course, painted over. The sentiment made me smile, and I couldn't help but wonder how the recipient felt upon viewing the proposal."

I think I would say "yes" to a proposal like this, what about you?


PS: Thank you Jen for writing me!

A New Canvas...

...of pure white...

...with sparks of pink and turquoise...


...and red, as red as the soles of Christian Louboutin boots...

I used to believe that interior walls should be painted strong colors (preferably something from Farrow & Ball)...But lately I've been thinking that white-on-white sets off flea-market finds most beautifully. What do you think?

I've been gathering up plates today for my plate wall. Thank you for all your suggestions! (And Tina Tarnoff's brilliant link to the ultimate plate wall.) I ordered a set of Thomas Paul's silhouette dessert plates and found several gorgeous orange saucers at the flea market. I'm thinking about mixing in a few vintage Chinese enamel plates. And of course blue and white china...

PS: The photos are, yet again, by James Merrell. I'm so in love with his website, packed with inspiration.

xoxo

Sunday

My dears, I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday. What are you up to today? I've been reading the Sunday papers and drinking coffee. (Three cups! Too many champagne cocktails last night!) Now I'm getting ready to head off to the flea market at the Rose Bowl. I'm going on a bit of a treasure hunt. I want to do a plate wall and I absolutely need your advice in that regard. Will show you what I found when I return!
Have a lovely day!
xoxo




(PS: The photo above is by James Merrell.)

Graffiti in Cursive

Lovelylovelylovely...

I have to admit that I always admire neat taggers. It's hard enough making my writing legible with a pen. But a spray paint can?

(Via the Ghost Factory.)

Farmers Market

Hello everyone. Happy Saturday. My daughter and I had a marvelous morning at the farmers market in Pasadena. Like most of the open air markets in the Los Angeles area, the farmers come from all over Southern California to sell their produce. As usual, I bought more flowers than vegetables. I can't resist!

There was a fantastic selection of tuberoses (which remind me of my friend Sara Catania, who always had the fragrant flowers in her ocean facing apartment in Ventura.) I also bought bouquets of red tulips, red ranunculus and mulit-colored roses. (My daughter, Isabella, and I arranged them in old pottery vases while listening to Ella Fitzgerald!)

Also brought home in our basket and bags: Fresh salmon, French bread, a huge ripe tomato, leeks for soup, a mix of salad greens and beautiful blood oranges. We're going to have dinner in the back garden this evening!

Dragon Clouds....

...so high above...

...you might be spoiling me...
...with too much, love. --Bob Dylan

Happy Friday. It's so beautiful here today. Puffy, cotton-candy clouds and cool air. I can hear a lawnmower and there's a mocking bird out there singing like a car alarm.

I wanted to share with you some of the cloud photos I found on We Heart It (credits here). I remember as a child my father -- a painter and a sculptor -- would ask me if I could see the sleeping satyr in the clouds. I always could on the summer afternoons when the big rain clouds would move in from the west in New Mexico, where I grew up.

Even now, I look for the satyr and think of my dad, who always puts the mythological figure in the cloudy skies of his oil paintings.

Maira Kalman, Part Deux

Have you seen Maira Kalman's latest blog post on the NYT website? It's a tribute to Abraham Lincoln and it's absolutely brilliant. One of the things Kalman wonders: What would Lincoln have thought of Frida Kahlo? What do you think?

UPDATE: I love this comment from Yoli: "I whole heartedly believe he would have asked her out on a date."

Hmm, what if Lincoln were a ladies man...

Polaroid Cache

Some of my Polaroids, as found inside the one of my Emma Hope shoeboxes...

Are Peonies....

...the most beautiful flower....

...in all the world...

...or would you rather have...

...a rose? Another beautiful dilemma.



(photo credits: the fantastic jen and other lovelies here.)

The Company of Cats

It's raining today in Los Angeles and things are really unsettled at work. I'm relying on old comforts: the touch of warm hands of loved ones and the weight of my giant cat Coco draped on my shoulder. I couldn't resist putting together this little collage of black cats. We have two of them, Coco and Kali (named after the Indian goddess of destruction). They are my constant companions.

Everyone have a wonderful day!

(Photo credits, link backs and more wonderful pictures of cats on my I Heart It page.)

UPDATE! A comment from my husband posing under the name "Tiburcio" "I love cats, too. Except for those really needy cats that sit in front of their food bowl, bitching and crying to be scratched. I'd just like to say to those cats: "Hey, you're not the only one with problems! Why don't you try to do something productive around here instead of just spitting hair balls all over the place?"

(He's joking, by the way. He's a cat man.)

Hands

This is such a lovely picture by Franck Juery. Several generations of women perhaps? Those little hands are so sweet.

dear (fill in the blank)

Another captivating typewritten message by Jackie Young. I love the lines about dinner fogging up the windows and people from Philly naming their pets "gatorade and veronica."

Jackie is the photographer who created the "here is your key" photo that's been making the rounds on the Internet. A few days ago, she posted a comment explaining how the key message originated. (It was ruined love.) But wait till you hear what became of that little note...! {Scroll down 10 posts or click here!}

Frosting

Need a mid-week pick-me-up? This cake looks delicious. It's by Martha Stewart, of course. (Who else could get frosting so perfect?)

(Via Mary Ruffle.)


xoxo

Skyward

I'm so enthralled by the architecture of trees. (Taken this weekend at the Huntington Gardens in San Marino.)

Ballerinas on Break

I love these old Life magazines photos of the ballerinas on break at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet in NYC. I was horrible at ballet as a child, but kept wanting to sign up for classes simply because I loved tutus. (I eventually gave it up because I was always tripping over my own feet. I decided to try Disco instead. The results were equally horrendous. ) Now I love the ballet for, yes, the tutus, but for so many other things as well....

Blue

I took my Polaroid camera with me this weekend on my various outings, and this is how one of the photos turned out. Completely blue. Some weird underexposure thing I guess. (I was trying to take pictures of flowering trees.)

The color makes me think of the French film Blue, starring Juliette Binoche. I noticed that several of my blogging girlfriends have the movie listed as one of their favorites. (It's one of mine too.) What is it about that film that resonates so much with women?


From Miranda:
"I think Blue is a kind of essay on a woman's intrinsic power to rediscover hereself in the emotional chaos of total loss. It's an enduring tribute to the power of the feminine. . .plus she's lovely to look at."

Ode to My Flats

Because life is too short to have sore feet.

UPDATE! I love this comment from Little Gray Pixel!

"OH! We are kindred soles (pun intended). I love my flats -- and yours, too. Where can I find yellow ones like yours?"


They're Kate Spade from a few seasons ago. I suspect there might be a pair or two on ebay!