Tuesday

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday. Today is my day to get caught up on everything. (Or at least try). I'm feeling much better after a full 9 hours of sleep. I have more wonderful Polaroids I want to show you. Will upload them this evening.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this picture of Brigitte Bardot. I've had it up as my computer wallpaper. It's been inspiring me to, well, grow my hair and get back into shape (ha!).

I found it in the LIFE magazine archives, where there are tons of photos of everyone famous you can imagine. It's an excellent resource for blog art! I could spend hours browsing. I adore vintage photographs from old magazines.

Alas, now I have to work...sigh...

Have a wonderful day!

Eden

It's officially spring -- at least in my little patch of yard. I found the first full rose bloom of the season on my favorite rosebush, a climber called "Eden." It's a big, pink complicated cabbage-like rose. I planted the bush five years ago and now it covers the railing along the front porch. It's spectacular when it's fully in bloom.

For now, this single rose is positively perfect.

Thank you all for keeping me company during my insomnia last night. I've read all your comments three times already! Can't wait to drop in on your blogs -- such a creative, International group! So happy to meet you in this beautiful corner of the Internet.

xoxo

(Tonight, I've resolved to go to bed early!)

What time is it where you are?

It's 12:44 am in Los Angeles and, as usual, I can't sleep...I was just wondering...



Where are you? And...



What time is it there?


(Click photos for trackbacks.)

Paper Bullet

Hello everyone! To start your week off right, I'm happy to announce a very special giveaway. San Francisco artist Lisa Romero, one of my favorite Facebook friends, is having a drawing for this lovely Easter illustration...



...a rabbit aptly named "Bruiser." To enter to win said bunny, heart Lisa's Etsy store Paper Bullet (or one of her fabulous works of art) by midnight Pacific Standard Time tomorrow night (April 6th). You'll probably want to browse awhile...



...She has so many beautiful, colorful creations in her store and on her Paper Bullet website...



...It's hard to pick a favorite!

Not a cloud in the sky...

...Today at the beach...



...Just a cool breeze...


...rustling the palm trees...

We had such a lovely time today. I took a nap on a beach blanket under a huge umbrella.

And now it's Sunday evening. I've always disliked Sunday evenings. Such a letdown from the weekend....I always try to distract myself with a good movie (or TV show)...Tonight: The Tudors...

How was your weekend?

Muse Shoes

My friend Tina Tarnoff, an artist extraordinaire, sent me the loveliest gift today: A papercut she created of striped flats with pink bows. What a fantastic surprise! I love wearing ballerina flats and a few weeks ago I started a group on Facebook (just for fun) called the International Society of Girls in Flats. It's grown to than 300 members! It includes many of my past and present girlfriends at the Los Angeles Times, with the exception of Carla Hall who says she won't join because she only wears heels. (I still love you Carla.) The group also includes my poor husband, who is the only male member from what I can tell.

And now, thanks to the lovely Ms. Tarnoff, the group has an official logo!

Please visit Tina's fabulous Etsy store {here} and her blog, Thought Patterns, {here}. (She lives in San Francisco and writes about it so beautifully.)

Beyond Beautiful...

...On a balmy afternoon with puffs of clouds...



...I am definitely going to the beach this weekend...



...with Polaroid camera in tow...


(By the way, thank you for visiting my blog! So happy you're here. Happy weekend... xoxo)

Friday, at last...

I'm so looking forward to the weekend. What do you have planned? We were hoping to go to the beach on Saturday, but the it's supposed to be a bit cloudy and chilly here in Los Angeles.

We're still stuck between seasons, sort of like the sky in the photo above: a diptych of winter and spring. The photo is by the fantastic Sarah Faust, whose work (including the piece above) is being featured in the Catherine Edelman Gallery's  online Chicago Project.

Maybe a visit to an art gallery would be a better choice than the beach...

Lit Lantern Windows

After discovering where the bookstore photo (two posts below) came from, I decided to flip through the rest of MorBCN's amazing photos in his Amsterdam flickr set. Look at the windows on these beautiful buildings, like glass-encased jewel boxes.

I'm ready to go to Amsterdam now! Who wants to go!? And, which one of these townhouses do you want to live in?! (Imagine climbing the stairs in the really skinny one on the top left!)

Homebodies

I just stopped by this lovely new decor blog...



...created by New York freelance journalist Liz Arnold...



...She visits the homes of "somebodies, nobodies and the anybodies in between," takes pictures and writes about them on her site, Homebodies.

"I've always loved observing how people live--what they surround themselves with; how they solve spatial problems; why that object hangs above the bed and what's the story there, anyway?" Liz writes. "I chronicle my visits and indulge in the intimacy of dwellings, however extravagant, utilitarian, messy, IKEA, Tufenkian, big or small."

She also asks, will you invite her over to your place? (I say, yes! Come on over Liz. I'll supply the champagne!)

The link to her fantastic blog is {here}.

PS: Can I tell you a secret? I love glancing through people's windows on my evening walks. 

UPDATE.  This comment from  M.Kerkmann made me laugh: "I'm glad that I'm not the only one who secretly wants to crawl through someone's yard, just for a peek through the living room window. :)"

ANOTHER UPDATE!  A comment from Liz:  "Hello, everyone! This is Liz from Homebodies, and I'm so thrilled you are enjoying my site! It's so much fun. I love reading your comments. To those who are now following my blog: I will follow you back! Keep an eye out for more beautiful and kooky projects to come. Thanks all..."

By the way, thank you LA Observed for the tip!

What are you reading?

Hello Everyone, Good morning. (It's morning here on the West Coast anyway...) I got to bed before midnight last night, which is very rare for me!

I wanted to update the English Muse book list on Amazon, created after the last time we talked about books. You all had such wonderful suggestions!

So, what are you reading now? I just started "I Was Told There'd Be Cake," by Sloane Crosley. So far it's very funny. (And I couldn't resist a book with that title. I'm always hoping for cake.)


Previous book posts with your comments:

Got Books?
Reading...

Also:
The English Muse book list on Amazon.

UPDATE. The photo (above) was taken outside the Libreria bookstore in Amsterdam. It's by MorBCN and is posted {here} on flickr!

I found it via the Tumblr blog Talk Nerdy To Me.

Bits of Inspiration

I love tooling around We Heart It for pictures of lovely and unusual things. The carnival ride is fantastic. So are the bubbles and stars. But that picture of the soaps shaped like doll hands. Both weird and wonderful. I couldn't resist including it in this little collage...



PS: Here's the link to my I Heart It page. The photo credits are there (sort of). It's a little hard to figure out where the photos originated from. Let me know if you know so I can give them credit!

UPDATE: The first photo is "The Swing Set" by Irene Suchock. (Thank you Maria-Therese!) The star and the hearts pictures look like hers as well.

The bottom right photo of the flower is by the fantastically talented Mrs. French.

A Blog of Note

Hello Everyone, Welcome to the blog I started in earnest after Christmas. I suppose the song "Only the Lonely" could apply to newbie bloggers. You feel like you're talking to yourself in an empty room. I can't tell you how many times I thought about quitting. Some days, I had only one visitor. Other days, maybe 15 max (most of them me.)

I took out an ad on Joanna Goddard's amazing blog, A Cup of Jo, and finally there was traffic. It's continued to increase steadily since then -- because of the help of many kind and generous bloggers. (Thank you!) I'm happy I stayed with it because something amazing happened this week: Blogger.com named English Muse a "Blog of Note." My site visits are up tenfold.

So please bookmark me and come back to visit in the days and weeks ahead. I have lots to tell and show you. In the meantime I want you to know: I'm so happy that you're here.

My warmest regards,

Tina

PS: I'm not sure who is in charge of deciding on the blogs of note. Whoever they are, I love them!


PSS: Photo via Lolita.

California Cabin

Hello everyone! We're back from a our weekend getaway at a lovely little cabin...


...in a canyon amid the California chaparral: Eucalyptus trees and prickly pears, yucca plants and orange poppies, pine trees and oak trees...


We were cooled by an ocean breeze and kept warm by a campfire. Of course, I had to bring along vintage blankets, an orange enamel teapot (with white polka dots), and thrift-store yarn for knitting....My favorite part...


...was drinking wine in the evening on this front porch swing. And listening to the birds sing. It was bliss.

So now I'm back at work. Sigh. It's Monday.

Miss Lily

Hello everyone. I just got back from our weekend away. I came home to the most lovely surprise: This wonderful post on Daydream Lily.

I'm so touched and happy and thankful!!

Liss, I love you!