Sunday at the Flea Market

It's become one of my favorite Mother's Day traditions...



After brunch, I get to slip away to the flea market...



I usually bring about $50 and a couple rolls of film...



...to buy and take pictures of whatever I want...



Here are some of the things I spotted today at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. (My favorite is the pink petticoat hanging from a tree!)

I ended up buying two vintage summer dress (originally from the old Bullocks store on Wilshire Blvd.) One of them is leopard print and very 1960s! I have more photos! Will post them on flickr later.

Hope you had a lovely day!

xo

Happy Mother's Day

My mom and grandmother in Ft. Thomas, KY



My mom with my older brother, Michael



And my mom and dad.


Have a lovely day, wherever you are today. I'm cooking brunch to celebrate Mother's Day and my dad's return from the hospital. Thank you all for your sweet comments. I read them all to my dad. They made him so happy. And me too!

xo

Roses

...In light and shadow...


...I'm looking forward to a weekend of gardening!....
What are you up to?

Moonrise

The moon is rising in the east over California cypress and palm trees...


...its shimmer reminds me of everything that's beautiful.

I hope you had a lovely day! Looking forward to Friday.


(PS: The winner of the Thursday giveaway is BEE!)

Thursday Giveaway!

My Dears, I'm very pleased to announce this week's giveaway. It's a beautiful mixed-media painting by the lovely Susan Najarian.

It measures 3 1/2" by 3 1/2" and 1/2" deep and features of solitary blackbird sitting on a wire and gazing at a beautiful blue sky.

It's a wonderful piece for that little spot that needs some art. Susan has other gorgeous things as well in her Etsy store.

She creates her art by digitally manipulating photos and images and then transferring them to a wood frame covered in encaustic wax. Layers of wax then suspend the photograph, altering the appearance to produce a "cloud like feeling." The images appear to float. So lovely!

To qualify to win, please leave a comment here anytime today and visit Susan's Etsy store.


UPDATE!! THE WINNER IS BEE! (Ms. Bee, please contact me! ha!)



PS: I'm still trying to reach "Disgruntled Customer," who won last week's drawing! If anyone knows Ms Disgruntled, please tell her to contact me.

Smile

I'm so in love with this commercial...


The song makes me, well, happy. It's called -- what else? -- "Smile" by The Mae Shi Band. This commercial plays constantly during American Idol here. The song is not yet out on iTunes. But maybe soon?

PS: Dad is coming home from the hospital tomorrow. Very happy about that!



(The photo is by Alyz.)

Sunset at Midday

It was so hot here today, like summer. It reminded me that I need to organize our summer vacation. We usually rent a cabin in August on a lake in the High Sierras. I was thinking that I need to find a way to blog from the cabin. The Internet is a bit spotty there. And there's no TV. (Honestly, I can live without the TV but not the Internet!)

What do you usually do for summer vacation?

Bello Mr. Bello

I took a stack of magazines -- including some old issues of Gourmet magazine -- with me to the hospital when I was visiting my dad. I was reminded of the gorgeous photography of Roland Bello. His website is positively luscious. (A sampling of some of his interior photos above.)

And a few of his food photos over here!

Desert Dreaming

Hello everyone, how was your Tuesday?

I just got back after spending the day at the hospital with my dad. He had another surgery today. We hope to know tomorrow when we can bring him home. Generally, he's doing better -- but the hospital is so dreary! I found myself daydreaming about the desert. I love to go to Two Bunch Palms to soak in the hot springs. Just thinking about it makes me relax.

One of my best friends is in town from Paris and I'm thinking about dragging her out to the desert for a spa getaway, if everything goes ok with my dad.

(PS: I took this photo on Sunset Boulevard the other day. It reminded me of Two Bunch -- big bushy palm trees mixed with tall ones under the desert sky. ah...)

Cherry Red Scooter

I was in West Hollywood today and spotted this little scooter parked in an alley...


...It's so cute. I wonder who it belongs to. Maybe a girl with a closet full of vintage dresses? Or a guy who prefers seersucker suits? It reminded me of this...




Bliss!

Roses

My climbing rosebush Eden is in full bloom, like a bouquet outside the front door. Eden is one of the French "Romanticas" roses, recently hybridized in France. Unlike the roses of David Austin, the Romanticas are generally unscented. Still they are dazzlingly beautiful.

I started growing roses about ten years ago and now have more that 50 varieties in our garden. For inspiration, I love to visit the rose garden at the Huntington Gardens in San Marino. The David Austin roses there grow so large that they could swallow an entire house whole.


(Here's an earlier post on the first rose of the season.)


PS: My dad is doing much better! We hope to have him home from the hospital in a few days! xoxox

The Art of Lori Langille

I was exploring Lori Langille's fantastic blog, Automatism, the other day when I found the link to her illustration website. Wow. Her work is so wonderful. (Sampling above) The woman with the pot and pan hat is fantastic and I love the one with the men dressed as butterflies. There's even more {here} at lorilangille.com. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from Texas Monthly to the Toronto Globe and Mail. Whimsy and fantasy make a clever blend!

Cool Blue Calm

I love these blue photos from Paris photographer Nicolas Vandeven's "Dark Blue" flickr set. They're so calming to look at. It's a perfect visual respite after a frenzied week. It's sprinkling here and I'm so glad. I hope it really rains. I'm looking forward to a weekend of rest.

Thank you everyone for your kind messages of concern about my dad. I read him your comments in the hospital today. It made him smile. And me too. He's doing better.

Ah sigh....

xo

(PS: One more blue photo here.)

A Deep Breath

It's 12:30 am in Los Angeles and I just got home a little while ago. This evening we rushed my father to the hospital for emergency surgery. He's doing ok now, and I'm very relieved.

I was feeling very blue, and then I found all your sweet comments on my Thursday giveaway post. It just lifted my spirits. Thank you. Thank you.


UPDATE. 9:23 am.
I getting ready to go to the hospital to see my father. He's doing much better!!! I just wanted to thank you for all the lovely notes! I'm so very touched.

I'll be back here this evening. I'm so looking forward to a restful weekend! (I will be posting lots of gorgeous Polaroids.)

I wanted to show you what all the running was about this week!

I had three columns:
Bono's potty mouth;
Bill Clinton raising money for his foundation;
and Obama is coming back to Hollywood for - what else? - money.

Also, on my super-sized photo blog Ms. Muse, I found a gorgeous photo of Kate Moss (accompanied with details of an interesting celeb sighting...)

AND..... thank you Kevin for the amazing mention on LA Observed today!!

See you back here later! Hope you have a wonderful Friday. xo

(Photo by Nicolasv)

Still Running!

Good afternoon darlings! I'm still running like a mad woman...I promise to slow down tomorrow and do a proper post. In the meantime, please enter the drawing for the lovely plaque by Lisa Romero (post below)! Will pick a name shortly after midnight tonight PST. xoxo



(Photo by DS Brennan.)