Announcing!!

First I want to say that I realize I'm looking for ways to distract myself from my woes. I can't really afford to shop. So why not blog? And why have just one blog when you can have, say, three or four?

Of course I don't expect you to visit all my blogs (I'm very happy you're on this one)... But in case you want to see more Polaroids and Holga pics,
here's the latest: Cloud Society. There are only two posts on it right now and it has zero followers. And I can't promise I'll update it very often.
But here it is!

A Magazine Favorite: Camping with Style

Normally I would be posting on Domino tonight, but I got distracted by these photos in the newest issue of Country Living. It was the Cath Kidston tent (above) that did it...



Or maybe it's because my secret dream is to live in a little cabin somewhere...



I just flipped over these photos...



I'm really longing to go to our little rental cabin in the High Sierras.



I don't know if I'll make it this year, but I'm so daydreaming...


(Photos by Marcus Nilsson. More details about that Cath Kidston tent and other things on the Country Living website!)

Girls in Flats

Our Facebook group, the International Society of Girls in Flats, has now grown to 680 members! Check it out here! (Don't forget to join!)

Hope you have a lovely Saturday. Depending how my dad is feeling, we might try to make a little trip to the beach for lunch.


(The photo above is from an old Anthropologie catalogue.)

Happy Weekend

These beautiful photos of Huntington Gardens in San Marino were taken by my friend Scott Martelle, journalist, author and blogger.



The Huntington is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It has an extraordinary English rose garden, a Japanese garden, an Australian garden and a Chinese garden...



I want to go (and take my Holga 35 mm camera!)

What are you up to this weekend?

Dazzling Diptychs

I love these diptychs fashioned by the uber-talented Neville Trickett of the Saint Verde blog. Neville is the creative director of a large fashion retailer in South Africa, according to sfgirlbybay (who is also an amazing diptych creator.)



Inspiration, doubled.

Miss Granger

I love these photos of Harry Potter star Emma Watson...



They appeared in this month's Teen Vogue (yes, I bought a copy...)



Have you seen the movie yet?

Taza and the Prince

She: loves homemade chocolate chip cookies. shampoo. maps.
tea parties. birthday candles. holga cameras.
(She's also a recent grad of the juilliard school. the fierce dance class of 2008.)



He: likes strawberry pop tarts. homemade ginger cookies. italy. jpmorgan. crew team. music.
(he's a proud columbia university grad. now works 15 hour days in DC.)
he hates mayonnaise + slim jims.



Me: I'm completely in love with their blog, the Rockstar Diaries.



These very cute newlyweds, Naomi and Josh (aka Taza and the Prince), have one of the best couples blogs on the Internet (I think!) They post
gorgeous pictures -- taken with Polaroid, Holga and Diana cameras -- of their various trips to exotic locales.



It's a Lomographic feast!

It also made for a wonderful visual escape at the hospital today, where I spent six hours with my dad, who underwent a blood transfusion to address his severe anemia. (Thank you Huntington Hospital for having free Internet service!) Throughout the day, I showed him my favorite blogs and read him your amazing, beautiful comments. (He thinks you're all lovely!)

I wish I could adequately tell you how much I appreciate/love/need/cherish your kind words of support.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
so much. so much.

xoxo

My Dad

As many of my dear readers of this blog know, my dad has been very ill over the past few months. Recently he was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome, a lethal bone marrow disease.

I've decided to take a leave of absence from my job at the newspaper to help with my father's care.

I want you to know that I will continue posting on this blog. The English Muse -- which I started in January as a form of creative expression -- has become my respite. Your kind comments have kept me going...
Thank you.

Roses + Diana Camera

Diana photos, as promised!

A Domino Favorite: Buenos Aires

This story about Maria Noel's Buenos Aires apartment ran in the June 2006 issues of Domino Magazine. I remember immediately falling in love with this upholstered bed...



I love how the blue reading lamp is attached to the headboard.
Very undesignerly.
The black and white chairs in this photo below are wonderful....



This little settee with the grouping of old Japanese prints is lovely. (I love settees, maybe because I've spent so many years living in small spaces in expensive Los Angeles.)



And here's Domino's Buenos Aires shopping guide.



The San Telmo neighborhood looks so charming!



I've been enjoying revisiting my old issues of Domino here on Sundays. Today's post was especially a welcome distraction. I'm facing a major decision this week regarding my father, who was recently diagnosed with a terrible bone marrow disease.

I will keep you posted. I promise.

(Just click the photos above if you want to see them large on my Flickr page! All the credits are there as well.)

The Weekend

I really want to dig out my Diana camera this weekend...



And take pictures of things simple and lovely



Like a table set for Saturday lunch.

---

Thank you again for all your kind comments about my dad. He's home and doing ok at the moment. (Deep sigh of relief!)

What are you doing this weekend?


PS: These wonderful photos, above, are by Stephen Norman.

Calm

This photo is so soothing to look at, I think.
Warmth and cool at once.
--
Thank you for your amazing comments.
Thank you for your kindness.


Photo by Danske

Fog

There's something I haven't told you, not in awhile anyway. My father is still very sick. Everyday, it seems, brings a new setback. I know this is part of life, but it doesn't make the fact that we're losing him any easier. I'm exhausted in a way that no amount of sleep can fix. This blog and the comments from the lovely people who read it keep me going...I just wanted you to know. Thank you.


Photo credit: Ryan McGinley, Kate Moss, W Magazine.

Who Knew...

I was cleaning out a box over the weekend and found an old camera memory card from 2 1/2 years ago, when Obama came to town to sign his book, Audacity of Hope. He stopped in Encino for a private reception. It was all so relaxed. No guards. No fuss.

There was speculation that he was going to run for president, but no one knew for sure. He stood on the steps of the back porch, addressing a crowd of about 50 people. Afterward, he milled around the living room. He signed books with a black Sharpie (left handed). He smiled. Made everyone feel like they were the most important person in the room. (He has this way of grabbing people by the arm, from the elbow...)

I took nearly 40 pictures with a little digital camera that I didn't know how to work. Almost everyone left before Obama did. Afterward I went home, took the memory card out of the camera and dropped it into a box which I immediately misplaced, until now.

I've often looked back on that evening in October 2006. I should have taken a better camera, or maybe I should have brought along a friend who knew how to focus a lens. I should have talked to him longer. I should have remembered to get my book signed.

But who knew...


PS: My newly found photos are over here.

Kings Road

1920s apartments and hair salons with catchy names
define the neighborhood around Kings Road in Los Angeles...


But my favorite spot of all is this place...



The Kings Newsstand, packed with foreign magazines. I love buying copies of French Vogue and the World of Interiors before heading next door to the coffee house, where they make lattes decorated with hearts...



Bliss.