De-stress

Palm Springs this weekend was out of the question...But Huntington Gardens was a lovely alternative...



Amid this serenity I reached an important conclusion: I'm ditching the damn Sitemeter. Life is better lived without it. It's more productive watching the clouds move across the sky...



How are you?

Saturday Color

Illustrations that warm my magpie soul...


...on this sunny Saturday morning.


I love these watercolors by illustrator Bella Foster (a frequent contributor to the NYT)...Bella, bella indeed!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend! I'm getting ready to get my hair done. (yay)


PS: I'm crushing on the plate wall and the green couch. And the mismatched bowls are beyond fabulous.

Happy Weekend

I can't believe it's friday already. This week was a blur with work. What are you doing this weekend? My plan: Sleep! (And get my hair done..)




Photos by Camilla Åkrans.

Ms. Muse

Well, I decided to do it: I started another blog! (A companion blog, if you will, to The English Muse). It's called Ms. Muse and it's all about "life, love & beauty....and an occasional celebrity encounter." My first "encounter" is with Colin Firth. I met him in London over the summer. He was charming, as you would expect...but he had some surprising things to say! Here's the link: http://ms-muse.blogspot.com/

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Ms. Muse will include a daily dose of large photos, like the one above of Ms. Moss. The English Muse will include everything else lovely.

xoxo

Petal covered paths...

It seems all of Los Angeles is in bloom this week...



with yellow silk...



and pink velvet...



Trees that refuse to be upstaged...



By any other flower. Even if their beauty is short lived...



(PS: Photos taken with a Polaroid Sun 660.)

If happiness had a color...

...It would have to be yellow...

Reminds me of this song: Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you...



(PS: click photos for linkbacks).

UPDATE! This comment from the lovely Ms Reread made me laugh: "Love that colour, especially when it's light and creamy like lemon gelati ... but Chris Martin makes me want to stick a fork in my eye."


What is it about Chris Martin? Either love him or hate him?! I think he's a hot-tie!

xoxo

First Dog

Bo, a six-month-old Portuguese water dog, has joined the Obamas this week as the newest member of the First Family. The floppy-eared, black-and-white dog was a gift from Sen. Edward Kennedy and his wife.

The Obamas had hoped to get a rescue dog, and in a way they have, according to The Washington Post. Bo had been living with another family, but it wasn't a good fit, so the Kennedys gave him to the Obamas. Ha! A regifted dog! He was originally named Charlie, but the Obamas decided to call him Bo, as in Bo Diddley.

I hope he gets along better with the press corps than Bush's dog Barney. This video of Barney biting a reporter always makes me laugh. (I know, that's terrible of me. It seems White House dogs are under as much pressure as their masters!)

Have a look:

A Twitter Over Lagerfeld

Direct Message: Karl, darling? Is that really you?


Your twitter updates are so fantastic! Remember the time...


...you twitted: "Throwing money out the window brings money back in through the front door." I hope you're right, because I've thrown lots out the window! (-30)

New Direct Message: It's ok if it's not really you. Whoever you are -- even if you are a guy posting from an apartment in Studio City -- keep at it!

---


Hello everyone. Happy Monday night. How are you? Are you recovered from the holiday?....Re: the photos above. For a laugh, I'm following THREE Karls on Twitter. They're are marvelously entertaining. (And maybe one of them is real. Who knows!)

Just for fun, here are their links:

Fake Karl Lagerfeld

The (probably fake) Karl.

And the definately car-trunk knockoff Karl.

If you want to follow them, follow me too!!! I'm for real!

My link {here}.

xoxo


Photo Credits: W magazine, Vogue.

Memories, Refracted

Through old photographs...

Of my childhood home in New Mexico...

They remind me today of those I love...



And miss...


What's a holiday without nostalgia, right!? I promise I won't do this again until Christmas!

El Greco, Off Kilter

Hello everyone! Hope you're having a lovely holiday weekend!

Check out this picture from the cover of a vintage paperback book on El Greco. When I found it today in my favorite thrift store, I thought I was looking at a Dali painting! It's so weird.

Somehow the color register was off in the printing. It reminds me of the old hologram photos I had as a kid (the early versions of a GIF).

Here's more....


The painting is "St. Martin and the Beggar," which is located in the Capela San Jose at Toledo, according to this musty little book (printed in 1967). You never know what you're going to find at a thrift store.

I should be cooking for brunch tomorrow. But I couldn't resist blogging...

Have a wonderful Easter!


UPDATE:
Hello everyone. Happy Sunday. I'm scrambling like crazy to get brunch together. I can't find the napkins!! Nevertheless, I wanted to post this comment from Talented Tina Tarnoff. I'm going to try her suggestion after a few glasses of champagne today. Ha!

from T. T. Tarnoff:

" The best things always happen by accident, the picture looks absolutely wonderfuly bizarre. I wonder what El Greco would think of this take on his work. And, yes, it does make you feel a bit dizzy, especially if one has had a happy, wine infused night:). That makes me think that maybe if one is very tipsy the picture somehow comes into focus. Should I try?"

Happy Weekend

It's the weekend...



Makes me want to...



...DANCE!





...Everyone have a great one...will meet you...



...back here on Monday!



PS: click photos for linkbacks.


xoxo

Black Cat, Observed

Hello everyone. I'm completely and totally smitten with artist Peter Alexander. I admit it. I love his Los Angeles cityscapes, his palm tree abstracts, his stunning painting of the full moon (posted last night.) But he won my heart with this series above.

He created these drawings -- pastel on paper -- in 1987 as an ode to his beloved black cat, Romance. Maybe it's because we have two black cats. (I love them!) A couple years ago, my young daughter decided to create an almanac of cat positions:

There was the french fry, the donut, the vulture, the croissant and -- the most beloved of all -- the bread loaf position.

Makes me happy to think about it. These drawings reminded me.

Holidays

...Easter weekend with its candy colors...



...We live in a lovely Armenian neighborhood, with the most delicious Middle Eastern restaurants and delis. The pastry shops make the prettiest Easter baskets and the most wonderful baklava. We're having my parents over for brunch on Sunday. I'm still trying to decide on the menu (besides a large tray of the sticky sweet baklava)!

...What are your plans?



Top photo from the lovely Jen, who has expanded her fantastic store. Check it out {here}.

The Full Moon

I love the moon and everything associated with it -- songs, poetry, photos and art. The painting, above, by iconic California artist Peter Alexander is one of my favorites. It's both beautiful and calming. (Did you see the full moon where you're at?)

Now that the storm clouds have cleared in Los Angeles, I can fall asleep with moonlight streaming through the bedroom window....

Shokoofeh

A few days ago a message popped up on one of my posts from a lovely young woman named Shokoofeh in Tehran, Iran. I was so excited and intrigued: I love that there are women bloggers in Iran. It underscored, yet again, how we are all citizens of the world brought together on this amazing thing called the Internet.

Shokoofeh's blog, A New Simple Something!, is simply wonderful. She has Polaroids of her friends and family (like the one above.) And today she writes so beautifully about Iranian fashion designer Afshin Feiz who finds inspiration in the gorgeous words of Sufi poet Rumi.

Shokoofeh includes this snippet of a Rumi poem:

"In your light I learn how to love
In your beauty, how to make poems
You dance inside my chest
where no-one sees you
but sometimes I do
and that sight becomes this art"


It is truly art and love and poetry that unite us.

The Architecture of Trees

...It's amazing what a viewfinder can do. It wasn't until I got my Polariod and began pointing at everything in sight did I appreciate the marvelous architecture of trees...



...Spare, bare branches through the winter... Boughs heavy with fruit and leaves in spring...



...Cypress trees are like those wonderful Egyptian obelisks: Essays in vertical elegance...



...On Polaroid a weeping willow is even more like a poem than it is in person...



...Who knew that all this loveliness was on the other side of the viewfinder...It's all a matter of viewpoint...



...From my point of view.
xo


PS: My "Trees" set on flickr.

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!)