Miss Isabella

Hello darlings. Hope you're doing well. Are you looking forward to the weekend? My dad will be in the hospital for a few more days. We've certainly had a lot of ups and downs. Yesterday was definitely one of the up days: The doctor is pleased with my dad's progress. And, after returning from the hospital, I found a lovely letter in the mailbox about my daughter. My ten-year-old girl (that's her in the Polaroid photo with the word "study" written on her hand) penned a poem that won the notice of the judges of a national children's writing competition. They're going to include it in an anthology with other children writers. I'm so proud of her, that cutie!

This is what she wrote:

Earth
Earth is the wet rain that falls on your head
Without the Earth all the flowers would be dead
Earth is the sun that shines up, up above
Without the Earth there would be no more love
Do this favor so the sky can be seen
Do us this favor and keep the Earth clean!

Good advice from a fifth grader! xoxo

Amelie

This makes me smile!

Hot Vanilla Sky

It's hot and sticky out today, one of those days in Los Angeles when the sky has turned blue-grey mixed with patches of vanilla (In other words: fog mixed with smog.) I'm so tired I feel jet lagged. My dad had a relapse on Monday and was readmitted to the hospital. I spent the night there on a lumpy cot last night -- the longest night ever! It makes him happy when I blog (and show him the pictures). So I'm blogging like crazy. You spend your life knowing that your parents will get sick someday with something that can't be cured. I'm just not ready for this to be the day....

Garden Roses

Hello everyone. Here are a few more Polaroids of some of my garden roses. I'm especially fond of the big fluffy purple one. (It's a David Austin rose called Othello.) I think the yellow one is Henry Ford, but I'm not sure. I lost the map I made of the rose garden a few years ago, so now I'm constantly mixing up the names. How do they come up with these names for roses anyway? Would Henry Ford even want to be a yellow rose? Maybe red is more his style.

Afternoon Eye Candy

Hello my dears, I hope you're having a lovely Tuesday. Since my dad got sick ten days ago, I've been looking for little respites. Lately, my favorite is watching perfume ads on YouTube. (Call it Perfume Porn!) I know it sounds weird, but it's a beautiful escape. I found this one last night of Keira Knightly for Chanel. I love the part where she dabs the guy with the perfume.
What do you think?



UPDATE! Here's the Chanel commercial with Audrey Tautou.



xoxo

Cecil Beaton

I would love to be in London this week...



For the last few days of the Cecil Beaton exhibit
at the Chris Beetles Art Gallery...



The retrospective features 64 images that cover more than 40 years of Beaton's career. It would be so lovely to see the exhibit and then head over to the Tea Palace in Notting Hill for tea, don't you think?

(PS: The third photo is my favorite. Can you imagine the caption: "Dear, I found the most fabulous little fixer-upper for us!")


More on Chris Beetles website.

So Charming...

I LOVE these embroidered illustrations by Stephen Campbell...



It would be so lovely to walk my dog (or cat?) in London...



Or navigate the Tube with this fantastic map!



I can't sew a stitch but I adore whimsical embroidery. And Campbell's is brilliant!

There's more of his designs over here!

xoxo

Sofia Coppola

...I love her photography...



...as well as her movies...



...It's all so very delicious...



...but I'm especially in love with her Miss Dior commercial...



And this website, Life With Sofia.

It's like having pink macrons for breakfast! Happy Monday!

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!