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!

Weekend Cabin Getaway

We're going away this weekend! I'm so excited. We're renting a cabin (no, unfortunately not the one above.. More on that in a minute.) I have so many romantic ideas of cabin life. Vintage blankets, linens and quilts, flannel shirts, mismatched enamelware, an iron bed, an old fashioned stove, homemade pies, pottery vases filled with wildflowers. Oh, and yes, the outdoors.

Did you ever see the movie Always, with Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter? I watched that movie 20 times, it seems, just to study the decor of their little cabin. So magical. (And remember when he bought her "girl clothes"? She looked like an angel.)

So you can imagine how delighted I was when the Los Angeles Time' Home section ran this feature (and online slideshow) recently of Suzan Fellman's wonderful cabin, pictured above and below, in Big Bear.
(Photography by the talented Stephen Page.)

Here's a little tour of Fellman's mountain abode:


An adorable bathroom with a clawfoot tub (and I love the giant ball of yarn!). A cute little dog, an essential trip companion. And look at this kitchen...


...and cozy living room...


The cabin we're renting is more basic. But I'm sure it will be charming. All you need is four walls, the wilderness, and a few (dozen) lovely vintage accessories. My husband assures me that there's WIFI, but I'm not sure...So if you don't hear from me until Monday, you'll know I had a computer glitch -- or an encounter with a California black bear.

xoxo


UPDATE: Saturday. We're at the cabin. It's very cute! Getting tons of pictures. And we have wifi! Thank you everyone for your lovely comments! So happy! BBQing for dinner...

UPDATE: Sunday.. Hello everyone! Here sipping coffee and reading a stack of magazines. Can't wait to show you my Polaroids. Will upload them as soon as we get home this evening..have lots to tell you!

Jeanloup Sieff

...He was a Parisian photographer who loved....


...the feminine form...
...He was most know for this amazing photo...


....that defined his style.

My favorite Jeanloup Sieff photo is the top one, taken in Palm Beach in 1964 for Harper's Bazaar. I've often wondered: What does that beautiful woman think of that guy?

What do you think?


Sieff died in 2000, but his estate maintains a wonderful website in his name. Browse through all the gorgeous photos {here}.

Spring in LA

This is my favorite time of year in Los Angeles. The air smells like a spray of perfume -- white star jasmine mixed with orange blossoms. Here are a few snapshots from various locales. (The swans are at the Hotel Bel-Air! The telephone wires are, unfortunately, from my backyard. ) There are camellias blooming with azaleas. And all the fruit trees are flowering.

I'm happy until I get an allergy attack, like now. I have a headache from all this beauty!

Wouldn't you just...

...love to spend the day with the curtains drawn....


...eating popcorn and watching....


...movie after movie?...

What would you like to see? Casablanca? Les Quatre Cents Coups? There's Something About Mary? Say Anything?

Anything at all?


(The credits: top illustration by Colorfly Studio and middle picture by
Distorted by Time. I have no idea who did the Scarlett GIF. Whoever they are, I applaud them!)

Happy watching, darlings!
xo

Plate Wall

I'm still gathering plates from thrift stores for my plate wall. I found another photo for inspiration on lovely Charlie's Design Diary. These are all Marimekko plates. What do you think? I love the black flower...

Whimsy, Stitched

I'm completely charmed by Sarajo Frieden's wonderful, whimsical embroidery. She just posted a new lot on flickr. (And she has a lovely website.)

Here we have "Stitched Bird with Coat," "Leaf Lady," and "Pocket Park." The leaf lady does not look pleased. She looks like she's saying: "Yeah, you try being covered with leaves." The lady with the plant: "My plant and I are on important business." The bird: "Eternal vigilance is the price of plumage."

Gouache on paper with collage and embroidery, done in collaboration with equally crafty Marci Boudreau. Love!!


UPDATE. Funny comment from Giulia:

"Marvelous. I agree with Tina about the (top) bird. I would add: sardonic & knowing. She carries off that red chapeau beautifully:) I have no idea why, but Diana Vreeland comes to mind. Maybe the noble nose & the red hat? Everything comme il faut? Forgive the franglais. I shall stop now."