And to everyone, like my little sister, who feared for my sanity after seeing the paint post … no, I’m not entering a Goth phase late in life and painting the kitchen black. Christina guessed it … chalkboard paint. To create a chalkboard wall. To expand the previously small, framed space (which didn’t work because the frame fell down every time the refrigerator was opened). As soon as the paint cures, we’ll do a big reveal!
The skies are still gray but the rain stopped, so off we went to accomplish many things. Along the way, we walked down secret alleys and peaked in pretty windows.
Pretended to be ladies who lunch. And indeed we did lunch.
Stocked up and promised ourselves never, ever, ever to go to Trader Joes on a Saturday.
Want a boost of color? Time to dress up the walls? Looking for inspiration? I’ve got the project for you!
All you need is old calendars, favorite postcards, pretty papers or cutting from a magazine + cheap frames (think Target and Ikea) + scissors:
Decide what images you want to use. Trim to fit. Put together. Then place in a pleasing arrangement.
And there you have it. Prep time: 20 minutes. Execution: 10 minutes (+ if you forget to measure twice and have the hole in the wrong place).
I plan to add on to mine from top and bottom as I collect more favorite images. Am also thinking it would be fun to alter them in some way. I’ll keep you posted.
Editor’s Note: The painting in the middle is an original from France. A treasure from my sister that really pops now that it’s surrounded by a series of uniform frames and complementary colors.
Editor’s Note 2: You’ll find that the frames, even after careful measuring, do not line up exactly right. Or look right when you’re up close but wonky from afar. This comes from using inexpensive frames that aren’t perfectly identical in size. I like it this way. But you could always take away the back easel (that gives you the option to stand the frame up) so it’s less bulky and inclined to move + affix a bit of tape to the bottom so it stays exactly where you want it.
I posted! On any given day, there’s usually a blog post or two floating around in my head. You wouldn’t know that of course because, as evidenced by the 1-week time lapse, I didn’t actually make it to the keyboard. Well, yes of course I was at the keyboard for hours … client work and all. But the fabulous things I was going to observe, tell you or just laugh about never came out.
Well here’s to another week and a big dose of GO power. To start us off, look at this super cool present I got yesterday …
OMG! It’s a GO package courtesy of my friend Lauri who wields an X-acto knife with amazing prowess. You should see her GO!
Speaking of GO, I’ve been giving a go, go, get gone kick to unwanted catalogs. I tried calling that “opt out” number that is supposed to put an end to junk mail but the catalogs continued to pour in. I have a sneaking suspicion that this formula is in play: amount of online shopping is directly proportional to number of catalogs received. Which is why I find bizarre catalogs like Viva Terra and Free People in my mailbox. No thanks.
So now everyday I GO right over to Catalog Choice and opt out. Catalog Choice is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center with a bold mission:
The mission of Catalog Choice is to reduce the number of repeat and unsolicited catalog mailings, and to promote the adoption of sustainable industry best practices
Using the site is free, and super easy. Just type in the catalog name, click the decline button and enter the customer number (if there is one on the back of the catalog). The site keeps track of your preferences via a secure user name and password that you create. I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to grab those magazines, opt-out and then dump them in the recycling box as I add to the over 4 million catalogs consumers have already opted not to receive.
I like reducing the amount of matter in the world, so I can focus on the stuff that does matter.
It’s a slow-GO day over here with a child home from school with what we hope is a short-lived flu. All righty then, off I go to see how much go I can get done!
I know, I know. It’s only mid-September. But it’s never too early for Christmas, I always say. I settled on a theme last month … this year, it’s all about silver + pinecones with some red mixed in (I’ll have loads of extra tissue paper from the wedding flower project … is it crazy to stamp it with little silver stars?) … and I have a running list of notes and plans. It seems that the folks at Williams-Sonoma had the same idea.
Last weekend, while running errands, K and I stopped short in front of the big W-S store. What’s that? A Christmas tree? Are they crazy? See, it’s all well and good for me to plan ahead but I don’t like to be rushed by the retailers. I was going to boycott but the tantalizing smells wafting from the store could not be resisted. It was an amazing . Probably because everything looked fresh since no one else has holiday up. The W-S folks are doing a Holiday Preview. All the items for the 07 season are up for a couple weeks. Then they’re going to take it all down until after Thanksgiving. I’m so curious about this marketing strategy. Would love to talk to the folks who dreamed it up.
We sampled hot chocolate, mini cakes and specialty cheeses. Oh, and picked up a couple things.
The mind reels with all the project possibilities. For now, I’m resuming my regularly scheduled flower-making programming. And on Monday, Halloween comes out. All 5 boxes of it!
In many ways, I am more translator than writer. I spend much of my time translating what other people have written (with all the best intentions of course) into words and sentences that are easy to read and understand. I am artful in my placement of semicolons in the right place, knowledgeable about the serial comma (though I don’t care for it) and unafraid of leaving the extraneous on the cutting room floor.
Yet sometimes words poorly translated make the most impact. Case in point: English that began as Japanese. I received a new stash of fabric from my favorite online resource, Superbuzzy, today. They specialize in Japanese fabrics and often feature storybook scenes. As I folded the freshly laundered material into neat squares, my eye fell upon this one:
And I had to laugh. There are three phrases that tell us the story.
1) The depths of a forest found a house of a cake deeply what.
2) Two people ate a cake of the full. I spent a very happy time.
3) One day a good friend brother and animals lived very much.
It may not make complete sense (or any) but sure does make me smile. Maybe punctuation is overrated.
My little sister is a hotshot mergers and acquisition attorney who is also passionate about sports. She began training for triathalons a few years ago. A hairline hip fracture set her back for a bit but only for a bit. This past Sunday, she participated in the Chicago triathalon at a personal best of under 3 hours. 2:57:54 to be exact. She may be 8 years younger than me but she is a constant inspiration.
Today Grace Paley passed away. And today my dearest friend’s first full-length collection of poetry went on sale. One leaving and one arriving. The yin and yang of two creative selves. The coincidence is heavy with meaning and portends, I think, of something remarkable underway.
In an iChat exchange, Sage said she felt better after she blogged about Grace; like she paid her respects. I responded that I planned to talk about Grace as way of introducing her book. We surmised that there are women blogging about dear Grace all over the world.
I share with Sage a favorite Grace Paley quote. There was an interview in which Grace Paley was asked, “You’re a mother, a wife, a writer, a teacher, an activist. How do you have time to do it all?” To which Grace responded, “Well, I have all day.”
That line fundamentally changed the way I approach life. Just as surely as Sage’s book of poems change, nourish and inspire me. “Like the Heart, the World” accompanies the reader through the blighted streets of New York losses, the oceanic melancholies of San Francisco and Portland’s orchestral embrace of the ripening, welcomed self.
I will long cherish my autographed copy. You can get one too right here. You’ll cherish it too.
If I’d blinked I would have missed it. The wall. Saturated in color, old iron made new. Right in the middle of a jam-packed urban shopping center. Maybe it was the juxtaposition that made it so startling … and beautiful. Looking at the wall felt like a found poem. Bits and pieces of things mixed together to tell a new story. I’m glad I didn’t blink.
