two things...

first we have a tableau in black and white with fuchsia that is composed of

• a truly amazing figurine created by katy and sarah (my two favorite frauleins) in honour of Das Rheingold's opening and of course portraying my gal Freia
• a mini canvas with a gaff tape eye that was done by Achim Freyer during a fitting with the singer who wears/lugs around the Freia costume case(he decided that the apples should have eyes)
• a milk glass puddin' cup that i got at salvation army this weekend...plus two mystery seed pods picked up at the garden
• a framed papercut that i did a month or so ago(more on that another time)
• a cheapo cut milk glass looking vase w/fading camellia
• a signed charcoal drawing that Achim Freyer gifted me with in thanks for my hard work(instinctually, i think that it is Freia, but i dunno...i love it!!!)
  

nextly, this was my delicious dinner of cheese risotto, roasted butternut squash and a poached egg...yolky goodness and don't forget the parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

a teaser...

also...lucky me to have such a sweet friend no matter the miles or the years...

it was a sweet end to a crabby day last tuesday when i came home from work to find a box chock full o' sea shells and necklaces(also that most excellent news photo of coach bobby bowden used to stuff the box was hot) . thank you meagan, you made my week and i am so happy to have you back in my life. and...i really really wish i could come have some soup. earlier that evening at rehearsal, i was also given a super cute 5o's cardigan with an abstract print of flowes and leaves. this was totally unexpected and came from someone who barely knows me, but knows that i love vintage. thanks mary!!!! you are a doll!!!

a visit to my new "backyard"

i have become a member of the huntington library and gardens. this was a big decision for me as it is a little pricey to join(well just over a hundred dollars) and nowadays i am trying to crack down on errant money fumbles...but this is so worth it and just a bike ride away!
so today, even with the grey gloom, i wandered around for a bit and sat on a bench by the lily pond(pictured above) and tried to read my darwin biography. i couldn't concentrate though and it was a bit chilly so i walked around and found loads of cherry blossoms and beautiful dried up pomegranite bushes...and then, i remembered the "beautiful science" exhibit in the library. so instead of reading about darwin, i was able to examine some of his and other naturalists of that eras(and before) work. i love the self~portrait of me looking at hand blown glass bulbs that are AGES old and kept in a special box that allows them to be hooked up to electricity but will not drain them of their oldey timey juice. it looks like i am wearing a crown of stars...

valentine my valentine...

this morning i woke up at kind of a normalish 7 am(normal for work days) Greg was up and when he saw me he got kind of bothered and wanted to know why i was up and suggested that i go back to bed for an extended saturday sleep. i should mention that Greg had not been to sleep yet as he and i are on totally different schedules. anyway, forced back to bed for another hour or three i awoke to banging and clanking in the kitchen mixed with the faint aroma of sizzling pork fat. YUMMY...within minutes the bedroom door was opened and in walked my sweetheart with a tray full of breakfast goodness and one long stemmed beautiful red rose. i don't really put much emphasis on this day of hearts and flowers. i like it for the kitsch factor, but i don't demand(only demurely yearn) sweet cupid's excesses. but breakfast in bed!!!! yes please! pancakes, eggs over medium, sausage and orange juice(with a fizzy emergen-cee bomb). sweet sweet boy...

sweetest valentine...

gloomy beautiful sunday...

bless grey days in southern california. without them i think that i could well go off my head. they make me wax nostalgic on my time as a girl growing up in the rural countryside of pennsylvania. on grey spring days i would run through our back field pretending to be jane eyre traipsing across the moors. all i ever wanted to do was move to england. i tried to convince my mom that i should be enrolled in the study abroad/student exchange program. she refused on the basis that she just knew that i would be absolutely positively miserable. FIE on that...
today was also a day for retail thrift therapy. after hitting anthropologie yesterday and being in love/hate with everything(LOVE the aesthetic/HATE the price tag especially when i know what it costs to make these things...), i heard the soft psychic tug of st. vincent's beckoning.
i always have to heed the call. love ya st. vinny's.

sigh...

this looks dreamy!

le buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

i love bees. i mean really, i love them. i don't shoosh them away when they dip into my personal space. i want them to live and i want them to thrive. it is a dream of mine to someday become a bee charmer. it would be a cherished relationship founded on respect and a mutual love for flowers and honey. i should share that at around the age of 10 i was involved in an unfortunate mishap involving me, two friends and a swarm. we were playing superheros in the woods and had found an old dead tree to push and pummel. i still remember the way that dark cloud looked as it funneled out of the tree. but, those were yellow jackets and not bees.
save the honeybee. save the world.