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I am taking the day off. (We were in the ER from 1-3 am. End result? Our son does not have appendicitis ….)See you tomorrow!

After a slow start yesterday (the NYTimes delivered only part of the paper), things started to pick up in the good karma department.

1. I’m 99% finished finding volunteers for “Art Adventure” at my son’s school. (this always feels great, because cold calling is not that much fun)
2. I now have my $100 thank-you-for-paying-too-much-for-your- now-discontinued-iPhone credit. What will I buy???? the new Nano? Maybe. I’m still hoping for a new, super-thin laptop ….
3. I didn’t have to stay at soccer practice, sweating in my car in the 90+ degree heat, because another parent offered to drive the pick-up route. (This was incredibly good karma, as I can’t/won’t turn on the a/c while I’m just sitting there; Al Gore has gotten to me)
4. Design*Sponge published a Boston design guide, helped by Elisabeth at Black Pearl Press. (yea, E!) As someone who loves to shop Boston, I have to say – great choices. I’ll have to check out a few “new” shops on my next visit. Great food choices as well.
5. And speaking of Elisabeth, she’s updated her Black Pearl Press website. I got to visit Elisabeth’s studio back in August when we were visiting Boston (it was totally charming – no surprise), and the photos in the online portfolios are just a small representation of her beautiful letterpress work. You’ll want to bookmark it and check in from time to time for updates. Or, you’ll want to throw a party just so you can order some beautiful invitations. (This is how my mind works.) I’m going back today to scan through the portfolios ….

But it wasn’t all good karma. While doing my Monday check of the New Yorker and New York magazines online (because goodness knows when the mailman will decide to deliver them), I came upon this depressing little article. So why exactly am I running when my hip hurts when I’m finished? Anyone? Didn’t do much for my scone/cookie/cupcake addiction, either. Guess I’ll be picking up the book when it hits shelves October 2. See the photo above for how it affected my typical maple nut scone and coffee breakfast ….. not that I ever truly thought that scones were health food …..

It’s supposed to reach 90 here today, but by week’s end, the highs should be closer to 70. (which is more to my liking, especially by the end of September) In anticipation, we are trying to finish up the yard work for the season. A couple of plants were transplanted to allow them to fill out better, the wisteria vines are getting tied off on the pergola, and after lots and lots of rain in August, it’s been a dry September, so we watered the beds.Yesterday, the visitor above was at our front door, which was a nice break from the spider invasion we have going on. Our very own “Charlotte” is spinning her web from the hydrangeas to the house. She then waits, dead center, for “visitors”. I’ve tried to photograph the web, but my efforts were not so good, so you’ll have to trust me on this one. Kind of a natural Halloween theme going on.

During my weekend magazine catch-up, I fell in love with the Cottage Living 2007 Idea Home. Love that it’s a reasonable size, love the double-galley porch, and love the kitchen (especially the repurposed bank safe door) and the entry “library”, although my sister pointed out that it looked so good because all of the books had white spines, and that my attempt to replicate it would not look quite the same without a lot of re-jacketing. Anyway. Looking at houses is one of my favorite things, and if you’d like to see the house, pick up the October issue, or click here for the online coverage. (Interesting fact: The house was built off site, from the outside in, and then delivered and assembled.)

More Nola news: Today’s NYTimes has an excellent article about the challenges facing the school system, and new superintendent Paul Vallas’ efforts to turn things around …. I really hope he is successful.

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How can it be Friday, again!? Last night I was at my son’s school for back-to-school night. Before that, I sliced my finger on some glass while re-heating spaghettios …… some of you are no doubt thinking that it was karma for serving spaghettios. It did add a nice bit of drama as I was preparing to leave. (Bleeding finger; spaghettios everywhere; change of clothes required) Now that I’ve got you thinking cuts, and blood, and bandages, here are the Five:

1. city apples
2. after- inspiration
3. untitled
4. chlorophyll breakdown
5. late summer harvest

Happy Weekend! See you Monday …..

Sounds like a pledge, doesn’t it? Sometimes I need that pledge! Otherwise I end up curling up with a magazine, listening to NPR, and what do you know, the school bus arrives, and daily life takes over. Again.For you Chicagoans with free time this weekend, Greer is having a Russell + Hazel trunk show on Saturday from 11-4. The first 100 people will get a free copy of Organize magazine (which is full of gorgeous inspiring photographs); everyone gets 15% off Russell + Hazel goodness, and the opportunity to get advice from Monica Friel (founder of Chaos to Order). I will be at another of my son’s soccer games, so please check it out for me and report back! Greer is such a cool little shop, and I’m a little envious right now of people with free Saturdays …..If you’d rather get your paper inspiration online, check out Bluebird Studios’ latest blog entries. Rebecca Trawick did some beautiful lettering work for Stella Kim’s invitations. (Love her calligraphy style!) And a shout out to Good on Paper for the invitation design as well.Time to suit up for the Thursday run, and then I’m off to conquer the world, or at least part of my to-do list!

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