simplepretty

Thank you, Louise! Your sperm whale watercolor arrived this week in the mail, safe and sound. I plan to take it to the framer asap. Hopefully, we will come up with something simple and elegant to prepare it for my staircase wall (you know, my envisioned staircase with art framed in black). I couldn’t be happier with my whale painting, and I’m grateful to have found such talented people through blogging. Check out Louise’s blog today for some lovely cat watercolors ….. and keep reading for lots and lots of her gorgeous work.

Further evidence of talented people out there in the blogosphere? My Port2Port September shipment also arrived yesterday. I am continually surprised (and delighted) by Maria’s work. I love the card with two big circles! It would make a fine wedding card, although the other reminds me of bubbling champagne, so that one would be nice, too. (Can you tell that I have yet to send my brother a card congratulating him on his wedding?) It’s so much fun opening my Port2Port envelope each month, not knowing what will be inside ……A big “Thanks” once again to both of you!

I woke up late (for me) this morning, and therefore have only gotten through the Tribune so far. Seems that Sunday’s Emmys may have the lowest ratings ever. I did not watch it live, because I was at a wedding, but because I am a geek, I taped it. And by the way, I think I’m on to something here. No more montages, no more awards-that-I-do-not care about, no more unfunny scripted banter, but only the things I deem important. And that, for the most part, is funny people. Guided by the Monday reviews, I made deft use of the fast forward button to bring you my highlights. Only 24 hours plus after the rest!In no particular order, they are:

1. The Tony Bennett/Christina Aguilera duet. I will give Ms. Aguilera a few demerits for overshadowing Tony Bennett. My son remarked that Bennett has a “nice voice”.
2. The Steve Carell/Office castmate tape. Cute. Funny. Not too long. Perfect.
3. Lewis Black’s commentary about network executives. For the most part, it was right on the mark, which left me wondering how it got on the air.
4. The variety/musical/comedy series writing award, for the tapes provided by each nominated show. Bill Maher and Jon Stewart’s were the funniest, but “I can’t recall” the rest.
5. The Jersey Boys performance was excellent, and the songs are still in my head this morning. I haven’t seen the Sopranos, so when the song ended, it was back to fast forward mode. I think that Jersey Boys is coming to Chicago …… gotta look into that.

I have no best-dressed thoughts, as fast forwarding doesn’t allow you time to study that. But no worries. People, US, and the tabloids will be happy to publish text books later this week so that I can study up and opine later.So wait for that ….

…. and I’m still thinking “Wedding”. (Congratulations again to P + G. We had a fantastic time at your wedding. Good times, family and friends, tasty food, perfect weather …. what better way to start your married life! Enjoy your honeymoon!)Last week, I picked up the newest issue of InStyle Weddings, solely for the stationery feature. Surprise, surprise. What hooked me? Five stationers were asked to design a “dream” wedding invitation set. Thank you, InStyle, for giving me a new stationer to drool over. Lily Darby put together the set pictured above (scanned from InStyle), and I was intrigued by the buttoned table cards, which were a sweet vintage touch. To really get a feel for their work, you’ve just got to click over to their website. Under “Classic”, you must check out the striped ribbon detail for Brooke’s invitations. The blue is simply gorgeous. The InStyle feature is Alexandra’s “classic” set, and the site provides eight closeups of the components, to better complement my scan. But my favorite, and the reason I’ve added Lily Darby to my Letterpress Bliss section at the right, is Tasha & Mark’s “Nouveau” invitation set. Tasha & Mark were married at the Peterborough, New Hampshire Town Library (the first public free library in the country). I could look at these charming invitations all day long! Where do I start? The ultra-cute pencils? The reference card save the dates? It is all fab. Love, love, love it! (I can’t neglect Lauren’s milk-cap themed invitations, either. They were pretty darn awesome as well!) Well done, Lily Darby! Look forward to seeing more of your work in magazines soon.

SaveSave

Big weekend, this weekend. My brother is getting married on Sunday (Congratulations, P + G! – and brava, Emily, for the lovely invitations.) My baby turns 10 on Sunday. How can that be???? And so it’s going to be a busy 48 hours. On with the Five:

1. Autumn has arrived in my backyard
2. orange dahlias
3. your path
4. fishing boats on a crisp autumn morning
5. triplets

Hope you all have restful, peaceful weekends. I’ll see you on Monday!

SaveSave

Ever have one of those days where your mind is full of stuff? Like you can’t figure out what to say (or do) first? I have those a lot – usually when I return from vacation – but I’m having another “episode” today. So, I’m going to post my stream-of-consciousness thoughts and then sign off …..

1. John Hodgman is soooooo funny. I loved his success strategies on Tuesday’s “Daily Show”- especially the Dream Banner. So, of course, I Googled him. Here’s where you can find a list of This American Life episodes he’s featured in, here’s his blog (areasofmyexpertise.blogspot.com), and here’s his Wikipedia entry.
2. Anne Klein’s Spring 2008 collection is beautiful.
3. I would love to eat a meal at Picnick, in Battery Park. Heck, I’d even settle for Shake Shack and its crazy line. I have to get to NYC for a visit soon ….
4. If I can’t get to NYC, then perhaps LA for some sno:la yogurt.
5. At least I have some kayak cookies to munch on …..
6. I’m still obsessing over Vanessa Boer’s beautiful doll (vanessaboer.blogspot.com) featured in the Real Simple Family issue. I need one – it screams sweet, and I love its dress!

And that is just a smattering of the thoughts that are running through my head. I haven’t even flipped through the NYTimes Style and Home sections yet! I’m off for a run. Maybe that will help sort through the mess. See you tomorrow …..

Oh, and add #7. I’m trying to stop putting two spaces (Type Crime #2!) between sentences. It’s a hard habit to break; I have a lifetime of typing two ….