Well, it made ME laugh....

Ha HA HA AHAHAHAHAHhahahahahHAHAHh!

From Emersonmade.

My dream car.

Isn't life just awesome x 1000? I don't mean that half as sarcastic as it sounds. Forty percent tops. Above, please note, is my dream car.

via Renegade.

Weekend: good.

Went to see Chris play guitar. Fin stayed in his pajamas all day. My handsome husband crashed descending Mount Diablo and used a pot-scrubber to remove tar and lycra from his road rash. He says that despite the claims printed on the package, it did in fact, scratch. I made pesto. And a pie. How was your weekend?

Hello, Nutella.

As a rule, I avoid Nutella. I cover my eyes and sing loudly as I pass it in the grocery store so I cannot hear it call out to me for if I succumb to it's siren song, I'll be licking the inside of the jar clean before I pull into my driveway.

But. One of the great joys of mothering is getting to re-experience some of the better parts of childhood with and through your children - getting a new box of crayons, waiting for Santa, the scent of graham crackers, dancing like no-one is watching, you know.... And, now: Nutella.

We are experimenting with a variety of Nutella-vehicles. My favorite is banana. Seamus's is animal crackers. Finny likes his with a spoon. What's your fave?

Friday, I'm in love....

Hello, Autumn.

Things I have said today:

1. You were right.

2. I don't know - do You think Draco Malfoy does his own hair?

3. Don't just throw your nunchucks on the floor, honey.

Astonish me.

The Russian-born photographer, designer and instructor Alexy Brodovitch often began his classes by shouting "Astonish me!" at the assembled students. I had a teacher in design school who sometimes did the same, but in a conspiratorial let's not abide mediocrity, shall we? sort of way.

Color photos (that have almost nothing to do with the above random non-story) of southern and central Russia, made by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii between 1909 and 1912. The images were created by taking 3 black & white photos in rapid succession, using red, green and blue filters - then recombined and projected with filtered lanterns with heartbreakingly (astonishingly) beautiful results.

From here, via here, by way of here.

Porch update.

Pretty paper lanterns, yes? Garden update to come, and maybe a shop update? A shop update!

Sunday vs. Monday

It's not really a fair fight.

And now I have a Beatles song stuck in my head - She Came In Through the Bathroom Window. Not so bad as far as songs stuck in your head for a Monday morning. And? I'm noticing a "through" sort of theme happening....

Through.

Me: Let's walk on the path so we don't have to go through the sprinklers.

Seamus: Actually, Fin and I have a plan to go Through the sprinklers.

Me: Oh. Okay then.

Because that seems 100% reasonable.

Friday, I'm in love....

This is totally where I'm sleeping tonight. Photo by Ditte Isager, via Lovely Clusters.

Porch love.

This last picture is My spot. Will there always be flowers and a little glass of wine on that table? As far as you know.... and I'll be there too, at about 5:30, not reading the book in my lap, gazing into the middle-distance, and enjoying.

ps. Life is a little sweeter with a pretty front door.

Color theory, latent superpowers and learning something about one's spouse of twelve years.

For five years I have been laboring under the (false, it turns out) impression that I live in a yellow house with lavender trim and green shutters. It's exactly as bad as it sounds. But alas, I was mistaken. Or, tra-la! I was mistaken! Depending on your point of view. Also, the front door is dark purpley-blue. As seen here.

Yes, the light is crooked.

So anyway, on Thursday I decided that my life would be sweeter if the front door was a different color. This promises to be an excellent story, doesn't it? Go fill up your wine glass and come back. I will wait.

While my handsome husband ably pulled the door of it's hinges and stripped it, I sashayed off to the paint store with absolutely no plan other than "do not buy dark purpley-blue paint." And I didn't. What I did buy was a gorgeous Sky Space for the door and Snow Cap - a lovely warm white - for the trim.

Snow Cap turns out to be exactly (Exactly) the same color as my house. So, good news! My house is not yellow, lavender and green. It's a lovely warm white, lavender and green. Sweet!

Sky Space turns out to be exactly (Exactly) the same gorgeous color that my neighbor just painted her porch.

Another person might be discouraged that she was now in possession of two gallons of paint that she could not use, but I am jubilant because I have discovered my latent superpower! I have exact (Exact) color memory! Not for colors I can use, but still! Now, if only I can learn to control my power and use it for evil! mwahahahaha!

Moving on. My neighbor, Kiera, made lots of encouraging noises like: "I don't mind," and "It will look completely different on your house," but no. My handsome husband is anti-teal. This is News to me. Almost twelve years we have been married, and I had no idea he was anti-teal. He is also anti-pink, but not anti-Miami, I have since learned after a thorough (and probably somewhat annoying) questioning. Superpower notwithstanding, I'm going back to the paint store.

Brief soccer interlude.

At Lowe's, where you Can return paint, I have lost all credibility with the staff.

Are you sure?

Do you want a sample can?

Maybe you want to think about it for a few days?

What they don't understand is that I have porch envy and Seasonal Affective Disarray and a front door off it's hinges (and a superpower). Against their professional advice, I left with a quart each of Bay Sands and Caraway Shield and a strong hopefulness that my handsome (long-suffering) husband is not anti-olive. More photos tomorrow....

Good morning, sunshine!

Porch envy.

Serious porch envy I am having. So serious indeed, that I might be motivated to do something about ours this weekend.

Summer is not over yet.

Right?

inspirational photos from:

Resurrection Fern

Nancy Niel via design*sponge,

Magnolia Moonlight via design*sponge,

Kelly Teasly via design*sponge.

Happy day.

Being Harry Potter.

Not being "like" Harry Potter. Being Harry Potter.

Harry has captured Seamus's imagination in a way that makes it impossible for him to think or talk about anything else. He consumes anything Potter-related in great gulps. He wants to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs but we live in a one-story house. He does not consider this a plausible excuse and can you blame him? Julie found some old glasses and popped the lenses out, and he is the happiest boy on earth.