laugh as we always laughed

Rest peacefully sweet Nana. Know that you were admired and adored by so many. You have touched our lives in more ways than you could ever imagine. I know you are in a beautiful place, chatting and laughing, having a cup of tea and perhaps baking a batch of your unforgettable christmas cookies.

Mabel Lydia Thiel Gorrek
(30 August 1920 - 18 December 2010)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without affect,
without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.

All is well.

by Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)
Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral

broccoli floret

Ahh, Mother Nature, always surprising me. I grew broccoli in the garden this year. Apparently if you wait a little long for harvesting, it bursts into a beautiful bouquet of yellow flowers. Love it! Makes a perfect partner for my dahlias.

cheerful and charming, vee guthrie

I found this cookbook at an antique market in Rhinebeck, New York. The epitomy of cheerful and charming, it was illustrated by Vee Guthrie and published by Peter Pauper press in 1951. Each section is preceded with a full page illustration by the artist. The colors, the type, the folky style, such a little treasure!

evolving stylist

It has been quite a busy summer for me workwise. In June I was asked to style a photo shoot for John & Kira's chocolates, who has been a design client of mine for the past few years. I was extremely nervous going into it, but eventually settled in and found the styling part to be quite natural, especially since I knew the client and their products so well. And I really loved the shopping part! Most of the props were purchased at flea markets and consignment shops in New York City.

Here are a few of the more intimate chocolate beauty photographs. The photos were shot by the very talented John Uher at his studio in New York.

The Golden Age of Travel

So beautiful. Reposted from Boston Public Library's Flickr page.

The Boston Public Library's Print Department is home to more than 350 vintage travel posters, most dating from the 1920s-1940s, the “Golden Age of Travel.”

Railways opened up America and Europe, luxe ocean liners introduced elegance into overseas voyages, and drivers took to the road in record numbers in their new automobiles. By the mid-1940s, new airlines crisscrossed the globe, winging adventure-seekers to far-flung destinations.

Travel agents and ticket offices during this period were festooned with vivid, eye-catching posters, all designed to capture the beauty, excitement and adventure of travel and to promote a world of enticing destinations and new modes of transportation. Individual artists gained fame for their distinctive graphic styles and iconic imagery, and many posters from this era still remain important works of art long after their original advertising purposes have faded.

It can be this simple. : ) (as seen on typcut)

S E A S O N S

As soon as I picked up this book, I dove right in and began to swim through it's pages. Each spread is thoughtful, unique and graphically stunning. At $19.95, it makes a wonderful gift for kids and adults. Illustrated by French artist, Blex Bolex, and published by Enchanted Lion Books.