twenty seconds

the most beautiful twenty seconds.

surely heaven is a library

in what is surely a sign of insanity with an upcoming move and all, i seem to have acquired several large and rather heavy books lately. but there is little i love more than the touch, feel and experience of a book. (i shall never be a kindle convert, as one of the best parts of packing for a trip is selecting the books to go along with it. usually an old friend, and a few new.) between the covers of these books are some truly exceptional pages.

what i really want is to sit side by side on the couch with you, a volume across our laps and flip slowly through the beautiful pages so we can feel them between our fingertips. books are for sharing, natch. but i will settle for sharing a few glimpses of my favorite pages. i wish i could truly translate the texture of the pages, the near reverence these books evoke.



from right to left (and in the same order below)

1. alice - as illustrated by leonard weisgard
2. the annotated alice - a lovely compendium of notes on the author, era and illustrator, along with segments from his original manuscript. (and here i must confess a bit of guilt, as i haggled a ridiculously low price for this volume for the reason that i already owned a copy. once i opened it, the paper stock almost makes my fingers shake and it's nothing less than pure joy to read. i shall not dicker over my next find from that dealer.)
3. mother goose - passed down from a good friend. gyo fujikawa illustrated one of my favorite childhood books and i still love her work today.
4. wildflowers - huge illustrated plates on paper that is both heavy and vaguely translucent all at once. this is the kind of book people part out plate by plate... but that would clearly be a tragedy of epic proportions.
5. and 6. beautifully illustrated bird books filled with full color plates. i consider these a necessity as they are such a great reference when i'm working on a particular bird species.

i hope you enjoyed these. i hope someday we can reach up on our tiptoes and make a gorgeous mess pulling all the books of the shelves. with cups of coffee balanced on the stacks, of course.

r

nesting

i have long admired the carefully curated products at neëst.

from the utilitarian to the superlative, simplicity reigns.

not only have i promised myself a cat upon our installation in the new house,

but a chemex coffee pot as well. (this is now a three year old promise. it's been a long time coming.)

i don't actually have a christmas list.

but if i did, it would probably look a lot like this.

xo. r

iittala

over the years, i have become quite enamored with the finnish company iittala.

it began with the crystal tumblers at the bottom. modern & organic and so delicate. the feet and entire bottom of the glass are shaped like the heavy drips of melting snow. i save our little set for very special drinks. i swear they taste better in iittala.

i'm dreaming a bit of that beautiful pot. the wood handle also opens the pot lid (in much the same manner as an old cookstove) and it seems just the thing for winter stews and hearty meals.

and of course, i'm enamored with their newest release of hand-drawn plates and mugs.

little wiggles and scribbles make it a more friendly approachable design than some of their higher-end pieces.
cozy like a cup of hot chocolate.

it's nice to know there are such lovely things out there.

it really is.

xo. r

string & sing

inspired, obsessed, utterly distracted by these kokedama - japanese string gardens.

i found a tutorial that looks fairly simple (here)

but i think i'm fair out of room to potter and play.

ferns. grass. a tiny trailing vine. a little fairy kingdom.

someday...

in the meantime, there are tons of beautiful pictures to peruse at stringgardens.com

and we can plan and plot our imaginary world together. 

(i should perhaps confess i'm having trouble keeping a ball of moss alive in a closed terrarium.

hopefully i'll have that sorted out by the time i attempt a kokedama.)

and speaking of obsessed...

these two songs by daughter are haunting me.

string & sing. there is so much to be excited about today.

xo. r

love mae

despite the fact that my pandora station's intuitive advertising seems to think i am very pregnant and ready to pop at any moment, i do not have a child. but you know how the internet is, and every so often you find yourself in baby land and you don't know how you got there. (this also happens with kittens.)

i was pleasantly surprised to find myself at love mae... and i feel very enthusiastic about these reusable fabric wall decals. something clever in the way they convey a bit of depth in their arrangement. and yes, i would push any three year old out of the way to play with that dress up doll. future babies, take note.

xo. r

dovecote

dovecote studio by haworth tompkins
it kind of makes me come undone.
a beautiful new structure in a sleeve of old.
craning it in... something incredible is happening there.


xo. r

nightwood

loving nightwood's reincarnated designs. absolutely loving.

growing up in a house with fancy furniture and endless rules about not touching anything

made me long to jump on the bed, stand on the arms of the couch or make a fort from the cushions.

now that i get to choose the furniture (and the rules), we have a lot of vintage.

designs i love with dents and dings and years of wear.

vintage has an added bonus...

if it's dinged, another ding won't show.

and if the thonet chair is already scuffed a bit, i won't be afraid to sit in it.

and well, if it's lasted this long, there's not much worse i could do to it.

it's made a comfortable house for us.

which is why these (re)designs from nightwood are calling my name.

i love the graceful, delicate lines combined with the patched and layered fabrics and cushions.

it's intriguing. it makes me want to take a needle and thread to the furniture and see what happens.

fear and furniture really shouldn't mix.

furnishings should invite. and comfort. and give you a place to collapse.

and when the cushion wears out (which it will, you're using it everyday, aren't you?)

toss a new one on. it's so simple.

xo. r

weekend cabin

weekend cabin is a favorite stop of mine on a busy weekday. it shares those places we retreat to on the days between. (okay, well, mostly it shows those places billionaires retreat to, but a girl can pretend.)

this weekend cabin happens to be rather near & dear... floating on lake huron in michigan. apparently, this is what you build when you own unbuildable property on an island. i can't imagine anything feeling more like an escape. adrift on the river, anchored only by a removable bridge.

more images and a short article here, the inside is pretty gorgeous as well.

xo. r

crush crush #2

some days the internet feels like the same old loop over and over again
and some days, i crush hard. and i'm feeling it today.

manomine.

her little animal sets are incredible. heart-string plucking in such an irrational way.
the level of detail. they come with pets, and clothes and accessories, and tea cups, and croissants, and letters from friends, and books. and not just blank books, hand bound family albums with photos inside.

it's something like peeking into a doll's house and exclaiming over each and every tiny recreated thing.
only i start to picture the hands that made these things.
and my heart starts to beat a little faster.

and of course, there's a waiting list
but there are a lot more images & sets to fawn over on her blog.
there is such a big joy in such little things.

xo. r

crush crush #1

feeling a bit of a thrill from these pieces by meg a. myers
handmade from recycled glass (old window panes!) they are simple, geometric and utterly charming.

stained glass is most striking to me when it's without all the crazy color.
the shape and form and work is so much more apparent.

(now, that's not to say i can't appreciate the windows in an old church, but that's an entirely different level of stained glass. i'm referring to the genre of things i can hold in my hand or hang in a window.)

something about her work makes me feel not quite content to just look at the picture.
i want to hold it in my hands. feel the weight and the angles.
i don't know if i can wait for christmas!

xo. r



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as if cootie catchers weren't nostalgic enough... ed emberley fabric!

jellyfish

quite taken with these little air plant jellyfish by petit beast.
a little sea urchin shell, a little air plant, a whole lot of sweet.

i do have a few sea urchin shells around here and an air plant or two that died with grace and valor
and still managed to keep there tentacley shape (if not their soft green color).
perhaps i shall find a small corner for their reincarnation.

you clever thing, petit beast, you clever thing.

xo. r


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on a side note, i'm hoping for a much more productive week.
last week i found myself a bit distracted and out of it. unable to concentrate much the whole week long.
is it the moon? distractions by ersatz jellyfish? do you have weeks like this?

boneslace

words and pictures from a tumblr that stopped my day in its tightly wound tracks.

sadness, sorrow, delicate bones and ghosts. it is all so beautiful.

boneslace

xo. r