TWA Flight 686

By this time tomorrow, I'll be in flight (towards Washington DC at least) to my new home on the Continent!  Just typing that out makes me feel a little lightheaded.  I'm packing up my things at the moment, and not only am I the biggest procrastinator, hence the blog post, but I want to pack the most impractical things, ie: too many heavy books, my crystal champagne glasses, the imaginary Limoges, my Danish armchair, etc. etc.  Who wants to pack socks?!  In other exciting news the exchange rate for dollar has gone up, which means packing my forgotton underwear won't be as expensive on the Continent!

See you there!

A Happy Anniversary

Sorry for not being around lately.  Blog and I were so enraptured this weekend, spending our time together celebrating our third anniversary together in honeyed ecstasy, exchanging the leather (the traditional third anniversary gift) Gucci loafers and passport holders until...we realized...it was only our second anniversary.

We laughed nervously - made eye-contact - then quickly looked away.

I thought it was three years?

Oh well!  We laughed and as we embraced both thought of something cotton we wanted (everything from Ovadia and Sons fall collection) that would be just as nice as the new leathergoods! Whew!  That was a close one.

Image is mine of the Gothic streets of Belgium from my first blog post

Signs and such

I have talked about Ben Pentreath's blog before and I'm going to have to do it again.  He's just come back from a trip to Italy and has brought back with him gorgeous pictures of the countryside and especially scenes from Sicily.  He has captured for our pleasure the gorgeous typography found on street and building signs scattered around the island.  So many Art Deco samplings I'm on overload.  See more here.



Sicily is really one of the places I wanted to see when I was in Italy, and was supposed to visit my friends summer place there in August (plans made prior to knowledge of visa expiration).  When I return I want to experience these signs first hand, along with the food, the beaches, the pastures, the food, the crazy dialect and the food.

 

Visto per Studio

The other day when I announced my move to Italy, I had a bit of apprehension.  Was it too soon?  What if I didn't get my visa?  Did I just jinx myself?  Well, lads and ladies of the court, yesterday after a second attempt, I got my visa!  Last week when I went, the pseudo-Italian man at the Consulate flipped through my 500 pieces of required paperwork, wrote a lot of red writing, then looked at me gravely and said, "This is a 7 out of 10," and then proceeded to tell me that I needed two things changed a little bit.  I guess he's the dramatic one at the office.  Yesterday, a sweet lady at the counter licked her fingers, flipped through my papers in about 14 seconds and then said, "Your visa will be ready on Monday. NEXT!"

I feel like I've won an Oscar or something.  I just want to tell everyone I pass on the street.  It's a relief and a cause for celebration!

Leyendecker's Glimpse

Leyendecker has done it again!  He managed to look into the future and catch a glimpse of what I look like getting dressed in the morning.  I don't know how he did/does it.

Sock garters are great...until it's 11 o'clock at night and you realized you've been wearing them for 16 hours.  That's the hour where, sitting at the restaurant table, I cross my legs, gracefully take them off and throw them in my bag, all the while keeping my party numb to my under-table-actions.  My calves whisper,

'Thank you!" as I exclaim, "Who wants another drink?" to muffle their gratitude.

Summer Salvation

 

I'm usually sad to see summer go but with an photograph like the above, how can you not look forward to what's in store?

日本画タブロー

by Maasaki Sasamoto

I don't know if I have ever wanted to jump into a painting, Mary Poppins and Bert-style, as much as I have with the specimen above.  For more of Sasamoto's mind-bending work go here...



I Capture the Castle

The Lost Castle by Keraoc

A Swedish September

I can't believe September is upon us!  Where did the summer go? 

Oh well- we move on.  Isn't this a perfect September room?  Light, airy and white for summer, but with the hardwoods and wood stove, you can see how cozy it will be on those chilly September nights.  Nights where you need the down comforter up to your neck and mornings where staying in bed for an extra two minutes are a necessity.

found at Old Chum