Oh, pickles!

These new stamps from the USPS provide that extra motivation to send postcards this summer - so fresh!

You’ve probably already heard of John Dorian. I know I feel practically whacked over the head I’ve heard the name often enough. (The work is lovely enough, but enough already with the press.) So it was a super-duper delight to come across the tiniest, most precious, jewel-box of a store in Greenwich Village that made me totally desire glass decoupage for the first time - Kaas Glassworks. 

Each piece is created in the basement of the little store; the images are originals, painstakingly collected antique and vintage, so each is unique and really quite lovely. That’s really all I have to say - utterly charming and lovely - but if you’re so inclined, see more here.

The truth about stationery is that I haven’t been thinking a whole lot about it lately. The extent of it has involved list-making: as in, a new, updated and much longer list of people to whom I’d like to personally write notes. With pen. On paper. To say thank you. To say hello. To say I’m thinking of you. Send in mail. Beyond that, stationery is a bit on the backburner… {although I certainly do still think about getting back on track with providing updates from the fantastic Stationery Show. As mentioned, there really was some beautiful and inspiring work there that I really want to share: particularly those who haven’t been as lucky to be covered relentlessly in blog-land.}

But for now, I’ve been thinking a lot about time. How we spend it. And about love and how we show it. And particularly about being nice and how best to do that. I’m not the best at being nice all the time. But, I credit myself for at least being conscious of that fact and for at least trying, as much as I can, to be nice. It’s often not enough, and I am incredibly hard on myself when I look back and see moments when I really should have done better. But sometimes, the people I worry about even more are those who don’t even seem to try and be nice. The people I really worry about are those who can look back at a time when they weren’t nice, and not see it for what it was: not nice. That’s a little scary, to not even recognize. I don’t want to be that way.

I really believe that life can be better if we live it consciously, in awareness of our actions and the results of our actions. Again, I’m just not there yet, and may not ever be. Sometimes I spend more time thinking about it than living it, which is something I intend to try and change. I used to wear a LIVESTRONG bracelet daily; in fact, it stopped being anything to do with my cancer a long time ago, and instead started being something else altogether: a reminder to me to be aware, to literally be awake, be conscious of my actions. My friend Rachel gave me my first yellow bracelet and I would be forever grateful - I doubt she has any idea that it turned into a tool-for-being-nicer-and-more-calm. I’m probably going to get back to wearing that bracelet, because for me, a visual reminder - bright yellow - it’s like a mini-wake up call during the day. Hello? Check in! Wake up! Be nice! And would it kill you to laugh a little?!

[Beautiful Rae Dunn porcelain stones are also a fantastic "Hello? Check In!" wake-up call if you need one - such simple, elegant reminders.]

I see you, line graph showing the Oh, Pickles! stats. “Thud!” went the visits as I’ve been ignoring my files chock full of inspiration and creativity. Excuses abound - from a multi-day electricity outage to a new full time job. And the time in between? Just plain gone. Gone to a favorite new hobby: mowing the lawn. Gone to my favorite restaurant. Gone to visitors from out of town. 

But here I am with my mea culpa. And a plan to get back on track. 

{stand image from Keen… the stand festival takes place today in Portland, OR, a city which is always doing such cool things}

Olly, the Lakeland terrier sitting under the couch as I write (he likes to get underneath furniture), is now going to be under some pressure. I’d given up on proper training and dog-whispering to him because I’d just never seen a professional Lakeland (or many terriers, for that matter). He’s gotten off fairly scot-free. Well, game’s up, because I found this distant relative (above) pictured on new Flexi leash packaging (so handsome!). Turns out these dogs can stay still enough for pictures. Ha! And make money from said pictures. Double Ha!

Be on the lookout for Olly’s upcoming portfolio - America’s Next Top Lakeland. A little grooming here, some training there, and here’s hoping Ol can start bringing in the big bucks. What do you think?? 

I can eat chocolate to feel better. It’s good. Why must this chocolate insist on making that indulgence feel extra-super-guilty?!  It’s not new, but it’s new to me. Not that I’m buying it. I like the design, I like the handy perforation, but for the sake of a snack, I’ll stick with my ultra-favorite Barcelona bar from Vosges for now. It doesn’t bug me about how many calories are in each wonderful chunk. And, as far as I’m concerned, salt + chocolate = bliss.

These moss pencils at the Designboom mart at ICFF caught my eye. From Sirampuch Eamumpai at I’m Curio in Thailand, they make me wonder what else we should be covering in chartreuse fuzziness.

This is a post about nothing much. I’d been wanting to eat at this restaurant for a while. The quest had nothing to do with the food and everything to do with that phenomenal pickle, which must be about 4′ long. Located in the heart of downtown Detroit, Eph’s serves sandwiches. Big sandwiches. The sandwiches don’t come with pickles. How weird is that?

And here is a totally unrelated picture. It’s not a great picture. But the little oak leaves were so fascinating - they resembled thick fabric more than anything else, almost felt - and their soft little round fingers were precious. I’m so over all the pointy-fingered oak leaves. And the color, I thought, was gorgeous. The caterpillar must have thought so, too. 

Because I fear using the word “delightful” too much, I won’t say much about these chandeliers from Fiona Gall / Emerald Faerie. Indeed, they rather speak for themselves, right? I saw her work at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair as I cruised around and took a break from the stationery. The black backdrop set off these handmade wire chandeliers beautifully, making for a stunning and glittery little booth.

Many more of Fiona’s wire sculptures are viewable on her website (a lovely site, but wear your patient pants). They remind me somewhat of Marie Christophe’s work (her work has been on my “favorite” list for some time) - perfectly light and airy and delicate, and each piece utterly unique.

Boy howdy, I’d planned to get super-duper-ooper prepared for the mom-dot’ mini-trip to New York and the Stationery Show. Dinner reservations, a clear plan for which booths I want to hit first at the show, good organized lists of which stores I want to make sure to visit (like you and you and you). I wanted to blog about it all, too, and get back to trying to be a cool blog.

And then, life does some really irritating things. A whopper of a day. During which one good friend is in a lengthy surgery for a brain tumor I cannot pronounce or spell; surgery over, now in an ICU, but all “proceeding as planned”. During which I run around like an idiot trying to prepare for a job interview for a job an hour or so away that I don’t even remember applying for; the thought of going back to work full time giving me the start of a panic attack. During which another friend begs me to attend a ridiculous diamond jewelry event at a shu-shu bar - I am out of place at best. After which I get a call from Rob; the phone makes its usual turkey gobble, so I know it’s him on the other end. His voice, firm at first, wavers. Silence, then an announcement I don’t understand at first. “Jack died.”  

So, the cool blogging - the inspiration, the excitement, the energy - yeah, that’ll have to wait just a bit. Ditto the rest of the stuff on the list. Because today is all about holding it together. But I feel lucky to have this to read, which helps remind me about others and about how to handle myself with grace. And to read this and this, which get me to smile and laugh. And to listen to the soulful voices of Mary J, India, Erykah, who remind me to be strong.