Oliver Herford

My new favorite thing in the world is bugs with bobs.

Oliver Herford (1863 - 1935) was a British born American writer, artist and illustrator who has been called "The American Oscar Wilde". In 1906 he wrote and illustrated the "Little Book of Bores". He also wrote short poems like "The Chimpanzee" and "The Hen", as well as writing and illustrating "The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten" (1904) and "Excuse It Please" (1930).

May I Douse You With Lysol?

We have been crazy throughout history!

Start printing these bibs!

My big plans today consist of stockpiling hand sanitizer and Lysol. I have already perfected the art of opening doors with my foot and using my elbow at cash stations, now everyone seems to be acting as crazy as me! I'm not alone.

Here's an excerpt from "The Audacity of Hope," where then-Sen.. Obama wrote of his first meeting with President Bush.
“Obama!” he said, shaking my hand. “Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours – that’s one impressive lady.”

“We both got better than we deserve, Mr. President,” I said, shaking the First Lady’s hand and hoping that I’d wiped any crumbs off my face.

The president turned to an aide nearby, who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president’s hand.

“Want some?” the president asked. “Good stuff. Keeps you from getting colds.” Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt.

I'm In Love

RockingChair.com

Gar and I were driving through the beautiful town of Sag Harbor, NY, when we came across a porch with a row of colorful rocking chairs. I have always wanted to replicate that lovely setting. We don't have a long porch, but I think I can still make it work with these wonderful chairs. I believe if you spend part of your summer in a rocking chair, you will prolong the onset of Fall.

Sweet Tweet

Fancy Flours sells ready to fill sterilized egg shells.

Don't you love these bird cupcake toppers?

I had to have these edible wafer birds!!!

I just went a little bit crazy at the Fancy Flours website. Can you blame me? Edible wafer blue birds and ready to fill egg shells, they can't send them fast enough.

Clean Start

Sprucing up the planet

Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day Founder

Today I am asking myself what else I can do to reduce my carbon footprint. I will start my own organic vegetable garden, as soon as it's warm enough to plant. There is nothing easier than going out to the backyard to fetch the ingredients for the family dinner. Eating tomatoes and berries that are still warm from the sun, is just about as wonderful as it gets!
I am also making a concerted effort to reduce the amount of retail shopping I do. I ask myself if it's possible to find what I need at a resale shop first, before I head out to buy something new.
The beauty of resale shopping is that it's good for the earth, you find cooler things, and it's so much more affordable!!!

Alain Pauzié

Alain Pauzié

Alain Pauzié, born 9/28/ 1936

Alain is a wonderful French artist, and perhaps my father's dearest friend. My father and Alain shared a passion for playing rugby, and worked together at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique. Over the years Alain sent my father the most wonderfully illustrated envelopes, you can see some of Alain's mail art at the Musée de la Poste in Paris.
Alain became friends with Jean Dubuffet ,with whom he corresponded for many years, and Alain published a book of their letters in 1995. The illustrated envelopes are exhibited in the Collection Neuve Invention of Lausanne.

Time Masters

Time Masters, by Carol Summerfield

Synopsis
When two unlikely friends, Victor and Graciela, discover they are to be sharing the same library all summer long, time becomes a curious element. The local librarian, Mrs. Falconer, encourages them to enter a contest. Not just any contest, but the coveted Grainger Prize Award, a journey that will send them into the depths of history to discover how we enjoy and measure our time. Little aware that while setting up their experiments, they are being followed both inside and outside the library, by someone just as excited about what they are doing as they are. With the help of an interesting invention, they find the curious and the amazing are an everyday occurrence in the mastering of time.

My sister just had a book published!!!!! It's a great book for kids between the ages of 8 and 12, Deke and Lulu loved it, as did I. It is beautifully written, and it will make you want to visit your local library more often.

Doll Party

I know Lulu is too old for this, but her after school snack is going to be a little doll birthday party. I am making dolls with weird hair color, and I thought she would enjoy a little soirée in her honor. The party hat is from an ice cream cone wrapper, don't you love the stripes?

Yikes, I'll sleep when I'm dead!

I have so many unfinished projects going on, I have a million things to list in my empty Etsy shop, finish shrines, paint the bedrooms, make pillows from old feed sacks, finish Cracker Jack charm jewelry, complete chandelier, paint dining chairs, update photo albums, and de-clutter closets. I need to tackle one task at a time, but it is near impossible with such a limited attention span. I have spent the morning trying to figure out how I can make a new coffee table for our living room, not exactly at the top of my "to do" list! My first big move is going to be turning off the computer, but first I am going to Google "DIY coffee tables".

Secretary of Thriftiness

Beautiful bird pin presented to first lady after signing of WWI peace treaty.

The Obamas are taking very good care of their new home.

Pandas are cute, I mean really cute!!! We watched Tubby Ping Ling pound a forest of bamboo,

and then we ran to the nearest gift shop for the stuffed version.

Fresco painting in the Capitol

I love Washington D.C.!!!! I hadn't been to Washington since Taft was in office, and the city is so much lovelier than I had remembered. We stayed in swanky Georgetown, perhaps the cutest city ever!!! I discovered a wonderful resale shop that had the feeling of rummaging through the Smithsonian basement. Imagine shelves brimming with miniature portraits, antique china, silver, and American pottery, it was amazing. 

Besides having a wonderful vacation, we all came to pivotal decisions in our lives. Deke wants to be a spy after visiting the Spy Museum six times in one week! Lulu is officially preppy and wants to attend Georgetown University. I would love a job working in the White House as Social Secretary or the newly invented Secretary of Thriftiness.  It is my hope that I can start decorating my historic Georgetown home very soon with all of the finds from the resale shop! 

On A Madcap Adventure!

We are off on our madcap adventure! I'll be back soon with a satchel brimming with tacky souvenirs.

Dresses

All dresses from J. Crew
Thanks to our lovely First Lady, I have had such a hankering to go dress shopping. It seems like the perfect attire for our vacation next week. I am hoping a dress, will lessen the schlubby, midwestern, tourist vibe I give off.

More Lovely Illustrations

These are the beautiful illustrations of
Eduardo Garcia Benito, 1891-1981

I want to live in this world!

Don't you love these?

Gorgeous!

I haven't found any of these magazines at the flea market yet! My fantasy is that I am at the estate sale of an old fashionista, and she kept all of her fashion magazines in dry boxes, in a non-weird smelling basement. A girl can dream, can't she?