skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I recently lost my beloved owl necklace and I am absolutely bereft (have I mentioned that I am positively obsessed with owls? No? Ok, I digress). After carving out the appropriate mourning period for my lost little bird, I am now on the hunt for a new owl (but who naturally can never truly replace the original in my eyes. Sniff). These lovelies below strike my fancy, and they're actually from by the same designer who made my old necklace, Moss Mills. Only now, I'm at a loss for which one to choose.
Shall I choose Exhibit A?
Exhibit B?
Or how about Exhibit C? It's like two for the price of one!
Or should I stick with what I know and love, and pick a silver version of my one-and-only owl (I can't believe I found it online! Oh, how I love you world wide web!).
Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. After perusing their website, I'm already feeling inspired to do more to make our planet a healthy and happy place in which to live. For ways to get involved, click here. Happy Earth Day, everyone!
{Image via earthday.org}
The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, from which a large plume of ash has risen into the atmosphere and is now hovering over the UK and Scandinavia, is putting a serious dent in my weekend plans. The dense ash cloud has grounded some 5,000 planes and has delayed the much-anticipated arrival of a couple British friends of mine with whom I was very much looking forward to spending a fun weekend. I'm crossing my fingers that the air space opens up sooner rather than later, and in the meantime, I'll be checking and re-checking the BBC for updates. Womp.
{Image via Flicker}
Is anyone else watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? I'm so proud of what he's doing to promote healthy eating and revolutionize the way food is made and served in schools today, both in the UK and now stateside. He's certainly come a long way from the days spent zipping around London on his scooter, when he was known simply as "The Naked Chef". Jamie has since started a petition to show our government just how dire the situation is and how we need to make a positive change in the way children eat in this country. I've already added my name to the already 200,000+ list of signatures. Will you?
Over the Easter weekend, I decided to treat myself to a little springtime happiness, and I thought I could do no better than to celebrate the season with a bright bouquet of flowers. I couldn't quite make up my mind between the sprightly yellow tulips or the wonderfully fragrant hyacinths or lilacs. So I did what any smart girl would do in a similar situation: I brought all three home with me. Best plan I had all week. These little lovelies have completely taken over my apartment (how sad my place looked without them). Note to self: never underestimate the power of flowers.
For those who celebrate, this little guy wishes you a very happy Easter!
Fun fact: my last name means "rabbit" in Portuguese. :-)
{Image from Splash, via Jezebel}
This month's literary odyssey took me to Singapore, World War II-era England, and the inner workings of a Russian literary genius' mind.
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham. Set against the backdrop of 1920's Singapore, The Painted Veil (which I've mentioned here before) is a redemption plot about the young, beautiful, and intensely shallow Kitty who marries the wrong man, has an affair with another, is caught, and is subsequently forced to accompany her bacteriologist husband into the heart of a cholera epidemic. Is her husband conspiring to kill her? Will the cholera take her life before her husband does? Or can Kitty survive it and possibly redeem herself? I haven't enjoyed a book this much in quite awhile. Maugham is a superb story-teller: he has a real knack for eliciting sympathy for his characters and sets a great pace to the story (another great character book by Maugham: Of Human Bondage). I like the literal and symbolic journey Kitty goes on, though the ending leans a little toward the saccharine. Still, it was satisfying, and I feel the story has held up remarkably well considering it was written nearly a hundred years ago. I really recommend.
Good Evening, Mrs. Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes. These twenty-one short stories were written between 1939 and 1944 for The New Yorker. During this time, Panter-Downes wrote book reviews, a regular column called "Letter from London", and over thirty short stories about English domestic life. Unearthed for the first time since their original publication date over fifty years ago, these stories endure as perfectly intact snapshots of war-time England, when families were torn asunder, homes were shattered, and a stiff upper lip was the rule of the day. For life simply must go on.
A Confession by Leo Tolstoy. This is a memoir of Tolstoy's spiritual crisis and his disillusionment and subsequent turning away from the religious orthodoxy of his youth. I appreciate and felt inspired by the journey and Tolstoy's probing questions about the meaning of life, though the ending leaves a lot to be desired (I felt somewhat unsatisfied and confused, for nothing was resolved). It's a quick read and I'd recommend it to any Tolstoy fan or anyone in a particularly pensive and philosophical mood. The edition I read is from the Penguin Great Ideas series and it's basically a design-lover's dream. You can see the stunning cover for yourself, along with the other gorgeous book covers from the series, right here.
Coming up: a recently published book that has been nabbing awards left and right and then whatever suits my fancy, really. Nose back to the reading grindstone now....
Exhibit B?
Or how about Exhibit C? It's like two for the price of one!
Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. After perusing their website, I'm already feeling inspired to do more to make our planet a healthy and happy place in which to live. For ways to get involved, click here. Happy Earth Day, everyone!
The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, from which a large plume of ash has risen into the atmosphere and is now hovering over the UK and Scandinavia, is putting a serious dent in my weekend plans. The dense ash cloud has grounded some 5,000 planes and has delayed the much-anticipated arrival of a couple British friends of mine with whom I was very much looking forward to spending a fun weekend. I'm crossing my fingers that the air space opens up sooner rather than later, and in the meantime, I'll be checking and re-checking the BBC for updates. Womp.
Is anyone else watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? I'm so proud of what he's doing to promote healthy eating and revolutionize the way food is made and served in schools today, both in the UK and now stateside. He's certainly come a long way from the days spent zipping around London on his scooter, when he was known simply as "The Naked Chef". Jamie has since started a petition to show our government just how dire the situation is and how we need to make a positive change in the way children eat in this country. I've already added my name to the already 200,000+ list of signatures. Will you?
Over the Easter weekend, I decided to treat myself to a little springtime happiness, and I thought I could do no better than to celebrate the season with a bright bouquet of flowers. I couldn't quite make up my mind between the sprightly yellow tulips or the wonderfully fragrant hyacinths or lilacs. So I did what any smart girl would do in a similar situation: I brought all three home with me. Best plan I had all week. These little lovelies have completely taken over my apartment (how sad my place looked without them). Note to self: never underestimate the power of flowers.
For those who celebrate, this little guy wishes you a very happy Easter! 
Good Evening, Mrs. Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes. These twenty-one short stories were written between 1939 and 1944 for The New Yorker. During this time, Panter-Downes wrote book reviews, a regular column called "Letter from London", and over thirty short stories about English domestic life. Unearthed for the first time since their original publication date over fifty years ago, these stories endure as perfectly intact snapshots of war-time England, when families were torn asunder, homes were shattered, and a stiff upper lip was the rule of the day. For life simply must go on. 
Posts
