i love days that begin and end in the garden. 

{day 4 of august break}

polaroid & digital: my kitchen window

{day 3 of  august break}

in here 

 out there

simple joys

the winter morning sun shining in

cold, wet, and dark, afternoons that are brightened by my sweet boy

wool socks and flannel pajamas

a dozen roses for 1.99 €  at the grocery store checkout line    

making the season an occasion to gather with friends and warm the spirit

movie night: cuddling on the sofa wrapped in blankets for a christmas story

dreaming of and planning for our growing family

looking forward to discovering and creating more joys to treasure this season !

hanging out with my sweetheart: playing king of the castle, enjoying orange spice tea with honey on cold, wet, afternoons

candlelit mornings:  starting cold, dark, days with a warm heart

girls night out: a friend’s brilliant idea/invitation to a bookbinding workshop evening

the weekends: staying in bed late playing and talking with my boys, i love late, slow, breakfasts with fresh bread from the bakery, i love not rushing to get the them out of the house

being let in on happy secrets: knowing plan details to a marriage proposal

~ these are just some of the simple things that have made me smile/happy this week ~

enjoy more simple things:    christina at soul aperture

simple things that make me happy

music of arthur russell

blue skies, sunshine, and a view of the alps

finding and picking wild flowers on long walks

my new mountain crystal ring from india

sound of my boys singing wenn alle brünnlein fließen, german folk song

taste of fresh spinach from my garden

diski dancing and this south african tourism advert

dulcet voice of our son when he runs into our room every morning to announce: mama! papa! ich glaube die liebe sonne lacht/i believe the dear sun is smiling! it’s the best part of waking up!

enjoy more simple things with christina at soul aperture

bette davis

my love for the great gatsby ignited into a love of many things from this bygone era: the clothes, the silent films, the music, the dancing,  and the hair!!! ever wondered how to get 1930s fingerwaves? new zealander amy over at petticoat lane posted a “how to” last week (which i will definitely try on my big hair).  you can see more of her “i love everything retro and vintage” collections here. she also features wednesday whispers every week, my absolute favorite! it’ll take you down memory lane for sure (recently brought me memories of my holly hobbie tin lunch box i carried to school as a kid!)

word storm::tinker art

tinker serenades her art with her writing, or vice versa. which ever way it is, she is one hell of a creative writer….deeply wise, wonderfully insightful; and delightfully humourous.  i especially love what she would do if she were queen of the world.  she is also currently working on the next great american novel and i know, it will be great!

dreaming paris::shin of a mermaid

thanks to constance helping me override my blogspot problem, i was one of the three winners of a mermaid’s challenge. woooohoooo!!!  i will recieve a handmade gift prize! the challenge is to pick three people and send them handmade surprizes. so much fun!!

shin of a mermaid is a dutch artist of korean descent (very interesting) and a mother of three that currently resides in england. check out her beautiful art , and must, must, see her daily blips- no dissappointments here, she is a wonderful photographer too.

natural historie::jenny vorwaller

last but not least, queenthings is now natural historie.  wear a slice of nature! jenny in beunos aries has updated her online boutique,  you can now buy direct. one of my favorites is the geometric necklace, truly one of a kind!

i could not resist joining michele ward (truly a delightful soul) and the street team for this  month’s crusade no.12: what you are infatuated with, what causes crazy-but-good obsession?  tell us what you have a crush on.
especially after seeing eb’s passionate crushes and my soul sister steph’s big crush which also happens to be one of mine!

i have many crushes but i definitely get the weakest knees and softest heart at the site of handbags so i decided that’s my main squeeze crush. i had a lot of fun adding another variety recently “i’m a mom now i need bigger bags to carry extra diapers and snacks” collection.

that was my last excuse.

i have no excuse for having my eye on boutique rochambeau or rodrigvitzstyle  handbags other than they are unique, exquisite, handmade, and i have a crush on handbags!

as i was sorting my one million and one handbags, i realized i have a collection of another variety.

truly my timeless crush: i love indian (silk, cotton) beaded mirror bags, nepalese canvas, balinese batik, thai and tibetan embroidery, and guatemalen hand woven fabrics.

the most wonderful part: i suddenly realized people that i love and are dear to my heart  (they know me so well) have fed my insatiable crush for so many years (it will not end anytime soon).

handbags: two of those were contributed by miss AmErika, my other soul sister

tall, dark, and handsome gave me these pillowcases when we were dating, on my first visit to his hometown

this was a gift from my first soul sister,  super*k*west  for my 30th birthday. it is so, so,  beautiful, i had trouble writing in it for a long time. i kept it in a special place wishing i had the courage to right in it. i was saved by the birth of the sun. it is now the journal i keep for her

just proves to you that i am a sucker for this stuff. these are my favorite shoes that i bought for myself!

my husband’s parents arrived yesterday for a long weekend visit. last night meine schwiegermutter (mother-in-law) brought a beautiful, peach colored box into the kitchen and said “i don’t know if you would want these but….” my heart stood still.  i couldn’t believe, i thought, i was getting something handed down to me. it was such an honor. well, i now as i write, remember the time she gave me her daughter’s first gold earings for my daughter (i couldn’t believe my sister-in-law did not want them) but i did not remember the earrings in that moment. i saw the shiny gold parts shimmer under the kitchen light and i could tell this was special. it got better than that.  as a young woman in the early 1960s, my mother-in-law was a porzellanmaler or a china painter.  i don’t know why i always forget this. it’s perhaps i met her later as an art restorer and during our first years of getting to know each other, she took me all over the region where they live (to museums, churches, and castles) and showed me art that she had restored. the pieces ranged in age from the middle ages to the renaissance period. i will never forget the pride i saw in her face everytime she showed me a painting that she restored as she pointed out each blemish or deterioration from age (that one would never know about or notice) that she repaired. to me the paintings appeared flawless. i felt always as if i had a secret with me with her as my personal guide whispering in my ear what all had been restored.

i still translate in my brain german to english and then process it so i did not realize what she was saying as i carefully took them out one at a time from the box.  i was slowly reminded that she started her career as a porzellanmaler when she took one of the cups, turned it over, pointed, and said ” that was my number, 14″ (her id number is stamped or burned on the bottom). she had painted them herself! what a thrill!

she went on to explain gold painting on china and the difference between two different processes that exist. i have to ask her again tomorrow what all she said about that because i was just astounded and was busy feeling honored. look at her exquisite handwork

here she is, my gem of a schwiegermutter