like something blooming

Alberta Ferretti, spring '09

Fluid gowns, scrunched hose, and bird's-nest hair - a juxtaposition that puts me in mind of the elegantly graceful yet tenuously fragile women of Fitzgerald's novels.

"You're the only girl I've seen for a very long time that actually did look like something blooming."
~Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald

in your dreams whatever they be

the Red Ball Project at Federal Plaza, Chicago

The first time we saw it, it was suspended - floating, hovering. It reminded Heidi of Donald Barthelme's story "The Balloon." It reminded me of Le Ballon rouge.

Today, it was in a different place, a different role. What does the red ball remind you of? More pictures

wistful wednesday.01

Wistful wanderings for your Wednesday . . .

• pears, pine nuts, and cheese - tickling all of autumn's taste buds
• helpful tips just in time for the knitting season . . .
  
• and a fair-isle beret to kick things off
  
• if you are writing really badly: 10 overused words
• the timeless chignon, answer to all bad hair days
  
• Finally, this vintage drafting manual is a jewel. I've been printing it up and reading it a chapter at a time.

Have a good day, all!

noticing: old-school train cars

There's no school like the old school. Only a few of these old-school train cars are used anymore, but I love taking them when they are. Besides the awesome aqua-mustard color scheme, the seat-backs are made of metal ribbing.

What are you noticing?

stop using words that diminish us

I love how, even in divisive times, laughter can unite us.

lovely links

(I meant to post these links days ago as a "wistful Wednesday" feature, but things have been rather hectic at work with a world premiere coming up. I suppose it's alright to be wistful on Fridays as well, even if it isn't alliterative . . .)

• a kaleidescope of pretty, printed dresses
• great interview with poster designer Jenny Beorkrem
  
• a lovely collection of found photographs
• friendly fashion made from reclaimed overstock fabrics (via)
  
• a letter addressed to Autumn
  

granola!!!

I don't know where I got my appetite for granola (I have no memory of it as a kid), but lately I've been on a mission to find the "perfect" recipe. Of course this is different for everyone - mine is minimalistic (just oats and fruit), crispy, crunchy, and just a little bit clumpy.

It needs some tweaking (less allspice and a trifle more salt, maybe some almonds . . .), but the one I made this weekend comes pretty near. (more pictures)

Granola
adapted from, via

• 2 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 c. butter
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 3/4 c. dried fruit (mine was a mix of dried cranberries, cherries, and blueberries)

Mix all dry ingredients except for the fruit. Melt honey and and butter; pour slowly over oat mixture while stirring. Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake on 300 degrees F for 20 min., stirring occasionally. Add berries, stirring to break up some - but not all - of the clumps. (Why do all granola recipes say to break up the clumps? Really, they're tasty!) Bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown; cool.

goodbye summer

1. transparent., 2. a summer's eve with polly, 3. beachcombers, 4. and then a pause., 5. big one, 6. A world that neither you nor I belong to, 7. overgrown, 8. Dot and Her Boy Toy 1930s, 9. balloon-12

looks like a good train ride to me

The Age of Innocence has been my train reading for the last few weeks, and this week I finished it. I haven't read much Edith Wharton in the past, but her descriptions are delicious.

How wonderful to read something for the pleasure of reading's sake. That, I think, is my criteria for a good novel (or poem or play, for that matter): It should stand up to analysis, but it must be enjoyed, whether analyzed or not.

Read anything good lately?

the big red ball

This is just too cool. I'm so disappointed I missed seeing it today - I work within walking distance of LaSalle St. Bridge. I'm totally staking out the day it'll be at Federal Plaza, though - with camera in hand! via

(Non-relatedly, it's even cooler than the red button - which by the way I would recommend you NOT click.)

borrowing from the boys

images (clockwise, starting in upper left): M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel of She & Him, Legacy Blazer from Urban Outfitters, Garance Doré, vintage photo from bygonefashion, Lyell spring '08, and Garance Doré

I've always loved the jaunty ease of menswear trends. My latest favorite? The little boy's blazer. I thrifted one this summer and, after six weeks of anticipation, it was finally cool enough to wear it yesterday. And again today. :D

Sad as I am to see summer go, I can tell it will be a good fall.

hello

Hi! Welcome to my new inspiration blog. My intention is to say as little as possible here, and I'll try to keep to that even in this introduction. But if you enjoy fashion, photography, literature, or craft - or simply finding beauty in mundanity - I hope you'll stick around.


I'm Nobody - The poignant plea of this poem has haunted me for years. A plea for anonymity, for simplicity and for sincerity. The desire to live and create as a "nobody." To create art without having to fill the role of an "artist," whatever that means, without the compulsion to be "somebody" all the time. The desire to become so transparent as an artist that only the art exists, universal in spite of its particularity.

Are you - Nobody - too?

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you - Nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know!

How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell one's name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!

~Emily Dickinson, #260