Belly Flip Monday*

Snowglobes!  When I was a little girl and it was wintery outside and I had my swiss miss hot chocolate with those really nasty, but so good when you are 7 years old, marshmallows and I would stare outside and watch the snowfall... those were some of my favorite all time memories.  And sometimes I would sneak a snowglobe with me to bed at night so I could fall asleep with that being the last thing my eyes saw and the last bit of silence my ears heard.  

Snowglobes = Awesomeness. 

{Found HERE}

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Weekend*

Looks like I'm a bit late getting to the weekend post this time around.  We just finished up with our Holiday Pop Up Shop (with Ciara Obscura, Vintage Trunk Show and Shaybu Chocolate... which was so  sweet and fun). And now- once with plans to venture out for the night- have decided to stay in and just relax.  So that's what I'm about to do.  Have a mellow and colorful rest of your weekend.  See you on Monday...

{p.s. I love this photo.  Makes me want to nestle up with morning tea or coffee and a neat book or the Sunday New York Times.  Photo found HERE.  Thank you, CHRIS for sharing!)



What's in my bag*

It seems to be a running theme in a series of blogs out there, this "What's in my bag" concept.  I like it and find it really really fascinating to peek into the bag or purse of the various peoples, but- you know- without getting arrested.  Here's mine:

*I'm slightly embarrassed that I carry this much stuff around with me, but - and for starters- I cannot leave the house (or the room) without taking my journal with me.  This red one is just about filled up and I'm on the hunt for a new one (I'm very particular about these things.).  Inside you'd find design ideas, sketches, visual references/clippings, names of books/music/movies that I'd like to read/listen to/watch, quotes that I think are awesome, and my inside thoughts that are best left for my eyes only.  If this journal escaped from me, I'd totally freak out.

* Pens and coloring things. 

* A swiss army knife (This was my father-in-law's and a gift received when he passed away.).  I love being prepared for any predicament, if need be.

* Red lipstick and strawberry lip balm (I'm a pale girl, so the red gives me much needed color and the lip balm is there just because I love the smell and taste of it.)

* Keys.  For all areas of my life and one other that I have no idea of its source.

* The camera.  This one is fairly new and now I carry it to capture itty bitty moments in time.  It'll be my way to bring you the new post, Wanderlust Wednesday.

* Wallet.  A gift from my mother-in-law. It holds all the fixens for buying coffee, materials, and racking up bonus points at CVS (which I always forget to use).

* Sunglasses.  Cheapies from the drugstore.

* And the purse.  A gift from friend, Amy.  She made it and it's beautiful.

* Not shown: a crapload of receipts from mailing packages.

That was oddly therapuetic.

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Wanderlust Wednesday*

Lately, there's been a whole lot of working in my daily and so I treated myself to something I've been hoping to try out for a long while.  I got a polaroid-type/instant mini and took this photo as my second ever shot. The film is costly, so it would behoove to be a little more selective about what moment you want to capture... which is counter intuitive to our digital camera age.  But I think it's a good way to appreciate your vision in a whole new way, don't you?  Eye something beautiful and love that moment in the single shot... polaroids have a great way of keeping you in the moment.   Anyhow, welcome to Wanderlust Wednesdays which will document these wonderful little pieces in time. 

{ This photo was taken when we took Mars the Dog to the beach.  The sun was intense, beaming on the water.  I love how surreal and bizarre the image turned out.  Is that dark spot the sun (do you see the ray reaching from it off to the right?).  Or is it a UFO?  I think we've solved the mystery behind all the UFO sitings of the 70's and 80's!}

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Top Five Tuesday: Books to Love

Are you a book lover?  I sure am.  Here are some that I have rounded up and hope to add to my book shelves soon...

{All books - and more- can be found on my Pinterest boards HERE.  I'm just getting started over there... holy crap, it's addicting.)

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Belly Flip Monday*

These days I'm into the clouds, the peacful, the distractions from my mind wandering into things that offer me frustration and doubt.  Today I am a believer in the radiance of hope and of sparks of inspiration that lead me along brand new, wide open, transformative adventures and dreams waiting to be revealed.  Today is a good day to open your eyes really wide and take it all in.  I hope you do.  

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smoke from floto+warner on Vimeo.

To be thankful...

I'm of the philosophy that we shouldn't reserve all thanks and kindness for one or two days of the year.  Much better to divvy it up a bit and spread out the nice stuff a little longer throughout the year and, heck, throughout life in general.  But given that Thanksgiving is upon us and, soon after, the Winter Holidays, I'm going to share a few things that I am currently thankful for.  Which are...

* A mind and a journal filled with ideas

* The ground wet from rain and the plants reaching toward the sunlight

* That moment of stillness when I step into a new space

* Hugs and kisses when I need them

* A steady flow of work

* Watercolor inks in every single color imaginable

* A lesson learned to stop being so damn hard on myself

* The same lesson teaching me to stand up for myself a little more

* Baths

* A hot drink and a great book

* Witnessing loved ones succeed

* Getting tingles running through my body when I hear a good song (case in point: Just Like Heaven is currently playing on Pandora)

* Having the entire day off tomorrow wherein I will sit and eat as much as humanly possible.

* Luna's verison of Ride into the Sun

* Feeling huge hope for what's now unfolding...

Enjoy a fulfilling weekend, friends.

Love,

Cath

P.S.  If you are in the shopping mood this weekend, come visit the Ciara Obscura SHOP for at least 10% off everything plus Free Shipping... Black Friday through Cyber Monday!

{ Felted acorns... how adorable... found HERE}

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Top Five Tuesday: Swings (revisited)

I've often said that I am a six year old- ninety seven year old.  Meaning, simply, that I am both an in-the-moment enthusiast plus a sentimental appreciator of life.  I can make for an oddball in conversations sometimes.  But... but...no one can ever accuse me of not living life to its fullest (for the most part anyway- sometimes I let myself get distracted by meddlesome worries).  That said, one of life's greatest gifts is the swing.  Wouldn't you agree?  I mean, try thinking about anything but freedom when you're on one.  I don't think it's possible. ( I think they're so awesome, I dedicated another blog post to it ->HERE) .  Enjoy a little daydreaming while looking at these...

{girl on swing , colorful bedroom swing , wooden swing with pillows , Indian home swing , "bead" swing }

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Belly Flip Monday*

I came across this short film the other day and am blown away by this artist's innovation and clarity of senses.  It's really worth taking the (less than) ten minutes out of your day to experience this sort of genius.  I remain astounded.

Todd Selby x Christine Sun Kim on Nowness.com.
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Into the weekend... Blue*

This weekend I'll be taking deep breaths and having a diversity of drinks ranging from green tea to hot chocolate to hard apple cider- but not all at once.  It's been one hell of a whirlwind week as far as work goes (this is good -> a way lot of orders and a side design project that has slightly consumed me <- but, man oh man, am I eyes-crossing pooped out.).  I'll also be fine tuning the guest blogger element of this blog and hope to have new faces and voices joining in over the next couple of weeks.  Until then, I'll share my latest love of velvet in the color of blue.  And then an extra special treat at the very end of this post to take you into your weekend...

And then this song...

Enjoy an inspiring weekend filled with happy discoveries that make you gasp.

Love,

Cath

{ *Outfit *Room *Shoes *Office Chair }
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A neat book

This book looks awesome.  Bonus: my good friend Brian Newlin is one of the authors.  I'm going to snag myself a copy for a Holiday gift (but not without taking a few peeks inside first).

Scoot on over HERE to have a look inside for yourself!

Belly Flip Monday

The brief intermission was due, in part, to having been out of town for my brother's wedding (Congratulations, Ed and Kasey!) and then having to finalize last minute orders before I left.  But now I'm back in the game and thought maybe these vintage quilts would make you feel as happy as I feel when I look at them. Also, I finally hopped onto the Pinterest train and - Yes.  Yes, I am hooked.  I plan on adding many more goodies to the boards over this coming week and I can't tell you how giddy this makes me.  Meantime, some pretty pretty quilts just for you...

{All quilts found HERE}

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The visual definition of Cute*

I just want to hug all of them...

( I have a very similar romper... now to hunt down those sweet tights.)

(If you haven't seen the Bill Cunningham documentary, you really should.  He's the loveliest man.)

(click to enlarge to see the detail on her shoes!)

(reminds me of my high school days, except she's got a bit more style and class than I did.)

{All photos from The Sartorialist}

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Belly Flip Monday

Today my belly flips because of this...

Aren't we very very lucky to have this kind of beauty in the world?

{Artwork from My Folk Lover}

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