Oh my, you are in for a treat today. You know those rare blogs that never cease to surprise you? On one day you'll find something inspiring to look at, the next, a journey through a dream, on another, practical and lovely ideas for work... That's what you'll find on Brandi's blog, not your average ordinary. To cinch the deal, this lady is also thoughtful and sweet. All of which makes me very happy to announce: Brandi is RIGHT HERE today. Hooray! Hawk Hill
It was a place of fog and mist. On occasion, the sun broke through long enough to see the city that lay below, but this place belonged to the fog.
The path away from the iconic bridge and city led through a tunnel. The wind whipped around, as if time itself were being erased. All sounds were caught up and brushed into a corner, never to escape past the archways.
There, on the other side, were woods and an undulating landscape that looked like the western coast of Ireland: green, cliffs, and wide ocean.
The road wound in an almost dizzy way, but it wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t the road that was important; it was the fact that it hugged the coast, that it lead from one gorgeous scene to the next, that it was the place to watch the sun dip into the water. This place was one moment of a long journey.
This place is Hawk Hill, just north of San Francisco. It was one of the many stops on my long road trip from the West Coast to the East Coast. And it was where I fell in love with northern California. (I, of course, hadn’t even seen Napa yet.) The unexpectedness of it all caught me in my chest, and it still hasn’t let me go. Places between two worlds like this one are truly something special.
I am so excited that Deborah of Wild Hope has agreed to write a guest post here while I'm off gallivanting in Europe. I have known Deborah for more than 15 years, and she is one of the most passionate, creative and authentic people I have ever met. We lost contact for many years and when we found each other again, lo and behold she was the mother of two adorable children who fill her days (and nights) with more than I can imagine. You mothers will understand. Joy, exhaustion and great love in a glorious, chaotic mix. Am I right? I am thrilled to have Deborah back in my life, and introduce her family into yours. Bright Vision There was life in my belly.
And I knew her name.
I had known her name for as long as I remembered my own heart beating.
It whispered to me in my in dreams.
It crawled out of pages in books.
It blew in with a blossom in the Spring breeze, landing itself on my window sill.
Bright vision.
So we adorned the house with warm and precious things.
To signify her history.
To herald her future.
To celebrate her imminent presence.
Texture, colour, smell, and sound.
All swirled around us.
And filled up our senses.
From my country of birth, the sweet smell of batik.
And the gentle curve of teak wood.
From my sister, the softness of a quilt.
And from another sister, tokens from the sea.
From my grandmother, a treasured book.
From our garden, the scent of fresh blooms.
From her father, a song.
And from me, a little Rose Garden.
Then we were still.
And with the grace of all her brightness,
she stepped into the light.
Here is a little secret that I haven't shared on this blog to-date: I am off on a holiday. Tomorrow bright and early I hop on a plane, and I will be a-travelling for a month. London - Paris - Languedoc - Provence - Venice - Rome. Oh, methinks there will be grand adventures. I didn't sleep last night for the excitement, just like a little child before Christmas.
To keep you entertained in the meantime, I have lined up some absolutely wonderful guest bloggers to keep this site alive. They are creative, kind, surprising, inspiring and clever people, so I know you will love what they pull together. Please show them lots of love and support, and remember to say hi to them in the comments box so they know you're there.
I'll return in October, and I dare say there will be stories to tell.
Yours truly,
Naomi
Have you seen these photographs? This is downtown New York in the early 1940s, photographed in colour. Does it look real to you?
While World War II raged on distant shores, an amateur photographer from Indiana, Charles Weever Cushman, took a holiday in New York. He took his holiday snaps on a rare and expensive Kodachrome camera, in colour.
Somehow this doesn't quite seem real to me. Maybe it's the soft, hazy, vintage wash in some of the pictures. Or maybe it's because I'm just not wired to picture life in the 40s in colour. Not real life, at least, just movies.
And yet here they all are, these New Yorkers from decades before I was born, going about their lives, walking the streets I walked, entering the doorways I entered. Suddenly, generations of the past are just like me. I feel connected. Neighbourly, almost. Who knew our grandparents' lives were lived in colour?
Take a look through Cushman's incredible collection here. He travelled widely, throughout the US and Europe, and seems to have always carried the trusty Kodachrome with him. It is only by an extreme act of self restraint that I haven't posted in multiplicity of urchins on farm gates from the 1930s, all captured in that oddly unsettling colour. OK I had to bring you just this one, taken in Pennsylvania in 1941.
Once upon a time, I went a-visiting to the website of someone who had left a comment on my blog. (I always try to visit your site if you leave a link to it when you comment). Anyhoo, this particular site was called Hivenn and it turned out the blogger was a sweetheart of a young, blue-haired gal from the UK who took some quite lovely photographs. One of them struck me as particularly moving and I wanted to tell her so, but I couldn't find out where to leave comments. BUT while I was searching for a comments option, I found this human calendar at the bottom of the page. The little folks inside the boxes will even figure out what day it is on your side of the world and switch places and signs accordingly. Things like this make me embarrassingly happy.
Remember iPods? Antique iPhones without the networks... remember those things?
I wasn't an early adopter but can I tell you, when I was given my first iPod that baby changed my life. Suddenly, my days had a soundtrack. Even something as mundane as walking to work became a swim in an ocean of my favourite music.
But have you ever wondered what anybody else's soundtrack is? Tyler Cullen hit the streets of New York to open up the city's soundtrack.
I want to get to know you. What's your soundtrack? What do you listen to on the way to work? When you work out? When you're writing? What else?
Today I pulled together a little pen pal package for my new friend Hermine in Belgium. It was such a fun treasure hunt! Don't know what I'm talking about? Find out here. This is what I put in the big, padded envelope. The inventory: * A sprig of pink gum blossoms, purloined from the parklands on my walk * A few pages torn from 1930s children's classic Blinky Bill (a spare copy) * A postcard of Glenelg (a little beachside town in Adelaide) * A cute little airmail-themed gift card * A lovely, hand-drawn postcard on wood, that I bought in New York * Some pretty, coloured tissue paper * A travelling copy of Airmail with the hand-painted bookplate * A chocolate frog from Darrel Lea * A photograph of my mother as a girl, arm raised in a snowball fight * Three marbles (of course!) * A necklace made out of a birthday candle * A polariod self portrait showing my reflection in the tea-kettle * Some cutout pictures of my new home of Adelaide and South Australia * Two fall leaves given to me from my friend in Connecticut * A hand-written letter-excerpt from Airmail covered in international stamps * A cute ribbon with a butterfly in the centre, from Anthropologie * A turquoise, hand-painted wooden egg (Not pictured) * Three little squares of vintage, yellow, chintz fabric (seen here) * A 50 cent coin (because all the edges are so pretty) * A letter, telling Hermine about life in Australia I hope it all makes it to Antwerp safely, and that Hermine likes it!
I can't get this slow-burning song out of my head lately. It haunts me. I love how it builds and builds and builds. It is so familiar, that breakup ache, the confusion, misunderstandings, lost tenderness... but Gotye makes it beautiful. Every time the song ends, I feel like it has broken up with me. I am undone.
1. I heart melty crayon art ...which you can buy from JK Create on Etsy, OR make your very own using a box of crayons and a hairdryer, thanks to the pioneering experiments of Tracy on Naptime = Craft time. Let me know if you try it! 2. I heart this fashion time machine 100 years of East London style in 100 seconds. I watched this yesterday and I was blown away. Then I watched it again. Then I clicked "favourite." 3. I heart free postcard apps Seriously: the thought of combining my instagram addiction with my addiction for all things postal is making me a little light-headed! Take a look at these five free iPhone apps for sending postcards. 4. I heart the magical floating Ferris Wheel In this video project, artist Maider Lopez made all the structures of a Ferris Wheel in Austria seem to disappear, creating a magical, floating world. (Here's a video if you want to see the Ferris Wheel in motion. Crazy beautiful!) 5. I heart Imogen's imagination come to life There's a bit of a story to go with this one. Do you remember a while back when I introduced you to Rachel of " i make. you wear it.", who is making a dress a day for charity? I showed you her incredible postcard dress... Around about the same time that I discovered Rachel, my friend Ruby had also shown me a number of amazing dresses designed by her eight-year-old daughter Imogen. Imogen has a wonderful sense of colour and form. I thought there were some synergies between Rachel's and Imogen's aesthetic, so I showed Ruby the site. She got in touch with Rachel, who has just spent the past week making Imogen's dress designs a reality. Isn't that wonderful? And how talented is Imi! How awesome is Rachel! Rachel is doing this project to raise funds for The Starlight Foundation, which brightens the lives of seriously ill children. So if you like what you see, I do hope you'll consider making a donation. That's all from me today, folks. A later-than-usual Friday mashup (ok, it's Saturday), but I hope you enjoy. Have a wonderful weekend!
Look what arrived in my mailbox today, all the way from Belgium! Remember two weeks ago when I blogged about old-fashioned ways to keep it personal? One of the things I did was get in touch with Hermine of Journal de Jours, to join her wonderful pen pal project. Today the sweetest little package arrived in the mail from Hermine, lovely snippets of her life in Antwerp. Now it's my turn to send a little Aussie package off to Hermine. Any suggestions as to what I should include? What would you like to see? I'll bring you my regular 'Favourite things Friday' post later today (so stay tuned), but I just couldn't resist sharing about this wonderful mailbox find first. Hermine, you have absolutely made my day!
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