wee marie antoinette.

is anyone else as delighted by this wee marie antoinette as i am?

also more here.

bugaboo daytrips

i found this fun site a few years back, and though i have yet to try the bugaboo trip in paris or stockholm or even portland or vancouver, you can bet i'll check out bugaboo's recommendations when i do get to those cities, especially after nearly completing the fun tour of downtown l.a. as they posted.
see more here.

children's books: a few favorites.

my mom has her master's degree in library science, and studied english as an undergrad. this apple didn't fall far from the tree; i love books, especially children's books, especially those that showcase great stories or beautiful art--or both. some favorites:

alphabeasties. a smorgasbord of beautiful typography in an alphabetic setting--with animals! i think this book will find its way under our christmas tree this year.

charley harper's abcs. vivid, graphic illustrations of animals and birds. we love charley harper.

iggy peck architect. poetic, fun, and more beautiful illustrations.

pippi longstocking. a new edition of the classic swedish tale with illustrations by lauren child of charlie and lola fame.

follow the line. and anything by laura ljunkgvist, really. we love her version of snow white.

babar. the original stories by laurent de brunhoff are whimsical and beautiful.

mary blair. her beautiful storyboards for walt disney classics such as alice in wonderland, peter pan, and cinderella have been reinvented as illustrations for children's books by renown author such as jon scieszka and cynthia rylant. you can buy alice in wonderland on amazon right now for a steal--this is another book you'll find under our christmas tree (i know there's no images on amazon, so either trust me on this one or google "mary blair alice in wonderland" to see what i mean.)

this is the short list--so many books! what children's books are on your short list?

fall is nearly here.

this week we are having a nice little preview of the pending winter rains, and i find myself craving apples and vegetable soup and hot chocolate, scarves and sweaters and boots. i'm also looking for more ways to spruce up our home for the coming months--it can be pretty gloomy when it's pitch dark by 4.30pm.

what do you crave in the fall?

last bit of summer.

school has started. it's raining. summer of 2010 is coming to a close.

there's still time for one more little summer post.

some highlights from the end of our summer: my semi-surprise birthday dinner at the lake; picking blackberries; homemade chocolate hazelnut gelato; an outing to the seattle square (where we met the lovely people who made that ice cream poster) and pike place; bumbershoot; and this pizza.

that's prosciutto, arugula, and organic sun tomatoes. mmmmm.

we have at least one more trip to the farmers market. the parks are still there. we'll make gelato at least once more. and there will be blackberry pie in the near future.

encouragement.

i've been thinking lately about my attempt to make summer a writing season. understandably, summer was not the time to do it. between new baby and vacation and birthdays and a little someone in our house starting school, the season has flown. but now we are in a new season: a season with daily rituals and routines, a season that requires more order and discipline, a season with less sunshine and earlier bedtimes.

so i'm going to try again. i figured if i write 1 story per week, i could have 52 stories one year from now. it's important for me to break down big projects into little bits like that--too often i think, "i want to write a book," but that statement has no instructional value.

with all this on my mind, i found these profiles especially encouraging. i'm just getting more into the new yorker lately (seriously, where have i been?), and found that over the summer they featured stories from 20 writers under 40. i have yet to actually read a story, but have been immensely interested by the profiles. suddenly i feel much better if it takes me a year to write a book. or several years. i'll still be under 40.