Presents Possible: 2011

I am posting this two days before Christmas again this year precisely because I am an optimist. So there.

That's correct; 'Tatler'. $104/year

My favorite WA film. $20 via amazon

Not yet available in the US. Waiting in the gift closet.

Cath Kidston Oilcloth Cross body. $75 at cathkidstonusa.com

This one's been on the wish list for several years. It's time, Santa.

Perennial favorite. $40 at kiehls.com

Now hurry down the chimney, Santa Baby.

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas.
tIO x

My New BFF: Lonny!

I am giggling like a schoolgirl.

I just met Lonny, and I am smitten! (Thank you, Kelly - of the wonderful High Street Market - and Betsy, talented designer at "Manor Drive Sweatshop", for the introduction! X)

So, who is Lonny, you ask? Not who, lovelies; Lonny is a what. A jewel in the form of an online design magazine, conceived of and edited by Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline.

After a solid two hours of clicking through its 'pages',
here is a top-line summary of Issue #1:

Firstly: it's online - but I can print the pages I love (which means I'll be buying a lot more ink cartridges).

Secondly: the premiere issue includes Kate Townsend-Simpson, Eddie Ross, Ron Marvin, Carolina Irving, Grace Bonney, Laurent Girard and Leonora Mahle, and Deborah Needleman. Um... hello!

Thirdly: it's 195 pages! And the click-throughs! Oh, the click-throughs. To nearly every item and on every advert. (Yes, adverts - from online-only shops as well as traditional bricks-and-mortar outlets.)

Finally: it's thoughtfully produced and edited. And though it will require me to prop my laptop on the treadmill handles, I can manage. For now. Until it's released on Kindle (hint, hint).

As someone who has been lamenting the (un)timely passing of her favorite magazines - Blueprint, Domino, House&Garden, Southern Accents, to name a few, the business acumen and industry instincts behind Lonny just might have the moxie and savvy to recreate (and lead) the mag market in the 21st Century. And it's pretty!

So don't wait! Click through up there or here to the lovely Lonny - the fresh-faced, gorgeously-produced, web-based love note to design.

LYLAS, Lonny!


Today's conundrum: Why can't I choose exactly which 712 channels I want on my cable package? Isn't the technology available for that yet?

Future conundrum: Is it true that the more we try to be individuals, the more alike we become?

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!

Splish splash splosh

I have about 17 minutes until I have to jump back in the car to do the 'Thursday-night-swim-lesson-shuffle'. Six finishes his lesson at 5:55pm; Eight begins his at 6:00pm.

I am usually as joyful about this as someone unpaid to watch paint dry. And realising this always makes me feel guilty. The pool deck is usually crowded, usually smelly, and unusually loud. I hate to go to the pool to 'chat' to the other moms. I hate to just sit there, or flick through a magazine. I would rather be in the water taking a lesson, too. Or home cleaning, frankly. Bad Mommy. (Or 'Good Mommy', if you consider the bit about the cleaning.)

So, instead, I subject my children to an early supper (usually at 4-ish) and then run back-and-forth to the pool 1/4 mile away three times. I am a child. I told the boys: "on Thursday afternoons, Mommy feels like Constance Contraire" - one of the characters in our favorite book series, The Mysterious Benedict Society.

I am dressed as an adult; perhaps I should comport myself as one. But I don't feel like it right now. [stamps foot]

The silver-lining is, of course, that they love it. And so did I...when my mom dropped me off at the pool those many years ago to "go home and clean".


Today's conundrum: When will Wolf Hall actually be released?

Future conundrum: Is it right to cringe when I see an(other) actress-as-cover-model on W? Or on any fashion mag actually?

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!