daily aphorism #1

"it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. it's what you know for sure that just ain't so."
[mark twain 1835-1910]

because you just needed to see this...

...and because i'm a hopeless insomniac. behold the most magnificent english rose, or flower for that matter, that i have ever had the pleasure of feasting my eyes upon: david austin's abraham darby rose. now, i'm the first to admit that i am no rose enthusiast, but i cannot contain the sheer delight i feel when i look at this flower. as soon as i saw it, i just knew you needed to see it too. even if for no more lofty a reason than that it is my firm belief that everyone should be humbled by the beauty that only nature can create.

my best friend is a self-proclaimed rose freak and grows roses on top of roses. once she has an established rose bush, she trims it and grows more roses from its cuttings. it's all very scientific and foreign to me, but i sure am glad i get to reap the harvest of getting to enjoy the end result. she didn't grow this specific rose, but i can guarantee that the second she lays eyes upon it she will have no choice to but to grow her very own abraham darby's. as a beauty junky, i could almost gorge myself on looking at this rose all day long. so it's probably a good thing that staring and smelling are fat-free.

my wedding day came and went long ago, but if i had it to do over again, i would have a wedding in a garden, filled with english roses and a huge, luscious bouquet of abraham darby roses. oh, and pomanders lining the aisles too. opulent and even slightly hauty? maybe. totally amazing? OH YES.

yet another reason these roses have cemented themselves firmly in the garden of my soul as my favorite of all time, is because, they are the namesake of my little girl, darby jane. who as i write this, is snuggled up under the covers (yes, she gets to sleep in bed), dreaming her puppy dreams. no doubt of herself, running through fields of roses.

now i try not to nag, but whatever you do, don't ever forget to stop and smell the roses. especially if they're abraham darby's.

au revoir & sweet dreams,
LP

daily obsession #3

i'm just going to cut right to the chase today. my daily obsession is as simple as ABC and yet, done correctly, can make a huge statement. i, the princess of the paisley pineapple, am drawn like a magnet to just about anything with a TRADITIONAL MONOGRAM on it.

however, i will be the first to admit that i haven't always felt this way. once upon a time in a land far away i found most monogrammed items to be tacky and cheesy. i reserve a special abhorrence for "first name" monograms, particularly when parents plaster them all over their children's belongings. not so much for the fact that i just have a innate distaste for them, but because everyone knows (or should) that kidnappers absolutely adore how easy it is to lure a child into a comprising position when they already happen to know their victim's name. so my muffins, if you are reading this remember, friends don't let friends wear name monograms.

now back to the good goods, TRADITIONAL monograms. as a lifelong fan of typography, and a publications designer by trade, it's only natural that i would find these ligature-like initial combinations so alluring. i'm particularly drawn to the park avenue-like scroll work of the fancy script monograms and on the opposite end of the spectrum, the angular, tribeca-like ones. just another in a long list of my style bipolarities, always one extreme or the other.

i'm pretty sure that nothing could possibly be more lady-like than having your very own set of monogrammed stationary and calling cards from dabney lee. if you find something superlative, please do let me know. stationary designers (fun job alert!) have always had great offerings in so far as monogrammed items are concerned, but soft goods and housewares with tastefully done traditional monograms were much harder to come by, until recently. i was instantly obsessed with this monogrammed wrapping paper i found at neiman marcus, which made sense, when i saw the price tag of $90 a roll. i think it's pretty safe to say that i would much prefer to feed 100 starving children in africa for a week, than ever pay that much for a roll of wrapping paper, however chic it may be.

i swear, my husband must have pottery barn radar, set to alert him whenever a precise keystroke sequence is made on my keyboard. a financial defense mechanism he has cleverly established to counteract the effects of my inborn (i get it from my mama) pb obsession. case in point was just the other day, i was coveting this gorgey set of monogrammed sheets (pb does them BEST) when he walked in and reminded me that i had purchased a pb bedding ensemble only a week earlier (oh how quickly i forget) and that "i must be on crack if i think i'm spending any more money there this month." so, they will have to be put on hold until i get bored with my butterflies.

i may have lost the sheet battle, but i won myself this darling little silver bank, which happens to be wearing a name tag on it's collar that is engraved with the initials of the apple of my eye, my cherished miniature dachshund, darby jane {DJP}.

you have probably noticed by now that i really like etsy, like, A LOT. as an artistic person, i really appreciate handmade goods and have a lot of respect for all the brilliant artisans who try to make a life for themselves by offering their wares in the (virtual) marketplace. as a child, i spent many spring weekends at the michigan state university art & craft festival and as a result, will forever cherish the heirloom-like quality of craftsman goods. one of my favoritist etsy finds of late are these monogrammed initial wax seal pendants by ritzy misfit. i read on her site that they are going to be featured on the style network or something, but remember, you found them here first.

well, that's all i have for today, possums. i'm going to snuggle up to my bdp and djp and enjoy the rest of my sunday evening and it is my sincerest hope that you will do the same.

au revoir & toodleloo,
LP

daily obsession #2

i was still trying desperately to unhook myself from yesterday's obsession, as i scrolled through a google search history that eerily resembled haiku, when i got hit by a bus. don't worry, one didn't literally hit me, but rather arrived by way of synapse and parked itself right in my universe. as a thought that sticks itself to your brain like an adhesive bandage that must be removed very gently in future, once you have attained full recovery.

my daily infection, or rather obsession as we shall so gingerly call it here, has been threatening to overcome me for some weeks now. i have resisted as long as i can, and so as a lifelong advocate of peace, i shall just throw my hands up in the air as i wave the white flag of surrender: oh LOVE BUS how i love you.

one of my favorite guilty pastimes is daydreaming, in case you haven't attuned yourself to that behavioral pattern of mine in just two posts... and one of my all-to-frequent daydreams of late is of myself, with a silk scarf tied up in my hair, my jackie o sunglasses on and 2.5 barefoot hippy children in the back of my fully-restored, 1969 volkswagen bus. i would use it for running errands and just tooting around town, as snowflake (my 2008 jetta) sat jealously in the carport, wondering when she would get some action, too.

i told my husband point blank that the closest i ever intended to get to a mini van, was my glorious little (they really are tiny) LOVE BUS. preferably one in complimenting shades of robin's egg blue or sunshine yellow with cream.

my day dream took a serendipitous turn towards reality, as i was driving past the produce market near my house, when i saw IT. a darling little yellow and cream love bus, lovingly restored and complete with a hula girl on the dash. yes, a HULA GIRL. if you know me, then you know that i can't help but to interpret that fact as a clear indication from the universe that this bus was meant for ME. i was trying in vain not to drool all over my pristine little bus when it's current owner walked out of the produce stand wearing (i swear to all that is holy) a tie dye t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

now i realize, that the love bus represents more than merely just a form of vehicular transportation, but rather, is symbolic of an entire lifestyle. one in which i can only hope to ascend beyond the level of poseur within the tightly ranked echelons of its cult following. but, what does a girl have if not for her dreams? so, i was riding high in my bubble between daydream and the real world, when i asked him how much for his bus (MY bus). his reply: twenty-one-five.

POP! there went my bubble and boy did it hurt when i hit the ground. now every time i drive by the produce market, i still struggle to stifle a small twinge of desire in my heart. but i hold on to hope that one day.... one day, i'll have my bus. then i'll be the grooviest soccer mom on the block.

while you're just hanging out here, why not go one click further and check out Catch the Bus, a company in almogordo, new mexico, who's team of love bus lovers is dedicated to restoring all makes and models of volkswagen buses to their formerly cherry state. thankfully for these folks, it's that much easier for people like to me to bug out and pretend that we have been transported back to a much more boss era in time.

au revoir & peace out,
LP

daily obsession #1

this picture is so perfecto because it contains two of my favorite things: birds and trees. birds are one of my all time favs and if you saw my house you would have no choice but to bear witness to the marriage of two of my undying loves, birds and pottery barn. i could go on and on about all the loves i carry around in my suitcase heart, but this post is about today's obsession (yes, i have a new one daily): CHERRY BLOSSOM TREES.

it's cherry blossom season again, except sadly for me, not in florida. so i will just have to make due with admiring and adoring photos of cherry blossoms, cherry blossom artwork, clothes with patterns and prints of cherry blossoms, cherry blossom tea, cherry blossom tarts and best of all... cherry blossom fragrance. my daily obsession inspired me to whip out my b&bw cherry blossom shower wash and body cream this morning, which i religiously slathered over every inch of my body... and i must say, i smell glorious. people who come within 5 feet of me today should probably thank me for making their world smell so much better. it's the scent that literally epitomizes spring and it can't help but uplift you.

spring is my second fav season, closely lead by fall, but i would be willing to bet that if i were to go to japan right this very second and witness the glory of cherry blossom season in the first person, spring would leap as gracefully as a fawn into the lead spot in my heart. the thought of cherry blossom season in japan makes me want to kick off my shoes and walk through the perfectly-kept gardens as i sip my tea and breathe in the heavenly aroma. but since i can't be there today, in honor of my daily obsession, i will continue my daydreaming about springtime in japan, my over-indulgence in all-things cherry blossom and the shamelessly frequent sniffing of myself, since i smell so dang good. maybe i will even go for some sushi later.

while you're tooting around on the web, why don't you check out some of the AMAZING handmade cherry blossom goods on etsy, here. sadly, this baby was not for sale (i checked) but just one look at her in her little cherry blossom cap makes me feel as happy as she looks. i hope it makes you happy, too.

au revoir & happy spring!
LP