The Style Saloniste aka Diane Dorrans Saeks conducted an interview

with photographer Vicki Topaz on her new book: Silent Nests. The interview is interesting and the photographs are beautiful, however, it was the author's description of a book that she is currently working on that captivated me; the book is called Silver: A State of Mind - here is what she says about it.

Diane Dorrans Saeks: What are you working on now?

Vicky Topaz: My current work, entitled ‘Silver: A State of Mind’, is a series of portraits of women who possess one of the most distinctive outward signs of aging--silvering hair. The project deals with the transformative and challenging aspects of aging and aims to reveal the core energy, vitality and allure of these women and how they are moving through this time in their lives. I find the silvering of hair is an entry point to a diversity of thoughts and ideas on the subject. This is a different sort of "landscape"--women who are aging and the vistas they inhabit.

So today, my birthday, I am reflecting on my age. Awhile back I made the decision not to change the color of my hair - I am aging as God intended - silver sparkles in my hair now. I like it and I love the idea that "the silvering of hair is an entry point to a diversity of thoughts and ideas on the subject".

When I turned 50 my dear friend June said to me: "50 allows us to say and think whatever we want - we have earned it". So silver shots in my hair and lots of years, I have earned it. And you know what? All the hairdressers love my shimmery silver - mixed in with my light brown.

And my body thanks me for it - no chemicals. And Mother Earth thanks me too.

Read this NYT piece by Dominque Browning of Slow Love Life blog. It is about long hair on older women but also about graying hair.

A little late in posting about BLOGGERS FIGHTING HUNGER

but hunger does not go away

8.8% of our population is unemployed - that is 13.5 million people

15% is the true percentage of our population that is unemployed which includes those who have given up looking, and those who are still looking for jobs.

Please do something today...or tomorrow...or the next day.

New shapes for memento and inspiration boards

Sunny Goode's fun new memento board above

Makes you want to forget the ho-hum square or rectangle

Why not get out your jigsaw and cut out a wonderful shape

like the mirror above?

Photo via Stylebeat - Mr Brown's booth at NYIGF

More fun new shapes

check out Sunny Goode's blog for the how-to

Ideas are percolating in my head

with all the info from the NYIGF scouts

like Marisa at Stylebeat

and my friend Robin from Seabeans Studio

While in NYC a couple of days ago,

I spent a long time in Grand Central,

which is one of my favorite places.

I love the hustle and bustle.

No one ever bumps into each other.

The astronomical ceiling is quite simply amazing.

As I was looking at Grand Central's brilliant turquoise blue ceiling,

I was reminded of the new book by

Emily Evans Erdmans

on

Madeleine Castaing.

Madame Castaing loved NYC:

she said it was the place where the streets smoked.

Madame Castaing also loved the same brilliant turquoise blue

that can be seen in Grand Central.

Looking at the book jacket and Grand Central

I was struck by the similarities:

brilliant blue

and

the seating and ticket booth -

I noticed how they both sit in the

middle of the room

as the focal point.

I also love how this wonderful seat changes over time.

and this perfect monogrammed stool.

Just love it.

Inspiration for my next project maybe.

bottom photograph: Francis Hammond, via Little Augury

other photographs: Emily Evans Erdmans, The World of Madeleine Castaing

everyone who reads this blog knows that i am a

huge fan of maira kalman, so i am sending you

to design sponge for a wonderful interview:

what's in your toolbox. enjoy. click here

I love maps.

Where I am sitting right now is sometimes called the map room.

I love to know where I am going.

Navigation is my job on car trips,

but I am not so good on the iphone directions.

I much prefer the real thing.

You have got to admit that these furniture pieces covered in maps are very clever.

I have seen rooms wallpapered with old nautical maps.

And look at this room from the October 2010 House Beautiful; it was designed by Daniel Sachs. a bloomsbury life (one of my regular reads) showcased this room on her blog.

a wider view of the room

Imagine reading stories at bedtime with that expansive map on the wall.

Exciting

Travels

Adventure

House Beautiful, October 2010.

Interiors by Daniel Sachs. Photos by Ngog Minh Ngo.)

I have seen trays decoupaged with more old maps.

Of course I have many maps on my walls,

but maps on furniture - this is a first.

I saw the mapped furniture on Elements of Style here - the creator is Bryonie Porter here.

Something I might attempt sometime

for a dear girl I know who is REALLY into maps too.

You got it - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Maps are her latest dorm decoration.

great photo from slow love life

reminded me of my girlhood.

every autumn we would make a pilgrimage to the chestnut tree

and collect dozens and dozens of chestnuts

then store them like squirrels.

i even found one lurking in my desk drawer recently.

it dates back to one of my early hunts;

hard to believe, but true.

i never wanted to throw that chestnut away.

it would be like giving away one of my fondest childhood memories.

and then

two weeks ago

miss is, dh, and i were walking around the city campus

and we

found a chestnut tree.

such fun.

we stuffed our pockets,

filled empty water bottles,

and took our stash back to our respective rooms.

mine sit on my desk.

miss is ... has her stash too.

we think of our walk when we look at our stash.

they are nice to hold and roll around in your palm

and the color brown is wonderful, warm and rich in tone.

my stash also reminds me of my favorite book:

pride and prejudice

remember elizabeth's aunt, mrs gardiner,

in the book she reminisces about running to the horse chestnut tree at lambton

and mr darcy recalls his fun boyhood runs to the very same chestnut tree.

i will hold on to this recent chestnut stash for a long time

because i am an empty-nester now.

Fit for a queen...we all should feel like a princess or a queen

another wonderful fabric for Autumn 2010 collection

Do I dare put myself in the royalty frame?

I think not; but dear miss is perfect as a little princess.

This new frame reminded me of the

fun bicycle ringer on the

fancy fat tire bicycle

that I posted about here

which I saw on SlimPaley.com here

AND it reminds me of another new

frame for the Autumn 2010 collection

remember the bike and basket full of fabrics above

so a nice combo - bike, flowers, crown

new frames - bike, flowers, crown

perfect for any princess or queen

Notice the similarities?

SlimPaley.com photo, with permission

a bike and a basketful of flowers

perfect as we end summer

I just love to bike around on fat-tired cruisers like this one

big handlebars

makes you feel like you have perfect posture when you ride.

Only problem,

the terrain in my neck of the woods

would make this bike hard to use,

but I love a cruiser at the beach

or in town with gentle rolling hills...

You sit up high and roll merrily along your way.

Some day I will live there!

Birthday bike from slim paley today

Why is it that we are drawn to heart shapes? Especially organically shaped hearts - that have grown directly from nature - like the heart tree above. I wonder about that. This tree does have a look of cutting shears, but maybe not. Could it be a gift of nature? Look at how the branches create the undulating top of the tree. Photo from MA BELLE.

But back to the reasons we are drawn to these lovely shapes: love love love, warmth, happiness, serendipity, chance, simplicity...

Everyday that I drove miss is to school (40 minutes away), mostly she took the bus or drove herself, but back to the story, I would see an island in the middle of the river as I crossed the Sikorsky Bridge. I called it the love island - it was uninhabited, just a spit of land covered in grasses - long, tall, waving to me as I drove by. And it was shaped like a heart. The only way to see the heart shape is from the car as I drive across the bridge - see above - a little dangerous trying to snap the picture from the moving vehicle while travelling 60 mph - this is the best shot of the island ... can you see the heart shape? It always makes me smile and think happy thoughts, no matter how difficult or traumatic my day has been.

Then there is the rock on my desk...one day it was just there...I have no idea when or where I found this rock, but I love it and it makes me smile.... When life is hard or troubling, it is soothing to look at the hard stone shaped in a heart. It gives me hope.

Imagine my surprise when I turned the rock over during my photo shoot! A little, magical inscription delighted me - from miss is at a tender age. I did not know this wonderful sentiment was inscribed until yesterday. Serendipity...to find this inscription as I write a post about love.

Seabeans, the wonderful shop in Wilton where I sell my frames and memento boards, has lots of heart shaped stones mounted on boards... picture to follow...

and my friend, jeanne over at nantucket mermaid, is always finding heart-shaped rocks and painting them for her studio - check it out here - and here, or better yet, visit her when you are on Nantucket.

and read this wonderful post from mackin ink about "the love of her life"...it is beautiful...words to remember...read it all the way through - click here

I saw this over at mackin ink not long ago

in the very hand of the very t.ruffles lady called karey

love the quote - should remember it - i am going to post it on my office wall

check out her blog...

Not April fool's day

but

April Food Day

This is the second annual April Food Day

It was started in 2009 by Easy Elegant Life and Pigtown Design

Remember the old adage

can you spare a dime

how about a few dollars?

Donate here

Donate to a soup kitchen

Volunteer in a soup kitchen

There are a lot of folks out there who need our help

google alerts

are a good way to learn what people are saying about you.

I just received a terrific alert:

all the way from a college student in Georgia,

who actually worked with my daughter in a local Connecticut ice cream shop

and knew nothing about my blog.

She happened by my blog by accident.

I would like to think it was a case of serendipity.

so thanks Claudine for the sweet post.

Crazy Claude

has lots of recommendations for other blog reading

Why the slinky?

It was invented through serendipity.

"The Slinky was invented by US Navy engineer Richard T. James after he accidentally knocked a torsion spring off his work table and observed its unique motion."

from Wikipedia

Alyssa of Coterieblog just did a wonderful post on my work

thank you - thank you Alyssa.

Alyssa purchased the zebra frame above which reminded her of the

I Married Adventure book.

Read more of alyssa's finds and books that she likes

she has two blogs...

how do you do it?

all photos taken by Alyssa of Coterieblog

Back to school

Here are some frames to match the boards I posted last week

Something fun for the student, the desk, the teacher

Fun bookish images

that I collected all summer

from various blogs

including little augury, swissmiss

in anticipation of my fall 2009 line

which includes the whimsical good night monkey fabric line

Living well is the best revenge...

A fine summer's day

in our little corner of the world.

Here we sat, looking at the jungle, drinking our coffee

and reading the Sunday Times.

The chair line-up reminded me of

Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear

Later in the day,

inspired by Eddie Ross

but with a twist

we enjoyed a delicious (if I do say so myself) pavlova

when I have time I love to cook and bake

dh and miss is like it too

Libby (to the right of dh) is ready for a morsel

her eyes are keenly focused

for a slip of the spoon.

Other inspiration came by way of Smitten Kitchen

watermelon lemonade

made a batch last weekend; it was so good made it again today

thirst quenching and delish

followed that up with green bean and tomato salad

also from Smitten Kitchen

(skipped the wax beans)

with corn on the cob and burgers.

livin' is good

back to the grind tomorrow.