A Little Extra Pretty for the Weekend

In my imagination, this is what I look like after I get out of the shower in the morning. 

You can tell I have a very active imagination....
Image:  Woman in Palace (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn) Marrakech, 1951 by Irving Penn.  The Art Institute of Chicago.

The Weekly Bean

All gussied up and moody .....

It's the Heat and the Work and the Hullaballoo

Hi.

It's me.

I'm tired, y'all.  So, so tired.

The heat and the house and the house guests and the mountains of work at work have collided and I feel like a wrung out washrag this week.

I'm sorry that the blog has been so sparse.  If it makes any of you feel better, I have all kinds of ideas for blogs, I just have no energy to actually, you know, blog them.

I promise I'll do better next week.

In the meantime, thanks for hanging in here with me. 
Image:  Orange Wish by Abby Blaine.

A Year in Provence

The heat outside was like a blow on the skull and the road back to the house was a long mirage, liquid and rippling in the glare, the leaves on the vines drooping, the farm dogs silent, the countryside stunned and deserted.  It was an afternoon for the pool and the hammock and an undemanding book, a rare afternoon without builders or guests, and it seemed to pass in slow motion.

A Year in Provence, July, by Peter Mayle

This Charming Closet

Did you guys know about this? 

This is Jake and he has/had cancer on his leg.  His mama launched this campaign to sell enough of her so-cute-you-can't-even-stand-it aprons in order to pay for Jake's treatment. 

I got a pink one.  And Jake is being (very successfully, I understand) treated for his cancer. 

Go.  Buy.  Cook.  OrJustStandAroundInYourKitchenWithACocktailLookingCuteAndEatingChipsAndPretendingToBeGwynethPaltrow.

Wednesday - Run Away Without Leaving Home

Gaz Eau Montmartre Paris by Julie Webb Photography.

Listening to Fear

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along.'"

Eleanor Roosevelt

Image:  Facing Your Fears by Risamay.

Don't Worry, Bean Happy

Charming Words

Decorate [dek-uh-reyt]

- verb

to furnish or adorn with something ornamental or becoming; embellish
Image:  Little Things by SLG Designs.

Tuesday's Girl

"Being elegant isn't easy.  You have to study it, like cuisine and art."

Miuccia Prada