Today's Inspiration: The Peace Box

Maybe 5 or 6 years ago, my pen pal sent me a a little book which I'm convinced is made up of 99.9% magic (I will show that off later!) The book was created back in the late 60's/early 70's by a man named Joseph Pintauro and illustrated by Norman Laliberté and ever since then I've been popping into any and all used book stores to see if I could find more from the duo - sadly, I was always coming up empty handed but thank heavens for the internet because I've picked up quite a few from Amazon and Abe Books! I know of one other magical creature who has copies of the books, but apart from Siri, there's not too much talk about these books! So, I've decided to do a little re-occurring Sunday post in which I show off some of the pages. I call them my magic hippie books - and they surely are!

So, before I get down to it - I'll share a little bit of information about the series... There are four books (one for each season) making up the Rainbow Box Series (an illusive entity that's hella doll hairs on Abe Books). The Peace Box is the first of the series and holds itself as Winter. I have to say, it's not my favorite of the bunch - but it's certainly still wonderful!!

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Next weekend I'll show you The Rabbit Box - which has a hefty amount of pretty old Victorian and turn of the century photographs!!

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Happy Birthday America!!

I can't believe it's already that time of year again! Time for sparklers and blueberry pies and lemonade and wearing more red and white gingham than you can possibly imagine at any other time of the year!

Since moving to Boston I feel like the 4th has always turned out some really silly photos - so lets step back in time, shall we?

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Ah yes, 2006 - my first year in Boston! I spent my day exploring with the two creators of the nickname "Effie". We found ourselves at a little barn sale out in Concord MA and fussing around in some fields. The end of my evening was spent falling asleep on the hill at Tufts University. I think I might have caught a glimpse of one or two of the fireworks, but I have a problem with staying awake past 10:30 and that year wasn't any different...






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2007 was sorta a weird time for me ... break ups and make ups and all the other weirdness in between.... I think that these were the only two nice pictures I have from that day (there were some taken with a Hasselblad but I never got to see those as said break-up resulted in lack of communication...)





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Jumping very happily to 2008! I spent my day with my dear boyfriend riding bicycles to the farmer's market and enjoying cupcakes and other treats from a bakery in the South End of Boston. It was sort of lackluster as raindrops were looming over our heads all day - but it was nice to just relax and enjoy simple city things! Again, I think I fell asleep around 9 that night...





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As for 2009 - well, tomorrow's plans are unconfirmed and I still haven't decided on my outfit yet, but either way Alice and I are making it a good one! I've never done the tourist Boston firework thing down at the Hatch Shell, and most likely I'll chicken out on doing it this year.. But, there's talk of rooftops in Chinatown - and I'm thinking that sounds nice enough! Now I'm off to eat that 'Red White and You' cupcake my roommate brought me home from Sweet and then it's family time!

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What Genus Are you? The Fern Edition

It just gets rainier and rainier here. To the point where I've finally convinced myself to get a pair of rain boots. I'm thinking a pair of Hunter boots in navy blue, but I'm still thinking on it. It seems like a wild investment, but at this point - probably the best one I could make. My mother called me at 7:30 this morning to chat about floods ... that's occasion enough for expensive footwear.

I thought today would be appropriate to share some illustrations of pretty ferns that came from the Meehan's Monthly books...

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Whitened Cloak Fern



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Claytons Flowering Fern



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Bladder Fern



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Lady Fern



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Goldies Shield Fern



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Borded Shield Fern



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Killarney Fern



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Marsh Shield Fern



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Mountain Spleenwort



(okay, so I don't think this could technically be considered a fern, but it does look nice with the other anyway!)

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Peters Hair Fern



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I'm sure the ferns in the forests around here are looking gigantic and healthy - unlike my button fern I have at home... sad story about that thing. It was in ICU and underwent major surgery when I forgot to water it for a few days (ie I had to cut all but three stems out because the leaves were dry and crackling off) but then I brought it back to life with new little sprouts and it was looking okay for about a week or so, but it's starting to look sickly again. I think I'm going to give up custody and hand it over to be with other plant friends on Alice's porch. And no one can forget to water it because it's surely doing enough of that outside anyway!

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There's no place like here

AHHH!!! I love this girl so much it makes me cry!!




So a few months agoTara from etsy came and spent the day with Alice and I and filmed a little video on our house and our spaces and all our old junk. I'm so happy with how it came out! I think it's completely wonderful and since I got home from work I've watched it too many times to count! It's funny seeing how nervous I was and how I totally mis-pronounce a few things - "a beauty shob?" haha ohhh goshhh

I'll cut this short before I get all cheesy and sentimental - but please do check out our video, and take a peak at some of Tara's other videos too! She's a gem!

oh, and you should go here to see all the lovely things the folks at etsy picked out to 'get our look'!

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1 3 8 5 updates!

I put in a hard day's work today and I'm still not done! 12 new things for the 'ol etsy shop!! Everything you see below should be going up tomorrow morning sometime between the early hours of 7-9 AM EDT (hopefully!!!) ... There's also another exciting thing making its way onto the internet tomorrow ... somethin' involving me and Ms. Forest Bound ... Anyway - enough chirpin' about vague things - I have more work to do and it's so past my bed time it's not even funny!

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The ones that didn't get away!

I've been pretty good about separation anxiety when it comes to etsy sales. Sure, sure - there's been plenty of items I was sad to see go - but for whatever reason, it was good they found a new home. I'm not perfect though, and there's certainly been a few things I snatched back for myself. I'm actually proud of myself because I can count them on one hand!

The first thing - was this beautiful striped tote bag I found at a flea market for a whopping $1 !!! I felt like it was one of those Reference Library items you see and swoon over (maybe I'm blowin' a little too much smoke though) Anyway - this was back in my ebay days and I don't think anyone bid on it within the first two days, so mine it was!!

The next thing - a 50's koi fish skirt that matches a darling little romper I bought in LA at Flounce Vintage. I was going to sell them both - but then decided on keeping the romper, and then with a little help from a dear girl out in Western MA - decided to keep the skirt too! Good thing! (and thank you again Alison for all your advice!)



And my recent almost-mistake of the summer ... what might be the most sweet thing in all of existence ... a pretty little feed sack dress hand stitched by a lovely little 10 year old girl from Gully Minnesota. She even entered into her very first sewing contest! The contest information is basted at the back and I have to say, she did some impressive work!





The only problem is that it's very snug around my arms ... it's not going to rip, but there's no extra space either ... I've been wearing it around anyway - to dinner with some dear friends and then for Saturday morning coffee with Alice! Here it is in action! And I don't have a single regret about keeping it either!

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Spaces I daydream about

Three summers ago my dad and grandma were trying to clean out my great grandmother's house. No, not to sell - but to rent to new tenants. I spent an afternoon wandering around scrounging up little bits and pieces to take away from the house before the new folks moved in. I think about that day a lot, and daydream about moving in, a lot - it probably finds its way into my head at least once a day ....

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If I lived here I think I'd quit my job, forget California and do 1385 full time. The second floor has two bedrooms, one small enough to hold all my findings, the other would be perfect for a sewing room. And in between those two bedrooms is this beautiful floor ... I think I'd stack hat boxes and old time worn suitcases with a few stuffings for good measure. Or maybe I'd make it a sitting room of sorts.... so many possibilities!



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This is the bathroom and the pantry - the light is so pretty and the I love the tiles and the lovely little cubby cabinets. Maybe I'd replace that old crumbly bathtub with a claw foot tub, I think that'd be one nice upgrade.



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I think what brought this blog post on was that I was looking through some wallpaper designs and I thought about this wallpaper. I don't know if the new renters painted over anything. I cringe at the thought of it so I try to not to think about it.



It's perfect though. Prints done in a nice subtle way are always my favorite, and this one takes the cake.

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Last but not least, tin ceilings.....hellooo dream world...



I'm so mad at myself that I didn't get better pictures. I think my excuse was that my batteries died, or something lame like that... isn't that always the case? Fortunately though - there is another family owned space that I can't wait to take pictures in. I took some photos of it a while back and have been trying to decide if I should share them before Jeff and I go ... but I think I'll wait!!

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