New Additions

New Hampshire: you're a magical little land when it comes to antique stores. A magical land indeed. I found some good luck over the past few days in New Hampshire... granted I don't need another thing, but - I certainly can't say no to old botany drawings!

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$2 for each of these little dishes, sure - I'll take 'em both!





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Polish yourself flatware at $1 a piece, okay - lemme have 23!



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I'm totally in looooove with the way this old square of French tobacco smells. Uh-mayzing!



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One of my favorite purchases of the week, this bark cloth catch all! My shipping supplies quickly went right into it and I'll be so happy to never have to wonder where I left the tape again!



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I splurged a bit on this one .... (my birthday is coming up, I had to justify it somehow) But I need to stash those odds and ends somewhere!



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I also bought a little foot rest that matches those $2 dishes just perfectly (pictures when it finds a home!) AND another one of these boxes (the floral tea box in the middle there!) I thought I was lucky to find one, now I have two!

And there's one other special new addition to my dress collection. A dreamy 20's drop waist dress in my all time favorite color combinations. Thank you Miss Amy Merrick, you're a saint for ever parting with this one!!!

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Golden Afternoon

I'm at my parents house for the weekend and I convinced my mom and dad to go to Dresser Hill Farm for dinner!! YES! There's nothing like side of the road ice cream shacks for summer nourishment. Fountain soda, chicken fingers, french fries - oh and a lil bit of mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone for dessert, yes please!

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This lovely farm happens to be located on a big 'ol hill and it never fails to have the most magical golden afternoon sunsets... I think back in the day when Jeff first started tinkering with cameras we found ourselves up there in the afternoon snappin' pics, maybe someday I'll drag him back to take some legit ones ... in the mean time - my dear mamma saved the day! (with my, ahem. iphone)



She's so cute, the backgrounds for each picture were all her thinkin' and I have to say she did a pretty perfect job framing them too!! (She told me a few times when I was complimenting her that she 'was an art major')



Thanks mom and dad for another perfect summer afternoon!!

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The Elmwood Time Capsule

I'm having trouble finding just the right words to properly convey just how much happiness there is in my heart right now. I think I woke up from a dream this afternoon as I slowly wound my little car Eastward around the twisty back roads of New Hampshire. I spent my yesterday and this morning visiting the most charming and beautiful house I ever did see, with the two most beautiful and charming girls I could ever imagine existing.

Everything was perfect from the moment I opened the front door and saw Amy's little dress collection, and heard Paul Whiteman drifting around the rooms...



I basically ran around the house on my tip toes like a little bebe in a candy shop taking pictures of everything. With my phone mind you, because I'm an idiot and forgot the battery/battery charger for Alice's little camera I've commandeered (I thought I'd charge it up a bit before I left, and instead I left without it!)







I'm almost 100% sure that my time at Elmwood will have been the very best part of my summer. Canoe rides, garden flowers, bare feet and wooden floor boards. screen doors, fire flies and maybe a mosquito or two... I'm so happy I got to peek inside that wonderful little house and be part of Amy and Ginny's world!!

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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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