theblackapple at Etsy

I am always drawn to faces in a painting. Who are they? Are they posing for the artist? What thoughts are racing through their mind as the artist urges them to be still? Or sometimes I wonder, are they real? Or did the artist dream them up? Is it a reflection of the artist themselves?

Which is why I find the paintings by Emily Martin (aka theblackapple on Etsy) so fascinating. There is a quietness about the girls in her paintings. There is no description needed, the eyes tell you a story...

 Button Collector Print 

The Quiet Room Print

The Pensive Wallpaper print brought a smile to my face! It is described as " After staring at the beautiful wallpaper for hours, she found herself a bit worried........". I can understand that feeling!

All images are courtesy of theblackapple store on Etsy. Check Emily's other paintings there and also drop by her blog.

Because summer is far away and I could do with a vacation now.....

Because summer (which is still three months away) is also going to be busy.  It only looks like I am sitting at my desk right now but really, I am in this place....

All images from Marie Claire Maison.

M is for Magic in the air...

In case any one is keeping track, we are on letter M of my list of favorites. This weekend as I debated what I would include in my list (M is for marriages -especially with R and my wedding anniversary in the middle of the week- and other M's), I got summoned to work. On a Sunday?!  But wait, I am getting ahead of myself...

It all started with a  forwarded email from my boss on Saturday and it had words like 'tomorrow'  and 'millions'...come on, on a Sunday?! In our household, we take our weekends very seriously and the only words I want to hear are relax, relaxing, relaxation.. you get the drift but saying 'No' was not an option. What was it that she wanted me to do? Play host to some visitors?", Okay, I can do that, I enjoy company. What else? They won't be staying very long? Not a problem! What?! There might be millions?!" 

We nervously prepared to receive our guests. And this is where the story gets stranger: we hid behind bushes, clutching a camera, waiting for our guests......

The Painted Ladies are butterflies that "spend the winter in the desert." and ".....they migrate north in search of fresh food and breeding grounds". They migrate north-wards every year in March-April from Southern California-Mexico and we are on their route. This year, the migration is very conspicuous (read more about it here)  and you can almost see one every second. It is a beautiful sight. The butterflies are single-minded in their travel plans though and are flying straight, with very few flower-stops in between. We managed to capture some with the camera before they flew away. We started to count, soon lost track but were assured that the migration is in the millions. 

I went for a long walk and even the ducks at the neighboring pond seemed to be fascinated by the butterflies. Magic was really in the air today! What a great start to the week!

All photos taken outside our house today. 

It is Sunday and here is some more eye candy...

Beautiful home in sun-drenched South Florida in the March issue of Architectural digest.......

The work on the ceiling is amazing....

All Images from Architectural Digest, March '09. 

It's (almost) Sunday and i am looking at this...

And wondering if I will ever change the cream color on the walls of my house....

Images from Architectural Digest, '09.

Image from Vogue Living, Australia, April '09.

Old Favorite, Reworked: The House Where I Live

This is from the archives, but tweaked and reworked to show newer pictures. It is my favorite Once Upon A Tea Time post. Do you know the nursery rhyme, The House That Jack Built? Read my spring version of it..

These Are The Flowers,

The Flowers Of Spring,

That Lead The Way

Into The House,

The House Where I Live.

These Are The Men,

That Tend To The Flowers,

The Flowers Of Spring,

That Lead The Way,

Into The House,

The House Where I Live.

Here Is The Painted Ganesha,

And A Bejeweled Krishna,

That Gaze At The Men,

That Tend To The Flowers,

The Flowers Of Spring

That Lead The Way

Into the House,

The House Where I Live.

This Is The Seat, Not Far Away,

From The Painted Ganesh,

And A Bejeweled Krishna,

That Gaze At The Men,

That Tend To The Flowers,

The Flowers Of Spring,

That Lead The Way,

Into The House

The House Where I Live.

These Are The Teapots,

Full Of Fragrant Tea,

For Me And For you,

Sitting On The Seat, All Cosy,

Not Far Away,

From The Painted Ganesha

And A Bejeweled Krishna

That Gaze At The Men,

That Tend To The Flowers,

The Flowers Of Spring

That Lead The Way

Into The House

The House Where I Live.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Love at first sight with interiors designed by Mae Brunken

I came across Mae Brunken on desiretoinspire.net and am in love with her styling of this house in Scottsdale. Before reading further, find yourself a chair and sit down or the pictures might just knock you over! It is a Moroccan-inspired home...

Isn't that bedroom amazing?! 

Now if we could combine that exotic interior to this patio, another Mae Brunken project in the Hollywood Hills, I think I am ready to move in!

All images are from Mae Brunken Design.

Lantern Inspiration from Anthropologie

I am eyeing these lanterns from Anthropologie...(image from anthropologie.com)

Doing a world of good...

Every time you browse on the internet, you can do a world of good. There are so many things you can accomplish with a click of your mouse. I have listed a few of my favorite sites that present you with an opportunity to give back-

1. " Little Ways to Help End Poverty (LWTHEP)"- Nikki Cochrane's blog Little Ways to Help End Poverty puts together an ever growing list of websites that lets you join the fight to end poverty around the world. There are many ways that you can help- you may buy a bag from the Darfur Project or Little Traveller dolls from the HIV/AIDS initiative or choose to buy products made from Indian saris from Sari Bari. Read more about all of them on LWTHEP.

Image of Little Traveller dolls taken from LWTHP.

For all you blog writers, Nikki designs blogs for $30 of which $25 goes to her humanitarian trips to the Dominican Republic and Ethiopia and $5 going to another charity. Visit here to get your blogs designed by her and read about her volunteer work. Also just linking back to her blog helps spread the word.

2. Free rice: Test your English vocabulary and "for each answer you get right" Free Rice will donate 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food program. Don't discount the 10 grains, they add up very soon- the vocabulary testing is addictive and like my older son S, you might just find yourself racking up 800 grains of rice to be donated in 10-15 minutes. 

Image of the Free Rice website.

3. And this one is specially aimed at bloggers- Hotels Combined "is a leading price comparison system used by over 25 million people every year." They "aggregate and compare accommodation prices from all major sources such as Hotels.com, Travelocity.com" etc. You can use them for your travel needs but in addition, by mentioning them on your blog, you send $20 to a charity like Make a Wish foundation or WWF etc. Details are available here.

Spread the word.....

Fabricadabra..Calling all lovers of ikat, suzani, batik and more!

I received an email from Donna Halloran of Fabricadabra, a company here in the United States that "makes and sells decorative pillow inserts that are filled with kapok and have an organic cotton shell." A healthier option for you as kapok "is mold, mildew and dust mite resistant." If you want to know more about kapok, click here. The more I read about Donna and Fabricadabra, the more interested I became. Natural dyes. Hand woven and embroidered. Pesticide free. Artisans who are paid fair wages. All that AND beautiful design.

Donna also sells wonderful covers for her pillow inserts. So, what would you like?

An untreated, hand-dyed cotton batik tribal pillow cover....

Or these silk/cotton hand woven, hand-dyed ikats from Uzbekistan... aren't they gorgeous?!!

If you are a suzani-lover, feast your eyes on these..

If you are in love, just browse on over to www.Fabricadabra.us for the entire collection.

Welcome to my 100th post!

It is hard to believe that this is my 100th post. I wasn't sure if I had what it takes to be a committed blogger but it has been a fun ride, meeting and getting to know so many people. Thank you for taking the time to read and encourage my blog!

I have shared pictures of my home before but I feel I have come a long way (okay, at least a little further along ;)) in terms of camera-skills. I hardly ever used my camera before and now, I use it all the time. I would like to share some old and some new pictures from different corners of home. Would you like some tea to go with it?

Do you need a ride here? Not a problem! Will it be an elephant 'savari' or by rickshaw? Elephants of many hues await you...

Madhubani Ganesh and me.

I am slightly intimidated by the idea of exposing myself heart and soul to the world and the various 'avatars' are a way of poking fun at myself!

The Botanical babu and his lady friend follow my day to day life from near the corner plant, sometimes urging me on with a glance.

I store candles, dominoes, and sometimes flower petals in the boxes to remind me to slow down and savor the moment. The kids and I love setting up dominoes together and it's our time to talk about the day's happenings...

The dominoes were another flea market purchase. They were new and smooth when we bought them but now, after frequent handling look

well-aged!

A hand-painted papyrus scroll from Egypt on the table. A wedding anniversary gift from my parents, it has our names written together in the hieroglyphic alphabet. Also pictured is a hand-carved flute bought on a trip to Yosemite.

I don't wear these bangles everyday but they are on my dresser to remind me that festive occasions are waiting around every corner!

This is turning into a long post but I will add a picture of a corner of my living room..

More rooms in later posts......

All pictures taken by me, of my home, here in Northern California.