Hello Lovely

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You might find it odd that in my research
before our trip to Paris, I sought out
sources for peaceful hideaway spots
to retreat.

Buuuuut I am panic spice
in bustling crowds.

So the Louvre poses a challenge,
and Notre Dame...ummm, obnoxious visitors
barking loudly into cell phones...can
trigger hives.



Was MIGHTyyyy happy to find
the lovely
Quiet Corners of Paris
(Little Bookroom)
by
Jean-Christophe Napias.



Quiet Corners of Paris

Herein is a guide for those preferring
their city of amour on the down low.
Nice and quiet like.
For those who dare to discover
81 often overlooked beautiful
spots in Paris for escaping.

Are you with me, kittens?



You will find exquisite photography inside
this little gem, and perhaps even be inspired
(oh but I am!) to make a trip to exclusively visit
as many of these sweet quiet corners as possible.





Another sweet little charmer helping
us plan our Paris itinerary was this guide
by Dixon Long and Marjorie Williams:


 my photo

in Paris including Virtual Markets and Market Streets, Markets Open on Sunday, Artisan Bakers, Getting Along in the Food Markets, Brocante Fairs, and well, every
market but the stock one.


my photo

Of course you already know Clignancourt,
but Markets of Paris will help you discover
more than 100 others!


my photo

Can't wait to share more Paris goodness
with you (endless, mama!) and welcome
your own favorite secret quiet Paris spots
and market suggestions.

Peace to you right where you are.

Sooooooo...posts demanding the most
courage to press 'publish' generate
the most heartfelt responses?
Of course.
Just when I fear I'm straying from the blog's agenda,
I remember. Oh yeah. Cool. This blog has no agenda.

You have showered me with much warmth
and support in the past few weeks;
I wish there was a way to reflect it.
To shine the love back.

I'll try.


Thank you for listening
(feels like love).
Thank you for beaming the girl
with new rosy trifocals
and her family
such encouraging messages
(feels like love).
Thank you for rarely tweeting
"PLEEEEZ JUST GET
OVER YOSELF, beyotch"


Thank you for swimming with me
in shallow waters and deep places too.


For helping a child-woman who writes
about substance and fluff and the mysteries betwixt,
feel there is a place for her on the web.


BTW, in case you haven't noticed,
I'm pretty cozy with the mystery.
The gaps and grey and complicated
loose threads that won't be
forced into a simple pretty bow.


Uggggggh, this shot is awkward, but my sister
had a migraine and couldn't shoot. Dang.
At least the shoes are cute (thrifted in Paris).



Thank you for embracing a designfreaky
blogger's quirky irreverent humor...


And always looking for the light with me.

(Obvi it can be a figurative glass, but i prefer you tipsy.)

xox.

Peace to you right where you are.

Just in case you are new around here...
I am not a professional interior designer.
I decorate and soak up inspiration from pros.



I cannot order yardage
of Fortuny for you unless it's on eBay.
I don't understand snappy jokes where
Barbara Barry or Dorothy Draper
are mentioned in the punchline.



This quirky blogger is certainly not privvy
to the secret handshake.
(Though I once witnessed Darryl Carter and Mary McDonald
greeting each other with a three-fingered 'sign of the chevron' thing.*)





I am but a humble friend to designers.
A creative dynamo with a paintbrush who mostly
writes, hangs out with designfreaks online, and gets
downright giddy about decor publications, interiors, and firms like
one of my hometown heroes: Bradley Hughes.



Ahhhhhhh, their sexy signature pieces
and the artwork of Donna Hughes!

So stunning and so moving!
Glimpsed it first when we
toured Chicago's Dream Home in 2011.

Remember this?



foyer - Julia Buckingham Edelman. Paintings - Donna Hughes


Kitchen - Shawna Dillon. Lights and artwork - Bradley Hughes




Bradley Hughes designs and manufactures
custom furnishings and art pieces for interior designers.

Here is a peek at the 2012 Dream Home Chicago kitchen.




Crazy bout this Donna Hughes piece:




Under her father, Vincent Cassaro's tutelage,
Hughes seemed a prodigy at the age of ten.

Her talent for color and composition
is transportive and soothes weary souls:

"For me, painting is more than a passion!
There always has been an internal desire to
recreate the beauty around me." - Donna Hughes




If I could climb inside a Donna Hughes painting
to rest and dream and escape
the pains of modern life,
sister, I would.

To keep current on Bradley Hughes happenings,
find them in blogland here and on facebook.
Or if you wanna be truly rad, come to Chicago
and visit their showroom at the Merchandise Mart
right here...give me some notice, and I'll meet
you in Chi-town.

Charmed by this lovely hometown hero of mine?

Peace to you right where you are.

  

*for a fee, I will teach you the three-fingered 'sign of the chevron'
so you won't look as silly at your next design convention.

The snowglobe is back with a fury.
It's truly gorgeous, yet today it's moody
inside the globe due to cabin fever and
grief I feel for my mom who is sitting
with a port in her empty bosom at chemo.

They pump her full of medicine which will
for days keep her nauseous and feeling
as though she has been run over by a truck.
Tomorrow a painful shot will be injected
directly into her bones and wipe her out.

Normally, on a day like today
I would stuff myself with
delicious baked goods and maybe
fall to my knees in prayer.
Me and gluten are no
longer friends though.
So there's that too.

 pics of mom's arizona house

Cancer can easily steal a daughter's sense of humor,
and I friggin hate cancer for that...I can't stand
the femininity it steals from my mother
and these tears it claims on my keyboard.




*pulls it together*



THERE SHALL BE NO MORE PITY PARTIES
OR EMOTIONAL HIT AND RUNS
ON THIS BLOG TODAY.
NO SIR.
BIG GIRL PANTIES
ARE BACK ON.

 dolls of my childhood

(I particularly like the big girl panties to 'dolls of my childhood' segueway.)

I feel my creative-self at a crossroads
and know from the reading
I do in blogland that many
of you can relate.


Everyday this week my heart has asked:
WHAT IS NEXT?
It's not worry. Not boredom.
Sort of a lesson in surrendering
I sense that I have to learn.
It's an invitation to open up.

 these are the sort of details my mom sees to before i visit!

I have written professionally
for magazines and web for 4 years,
and while publishing credits
are fulfilling (500+, mama!),
it does divert attention away from
creating art and working on a book.


Read about the BRCA journey of me and my sister

Is a book what's next?
And why is what I have to say important
in light of everything else being said out there?



Both my mom and sister in Arizona are
carrying unspeakable burdens, and I
would like to be accessible to them.

Is simply being near the phone
and frequent traveling what's next?
BTW, I am on facebook now to better
stay in touch, and hello lovely
wants to you like its page...I don't exactly
understand why...but they do, so you should.


my new pink lenses

Pursuing a Ph.D. is on my list;
is campus life next?


my bedroom at mom's

Our nest is nearly empty as our
youngest will head to college
in six months.



Is a new (and smaller!) home
construction project next?
Heavens-to-Patina-Farm, Brooke,
you are making it
awfully hard for me to stay put.



I am unsure.

So I am being still.
I am listening.
I am telling my heart
it's okay we don't know yet.
I am praying for discernment
and peace as I wait.



I am counting my blessings,
aware that the sheer existence
of so many options available
means I am beyond fortunate,
abundantly rich in resources and love.

Thank you for reading me,
for keeping my mom in your prayers,
and for making Hello Lovely such
a restful haven for me.

Peace to you right where you are.