Floral Doodles

Trying to get inspired to create and send something for my Mom's upcoming neighborhood floral art show but so far it's all looking like doodles to me...

Rainy Day Watercolor

Pastel Inspirations

A studio apartment affords very little room for the popular above the desk inspiration board.  Our kitchen cupboards were previously one of the least desirable elements in our apartment and while I was originally thinking of lining them with moroccan tile wall stickers a free and fun lilac and aqua collage now greets me as I reach for my coffee cup.

Zesty White Bean Salad

In honor of the lengthening days and rays of sun starting to peek through our windows, here is my new favorite salad concoction.  The base is simple, start with a bag of the butter lettuce radicchio blend from trader joe's and add in your favorite white beans.  For dressing blend together a little olive oil with a large bunch of cilantro, about a clove of garlic and the juice from one small lime.  Everything should be finely chopped and blended, preferably in a cuisinart mini blender.  Top with generous amounts of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Here's what ours looked like as we were enjoying it on Sunday along with blue skies and a grassy amphitheater.

Pink&Purple in Portland

Spring has sprung with a girly vengeance.

Ranunculus

These poor little ranuncula buds were too heavy for their stems and dislodged themselves while I was trying to get them into the vase.  You wouldn't think they'd last very long floating in water next to a lit candle but it's been 48+ hours and they're still here making me smile.

Ranunculus looking all romantic en la noche

the hearty few that made it to the vase

St. Ignatius Chapel

St. Ignatius Chapel at Seattle University, my favorite stop of what was a whirlwind Seattle weekend tour.

and what i really couldn't capture but is one of the best things about the chapel;

"Just as in Seattle's leaden skies, the light here has to make an effort to get through and across; it has to scale each ripple and climb out of each groove. The light's labors reward our lingering. And in an inversion of the tradition that a stained glass roster of saints declares providence to the congregation, light from single shards of colored glass, concealed from direct view, alone suggest revelation. All of a sudden, an intense patch of green magically condenses on a white waxen wall and then, with the passage of clouds, it dissolves, while another apparition, this one red, quietly materializes on another wall as if by divine decree."

-PLACENOTES

Steven Holl's sketch depicting his "seven different bottles of light in a stone box."

http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail.php?id=40

TOAST

Toast is everything a Bouganvilla Dreamer could ever want in a store and more.  Browsing their website makes me feel like taking an afternoon nap just so I can be swallowed up in a sea of striped linens. 

http://www.toast.co.uk/category/house+and+home/househome.htm

discovered by way of my new favorite blog, http://style-files.com/

Minty Citron Ryan

By the time I buy some citron or mint colored jeans the whole fascination with those colors will be over so i'll have to satisfy myself with these photo's of Ryan in Greece taped on the wall above my dresser.

Seattle Places, Melrose Markets

Excuse the low quality photo's but I think you'll get the gist that Melrose Markets is the place to visit should you find yourself in Seattle on a rainy afternoon.  Enter the complex and you will be overwhelmed by the need to buy expensive gourmet food of varying sorts.  If your not the eating kind, (not sure who this apply's too) you can peruse the home wares located in a little loft space above the artisan cheese shop.

http://www.melrosemarketseattle.com/

Don't know how they got all these cool little shops together in one convenient and stylish spot, but I'd like to find out.