The last beach day

Could this have been our last summer day at the beach this year?

We've been on holidays for a week and on Thursday we day-tripped to Hornby Island. These photos were taken at Tribune Bay Beach. On a sunny day, the water is turquoise and the sand is white and you have to be careful not to step on sand dollars as you wade into the sea.

But this day was cloudy and cool. I don't know about where you live, but here on the west coast the unmistakable feeling of Fall has arrived.

Today we galavanted to a local Fall Fair in the country, complete with vintage tractors, fresh fudge and a litter of piglets (mama pig was the size of a loveseat! I was NOT aware they got so big...)

Here are a few things Sadie loved about the fair:

- sitting bareback on 'Jackson', a miniature pony

- sharing a banana nutella crepe with me

- carrying around a pink balloon

Here a few things Sadie did not love about the fair:

- the operator of a merry-go round kiddie ride (who had to stop it to let the screaming child off. that would be Sadie.)

- the neon bracelet all fair-goers were required to wear ("NO! DON'T WANT THAT!!").

- the fact that she was not allowed to sit on "Bessie", a cow with a head the size of a volkswagen.

I think she mostly loved it though....

Hazy shade of Summer

A few weeks ago the smoke from the forest fires in BC drifted west and created a hazy orange glow in front of the sun. I spotted this moth on my kitchen window one night and instantly thought of this poem:

Design by Robert Frost

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth -

Assorted characters of death and blight

Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

Like the ingredients of a witches' broth -

A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,

And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall? -

If design govern in a thing so small.

Just a photo...

Sadie contemplating something at a neighbourhood block party

I'm in love with: Emersonmade

Pretend someone said to me: "Sarah, you can pick 10 pieces of clothing to spend the rest of your life living in."

I would bee-line straight to Emersonmade and be content for all eternity.....




pretty pretty pretty


Pocket skirt, Hunter boots, hens. Pure New England bliss.



Emersonmade arrived on the fashion scene offering up a beautiful assortment of hand-dyed and hand-stitched blooms, perfect for accessorizing any ensemble.
A husband and wife team, Emersonmade relocated from NYC to greener pastures (the farm depicted in these photos) and launched a clothing line on August 10th, 2010. They do their own modeling, photography and blogging!

These images make me want to move to New York City.....



and New Hampshire.....

Enter the creative and extraordinary world of Emersonmade here.

See a sneak peak into Emerson's farmhouse on Design Sponge here.

Gift Certificates!

now available in the shop...

Evolution

There's a new little bear in town......meet Gerald. He likes boardgames and dislikes cheaters.

You can enter to win one of the new bears here.

I've learned that re-invention is sometimes a necessary step in successful design......

....sometimes, but not always.....

....so.....

....which bears do you like better? The new ones or the original ones?

Original bear:

Weekend Wedding

August is here.....


A show of hands: who can't believe it?
I feel like spear-heading a "Take Back Summer" campaign...


Even so, the month of July ended on a high note - one of my oldest and dearest friends was married.

Saturday morning consisted of primping & pampering, eating pastries and drinking champagne. Saturday afternoon we dressed in our finery, sealed it with a kiss and drank more champagne. Saturday night we toasted and danced and laughed til we cried.

Here are a few photos from the weekend celebration......

One more - Nikki and I back in the day (circa '97):