originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com

i have arrived here in france.
everything went smoothly.

but i am sick with a sinus infection - flight: the only thing that makes me sick.

so i'll have to update you all later.
forgive me?

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com







thinking of the boy, the frenchman, romain - across an ocean.

hope you have a wonderful weekend, close to those you love, even if it's just in spirit and heart.

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com



my, my there is a wee bit of autumn in the air today.
  it's lovely!  and reminds me how much there is to do (again).
i just wishing it was more along the lines of canning and harvesting than packing and getting paperwork.  but nevertheless, there's plenty of autumnal planning.  when i should be thinking budgets, i'm really thinking handmade and scavenged halloween decor.  i think it's a coping devise.

have you seen Sarah's amazing photo shoot?  i'm just saying, that girl is totally making taking things into her own hands joyful!

and a huge thanks to Grace over at Poetic Home (her slogan is 'living in vintage poetry'!) for including my Mer Grise pillow in her really wonderful selection of pillows from Etsy - what great company!  i'm always honored when someone is excited enough to write about my work on their blog.  isn't everyone?  so if you like me, let me know.

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com



oh my, time is moving quickly.  it's both a blessing and a curse.  there is just so much to do!
we've (so far) averted a minor visa crisis, off-loaded a ridiculous amount of unnecessary stuff from (my parent's) attic, and - i've chopped my hair off!  more on that later.  much later.

but this week is going to be hoppin'!

there's going to be a gloaming designs feature over at Vintage Indie (wow!!) with the nifty vintage style napkin ring tutorial (check it out!) this week.  i'll let you know when the editorial is up.  and i have some etsy 'pans' on the fire.  plus, i finally got my Spoonflower invite and am going to have to do some serious self-control exercises not to dive right into that!



here's a short list of things on my mind:

- she's been on my mind for a while now, but i'm still sending out huge prayers for Nie and her family.

- how fun will it be to work our way through the new issue of gourmet?  Paris on a budget. check!



- i'm a little obsessed with molasses sponge at the moment.  simple, old-fashioned candy.  with applesauce and vanilla ice cream...i'm hungry.

- and, yes, a little (ok, quite a bit) obsessed with this song - but rent Kinky Boots and you'll totally get it!

ok.  so, more.  later.

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com



{crepes, peaches, and wild maine blueberries}

do you know about jenifer's photo trade?
this is the first one i've participated in and i love the idea.
last month's theme was 'eat well - live well'

septmeber's is 'still' but this is the last one until the new year (a break for the hectic time)
so if you like the idea, sign-up quickly!

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com















garden flowers, two picnics (one dinner with the zucchini ribbon salad, one breakfast with blueberry buckle), a beach walk, a farmstand with homemade bread and butter pickles, and a birthday cookout with growing cousins, new kittens, and fireworks in the driveway.

it's starting to feel like summer.

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com

there is a myth,
that after you successfully survive planning, creating, hosting - whatever - a big project, that the next days will allow you to relax and calmly regain your life.
but in reality, a little rest leads right into playing catch-up gerbil-wheel-style for a couple of days!
but, i'm getting there.



the family party was a success!
we got the house finished and guest towels and goodies laid out moments before they pulled into the driveway.  I love the plans that go into making guests feel comfortable and so each guest had their bath towels with a lovely and creamy robin's egg soap, a packet of 3 Maine postcards and a pen for sending off some quick notes to friends, a bottle of water and glasses, and a vase of flowers from the garden.

saturday night was an informal anti-pasto dinner at the house after which i went to a cousins to sleep (my bedroom doubles as a guest room!).  But in the morning we were right back here to breakfast and packing to get the hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, corn, charcoal, chairs, tablecloths (etc etc) out to the park.  lucky it's only 5 minutes away.

we rented a pavilion with picnic tables and grills that overlooks one of the rocky beachs of the park.  several people had brought kayaks and we put them in just down the road at a sandy beach.  strangely, it was my abdominals that were hating  me after a meander along the coast - arms?  fine.

we were thrilled to see cousins we haven't seen in years as well as those who the younger generations have never met.  we told stories, passed around pictures, studied genealogical charts, laughed, eat all manner of summer food, ran after children, took walks, swam, kayaked and soaked in the season.  it was a gorgeous day, the water was nice, and the best part?  it's the beginning of dragonfly season.

success.

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com

what a weekend.
as i was finally taking my shower at 4 pm after the overnight guests had arrived on saturday it occured to me that those seventeen days between july 31st (when the frenchman left) and then were quite possibly the fastest days of my life.  in fact, i didn't really remember any of them.

but everything was a success.
and i missed monday's post.
because, as if making it through moving and then the largest 2-day family reunion we've ever had was not enough, the internet went out for 2 days and now i am on the major catch-up plan.

so i'm thinking we could just roll things back a bit and pretend that tomorrow is monday - ok?

ok.
i have to get to the olympic viewing (i didn't tell you i am an addict?) because i'm also behind on that.
sigh.

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com



friday that is.

i/we have been running around like chickens, well, you know.
we're having a party!
a family reunion of sorts that has never been tried before (for us).
so i can't stay long as i have to get back to the cleaning and what not.
we're all stressed, even the cat.



ah, poor think, huh?

so, have a lovely lovely weekend, ok?  and i'll be back monday.  i think i'm going to make 'adore' a regular monday thing.  we'll see.

and in your spare moments, check this out!

originally posted at gloamingdesigns.typepad.com



i adore each of these photos.
each one makes me feel the moment, the breathe taken, the soft sounds - i adore.
and i am so grateful to all of these people for sharing what they see.

we went to see Brideshead Revisited this weekend.
stunning.
you become wrapped in the thread of the film and it never lets you go.  there were moments that i was literally sitting with my mouth hanging open (romantic i know, but, lord, it was so palpable!).
i was particularly fond of the music (as i was of the music of Atonement - please listen to it if you get the chance).  but the filming  was so beautiful - it's how i imagine each of these pictures above would be if turned into short films.
although i'm fully aware that these characters lived in an uncommonly privileged environment, the costuming and set makes you long for a time when the details of everything produced were so beautiful - indeed, as my father put it, a time when there were still details.

and in other news, re the upcoming adventure, i'm starting to have apartment hunting and decorating dreams.
ha.