Hope

We shall never forget

We shall keep this day,

We shall keep the events and the tears

In our minds, our memory and our hearts

and take them with us as we carry on.

It's 7 o'clock a.m. and my alarm clock (also known as my little prince) has gone off. Peeling myself off my pillow, my feet hit the ground running. Brush teeth, change diaper, feed dog, feed cats, coffee (ahh, much better), put in a load of laundry....I am chasing down the morning.

I stop and take a deep breath.

I feel a heaviness today. The weight of my memories of this day ten years ago pull on my heart. I didn't work at the World Trade Center. I do not have a story of narrow escape. I was not one of the heroes of that day. I was working blocks away from the World Trade Center.

I felt the shudder of the falling buildings. I watched the clouds of dust and smoke snake through the streets carrying with it the fear that cloaked the city for weeks and months after September 11. I rode the crowded trains watching as co-workers helped co-workers with a place to stay. There were suitcases and pillows stuffed around the train as residents fled to safer grounds. Strangers offered a helping hand. We were all cramped but no one complained. Even as we left the city, a trail of sorrow and tears followed us. That sorrow rang out across the world.

The next day the streets in midtown were empty.  Few people returned to work and the tourists had deserted the streets. Times Square looked like a empty stage set. The city was a shell of itself.

Its' heartbeat was snuffed but not extinguished. In a city were you walk with direct purpose and keep your head down, people began making eye contact with each other. A simple glance created an invisible connection, each person pouring hope into each other's eyes.

So it is with this memory of hope that I keep close to me.
I hope for peace.
I hope for the end of war.
I hope for people to accept each other all over the world.
I hope for a brighter future for my son.

In searching for solace, a new song called "Strong" by Jensen Keets touched a sacred spot in my soul. It is complex and enchanting. It gave me fierce chills of empowerment.  Just as my eyes were swelling up with tears, her chorus, "Rise above, rise above" starts just in time to rescue me from the sting. The song could not be more aptly named.  I want to follow her voice to the light of hope for a stronger city and peaceful world.


See the video here: "Strong" or Buy the album on iTunes.com

Jensen Keets Homepage

Jensen Keets debut album

End of Summer

The summer mood has left as quick as I could whip off my flip flops. The cool weather moved it as if to solidify the coming Fall season. My basil plants are packing it in too. Their once lush, green leaves are now shriveling up. And you know that Summer is truly over when you see the Halloween decorations debut in the stores. (No wait, that means it must be July. Urgh!!!)

But to really give Summer that extra shove, my favorite summer perfume died today. Well, that's a bit dramatic but you must know how much I love this perfume. Technically, it is an eau de toilette. It is THE Summer fragrance that I am not even sure that I want to share with everyone. However, I am distraught and saddened by this loss so I must heal. They say writing is therapeutic and it is cheaper than counselling.

In a mad dash to leave the house, I grabbed the bottle but it slipped and crashed to the ground. Tossing its lovely spray (and glass shards) across my toes, my shoes and my little prince who was crawling around my legs. I have to admit that I wanted to scream something like, "Let them eat cake!" while throwing my head back with evil laughter. It felt equivalent to a rock star smashing their guitar to pieces.

I received this eau de toilette as a gift for my then 6 week old son from one of my oldest and dearest childhood friends. Yes, it was intended as a gift for him. Let me explain.

She is French.

Does that help? Well, it was the only answer I could give my husband when we stared at our little newborn and then looked back at the bottle wondering if people really sprayed their newborn with perfume.

However, the scent overtook me and I fell in love. I promptly put that bottle on my dressing table where it has held the highest rank all summer as my go-to scent until its' untimely demise today. (Sniffle, sniffle) No more delicate and tender citrus scent for me until I get a replacement.

I did a little research and apparently this eau de toilette which is called Ptisenbon is made by Givenchy for Tartine et Chocolat which is a French children's apparel manufacturer. There are two versions of this eau de toilette: Eau de Senteur (for babies and alcohol-free) and Eau de Toilette (for Toddlers).
It is so smartly called, "the first fragrance for a child's life." This makes me smile. Oh, how I love the French!

Book Bundles DIY

I love shopping. I love shopping for my home especially. After repeatedly seeing antique book bundles,  I finally caved in and decided to buy them to adorn my home. I am an avid book reader, as in there will NEVER be enough time in this lifetime to read all the books on my list. So you get the idea how much I love books?

It is with great passion that I think using books (literary accents) as home decoration is amazing. Real honest-to-goodness books. Okay, okay I have a confession:  I secretly want a Kindle.  I am an avid reader I know I could plow through more if I just had the right tools. (Wink! Wink!)

But there is nothing, I repeat, nothing like the feel of a book in my hands. I hold the corner of the page as I read. I love the dry texture under my fingertips. I am anxious to turn the page. I have this habit of reading the last page of every book before I start the first. Anyone else out there do that?

Reading is one of my favorite ways I  spend my free time. Lately, that free time has been sparse. Oh, that Kindle would really come in handy some days. Anyway, off to the store I went to buy these little beauties below. However, the price was far too much for my conscience when I knew I could make myself!

Note: If I can make it, I often will not buy it. I find this an admirable trait but my husband would beg to defer. He prefers to not have projects (glorious works of art) in the making strewn around the house. He might have mentioned something about hoarding.

Restoration Hardware Antique Book Bundles, $29

So with my sloped shoulders, knuckles dragging and my head hung low (shopping can be very disappointing) I left the store. I soon puckered up and headed to my local library where I remembered they have fill-a-bag of books for a buck. (Phew! Say that ten times fast.) I rounded up the oldest books I could find. I felt so good that I was helping the library rid their shelves of old books. Let me tell you that I got a ton of books. It was blessings all around. I took them home and ripped off the covers to reveal the spines. I got a ball of twine and tied me a bow around them!

I quite prefer them to the others from Restoration Hardware and they bring me much joy! What do you think?

Book Bundles DIY

Sweet little packet of books

Do You Believe In Design?

That is the question! So what does it mean to believe in design?

For me, it is a part of almost everything I do in my day. I design my days or so I like to think! More often than not, my little prince designs my days but I do what I can to stay the course!

Believe in Design started as a mantra for me to keep sight during long, very long and extra long design  meetings. Meetings with sales teams and owners that had fear in their eyes and not a creative bone in their body yet they kept tossing out good design (read: new, innovative, smart) in favor of reliable (read: boring, safe, predictable) product. Does this sound like a rant yet? Ok good.

Credit: Threshold Blogazine

As a Design Director in those days, I longed for the Seventh Avenue meets Mad Men dream team. I think I might buy a used tissue from Don Draper! But alas, I digress to thoughts of a well cut grey wool suit.

Where was I?

Oh, yes! Hence, Believe In Design. I love and appreciate well designed items from furniture, toys, and home appliances to cars, glasses, and utensils. Don't ask me why I chose those items! But the idea here is that everything has a design and a designer behind it! I want  good design that graces my life whether its naturally made (and quite often more perfectly made) or man-made.

Beautifully designed objects give me a rush and a fire of inspiration burns inside me. It is a true high.  I am never quite sure where or how the inspiration will translate itself but I am open to being the vessel those ideas flow through.

How are you the designer of your life?

I Heart Blogging

Credit: ABOVE, Love In The Air

Next up, I will tell you why I "Believe In Design." But for now, enjoy this sweet little girl as homage to the child in all of us. Keep creative!

(Seriously, I am going to bed.)

This is a test. This is only a test.

I'm Back! I Am Back!!

So I have not stop thinking about blogging since my blog premiere yesterday! I feel like a girl in love, lying in bed thinking about all the things I want to say! This could become an addiction (in the best possible sense). I have this reel playing in my head that says, "Prepare for total domination!" Big smile. Do you remember that movie? Okay, give up? It was Bring It On (2000) I imagine saying it in Mary Katherine Gallagher meets "spirit fingers" kind of way! Gosh, that movie was so long ago but it makes me laugh each time and before I know it my foot is tapping, my body is jerking to their dance routine, secretly wish that I was a Toro cheerleader just for a day. Speaking about my day, it started with an early morning walk where I was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely antique table on the corner. Seriously, this is how my day started. Not bad, huh? I hauled that baby home. I'll post the before and after (which is still milling around in my head later). Then I hauled myself and wee child down to Philadelphia to meet my precious niece that was just born last night! More on her later! We arrived back home at a reasonable hour (not really) which gave me approximately 17 minutes to post this blog today before the clock struck twelve! Anyone missing a glass slipper?