Rock and Roll Wedding

If Kate Middleton's wedding was the height of elegance, stately and fittingly royal, then Kate Moss's nuptials were the height of rock and roll chic. Parts glamorous, edgy and a little rough around the edges.

I'm not a huge fan of wedding photos but when I saw a pic of Kate Moss and her leading man to be Jamie Hinch in the rehearsal dinner attire, I was drawn to how cool they looked. Also how in love they appeared. I loved her hippie style dress and rocking blue boots. Hinch's form fitting suit and equally rocker boots weren't bad either.

The photo definitely piqued my curiosity about what her wedding dress would look like. Gorgeously vintage was the answer. I would describe the look as part twenties film star part glittery mermaid. My favorite bit was the veil, old fashioned and romantic.

It certainly all cost a fortune, but the whole look of the wedding party benefits from the feeling that they just threw on some fancy dress up clothes they found in a trunk. Kate's undone hairdo added to the who cares we know we are beautiful vibe. Hurrah too, for the appropriately sweet bridal party dresses and the beautiful backdrop of Cotswolds.

Summer Greens

It's easy to take green for granted during the summer, but I'm trying to soak it in. I think back to how stark and long the winter was this year and I want summer to go on and on. Green is good.

Glorious

Here are a few photos from our balloon watching. It really is glorious watching them rise up into the evening sky. I'd like to muster the courage to go up in one, but I think a person who finds ferris wheels terrifyingly high, is not the ideal candidate. Luckily one gets the sense of soaring even as a spectator on the ground.

Ballooning

Today we are off to the annual Balloon Festival and we're very excited. It's surprisingly fun to watch the balloons take to the air and then follow them by car. If things go right you can catch up and watch them descend in fields.

The Elephants in Flight Print by Terry Fan is available here.

Recession Fun # 12 : S'mores

The other night before bed my daughter said she wanted a snack, specifically a s'more. That made me laugh. At 3 1/2 she's never had a s'more and she probably would have been horrified if I actually had the ingredients or the means to make her one at that late hour. I can imagine the grimace that would have come over her face.

Despite having been both a Brownie and a Girl Scout, the first time I ate a s'more was as an adult. Two girlfriends and I spent a weekend in the Adirondacks and ended up melting marshmallows in the stone fire place of the cabin we were staying in. We assembled our s'mores on a blanket on the living room floor. It was camping fun without the inconvenience of real camping. Needless to say there was no wilderness badge on my Girl Scout stash.

I remember thinking I'll just eat my toasted marshmallow plain, no need to mix flavors, but my friends convinced me and I was surprised how good s'mores really are.

So this week's Recession Fun idea is s'mores. Bag of marshmallows, box of Graham Crackers and some Hershey's chocolate bars. No need to get all gourmet with fancy substitutes, the original is affordable and delicious. Oh and a backyard grill. No need to hike out into the woods either. Said like a true Girl Scout!

Bourgeois Webs

I know spiders are beneficial and that having one in your home is supposed to be good luck, but I'm never really happy to run into one. Daddy Longlegs are about as spidery as I can tolerate. Anything more serious is subject to relocation outdoors or the broom if I'm panicked.

Clearly Louise Bourgeois did not share my distaste for arachnids. Spiders are a reoccurring theme in her work and her fascination for them transformed a house hold pest in to high art. Her spider web influenced fabric works are amazing enough to almost make me a fan of our eight legged friends. I'll admit spider webs are beautiful even if I still struggle to appreciate their architects. I have no difficulty appreciating Bourgeois beautiful series of webs pictured above.

More of Bourgeois' works can be seen at Cheim & Read

Taking a Break with Wallace & Gromit

I decided we needed to take a little break from "Thomas the Tank Engine" earlier in July. We made a trip to Costco and I ended up buying a cheap DVD of "The Tourist" for me and "Wallace and Gromit the Complete Collection" for the little one.

I would have liked to have chilled out in the summer heat to a so so grown-up movie, but I never win in the war of who's show are we going to watch. Relaxing while Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie race around Venice was going to have to wait.

I did get a huge kick out of watching the little one laugh at Wallace and Gromit's antics as they took on a wayward penquin jewel thief. "The Wrong Trousers" got two thumbs up from my miniature critic, which I'm sure is more than "The Tourist" scored. We ended up watching Wallace & Gromit twice before lights out. Turns out there was a little blue train that is part of the final chase scene. My little one squealed "They're riding Thomas! It's Thomas." That amused me, we didn't completely escape Thomas.

Frogs in the Sandbox

Sometimes putting off chores has its benefits. That is if you find frogs in the sand box a plus.

The weekend before last, my daughter and I were working in the garden when she asked me "Mommy what's that sound?" I was surprised by the source and the loudness, but I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

I told her to follow me and we headed over to her turtle shaped sandbox where the ribbiting noises were emanating from. The top has been only partially on and the box has been swamped with water for a few weeks now. I keep meaning to drain it, clean the sand and set it up as a proper sandbox again for her. Too late.

We pulled off the lid and there were frogs. One really big one and two little ones. My daughter's sandbox was now a frog pond and she was delighted. My guilt at not cleaning it out was replaced with child like joy at the sight of our frogs.

We visited them several times during the day and I loved seeing the fascination in my daughter's face. I'm sure there is a relocation project in our future, but for now we are thoroughly enjoying our miniature frog pond.

I Heart Summer: Queen Anne's Lace and Chicory

We have a small bouquet with Queen Anne's Lace on the bedroom dresser right now that looks so summery. I picked a few stalks from a neglected stretch of land between our developement and the new one next to ours.

We used to have tons Queen Anne's Lace in our "way back" yard but the cedars have become a forest and there isn't enough light anymore. This summer I'm seeing so much of it on the roadsides and along the railway tracks on my commute. It's mixed with chicory and the mix of white, blue and grass green is looks so beautiful. It's uplifting even on a Monday commuter train.

I wish I could find some chicory (which I usual think of as cornflower)to pick. I just found out that chicory is the correct name and that this is the plant the coffee substitute is made of. Turns out Queen Anne's Lace is sometimes called Wild Carrot and it's roots can be eaten like carrots. Maybe I'll study wildflowers this summer in addition to picking them.

There's a nice article on the blog My Muse and Me where I found the Queen Anne's Lace photo.

Apron Strings

I have a big clean up planned for this weekend which includes a dumpster. Watch out over-filled garage, you're days are numbered. I'll probably just throw on old yoga pants and a tee-shirt for the "big throw out" session.

When I spotted these aprons from smallbatchproduction on (frolic!) today, I thought how civilized it is to don an apron while doing chores. I wonder why apron wearing seems to be a lost practice now a days except maybe in the restaurant profession.

I know I have one somewhere. Maybe I'll find it in my overhaul of the garage and wear it for my other weekend project: pie baking.