Public Service Announcement

Seriously folks, if you're on a bike, wear your helmet. I had a little bike accident on Friday night. I was wearing my helmet and I was glad I was. I have no dramatic photos of bruises or skinned knees for you. Most of my aches and pains from the accident are internal (my neck is still out of wack. Chiropractor, here I come!). But I did hit my head and my helmet had a chance to do what they're supposed to.

See, that's the thing about accidents, you can't plan them. You can't decide that you'll always land in such a way that you won't hit your head. They happen so fast, without warning. So, really. Be safe. Wear it. It doesn't matter if it's too hot or if you're just going to be on the bike path. For what it's worth, the worst bike accident I've ever seen was on the bike path, between a cyclist and a pedestrian. Both were taken away in ambulances. Wear a helmet, because you never know when you'll need it.

Why did I never think of this before?

I've worked at the same place for nearly eight years and yet yesterday, I did something I'd never done before. I took my bike out for a ride during my break. I don't know why it never occurred to me in eight years that I could do this. I've been wanting to get more rides into my life. Admittedly, an hour isn't a very long time for a ride, but it's better than not riding at all.

In that precious hour, I got to go for lunch at a place I love but have always considered too far away to go during my break. I did an errand that has been pressing on my mind, but that it seemed like I didn't have time for. And I rode about two or three miles. Awesome. The weather has been fantastic lately, perhaps even a little too cold for my taste, but sunny and fresh, so riding was a pure pleasure. I didn't ride fast, so I arrived back at work just as rested as if I'd sat reading magazines (my usual break time pleasure), not sweaty in the slightest and ready to go back to work. What could have been better?

It makes me think, what other ways have I been unconsciously stuck in my routine, that I could change for the better, just by thinking differently?

Just a few more pictures of London

A summer house built for a Queen, just so she would have somewhere to have picnics. Shades of Marie Antoinette, eh? This rustic folly being much larger than most average homes. The queen, though was Queen Charlotte, wife to King George the III, interesting because between bearing fifteen children, she still found time to support the arts and music, including the composers Handel and Mozart, as well as be an amateur botanist, working on Kew Gardens, where this summer house and the delightful little palace, Kew Palace stand.



There was this brick garden wall in the charming neighborhood we stayed in that had wisteria, in full bloom, climbing all over it. I love wisteria, but have never been able to grow it, as it's a little too tender for Chicago's northern climes.





The reflecting pond and garden in front of Kensington Palace. The ranks of flowers so brilliant and beautiful, the garden so serene. I wish I could walk in this park every day.

Some of my favorite pictures from London

Everything seemed to be in bloom when we arrived. Everything. Even the chestnut trees, which I'm not sure I've ever seen an actual chestnut tree in bloom before. They're very much like buckeye trees, which we do have in plenty around here, but it filled my heart with delight to see actual chestnut trees. Almost all of the chestnut trees in America died of the blight early in the last century. I guess there are some around, but they're hybrid Chinese and they're mostly all very young trees. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park were both filled with massive, obviously ancient chestnut trees. So beautiful and magnificent.









We went to Covent Garden a couple of times this trip. My husband loves the buskers. There's tons of great shopping in the area too, including Cath Kidston. In the Covent Garden Market they have lots of lovely little stalls with handcrafted goods and vintage and antique wares. One could spend hours shopping in this neighborhood.




The bluebell woods in Kew Gardens are just enchanting. We spent the whole day wandering the grounds. When the bluebells are out, there's this haze of blue in every clearing it seems, under every tree, every where you look. Kew is such a magical place anytime, with trees from every corner of the globe and fantastic greenhouses, from so very Victorian palm houses to super modern desert houses.




This little staircase is in Hampton Court, the biggest of the three palaces I visited this time. Built by Cardinal Woolsey for his own residence and later claimed by Henry the VIII for his royal court, Hampton Court is simply sprawling. It's half Tudor, half Baroque, because William III tore part of the Tudor palace down, and rebuilt it, using Christopher Wren as his architect, intending for the palace to rival Versailles in size and magnificence. Thankfully, he ran out of money and never finished, so we have a remaining Tudor portion.

This picture is a little hallway off the part of the palace William III built and it leads up into the private residences. Even though no royalty have lived in the palace for three hundred years or so, it's still lived in. There are dozens of grace and favour apartments in this castle still. Can you imagine living in not just a palace, but in a palace owned by Henry the VIII? Also, I love the blue green of the woodwork, just the right tranquil shade of it.

This is the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, originally built as the Greenwich Hospital, a residence for injured and pensioned sailors of the Royal Navy. It's beautiful, isn't it? Just like a piece of Wedgwood china.

We spent a whole day at Greenwich, taking the Thames river taxi to get there. Which is about the most civilized public transportation option ever, by the way, with a decent coffee shop right on board! We saw baroque wonder after wonder, from a formal dining room with the most amazing painted ceiling to a small palace built for Queen Anne. But the chapel remains my favorite.







This carousel is on the south bank of Thames, near the London Eye and Jubilee Gardens. It just makes me happy to think about and too look at this picture of it.

Just a quick post

I just turned 39 and I'm thinking about making up a 40 before 40 list of things I want to do before my next birthday. 40 wonderful, maybe wacky, definitely beautiful things I want to try that I haven't before. It's a lot to think up and about.

So, until then, I'll leave with a sneak peak of my London pictures. Bluebells, from the bluebell woods at Kew Gardens. God, I love Kew. It's simply one of the most beautiful (man made) places on the planet.

I love this

Via Apartment Therapy who got it from the flickr user Cottonblue. And I just love this room. I actually love all the pictures of her home, especially the pictures of her blue and white kitchen. Make sure to follow the link and check them out. It's all so soft and granny chic. I'm really loving the granny chic these days.

What's interesting to me though is the vociferous hatred so many of the posters of Apartment therapy had for this picture. They hated the fact that they didn't match mostly. And I have to say, yeah, they don't match, but to my eye, they go together. The soft colors complement each other and the lines of the bookcases even work together.

To me, this row of bookcases has more style and more soul than the row of matched Billy bookcases with glass doors that I have in my condo.

So, what do you think? Cluttered and mismatched? Or sweet, unique granny chic?

five blogs I read every day

Beyond the obvious ones, that is. I mean, beyond the usual big name design blogs like Apartment Therapy, SF Girl by the Bay, Decor 8 and Posey Loves Cozy, which of course I read everyday, but so does most everyone else. These are blogs that I like to think of as my little secret.



Does This Pen Write?. Devoted to office supplies, a great, secret love of mine, and particularly, pens.


Bohemian Hellhole. No, it's not updated every day, sadly, but I check every day to see if there's something new. I've never run across a design blogger who's aesthetic quite matches mine so closely.


Dottie Angel. It took me a little while to get used to the center justified format and the whimsicle, meandering text, but I just love every picture from this blog. She's doing a giveaway right now of the most gorgeous crocheted pillow. I didn't enter, because I can make my own, but so inspirational.


Lovely Bicycle. I think we all need more lovely bikes in our lives. And I just adore the pictures of the blogger's Pashley Princess.


The Mogg Blogg. Like Go Fug Yourself, but for interior design. Always screaming funny. Sometimes just makes you scream.