In order to keep a true perspective of one�s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.- Dereke Bruce



(wink!)

��If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrariwise, what it is, it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. � - Lewis Carroll




My miniature Alice in Wonderland garden isn't quite finished, but thought I'd share a small glimpse of it.

Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things - I am tempted to think there are no little things.- Bruce Barton

Bliss...

� Opening the windows on a sunny day to let the breeze flow in over the sink while I wash the dishes.
� my three parakeets "the imeldas" singing every morning.
� setting up my painting easel in the kitchen nook underneath the wall of windows where the sunlight streams in.
� blossoming sweet peas...trailing over our picket fence.
� cheap party lanterns from china town in the garden.
� planning to go see wonderful shows like cirque du soleil...
� Traveling anywhere.
� walking the dog in the afternoon.
� vintage vogue magazines from the early 1900's thru 1940.
� Hot artichoke dip & bread.
� buying new girly shoes & stockings.
� Oscar & Lucinda's glass cathedral.
� twirling in the rain
� visiting an old cemetary
� writing & doodling in a paper journal late at night with a cup of hot tea/honey.
� Listening to Rasputina while painting.
� Parasols everywhere.
� My dogs Jerry & Freckles sneaking onto the bed in the morning to snuggle next to me.
� Late night excursions to the bookstore Barnes & Noble with a Starbucks coffee.
(& a few more....)
� walking barefoot on soft blades of grass.
� windchimes
� balconies overlooking the sea
� hilltop views of city lights
� beach sand falling through your fingers

I walk ahead of myself in perpetual expectancy of miracles. -Anais Nin

Everyone wants to be found.



All of the Buzz surrounding Lost in Translation proved itself truthful last evening.

Long lost memories of Tokyo flooded my head...ooh Pachinko !

If you're like me and have an odd fascination with distant cultures...have wanderlust but cannot travel, then by-God go to the movies. It's the great escape!

If you've seen this film...then you're gonna love this: { Translated Suntory Scene }

Last night we went to see Tim Burton's "Big Fish" . It always blows my mind to go see a film that mirrors our sensibilities. Ewan McGregor's character, the young Ed Bloom reminded me so much of my husband...all we are short of here is a "giant" really. I kept jabbing him in his side every time something popped up that reminded me of him, then he nodded & laughed in acknowledgement. Life is funny like that sometimes.

I can't wait to read this novel of mythic proportions...it's next on my list.

Had I the Heavens'
embroidered cloths enwrought with golden and silver light
and blue and the dim and the dark cloths of night
and light and the half light;
I would spread the cloths at your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams before your feet,
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams -W.B. Yeates

Always do what you want, and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter,
and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Suess



I have to admit, I feel a little guilty. My sister's stuck at home in 0 degree weather, and today I spent the whole day outdoors (in 73 degree weather no less). The gardening mood has stricken me....I've been obcessively planting bulbs. Mostly gladiolous (for their cottage glamour), & freesia (for their sweet smell).

Two months ago I got a little obsessive about sweet peas and planted two flats of them along our front picket fence. Now they've grown to the half way point, with their multi-colored & sweet scented blooms peeking out the fence slats. Random people (even burley men) walking past make a point to stop and look at them. It's hard to imagine, the transition we've made in just a little over a year here...when we bought this house it was the most dilapidated house in the neighborhood. Rocks completely filled the front garden, paint peeling off the siding, huge yucca trees hid the lines of the bungalows exterior, and the backyard was over 50% cemented in!

The house was on the market for over a year...and looked like it had been neglected for 20. People told us that we were crazy, that we could've bought a new house in the valley for the same price. It was unimaginable to some, how we would ever make this house a home. After hearing so many negative comments the first few months honestly, I got very emotionally worn down & cried.

But...In our eyes we always saw endless possibilities.

This is the project of our lives, but sometimes I just can't help but think: "We have a house....We own a house! " ...some days I just want to pinch myself.

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. - Emily Dickinson