fantasy studio

visiting greece is great, even under their current economic duress. studying art in greece would be amazing...but having this studio to make stuff in would be a dream come true: how awesome is that?

via contemporist

storm damage

today was bright and sunny and perfect...

last weekend: not so much. it was over 100° and super cell storms cruised through about 3-ish. we were under a tornado warning- which is fairly normal these days-but it was more like straight line winds at 75 mph- that tore the locust trees to bits. a medium size branch fell into the back corner of my yard and destroyed my lovely fountain and birdbath.

poseidon's head ended up about 20 feet from the rest of the pile.

best pet ever?

considering a porcupine for a pet?
get yourself some thick gloves!

how adorable, though!

we, the pizza

chef spike opened his new pizza place

we, the pizza today: i didnt get the email til after 2 so i missed it for lunch:

there is always tomorrow!

jellyfish sting

there are a ton of jellyfish in the chesapeake bay right now and one stung me.

(not this one: one i didnt see).

it hurt a little...it itched a lot!

urban village market

i never thought of arlington as an urban village...but it really is one, with all those tall buildings and pedestrians about! they have a saturday market there that i have heard is great: a lot old georgetown market vendors are there, plus new ones and music. i haven't been yet, but might go today...

summer dragonflies

dragonflies are one of summer's iconic insects...also butterflies, lightning bugs and mosquitos! just listed in my etsy shop new colors for my dragonfly necklaces  as well as a few new butterfly pendants and earrings.

let them migrate to your wardrobe.

wild bunch of baby animals

the other morning i saw something darting erratically back and forth across the creek: it was a baby mallard duck who must have been separated from his family during the previous night's storm. george-i named him after george washington, who was born nearby-quickly adapted to his new environment in my hand, and took a nap. the dog was curious until george nipped his nose, then he became suspicious...and looked to me for some kind of explanation as to why this beast was in the house with us.

i wanted to reunite george with his family, but hadnt seen any mallards close by in a few weeks...i resigned to keep him! i had a duck for a few weeks when i was a kid-aristotle-so i have duck experience. unfortunately, the mister had a different idea and forced me to call a wild animal rescue, the wild bunch. reluctantly, i agreed and we drove to the shelter that evening. i handed over george to the volunteer who promptly placed him in a terrarium, where he peeped to return to the warmth of my palm: i was sad.

there were many other animals-especially babies- at this facility near the rappahanock river. 

the baby grey foxes were cute and this one growled under his breath as i dropped my hand to take it's photo: adorable!

i loved the possums! hard to tell if they are dead or just messing with you, though!

there were a lot of birds of prey at the wild bunch: barred owls, great horned owls and osprey...they released an eagle last week. these juvenile osprey were rescued from the water after a storm. love osprey: they are my favorite bird.

the baby raccoon just wanted to have fun!

so, anyway...i felt like george was in good hands despite there not being any other ducklings there, because singles tend to hang around longer at their adoptive house. then yesterday i saw her in the creek: the mother duck with three ducklings.

poor george: all alone in that terrarium.

banksy tags detroit

the always poignant banksy made a visit to detroit: looks like he had a lovely time!

summer fun in the nation's capitol

the other day i met some friends downtown to check out the brian jungen exhibit at the national museum of the american indian, which none of us had been to yet.  the three previous days were over a 100°, but this day was a gorgeous 89° with low humidity and a nice breeze.

we took metro to the smithsonian stop so we had to walk a few blocks to our destination, but it was a lovely stroll on the national mall! the plantings at the smithsonian castle were a major highlight! 

 beautiful color combinations ...petunias with roses...coleus edgings ...old time-y blooms like four o'clocks...

every thing was just sparkling.

the water feature in front of the american indian museum was quite cooling!

the exhibit at the museum was wild...and inspiring.

we absorbed the entire experience-along with a few ginger martinis-at hotel monaco:

sweet ending!

cool weekend events

it has been soooo hot this week! today was only 93° at the height of it all: feels almost spring-like,  so go out and enjoy yourselves!
friday july 9: get your freak on at the carter barron amphitheater tonight at 7:30 with funky and soulful sounds free with tickets distributed today (hurry!).
saturday july 10:
•1-5pm is your last chance to see jeff huntington's scary and fantastic portrait collages at reyes+davies.
•dress in deco cocktail attire to celebrate bastille day at the french embassy 7-midnight. yummy food from french chefs, a silent auction and dancing under the stars will set you back $85 in advance and $100 at the door.
sunday july 11:
•see 197 movies in 100 minutes re-worked by the reduced shakespeare company at the kennedy center...sounds intriguing! there are two shows today and they're almost sold out!
•go on a picnic tonight at the firefly festival 7:30-9:30. who knew there were different kinds of lightning bugs?

how to colorize your dog

i just finished watching a video on the wall street journal site about colorizing your dog (would have embedded it, but for the commercial!) i have a black labrador, so re-coloring him is not an option...mainly because he would object...and give me the stink eye...and frankly, it would be difficult to coordinate an outfit with all that color over the long term...but, people do it!..mostly in china...there is concern about the dye and the dog's skin sensitivity and the dye is poison...(how come they tell me pulling a tick is ok, because dogs have tough skin?)anywho...my guy aint going for it!

weekend gardening

this weekend was super hot, but i still managed to log about 8 hours either gardening and/or doing random yardwork. i have big time weeds, so i spent a couple hours filling two trash cans and a small recycling container with weed tree cuttings, bermuda grass clumps and out of control morning glory and porcelain berry vines. i also took the pansies off of the front porch and put them into the composter...i refilled the self-watering planters with chartreuse and black sweet potato vines, and anticipate adding fuschia mini petunias in the very near future. all the potted plants were mulched with the shredded remains of the old red oak. the front door mattes were cleaned as was the porch, with a broom, dustpan and finally a hose. i split the grasses between two pots on the front porch and two on the shed steps...they also were mulched, as were the blueberry plants up there. 

four eggplants and 4 basil were planted in the newly turned west side bed,and all of the volunteer mini yellow pear tomatoes were tied up.

young buck

i see deer almost everyday while walking the dog in rock creek park...but not this close! we startled this young buck, but once we made eye contact, he just stood there chewing on stuff while i took multiple shots.

it's hot!

its so damn hot.

im sitting inside with all the shades drawn in a sun dress.

taste the rainbow

..the bacon rainbow, that is! one question: why? bacon needs no improvement!

(i will take the purple piece, btw.)

via bacon today.

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pluto

i once went to a dinner party at a restaurant with stools for seats-cafe asia dc, to be exact: 9 of the 16 guests had major back pain the following day from slumping for several hours. i can see why you would choose a backless  seating option: they can be cool...but painful. if you prefer fashion over feelings, you probably love this pluto "bench" by simon pengelly, shown at neocon last week...

goes with my velcro lamp.

flower power no more

i buy vintage and antique stampings for enameling from my supplier in manhattan...these little flowers are an example of what i buy from him: so cute and they can be made into post or dangle earrings, pendants, rings: whatever! but oh no: he has finally run out and my little flower power line must come to an end.

i saved this last one for me!

go on an artventure

h street, ne is like a different world in dc: filled with pioneers preserving a small town feel in the big city...wild and freaky pioneers! i have been to palace of wonders a few times and the bucket of tater tots @ sticky rice is very familiar to me...so is the wig shop. but galleries galore are lining the streets now. tonight, take a visit yourself because twelve art spaces are inviting you to come check them out from 7-9. dont forget to get your artventures passport stamped for discounts at local eateries.

how to make things with velcro

i have the perfect room for this light fixture!

top chef dc

top chef dc premiers tonight and i couldnt be more excited that our great city continues to get positive attention...finally...and delicious food...finally. previous cycles of top chef have had some of our fantastic local chefs competing for the big prize, and this season will be no different. i will be rooting for chef dean (charm city via dc) and the youngster, chef warren. 

the amazing floating ring

i love rings!

so i couldnt resist a few tempting treats from fellow etsian SouZouCreations straight outta fukuoka! i bought my mom the box of chocolates ring: sweet!

japanese kawaii design at its cutest!

poppy stems

a  customer commissioned me to design a poppy ring-she meant with the stem! the fuzzy texture of the poppy stem did transfer over into the sterling silver and the lost wax casting came out beautifully! i finished one end with a ball of sterling wire and tipped the other with a single silver oak bud from my old tree (r.i.p.).

takoma park jazz festival

fantastic and free is the 15th annual takoma park jazzfest! check out two stages of jazz, blues and bop today, 11-6.

nba playoffs: celtics in seven

originally my dad wanted to be a pro basket baller-after an engineer-he was a 6'-2" center, truly back in the day. i'm 5'-6" ( pushing it)  and i am not that great at team sports (yeah, i know: there's no 'i' in team)...that is why i love the nba: these are the most amazing athletes in the world and i wish i could make that shot! so, the nba playoffs are on and i say, celtics in seven. 

rainbow

shot this lovely rainbow while driving home...storms are ending!

trash or treasure?

while perusing every design blog possible in search of a modern floor lamp , i came across the trashlamp, a combo of dual iconic household objects with one objective: to illuminate your garbage

...social commentary or joke?

via contemporist

art parade

be part of the washington project for the arts parade today by watching it: its too late to enter. the extravaganza starts noon @ half street. se @ m, and ends at n.

wait: it goes for a block? better be on time.

collecting vintage

 i shot some more great vignettes during my shopping session last friday...

seems owls and creepy clowns/harlequins were/are very popular!

kayaking on the potomac river

managed to get a good paddle in before the thunder storms hit...

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