Well, hello!

I've been off the radar all summer, I know. It's because I'm lazy. Also, I don't handle heat well...at least, not the sort of muggy slippery heat we had this summer....and of course summer is peak season at the museum where I work, and with the economy the way is been, I think people are really looking for cool, cheap things to do close to home. We had record attendance all summer, and I'm happy (yay people learning and engaging with their community yay!), but for a while there each museum event was simply bleeding into the next and I thought it would NEVER END. But our last big event of the summer wrapped up last weekend, and since then a bit of cool, drizzly, delicious fall weather has rolled in and attendance has dropped drastically, leaving me in 7th heaven.

I am a fall girl, no doubt about it. The last few days have been damn near perfect...I made an apple pie. I got out my new camel coat that I've been waiting all summer to wear. I had oatmeal for breakfast. I sat on the porch and watched the rain fall on the honeysuckle vines and relished the thought of not having to go out each night with a hose and water the herb garden while mosquitos feasted on my legs for an hour. I didn't talk about Herbert Hoover. Ok, I will miss camping out in my garden on hot hot nights, and running down to the corner for an ice cold bottle of Mexican Coca Cola, and popsicles for breakfast...but not that much. I'd rather have it be fall, so I can pretend I live in Stars Hollow ALL THE TIME, and wear tights, and snuggle in my warm bed with my cat and my laptop and a bowl of popcorn without overheating (Don't judge. You know you want it.).

I've been doing some drastic closet editing in the name of seasonal transitioning (and a big evolutionary leap in my personal style), which I will share in my next post, but for today, in the name of easing gently back into the rhythm of blogging, I'm going to do a little (GIANT) fall image inspiration post. Here goes...

*sigh*

This is in Portland. It is delicious. Go to there.

Pretty sure I stole this from Whatever, Gatsby.

this image by Chris Parker is so haunting...

Yes please.

So. Much. Sparkly. 

I want toadstools. In my house. Now please.

Portland artist Betsey Walton makes places I want to be.

James Gurney's art for Dinotopia still takes my breath away.

Epic dino love by Julene Harrison

I love lamp.

Library campout! Best idea ever!

When I image searched "rocker mice" to try and find where this came from, I found the animated show "Biker Mice From Mars" instead, which was AWESOME. Go nostalgia!

Let's have a cocktail party and sit on some sheep! Then let's camp out in the library! 

via The Sartorialist's vintage photo contest. So dead chic.

I am terrible at remembering where I found stuff. If you know who made the pieces I didn't cite, let me know, yes? Especially the guy with wings, because I want to give him a hug.

Bloggy Break (Ugh, I know! So lame!)

I think I have to stop blogging for a while. Because, you know, life. It just keeps happening. And I have to keep up with it. And right now that seems to require an inordinate amount of time and energy, and as long as I'm locked in the mindset that I have a blog to maintain, I'm just going to feel awful whenever I'm too tired/don't have time to do a post. And that, my friends, is silly! I know my loyal readers have no wish to see me simmering in quasi-puritanical blog guilt, right? Guys?

So, for the time being, little miss curator is going to lay low. I'll still be feindishly reading your blogs, and following other 30 for 30 participants (and I'm still participating, in an undocumented fashion), but I won't worry myself about posting until things settle the eff down a little!

Love,
Rose

BEACHY BEACH!!!! BEACHNESS!!! BEACHITUDE.

Guess where I went on Tuesday? That's right, the beach. Its silly, but I haven't been to the beach in over a year. Its only two hours away, but I always manage to convince myself that I haven't got the time, or that the gas will be too much (Ok, to be fair, it was...), or that I haven't got the time, or that I haven't got the time. Silly girl. My best friend Melinda visited me last week, and, rather rashly, we decided to just take a day and go to the coast.

We packed fresh fruit and a thermos of hot tea, and drove through the hills to Tillamook, where I needed to drop off the last of the quilts we borrowed for this years exhibit from the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. Then we got sandwiches and drove up the coast to Cannon Beach (Where there are separate benches for Dems and Republicans in front of the general store...guess which one is more worn?), stopping at the Nehalem Bay overlook for a little picnic and some photos. It was a gorgeous day for it, sunny and 70 with a soft breeze. The waves were mesmerizing, the sky was bluer than blue (Those photos are unedited!), and Melinda was in heaven. She is an Oregon girl, born and raised, and misses it here terribly. She lives in Irvine. Whenever she comes to visit she gets very excited about things like trees and rain and coffee and nice people and no sales taxes. And the beautiful, beautiful Oregon Coast. And her enthusiasm is infectious. I often forget how lucky I am, really, to have grown up here.

As you can see, Melinda is a much better fashion blogger than I am. She's got the poses down, and pops them off like America's Next Top Model, whereas most of the time I just spazz around and look unspeakably awkward and have to take a zillion photos to find one where I don't come off as someone you wouldn't really want to leave a small child around. I don't think it comes off in my photos very often, but in real life, I am the opposite of refined....90% of the time I will be making some kind of crazy face or talking in a silly voice or pretending to be a Tyrannosaur (us Rex). Its very hard for me to just smile and look pretty.

 

Can you see the white paint on my foot? We had been painting the living room floor until the wee hours Monday night, and I must have missed that spot in the shower! Also, please note that the rock behind me says "Eat me Billy". A few stones down it said Billy sucked. Poor Billy. Not a popular fellow! 

On Rose: Shirt, H&M, $4
                Cardi, Marshalls, $10
                Scarf, thirifted, $6
                Jeans, Buffalo Exchange, $10
                Shoes, Target, $24
                Coat, T.J. Maxx, $40
                Bag, T.J. Maxx, $60

On Melinda: Shirt, T.J. Maxx, $12
                     Scarf, Marshals, $12
                     Jeans, her own
                     Coat, thrifted, $14
                     Shoes and bag, her own

Guess what guys?

I'm gonna do the 30 for 30 again! Yay! But not this week. I have a reunion to get through, my bff is in town, and my housewarming is on Saturday (In the area? Want to come say hi? Email me for an invite!). All of these things are wonderful, but a little overwhelming all at once. I learned some very valuable lessons the last time I participated in the 30 for 30, which I have since applied to my wardrobe, so I'm pretty excited to see what comes out of this one...

In other news, my dad fell and broke his leg. Poor man. Not only is he my dad, he's also the gardener and handyman for the museum. So I've got my hands full!

Trying not to freak out.

But really looking forward to having my house DONE. Well. Its never really done, is it? But you know what I mean. Painted. Clean. Decorated. Organized. Liveable. So that I can simply come home and sit and read, or stare at the ceiling, or maybe blog.

Anyway.

Here are some amazing spaces that have inspired my home makeover...

While I can't run out and buy sexy midcentury marble tables or Louis XVI chaise lounges or zebra rugs, I think I've managed to infuse a little of the glamour of these spaces through the use of saturated color, quirky accessories, and family heirlooms. I'll let you be the judge soon...

All of this.

A blue and white patchwork leather Chanel-esque suit styled with sky high red brogues and a graffiti-ed scooter helmet? Oh heck yes.

In navy lace? Even better. And as for the seat belt dress...slap it on me and call me safety conscious. Word on the street (And by street I mean Style.com's review of the show, hurrr. ) is that Sofia Coppola is at least partly responsible for Louis Vuitton's latest resort collection.

I love it when the auteur becomes the muse.

Bow shoes. Bow shoes. *melt*

I can't live without...

An awesomely swanky umbrella! Seriously. I live in Oregon. And anyone who tries to tell me Oregonians are too cool for umbrellas had better be prepared for a truly massive eye-roll, and maybe a cattily arched eyebrow thrown in for good measure. Are you kidding me? We're pretty lucky here. We don't get murderous tornadoes or raging forest fires or anything terribly catastrophic (Except, apparently, a long overdue earthquake of unspeakable proportions. Joy.). We do, however, get lots and lots of torrential rain.

So, really, boys and girls, do yourselves a favor and invest in a rad umbrella. Even if you don't live in a rainy climate, an umbrella makes a great physical sunblock, and won't flop in your face like those oh-so-pretty-but-really-kind-of-stupid floppy brimmed hats. I'm a fan of the long skinny school of umbrella myself. I like to swagger around with it like a cane, and use it to poke things. Once I used the curved handle of my umbrella to catch a runaway dog by the collar. True story.

Here are a few I'm lusting after right now...

Instant happiness from MoMA

Seriously. Seriously. *swoon* Buy it here.

The Funbrella is specially designed for kids. Whatever.

Of course the coolest umbrella etailer ever is based in the UK...

The Brelli is semi-translucent, waterproof, windproof,
UV protective, and (wait for it...) biodegradable. Hello.

And if a shorty is more your style...

A Katana umbrella. Just in case. ThinkGeek.com also carries them
with a pirate sword handle, a lightsaber handle, and brass knuckles.
Very Avengers, no?

A sturdy and well designed umbrella can be a godsend in an Oregon spring. Or winter. Or fall. Also, its a fun accessory! And who doesn't love even the flimsiest excuse to accessorize? Crazy people. That's who. 

And don't forget, you can always use your umbrella to poke things!

IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!!!!! Well, sort of. Mostly.

Hi guys. Whew. What a month. We opened our May Quilt and Button Show, which is traditionally our most well attended exhibit, and, well, lets just say this year looks like a possible record breaker. Yay! and also, YIKES. We've been swamped. Or I should say, I've been swamped! In the chaotic weeks of research and documentation leading up to the show (Each quilt is meticulously researched, then its "story" is printed up and compiled into a packet for visitors [some of whom are world renowned quilt historians, so I gotta get it right!]...a process more grueling than any research paper I've ever done.), my computer got infected with a lovely little virus, as did I. While mine is plain old laryngitis, easily remedied with plenty of rest, hot water, and honey, my poor little Mac hasn't fared so well. Technically its operational, though noticeably sluggish and unable to interface with its friend the printer. Also, the random and sudden pop-ups of gay porn are a fun new feature. Whee. Oh, look. Here comes some now. Blerg.

Learning how to guide a tour without speaking during our busiest season has also been a treat. I am suddenly very grateful for all our brochures and handouts! We opened the show with a tea on Mother's Day weekend, and that was genuinely very fun, and a raging success. The potential for logistical chaos is high, but an amazing troupe of volunteers made it run like a well-oiled machine. The day after Mother's Day, we celebrated my wonderful grandmother's 94th birthday, with leftover tea cookies (A.MA.ZING. My mom makes them. All kinds. Gingerbread with orange cream cheese filling, almond-sesame shortbread, Mexican chocolate shortbread with cayenne icing, little jam tarts...all teeny tiny!), and chocolate cake, at gram's request. It was lovely. 94. Ninety-four, you guys! The week since has been filled with long naps and episodes of The Borgias and lots and lots of delicious miso soup, which lovely boyfriend taught me to make, with tons of tofu and wakame. What they say is true; Once you go Japanese, you don't go back. As of yesterday I am just starting to get my voice again, and with it my bloggy voice too. I would apologize for the absence, but really, sometimes you just have to go focus on life. I had about a bajillion cool outfits I wanted to blog, and funny stories to share, but every single night I'm afraid sleep and/or melodramatic historical television programming won out. Speaking of....

{Break for more quality man on man action}

I think the last time I updated the blog was just before Easter. Boyfriend and I went to a beautiful, if slightly bewildering, High Anglican service at St Mark's Episcopal in Northwest. I'm not a very churchy person, but when I do go, I like to do it up right; Gravitas and gilding and incense and altar boys. My mom and I made this very extravagant hat, with which I topped off an entirely pale pink ensemble. Even my raincoat was pink. Word amongst the altar boys was that it was a smash hit. I am not kidding. Apparently altar boys have a keen appreciation for good hats. In less spiritually uplifting news, I later realized that the gigantic T.J. Maxx price stickers were still firmly affixed to the soles of my nude pumps, so when I went up for communion.....aaaawww, yeah. Class act over here, kids.

Anyhoo, it seems I've been in a pastel rut ever since, as illustrated by today's costume! Something about all the dreamy soft colors of spring, the cool grey skies, rosy tinged lilacs, creamy apple blossoms, tiny blue forget-me-nots, and the palest of pale green grape leaves, purple edged and frosted with baby fuzz...its gotten into my head. The unspeakably soft mohair cardi I'm wearing is one of my all time favorite things. I actually bought it long ago, during an intense all black punk rocker phase (Yep. That happened.). Clearly, it spoke to me, stylistic hiccups notwithstanding.

Emerson Made jeans; Old Navy blouse, thrifted; Anthropologie cardigan, thrifted; Belt, Target; Jessica Simpson shoes, Nordstrom; Faux alligator clutch, thrifted; Self made necklace; pearl bracelet, gift from mom.

{Aaaaaand.....more porn. yay.}

In closing, I missed you guys. Thanks for hanging in there. With my busiest weeks out of the way, and my well being on the mend, I'm looking forward to a springtime renaissance of blogginess!