for awhile now i’ve been obsessed with terrariums. i think they are adorable first and foremost. i also like how low maintenance they are. and finally, i love how green and lush they are. it’s bringing a piece of the landscape outside inside. but there is something fantastical about terrariums, too.  whole story lines can be set within its glass walls. stories that speak to the imaginative voice inside of you. maybe this is why i love the pacific northwest so much. there may be a lot of rain, but rain means lush greens and growth.

weegreenspot from portland is my favorite terrarium designer on etsy. she takes the miserably underrated and unappreciated dark horse… moss… and turns it into a formidable force in the indoor plant display world. it’s something beautiful, creative, and utterly magical.

by emily dickinson

All overgrown by cunning moss,
All interspersed with weed,
The little cage of “Currer Bell”
In quiet “Haworth” laid.

This Bird – observing others -
When frosts too sharp became
Retire to other latitudes -
Quietly did the same -

But differed in returning -
Since Yorkshire hills are green
Yet not in all the nests I meet -
Can Nightingale be seen -

i’ve recently been perusing west elm’s new green line. there are some stand out pieces that i’m kind of in love with…

the texture of these pillows makes me want to hug them, although i wish they used some stronger colors.  mother nature displays a fantastic array of colors. so why is it that organic green or eco-friendly pieces tend to go for muted color schemes?

this woven light pendant isn’t really my style, but if you want visual interest and a focus piece, this definitely delivers both with a punch. for some reason i am reminded of a sea creature. you?

mmm… i love anything that has to do with trees. tree prints, tree houses, tree-beard (know that reference?) so i love this natural stump side table.

the trend for 2010 design that has already made quite a splash in 2009 and beyond? being nicer to our environment! it’s the chic thing to do and i fully support that.

another absent week. whatever will you, lovely reader, do with me?

today i want to introduce you to a beloved artist. blog readers, please meet tallulah. tallulah mae terryll to be specific. doesn’t she have the prettiest name? i’ve always been enamored with it. she has been creating art for as long as i’ve known her. i find her work to be stimulating and calming all at once. there’s an interplay of repetition and surprise. it all makes me want to frolic and skip.

as stated on her cv/bio…

A partial list of her influences includes the rings left by cups on tables…

repeating words over and over until they become absurd…

a job which forced her to sort and count beads in meditative monotony…

and the work of Kathleen Rabel.

all images from this post are courtesy of the artist

for more details and images of her lovely work, visit her website. then i suggest you find somewhere to engage in some lighthearted merry-making. off i go!

the pioneer woman’s blog was what really got me into the being interested in reading blogs about 3 years ago. i love her stories, how funny she is, her beautiful photography and in-depth knowledge of photoshop, and of course all the delicious recipes and accompanying photos she shares. so when i went to her blog and saw the giveaway she is featuring for the haiti relief effort, it is wonderful what she is doing.

west coasters still have a couple more hours (today at noon) to submit your charity of choice for her to donate to. go here to get all the details. and the thing is, every comment is a winner. so delurk today and comment because each and every one will count. we can bring tremendous strength through our numbers to the people and land of haiti.

there are many charities out there for you to donate to right now, i realize. beyond PW’s giveaway, my charity of choice for this effort  is with partners in health because they are intimate in their knowledge of haiti, having worked in and with the country for a couple decades now.  i’m not sure what else to say. death tolls are tragically high, but those who have survived and may be struggling are in true need. we all wish to help in some way or another, so here is my small contribution.

when my friend told me about visuwords yesterday, i got excited. it’s a dictionary! that produces a diagram! which will help you not only learn the meaning of the word, but also the word’s association to others. nifty. now you can embrace both the writer and artist within you.

either go to the website and look up a word or click on the above graphic to get a real feel for what i’m talking about. i chose the word “expound” because i have always liked the way it sounds. best part? it’s easy to use and (so far) the site isn’t jam-packed with ads. plus it’s a bit more user-friendly than merriam-webster or other large and imposing dictionary people. i use online dictionaries a lot (it used to be thefreedictionary.com), but now i am switching. the appeal of the visual should never be underestimated.

last year’s foray into the world of raised bed gardening wasn’t a huge success. i got some superb sugar snap peas, but the basils were dwarfy and the tomatoes pretty lackluster- the ones in pots did much better, in fact. the marigolds did grow and bloom by the bushel, but what i was really desiring were edibles of the vegetal variety. frankly, i think it had to do with the dirt i used, which wasn’t dirt. i might have used mulch (don’t be mad), i don’t really remember now. so after resolving not to get as into it this year… something arrived in my inbox the other day.  a big U.G.H. was then issued.

i got one of the cook’s garden catalogues last year, which i ordered specifically after reading about them online somewhere. many months later, i still can’t bring myself to recycle the catalogue even though i have went through my magazines stack many times already in an effort to purge and clean. because the catalogue is that beautiful. and i had such high aspirations.

observe with me, if you will:

and this is only a very small sample of what is contained within the glossy pages of that siren of a catalogue. it’s calling to me, beckoning me with the promise of a bountiful, colorful, delicious harvest.  and once more, i am feeling tempted, with a renewed sense of vigor and determination to make it work.

spring: you will find me filling the raised bed with superior soil, shovel in hand, seed packets spread around me, the westies curiously sniffing. i will be gardening again.

it’s about time i gave a shout-out to mike and azure’s Quarter Year travel blog. it’s a blog, but it’s also so much more. it’s a blog times ten.

mike and i both went and got our degrees from the UW, but we didn’t meet until we were both in the euromasters program across the pond in bath, england. i haven’t seen him in years, but i’ll never forget how he and his girlfriend patiently dispensed sage advice on IM during some difficult times in 2002/3. i am grateful to still be able to follow their lives via this medium.

mike and azure spend a quarter year every year traveling. they take gorgeous, photojournalistic photos that rival anything i’ve ever seen in print or on the web, and are both inspirational and thoughtful writers. whenever i feel antsy or want to dream or read something i can mull over, i hop over to their website and follow their enviable adventures. go and check it out.

my best friend is off to italy for 3 months to do research for her awesome dissertation and eat copious amounts of pizza. i am jealous as i remember how much fun and how amazing the food is in italy. looking ahead though, it seems as if i’ve got places to go and people to see as well. but none of them require using my passport. where are you headed to or wanting to go this new year?

february 2010: florida

march 2010: arizona

may 2010: chicago

september 2010: sonoma

rest of 2010: save to make these trips possible and continue daydreaming about other destinations. check.

i’m back!

sometimes i am bad at posting because i am even worse at uploading photos. i like taking them, but somehow the process of putting them onto my computer just sounds daunting. it doesn’t help that i use 4 different computers on a regular basis either. and i like to include a bit of visual interest, eye candy if you will with each of my posts. so there’s my disclaimer for 2010. way to begin the new decade, huh? :)

for christmas, i gave my sister the photographer this beauty:

meet the canon 5d mark ii. i never thought i would be excited by a camera. but yesterday when we tested out the camera’s HD video capabilities… in the word of our friend, it was just “sick” the kind of quality this canon can produce not only in video, but also in photography. when the camera was taken outside at 10pm, it captured each and every silhouette of the trees and neighborhood skyline around us, the ISO sucking in all the light around it so that literally it captured what the naked eye saw in the dark. for anyone who has taken photos at night, you know exactly what i’m talking about.  include the 21.1 megapixels, 3 inch LCD screen feature and you’ve got this always lazy photographer up and wanting to learn more about the brilliance that this camera can produce. this also solidifies our family’s love affair with canon all the way.

examples mixed with giddiness to come…

i guess i gave myself a vacation and didn’t even know it. or really, it’s just been so busy with seeing all my loved ones and celebrating all sorts of happy occasions that bloggy has been neglected.

hopefully you all had a beautiful christmas, here’s to a happy 2010!

see you on the other side, my friends.

xoxo,

cindy