Peggy's Sunglasses

As I've mentioned before, I took the boys to Italy at Christmas after my husband died the summer before. And, as I've confessed, we were the stupidest visitors maybe in the history of Italian tourism. We knew nothing. We literally stumbled upon nearly everything. I'd say Innocents Abroad, but that gives us way too much credit.

Anyway, our first stop after landing in Milan was Venice ~ La Serenissima. Heaven!

The good thing about Venice, of which there are so many, is you can't get lost. Sure, you can wander aimlessly but unless you swim off, you will eventually get where you are going. Kindah nice.

During one of our wanderings, we stumbled upon the Guggenheim museum. So wonderful ~ even now it makes me breathless. 

As we fell over the threshold of the Guggenheim, we fell into a quirky, eccentric, amazing space filled with art by the titans of the 20th Century. The Guggenheim was featuring a Picasso studio retrospective in the first gallery. One of the very nice things about traveling with the boys was spending all day and night with them. More things to find out about your children. The Bear loves Picasso. We lingered in the gallery as we studied the pieces in detail.

After nearly closing the place down, we exited through the gift shop. Such totally fun and quirky things. Then ~ whoa! Sunglasses. Utterly cool ~ even, terrifyingly amazing. Batwing sunglasses. I'd say "retro" but well, they weren't retro when Peggy wore them. Well one thing lead to another and I bought a pair.

That's one of the great things about being older. Everyone quits giving you the eyebrow as you fully embrace the idiosyncratic, the personal. Singular describes it perfectly. I subscribe fully to being sui generis because (to quote the great Bill ~ Shakespeare, that is) I bear a charmed life.

It's grand!

Day 57 Everyday Grateful ~

Sunny and completely beautiful.

With global warming,

Seattle will soon be like Los Angeles in the '50's

 ~ blue skies, clean air. 

The forecast calls for six days of summer.

Amazing.

 http://www.guggenheimstore.org/pegusu.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168640/Canaletto-drawing-Venice-sold-family-idea-true-value--2million.html

Staying in Florence? The Most Beautiful Bathroom in the World!

A while ago, my sons and I stayed in Florence at the most wonderful boutique hotel E*V*E*R! It wasn't that it was so chi-chi or uber-designed or architecturally astonishing. It was just so fully realized and immaculately presented.

I love living in a world knowing that lovely hotel is in it.

I remember in a previous post, I waxed poetic about my pink dogwood overhanging my back terrace saying something like I have complete confidence that the path into heaven is lined with pink dogwood eternally in bloom (or, something like that.) Well, if God or any of his heavenly hosts were staying in Florence, they would certainly stay at The Lungarno.

First of all, it's across the bridge from Palazzo Spini Feroni ~ the Palazzo Ferragamo and shop. Nice neighborhood! I mean, really now, how horrible can that possibly be? Right! Not at all.

We had taken the train down from Milan and arrived in the mid to late afternoon. Well, the Bear (my adored oldest son) is all about Prosecco when we visit. So, we hung out in the lobby toasted each other and laughed up a storm.

The lobby is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! The seating is extremely comfortable and everything is upholstered in cream/white linen with navy blue fringe piped around the cushions and a generous deep navy border around the bottom of each piece. Quiet, summery, inviting.

For me , the art is the showstopper. All original, pen and inks, charcoals, black and white water colours. All interesting and wonderfully presented. It also feels personal. Like the person who curated had an intelligent eye. Each piece felt selected on its merits. Handsome.

When we went up to our rooms, the wonder continued. My bedroom was not large but so immaculately appointed it left me breathless.

But, the bathroom! Oh, dear God, it was so exquisite. First of all, it was small. I mean weensy. Not that one would swing a cat, but, well, there wasn't room for that. As I've mentioned in my other posts, my bathroom is weensy, too ~ 5' 0" x 8' 0". Shower, toilet, vanity. My bathroom at the Lungarno also included a bidet so it was slightly larger than mine at home. And, that is where all comparisons end.

Marble! Marble wainscot. Marble floor. Marble moulding around the door frames. Marble base. Marble shower. Marble vanity. Beautiful. Heavenly. Marble.

Not certain of the kind but reminds me of crema marfil. It's deeply creamy. If you ever think of marble as edible. This is the one!

The towels thick and white. The linen towels crisp and white. The spa robe? You get the drift . . . yah, thick and white. The fixtures and fitting? Matte nickel ~ either by age or by design.

 



The bedroom walls were a true butter cream. The mouldings, wainscot and millwork were white. Did it have the best view in Florence? No, but I loved looking out at the old ivy covered walls. It was very much like a secret garden. Romantic and atmospheric as hell!

So, if you are planning a trip to Italy and Florence is on your itinerary, think about staying at The Lungarno. Is it expensive? Yes. But, if you stay in pensiones and small out of the way places on your trip, this is the place to splurge!

Day 38 Everyday Grateful ~

Coffee with my next door neighbor, Chuck

Started out bright blue skies. Now a little cloudy

Group of us having dinner this evening.

A perfect Seattle day. Lovely.

http://www.lungarnocollection.com/en/the-collection/florence/hotel-lungarno/5-stars-hotel-in-florence

Mother's Day ~ Lessons and Insights

Mother's Day ~ the boys are out of town. The Bear called from Milan for a 45 minute chat. Talked with my little granddaughter; heard that the Dracula pop-up book I bought her a couple of years ago is her favourite bedtime story! Yikes. It's got a middle page of a gnashing, very terrifying wolf who pops out 6" when you open the book flat. And, the more you flex the covers, the more he snaps his jaws! When I bought it, I thought it was fantastic . . . but, then I was worried about its being too scary for the grands. Who knew!

Logan called from Portland. He's getting ready to come to town for Rent this summer. Both the boys will be here in August along with my lovely daughter-in-law and the grands. My daughter-in-law spent the weekend in Paris with a group of friends she met in her ex-pat mothers' group in Milan. Paris in May. Niiiice! The Bear said, it's like flying from Seattle to Portland ~ $40. I had to remind him, it's nothing like flying to Portland. For $40, it's cheaper to fly to Paris than to stay in Milan!

Oh, this wonderful generation of children.

I was thinking of my mother and my friends who are mothers; all the things I've learned from these wonderful women in my life.

My mother was S*M*A*R*T, she was extremely well-read, inquisitive, discerning, supportive, had an eye for detail and was a total man magnet.

My friend Barb is S*M*A*R*T, a true and generous friend. Has a perfect sense of what she calls being a goalie. When I run a problem past her, she gives me insight into how to avoid disaster from the start. I learned how to prepare a complete meal from her. She's extemely well-read, interested in philosophy and why people do things. She has a full-body laugh, a full-body hug and a ready smile. And, she's a total man magnet!

My friend Audrey is  S*M*A*R*T. She has saved my bacon more than once. She is generous. She does things I admire and have never done ~ a book club, an art workshop in France, for instance. She on a continual search for her path to art. She lives her values, has a darling sense of humour and, is a total man magnet.

I'm sensing a pattern.

My friend, Marylou, my friend, Mary, my friend, Susan, my friend, Marie, my friend, Sally ~ all S*M*A*R*T women of substance, generous with their time and energy. Women who live their values; lead full and interesting lives and are life-long learners. Inspirational all. Women who have raised accomplished children, overcome very difficult events with grace and optimism.

What a great Mother's Day ~ all things I needed to remember.

Day 31 Everyday Grateful ~

Talked with Barb about when to cut her daffodils.

Sent the photos of braiding the leaves

until they dry. I was reminded of the

little blue plants that have

naturalised in my yard. I love them!

I wait until they are completely through

flowering before I cut the grass

 in the lower garden. I have this romantic notion

 it looks like a Little Woodland Glen

and not a complete mess! 

So much of life is perception.

Sheets hanging in the sun to dry.

Sunny

Happy

Shopping in Venice

When my sons and I went to Italy the first time, we were absolutely "Innocents Abroad." Gawd! It's painful now to think about how utterly clueless we were. 'Course, Rick had just died and we were fleeing Christmas in Seattle, so I guess we had an excuse.

We landed in Milan, stayed the night and took the train to Venice the next day.

Psst ~ The next time you go to Milan and take the train ~ look up when you get to the station. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I know. I know. Yes, it was a salute to Fascist power under Mussolini but it is a wonderful mix of very strong Art Deco and thirty years of design ideas from the beginning of the project in 1906. Overlooking Mussolini and all his really terrible pals, it's a really wonderful train station.

When we got to Venice, it was dark, raining and Logan was sick. We stayed at Hotel Paganelli (Go there! Stay there!) overlooking all'isola di S. Giorgio. For people who knew nothing, we stumbled into paradise. The Bear has been living in Italy for over four years and he still stays at Hotel Paganelli when he goes to Venice and recommends it to friends.

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world ~ those who loathe Venice and those who adore it. I'm in the adoring camp. Serenissima! It rained like hell the entire time we were there. The water was literally jumping up six to twelve inches high as it percolated up through the cracks in the stones in the piazza (acqua alta); the city had put up elevated walkways all around the city; the wind was rattling the shutters. It was glorious!

Just to give you an idea of what aqua alta is all about, when you go through the San Marco Basilica, look at the floor. Acqua alta is the main reason the sublime mosaic floor looks like a washboard. An ankle breaker but, atmospheric as hell.

Mostly, we walked around. Since we were so completely stupid, most of our stay in Venice was tourism by braille. We literally fell over wonderful places. The Guggenheim Museum with its Picasso Studio retrospective for one.

But, if you are shopping in Venice, you need to know these things:

First: Fortuny. I have complete confidence that God's apartment in Heaven has Fortuny lighting, some wonderful tassels and maybe a throw or two. There isn't one thing in the Fortuny showroom that isn't utterly divine and perfect in every way. Bring your wallet. Expensive but every dollar will be well-spent.


Second: Murano glass. Two things: It's expensive and really, really beautiful. I recommend loving it there and buying it used / vintage in the US, if you can.

When Rick's parents went to Venice in the 50's, they came back with a little Murano chandelier which they put up in their dining room in Windermere. When they sold their home in Seattle, the little Murano chandelier came to live with us. It is entirely too small to be a ceiling fixture. So, I took it to Harold's Lighting in Wallingford and had Kim retrofit the stem for me.

In my mind, I thought of the little Murano chandelier as a lamp not a ceiling fixture. I had Kim give me a really long raw brass extension from the ceiling to the chandelier so it ends up sitting about where you would expect a lamp shade to be over a table. I just love it! It's the perfect solution for a very small Murano chandelier.

The second thing about Murano glass ~ jewelry. When my daughter-in-law went to visit friends in Dubai before the baby was born, the Bear and I went to Venice. He and I walked around being tourists. While he looked at gold coins to have made into cuff links (another wonderful story), I looked at the multi-strand, small glass bead necklaces in the shops along our path. This was true window shopping for me. Mostly because it felt like the necklaces were a million dollars. I couldn't even desire them, they were so expensive.

And, then in a very small shop, I saw a wonderful  gold-filled glass bead multi-strand necklace. Oooh, it was so lovely. The Bear scooped it up and bought it for me on the spot for my birthday. "Isn't a trip to Italy enough of a present?" I asked. "No, " he said. "You need something with a bow on it."

I love that boy!

Third: Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday / Carnevale masks. Carnevale di Venezia is the festival that leads up to Lent. It is street parties, masked balls, a riotous time had by all. If you are going to buy a mask in Venice, get a nice one. One worth lugging around for the rest of your trip. Stay away from the touristy places and get one you'll be glad to have when you get home. A friend brought me a wonderful leather mask painted in harlequin that I tucked into the base of a lamp in my dining room. And, hanging on the wall in my bathroom, a fantastic mask with a crown of playing cards with images of cats. Amazing.

The thing I love about Italy is how generous and friendly the people are. It really is La Dolce Vita twenty-four hours a day. Sure there was that whole unpleasantness with Mussolini and his band of thugs, but mostly all the men look like George Clooney; the women are beautiful, the food is wonderful (I'll tell you about wild Sardinian artichokes later); the art is jaw-dropping; Prosecco for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it doesn't even seem weird. I mean, really, this is a culture where buying a champagne sabre to open your Prosecco is not considered a gag gift!

Is that a great country or what!

So, if you're going to Venice . . . tuck a Donna Leon novel into your carry-on, go shopping, eat lots of good food, walk along the Riva degli Schiavoni, hang out in the Piazza San Marco (the living room of Europe), drink lots of red wine or Prosecco, get lost in the windy streets and have a wonderful time.

Day 28 Everyday Grateful ~ 
jobs checked off my list
great night's sleep.
Happy

http://www.fortuny.com/
http://www.venetiastudium.com/
http://www.hotelpaganelli.com/
http://www.donnaleon.net/
http://www.haroldslighting.com/

A Family History in Linen

Way before I had my first son, a friend of mine was traveling in London. Walking the stalls on Portobello Road, she found this darling vintage christening gown and brought it home to me. I decided to make this creamy linen gown a family tradition. I put our family name in the center with the name of one of my sons on either side.

The grand plan was to have their children flow from their father's name. Both my sons were christened wearing this lovely piece of history. When my oldest son and my daughter-in-law had their first child, the wonderful gown was pulled into action. And, the name of my first grandchild was embroidered beside his father's. Since then, two girls have arrived in our family.

The grands are coming from Milan to visit this summer. Between now and then, I will be embroidering the youngest girl and her date of birth along the hem line beside her father, her brother and her sister.

I love tender personal sentiments like this. They make me profoundly happy.

If you are going to London, I recommend two markets. More about my other favourite tomorrow.

http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk/

Day 17 Everyday Grateful ~ Sunny!

We're planting the pots on the back deck.

And, it may be warm enough to eat outside!

Yee haw!