Paisley and Leopard

 I did some slapdash sewing and found new life for my antique wool paisley throw.
The throw is very dear to me because I bought it from Ellie's store, and those of you who were also fans of Ellie and her wonderful blog Have Some Decorum will understand the special qualities of this paisley.  Special because she herself chose it at a brocante in Paris!

Ellie was a big fan of paisley in decorating, and this piece in particular was quite old with a lovely tassel trim.  I used it as a tablecloth for about a year, and then as a throw for this little sofa, but alas Scout had her way with it and it developed a couple of significant holes.

What would Ellie do?  I think she would have kept on using the paisley in decorating in some way, so I've made pillow covers, two quite large ones, out of the best bits of the fabric.

 They really suit the feeling of this room, it is the small bedroom in our house, on the second floor, that we use as MrBP's dressing room.  The room is filled with tweed and books and an ancient rug that MrBP's great-grandfather brought back to Vienna at the end of the first world war.

 I have a portiere hanging in lieu of a door, which while not an excellent choice for a bedroom works perfectly in this kind of space.

The shelves are filled with books and also boxes of ties and baskets of socks and boxer shorts!

Speaking of books, tonight I'll be going to the Christmas potluck for my Fun Bookclub.
I belong to two bookclubs, one serious and one fun.  Why the distinction?  Well for example, the December bookclub for my fun club is a potluck dinner with lots of chatting and laughs, and a book exchange game.  We don't read a book to discuss for this event because let's face it, it won't be discussed anyway.  This bookclub is made up of women who have quite serious jobs, a few psychotherapists, doctors, a woman who runs an estate business, another who sits on various quite serious sounding boards.

My serious bookclub is smaller and made up of women (and one man) who are my closest friends, but we always discuss the book in minute detail and if one hasn't read the book you might consider not attending!  For our December bookclub we're reading a book about the hospital at the centre of Hurricane Katrina (Five Days at Memorial), not exactly a light read.

 I love both of these bookclubs and I'm quite glad they're so different.  It makes for a fun change!

I'm planning to dress up a little bit tonight, and by that I mean wearing my leopard shoes (well, changing into them once I wrangle my snow boots off) with my black outfit.

I think that leopard, like paisley, is a neutral!
Do you belong to a bookclub, serious or fun?
I'll be spending the morning outside with Scout, we've had our first significant snowfall overnight and it's a winter wonderland out there.  We'll go to the park and run around like little kids (or at least Scout will).
Enjoy your day today,
xoxDani

Another Summer

My Office, decorated by Ellie.

 Time marches on and this summer marched quickly, with endings and beginnings, sadness and happiness, and all of the simple moments in between.

Ellie has gone and it happened at the end of the summer, which seemed so right for a California Girl.
I'll think of her often.  She helped me decorate my house with her incredible taste...which was a unique mixture of American style (courage, appreciation, flair) and a French sense for life as it should be lived.  I bought only a few things from her but they are part of my daily life and I appreciate them so much.
 I appreciated her, I'll always miss her.
If you haven't read the wonderful post written by her daughter Grace please go here.

My family had an ending of its own this summer: we placed my grandparents' ashes in their final resting place and said goodbye.  It was a lovely day and it was a sad day, all at the same time.

Grandpa Norv and Grandma Jean with their boat on the Detroit River.
We were on the river for our goodbye and the day was gorgeous.

Light of our lives, my nephew, flew in from the far far north for the occasion.  Here he is having a talk with Uncle Tom:

 Our daughter went across the pond on her own for the first time, she left for Switzerland the day after I took the photo below.  This was at the cottage of two of our best friends, Laura and David.  They've just sold this cottage so... another ending, we've spent so many fun weekends there over the years.  When the kids were small we'd go for a week and run a camp for them.  (Well, not really, but it seemed that way with the meals we'd dish up and the lifeguard duties.)

 She spent a month in Germany with side trips to Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.  Had a blast.

Then we dropped Lil' Rascal off at camp and hightailed it to the airport.

CHICAGO
MrBP and The Bean 

Bean Selfie

 This is the Bean at 8am, it gets much busier later, but we were so fascinated by it, it's actually so cool to see and walk around and study the reflections and perspectives.

Chicago was amazing, we spent seven nights just the two of us, what a great spot for a romantic hols.

Oh gosh the Ralph Lauren Grill was gorgeous.
We sat on the terrace, I highly recommend.

Went to a Cubs game which was awesome.
Ate some terrible nachos and drank some beer.

Loved the guys parachuting in with the giant flags!

 I thought Chicago was pure American Style.  One of my favourite building facades:

 Of course we spent a whole day at the Art Institute:

 If you go you have to go to the restaurant, so lovely:

Looks spare but it suits the feeling of the Institute, and the food is great.

 We flew home and headed north to Algonquin Park.  A little country to offset the city.

 I wore my Elmer Fudd dress from the now defunct LLBean Signature line.  Also I went barefoot for four days, my feet were killing me after walking miles and miles everyday in Chicago in low heels.  (Don't ask me about sensible footwear because I have much to learn.)

Elmer Fudd Dress
Bare Feet

 We must have been missing our Rascals because we adopted a very cheeky and greedy chipmunk, who we named Ivan The Bold:

Ivan The Bold
Always rushed in at cocktail hour.

 We picked up Lil' Rascal, headed home to have a reunion with the European traveller and then spent a perfect Saturday en famille helping Ole Rascal move into his new apartment.

Ole Rascal, does he keep getting taller?
With his partner who we adore.

 We made it to a Blue Jays game:

They lost.  But it was still so fun.
I love baseball, it's such a simple pleasure.

 Finally we had a weekend to end the summer, another summer, with our best friends on their island cottage.  Don't you think we all look pretty well considering we had massive hangovers?

The Morning After.
Party on Baby.

I hope you've had a wonderful summer (or Fall if you're in Aus!) and that your September is off to a productive start.
xoxDani