Blue Skirt in Paris

On the eve of Bastille Day, I write a post about Paris.

Last week my boyfriend, who hence forth shall now be known as Mr. Wonderful, asked me how I felt about having breakfast in Paris.

Oiu! But of course!

Paris!

Paris, Texas

This adventure required a new skirt, or as they say in Paris:

une nouvelle jupe.

This skirt is a blue, light weight denim number from the GAP. It was on sale a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't resist some retail therapy. Some mud had just spilled out of some ceramic pots that I had purchased and onto my skirt. I was a little upset...

But then I discovered that I had lost my camera...

It just fell out of my pocket in a field somewhere outside of Paris.

Bummer.

At least I had my iPhone, and that's what I used to snap most of these pics.

This is where we ate:

Although, this is where we should have eaten:

You can't tell in the photo, but the sign has white iridescent sparkles in it.

Pissed in Paris.

Ah, much better.

I'm starting to feel better about it here.

Paris was our playground.

We did some shopping, some eating, some sipping and some picture taking.

We took about 550 pictures between the two of us.

"I see Paris, "

"I see France, this girl has no underpants!"

It was très fantastique! I'll be posting more pics from my adventure here all week.

Au revoir!

My Little Notebook

I have a little notebook that I always carry around with me. Truth be told, I have 4 notebooks total:

1. my little notebook

2. my bigger notebook

3. my calendar

4. my creativity journal

I always write about the need for order and organization and while I'm not sure that these books are actually helping, I have so much fun writing and creating in them all, and I do use them all almost every day. All I need are my pens, scissors, and a small tube of glue, which goes along perfectly with one of my mottos: "Have crafts, will travel."

In my little notebook I stamp the date, and then see what ephemera the day brings me. Items that I have pasted in my little notebook include:

receipts

to do lists

thankful lists

shopping lists

Sudoku

pretty pieces of paper

scraps of paper, etc.

Today's particular page is both doodles AND notes

On the left side, I sketched out some pieces that I am working on for a sweet kid I know. On the right, I wrote down some websites from the latest issue of Dwell magazine that I wanted to check out.

If you click on the image above, it will go to my website: SkirtProject.com (which is still in the works), and from there you can click on the list for links to these sites.

Also, for Lesters sake: Click on the banana!

Happy exploring & happy Friday!

Skirts and Hail

It hailed yesterday. I tried to capture some shots for water,

Smarts & Crafts' Thursday Photo Assignment, but I didn't think it really conveyed "WATER" very well.

It was big.

Cold

And wet

(Skirt 63 and my new favorite gingham top.)

I was trying to describe the hail to Steph, and I had to draw it in purple pen to illustrate the pellet shape. I finished my drawing later that night.

It has sparkles in it.

I accidentally took her card home.

Sorry Steph!

It's not so sunny and bright today, but I do like my outfit.

I ♥ gingham!

This skirt is fun to wear, because it's uplifting and not your typical black skirt.

At the Modern for today's Press Preview. It's been one year since Guilty Skirt.

Same venue, same event, different artist, different skirt.

Richard Serra's Vortex.

The denim skirt to the right puts its' height in perspective.

I pinned my shirt in the back with a brooch. My blouse is great, but it's too big.

Two hummingbirds compliment the purple gingham of my shirt, offering a different point of view.

Look up: it's a septagon

Look down.

Add caption here:

Skirt WTHK

Summer Stay-cation Adventures in WTHK??

(who the heck knows...)

I bought this skirt last summer at Curiosities, one of THE best stores in Dallas. I always buy vintage fabric when I go in. It's where I got the light blue silk gingham that's the new background on Skirt Project. I love gingham, but that's another post for another day.

Back to my skirt, it's so beautiful and delicate, and is actually made from a vintage slip. It was in the 100s that day, Skirt WTHK is a perfect skirt to wear on a hot, hot day.

"I'm on top of the world!"

I went along for a Stay-cation a few weeks ago.

Fountain detail in the Sky Lobby.

40 stories up, one can view of the almost completed

Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.

It's almost ready, and it's almost Opera season!

And, whoa! Dallas Opera totally changed their website! Nice job guys!

Below, an aerial view of Guadalupe Cathedral, one of the most beautiful buildings in Dallas. The corner stone was laid in 1898 and finished in 1902. Anyway, I love cathedrals. I always feel such peace when I am inside them, but it's also great to view them from above. It would have been awesome to view the cathedrals in Vallarta from so high up...

Next we walked to the Plaza of the Americas.

It looks different when you view it with an architect. I noticed lines and details I never would have noticed before...

Well... maybe I would have.

I like these hemispheric balconies next. The sporadic but deliberate placement next to the "spine," makes me smile. For fun, there is an ice skating rink at the bottom center of the center, and long prisms that hang along the glass wall and ceiling.

It's time for rainbows on Skirt WTHK!
Plaza of the Americas also has lots of shops and eateries.
WTHK what that is?

Close by, is the Crow Collection of Asian Art. I hadn't been there in ages and was so impressed with the current exhibition The Return of the Yellow Peril: A Survey of the Work of Roger Shimomura, 1969–2007 and the reinstallation of some of their permanent collection.

I must say that the Roger Shumomura's work is extremely inspirational. His bright and poignant documentation of his bicultural experiences, inspired me to document and create for myself.

In this hall are over 2,ooo origami butterflies folded by various schools around Dallas. Some of them are made from origami paper and others are made from construction paper.

Beautiful detail:

A Nepalese Buddha making the gesture of teaching.

It's beautiful and makes me want to read this book again; a book I remember having an impact on my life, but don't remember at all...

Had a beer and played Cricket here.

"Stay-cation all I ever wanted,

stay-cation have to get away."

I love being a teacher.

Thank Heaven...

For full moons and lunar eclipses. Good things and changes are supposed to be coming my way.
For Resolana, and time spent in jail, crafting. We made thank you notes from scraps of fabric, paper and some of my childhood ephemera.

This card was created from a three little pigs book. The pigs' expressions are funny and I think they were in the middle of being blown down. I gave them hearts, and it's all good now.

This sweet man is cracking the whip under the big top.

Good food at Mac's, an AMAZING bar-b-que.
Yummmmmm! Seriously, this is THE best bar-b-que I have found in Dallas... So far. Their peach cobbler wasn't bad either. Next week they'll have blackberry cobbler. You bet I'll be back!

And finally, thank heaven for little boys.
They are such an inspiration.

Why was 6 afraid of 7?

Because 7/8/09!

Photo Assignments

I've been participating in Smarts & Crafts' Thursday Photo Assignment. The assignment from last week was light, and I had a hard time selecting which one I wanted to use...

There was this one from a birthday dinner at Shin Sei.

this one from Murray Lofts

this one from a photographer's pool party, (even though she wasn't there).

this one, and

this one from CentralTrak.

But, I get by with a little help from my friends, and they helped me select the one I submitted:

View the rest of the photos here.

This Thursday's assignment is water, and I have nothing to submit so far, but it's still early in the week.

The New York Times also has a photo assignment Living With Less, where readers can submit their photos as they "picture the recession." It's a creative way to document the change that is happening in this country. Check it out, it's creative and informative.

Happy Fourth

1, 2, 3, 4

I woke up this morning to Feist on Sesame Street, and I got an A in my psychology class.

It's going to be a good day.