Strands of Pearls

Time to Cowl Up!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:02:00 +0000

via beautifullife4me

February is a strange knitting month for me. I am looking toward spring but not quite ready to cast on just yet and at the same time I am ready to move on from the bulkies. What's an itchy sheep to do??? Cowl Up!


via fernibook

Quick, loopy,wrappy, happy and oh so useful--even on a warmer day when I may not wear a coat I pop on a cowl.

via Zsa Zsa Bellagio

The other thing I love about cowls is no matter your knitting mood you can cast on and be done quickly-

You can choose to KISS (keep it simple ...)

Gap-Tastic,Jen Geigley

... Play with Stitches

State Street Cowl,Pam Allen

...Toss in Some COLOR

World's Fair, Cathy Carron

...STRIPE it Up

Ships and Seaside, Tiny Owl Knits

...Open it up with graceful LACE

Imogen, Carrie Bostick Hoge

...or Get your CABLE on!

Millwater

Cowls of course are also a fabulous way to use up some stash--you know my stash theory-make a hole in it--go fill the hole :) For some of my Favorite ways to Cowl UP-Come Visit Winding Yarn

via Americo Originals

Popcorn Chic-The Thomas Crown Affair,1968

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:25:00 +0000

"You do live very well don't you?"

"No complaints"-Thomas Crown

This week I ran across an article celebrating Faye Dunaway's 70th birthday. Included of course were images from her role in director Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968 . A sparkling sexy and stylish film about a bored playboy millionaire who lives for the thrill, an uncharacteristic but yummy role for Steve McQueen. Thomas Crown pulls off a bank heist and the banks' insurance investigator, Faye Dunaway, goes after her man.

McQueen and Dunaway have a chemistry that film legend is made of , the air simply crackles between them.

Their chess game is perhaps the most talked about scene but for me it is their early morning stroll on Beacon Hill.

Go for the story, and Steve's eyes of course, but stay for the style...and of course the clothes

Come Visit Applause!

photos from IMDB

Color Me Happy! - Design Seeds

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:39:00 +0000

Ever since I can I remember I have been drawn to color. To this day nothing makes me smile more than a HUGE new box of Crayolas...except perhaps wheels and wheels of paint chips...or maybe bolts upon bolts of fabrics...then of course sitting pouring over wallpaper books is a perfect rainy afternoon activity for me. Whenever I want to cheer myself up I head to a yarn shop--not simply because I love playing with skeins of cashmere, mohair,alpacas and cottons, but also because a really good yarn shop has cubbies of color and anyone who has seen me at play in a shop knows I am always in search of just "the right" shade of...and I can be seen carrying around a skein just because I want the color!

This week I fell into the digital age's version of a Crayola Box- Design Seeds. This glorious playground of everything color was made for me to move into--gorgeous "mood" boards coupling wonderful images with color chips that demonstrate how colors play and work together.

Each board is a new inspiration and I found myself digging through my yarn bins to pull skeins to match some of my favorite palettes discovered on Design Seeds.

The site is a joy at every click. I love that you can search for palettes by color value-find a chip and slide the R G B arrows to intensify or cool the chip you love then click on it to see wonderful inspiration boards using that color, pairing it with colors that play happily with your color choice. My favorite way to search on the site is by Theme--explore the color palettes by seasonal inspiration, celebrations of the everyday or by nature, travel, edibles, crafts, vintage... there is color at every turn in our world and design seeds celebrates that in such a wonderful way!

Of course we see color in our gardens and nature...

For me,however, no matter the weather or where I wander I view the world through a color wheel-even the quiet has depth and tones.

Spend some time on Design Seeds and I promise you will see everything around you in colorful new way!

Pillow Talk-John Robshaw

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:09:00 +0000

“By producing my textiles abroad, I get to become a minor character in the lives of the people I work with, and I can take inspiration from what I see and do there. I go to their weddings, celebrate their festivals, I get sick with them, I develop relationships with the people who are teaching me. When you look at my textiles, its like you’ve been on the world tour along with me.” John Robshaw

I adore a room filled with fabulous pillows--Pillows as comfort we all know about but pillows as design and art can help define a room.

I first saw John Robshaw's fabrics at Calypso St. Barth and immediately wanted to pack my bags to discover the inspiration for the crisp colors and bold prints. It is John Robshaw's painted pillows, however, that I want to collect like jewels and toss on any drab chair or sofa I encounter.

The painted pillows are inspired by his travels to India and Asia, where he now produces his fabulous block print textiles, are just the type of pillow tosss I love. Each is pillow is handpainted in Jaipur on cotton linen fabric and no two are alike.

Hop on your favorite elephant and Come Visit A Well Appointed Life for more of John Robshaw's Pillow Talk.

Make it a Fashionable Start!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:15:00 +0000

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

What a strange week the first week of the New Year is! You have to plug your brain back in from months of Holidaying and deal with all that you said would get done "After the Holidays". January means literally tossing the old year in the trash. I sent 2011 and all those days of appointments and meetings and the "everyday" into the recycle bin. With the 2011 datebooks and calendars gone so is another year of my life and I cannot help asking..."What did I do with all those 365 days I was given?" "What can I do with a fresh batch of days, how can this year be different?" Hitting the restart button on your life is the definition of the month of January. January itself doesn't help much! It is cold, it is bleak, it is snowing, it is icy ...The news can scare us back into our pajamas, and rather than a revolution in our life we just need a hug! How to balance the opportunity of the New Year with the inclination to stay under the covers??? Baby Steps! January can actually be useful, but you cannot ask too much of a month that is the month with the number 1 in front of it, so use these days to make an EASY transition...and try to do it with style!

I love calendar shopping...I often don't know what day of the week it is as schedules pile up and the blur begins but I can stop, breathe and look at it all one day at a time, week at a time, month by month and realize OK, I have my bearings-now move forward! Of course Calendars with Style are on my wall ---Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles for Calendars that help slip into 2012 with a fashionably well dressed look at a whole new year! You have 365 days after all to get it right...Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:07:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:50:00 +0000

It's the Thought That Counts-Really!!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:36:00 +0000

I know! I know! The clock is ticking...you cannot find a parking space...every store is out of wrapping paper and scotch tape...everything looks picked over and depressing...the check out line is out in the snowbanks...you cannot find the size you want... and you need an Advil! STOP...Close your eyes, and BREATHE! Now slowly open them and take a hard look at what you have in your hand and ask yourself 3 questions..."Do I like this?" " Would I want to receive this?" "Does this say Thank you...I Care...Happy Holidays, or does it just say I need to get this done"????...take a sec and give it some thought!

My philosophy about Gift Giving has always been ..."Think Before You Wrap!" It is easy in the Holiday crazies, especially as THE day gets closer, to "just do it", to buy ANYTHING to be done. I really do believe that it is better to give nothing, or to just send a card, than to give a mindless or useless gift that will end up in the bottom of a drawer or worse a trash bag...how wasteful and really how insulting. How do you feel when you open a thoughtless gift? STOP! SLOW DOWN! Sit Down...and THINK!

Now I can fill a shopping bag better than anyone,and I definitely get caught up in the "just one more gift" crazies or the "one for him, three for me" routine, but sometimes the care gets lost at the bottom of the bag. We live in an overly consumed consumer age...and clearly it has taken its toll, and we all are paying the price. I have found myself of late popping in and out of stores thinking "why is all this stuff here"...so much out there that is just "stuff". Where is the Wonderful? Where is the Beautiful? Where is the Special...?? If I see one more box of peppermint bark...well let's hope I don't!

Truly I am NOT saying Don't Shop... My Gosh! I would be put to bed if that ever happened! What I am saying is- Shop Smart, Shop Carefully, Shop with your Heart and your Head. Put some thought into it! Care about the money you are spending, and care about the gift you are giving! Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles for some thoughtful tips on giving well! and be sure to Visit Redefine Christmas and Changing the Present and Wrap Up the Holidays in a better way!

Happy Birthday Jane! Still Waiting for My Captain to Return...Are you a Lizzie or an Emma?

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Happy Birthday Jane! 236 years of good reading!!

Since Persuasion, Emma and Pride and Prejudice are my favorite Austen reads it only makes sense that my results for this fun quiz was a mix...a high dose of Anne Elliot with her good sense, lots of dashes of Emma with her determined spirit and lovely frocks, and a cup or three of Elizabeth Bennett, so independently ahead of her time and who always spoke her mind!

Yes, I am still waiting for my Captain to return! but if Darcy or Mr. Knightly were to show up ...OK by me!...Which Austen Heroine are you??

Take the Quiz here!

Come On Cookie...Let's SWAP!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:35:00 +0000

A Little Sussy

Did you know that the broken off feet or arms of a Gingerbread Person have absolutely ZERO calories!! So NO Sad faces!

This week I started to gather my thoughts for Cookie Season. The first place I search is in one of my most beloved and dog eared recipe books. This book has spatters and splatters of batter and as I turn the pages poofs and puffs of flour and confectioner's sugar dust fly out at me. I even have to unstick some pages that are smeared with melted chocolate and have marked many of the pages with pieces of torn paper towel so I can find my recipes and clean up!

I have owned the original Wellesley Cookie Exchange Cookbook

forever and I would never part with it! Next to Nana's recipes this is my resource for all things Yummy this time of year---from rolled cookies to drops, icebox, thumbprints and tea breads. The Wellesley Cookie Exchange is perhaps one of the most famous Cookie Exchanges there is and my favorite Cookie Book...
Grab the Cookie Sheets and the confectioner's sugar and Come Visit Oven Mitts!

Send Me a Card!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:58:00 +0000

I live my life surgically attached to an email box. I think at last count I have 10 email addresses that actually get used everyday! I truly get dizzy hopping from one to the other,checking and emailing and deleting, and sometimes I forget which box I am in and why on earth I am there. A very strange life for someone who loves all things paper.

Art Institute of Chicago

I know! I know! We need to save our trees (there are wonderful cards on recycled paper by the way...) but I love getting REAL mail...knowing that someone cared enough to take the time to select a card and write me a note of hello, address the envelope, place a pretty stamp on it and send it off.

Receiving a card in your postal box is always a treat - romantic and nostalgic in this day of three letter texts. Yes, there are some fun and lovely e-cards available -I am a fan of Ojolie- but can you tie an e-card in a ribbon and keep it for years?? I still have the very first Birthday, Holiday and Valentine cards I ever received. I have cards from so many who are no longer with me but I will always have their notes and their love in an envelope forever, can't get that with an email!

Paper Source

I adore Holiday Card shopping and my favorite spots include Museum Shops...Whimsical, Creative, Elegant Letter Press, Artistic and always special. Don't forget to hop into Etsy and a new discovery Rifle Paper Co does it so well.

Love the Photo and Personalized Cards from Minted!

VIA: Paper Source, Etsy , Rifle Paper Co ,

Art Institute Chicago, MOMA Minted

The loveliest way to send a card this time of year is through the many many charitable organizations that offer Holiday Cards with proceeds supporting their cause -My favorite stop for charitable holiday card is Cards that Give

Visit for some wonderful greetings that Give Back!

Champagne Maker

VIA: Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund, The Humane Society, Parents Project Muscular Dystrophy, New York Public Library, Alexander Youth Network

Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles and Pearls of Grace for Cards that say more than Season's Greetings...and send me a card!

Forget Black Friday-I have an Orange Crush!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:42:00 +0000

I am not inspired by a day called Black Friday--how much fun does that sound? Last year I focused the day on making it all about PINK- but this year...I have an Orange Crush!

This all may have started on a recent trip to Tuscany, the coast of Italy and Provence

Everywhere I turn now I Spy ORANGE and I love it--

I even had to cast it on the needles!!

and clearly I am not alone in my Orange Crush...

Kate Spade is celebrating color too!

I know we usually associate Orange with October and Halloween but as the days grow grey and the dark I need Color and you have to smile when you see a pop of Orange!

so come on let's give Black Friday an Orange Crush

The Art of the Stroll--Pausing in St Paul de Vence

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Enter by the walls

Follow the walkways

Take the stairs

Peek through doors, windows and around each corner...

Have an Artful day and leave your heart in St Paul de Vence!

Come for a Ride-Venice Awaits!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:19:00 +0000

First, find yourself a ride...

Now simply sit back...

Venice Awaits!-Come Visit The World at Your Feet

Embroidered Tales

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:47:00 +0000

It may be a bit early for Holiday Wish Lists but when I saw the fabulous covers of Penguin Classics- Penguin Threads series I knew I wanted them on my shelves. For the debut of the Threads Series Penguin selected three of my favorite stories to re-release, Emma, The Secret Garden and Black Beauty.

In honor of Penguin Classic's 65th anniversary, Penguin's Art Director Paul Buckley commissioned artist and illustrator Jillian Tamaki to create these magical covers. Her whimsical illustrations would have been special enough but then she hand embroidered each one to fancifully express the tales that lie beneath each cover.

Created over just two months Jillian Tamaki's covers were printed and embossed all around and have french flaps-I love the surprise as you open the flap--the back of Jillian's embroidery!

The three covers are not only a joy for those who adore fiber art but they also capture each of the classic stories in such magical detail that even if you have read and re-read them a hundred times you will want to sit right down and crawl into the tales again.

"Collectors Edition" has become a publisher's overused marketing tool as they struggle to create attention and interest in "real" bound books, but in a world where books are supposedly becoming dinosaurs how wonderful to see that Penguin has celebrated print on paper in such a unique,sorry Kindle fans, and endearing way. I want them all!

Which Witch???

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Are you a Good Witch or a Bad Witch??

Well...we ALL have our moments don't we!!??

"A person should choose a costume

that contrasts her own personality."-

Lucy Van Pelt

Endora and Samantha

Too many Bad Hair Days! and my morning "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" go a long way toward confirming my next career-

Haunting Houses!

Alexander McQueen, Bergdorf Goodman

This Halloween I want to celebrate my favorite Good Witches---

... if I'm going to be a Witch I might as well look to a few role models who with a twitch of a nose,a wave of a wand or a ride on a vacuum cleaner ( like The Wednesday Witch) Make it Work!

Professor McGonagall

Samantha

Kim Hunter,Bell Book and Candle

Lena Horne, Glinda The Wiz


Wicked

Hermione,Harry Potter

Veronica Lake, I Married a Witch

So, if I must be a Witch then why not take a wand

from the Best Witches...

Best Witches to all!

I Have Never Relied on the Kindness of Strangers-Suddenly A Damsel in Distress

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:49:00 +0000

I am fiercely independent. "I Can Do It Myself" has always been my rally cry. Frustrating for parents and teachers throughout my life no doubt, but I have always been determined to figure "it" out on my own and not ask for anyone's help-ever!!!!! I choke on the words actually if I have to say "Can you Help" This week,however, I found myself in a situation which required that I had to shout the H word and hope someone was listening--and you know what, I learned every so often it is OK to ask for help and to rely on the kindness of strangers.

While flying home from Europe I had a delayed flight in Rome which meant that I would not make my connection in Frankfurt to get home. No one in the Rome airport, amidst a mass of humanity, cared whether I got home or not but a lovely young man overheard me scrambling to make sense of the lack of information I was getting -as a "techie" he had multiple phones to get to our airline and try to get through the red tape... unfortunately we missed our connection, but my new friend Michael helped carry bags for my Mom and stayed with us as we went up and down stairs, on and off buses, and finally onto a plane that essentially was going nowhere for us. His company was so welcome and he single handily changed my view of a "cold cruel world".

Once in Frankfurt the movie "The Out of Towners" became reality as thousands of stranded passengers were trying to figure out exactly what was happening--what to do next??? In one of the many many many lines I was standing in- with people yelling in multiple languages- I met a girl who was trying to get to Rome for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend. As she stood in the line to nowhere her boyfriend was on his phone with the airline. She took me over to him to use his phone, as my global service decided that this was the moment to lose connection. I was on his phone for a good half hour---delaying them I am sure but their generosity was so kind and I so hope they made it to Rome and had the most wonderful weekend ever!

The woman on the phone at the airline could only suggest I stand in yet another line---I was through with lines and I just started wandering and hitting every counter I could for some direction, some answer--I was sent to the left, I was sent to the right, I was sent for miles through terminals, and I was done with all of it!. Finally, I stumbled upon the Special Needs Office at Lufthansa. In probably a pathetic whimpering voice I explained to the gentleman at the entrance that I was traveling with my Mom and could not drag her and our baggage another inch. He took me in and the process began to get us home. Several people worked to get us out of Germany as quickly as possible but the earliest flight was over 24 hours later. Not only don't I ask for help easily I also don't take "No" for an answer--ever! So I kept at them and eventually I got to a wonderful man who oddly enough was an ex-pat ---he spent 2 hours going from supervisor to supervisor to secure us a flight home earlier. He went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable and arranged for a hotel and sent us on our way with a sweet escort to the Taxis outside to take us to the hotel. Having never visited Germany I had no clue where we were, it was dark and cold, and after 18 hours of sort of traveling we arrived at the German version of Holiday Inn. There we found a warm welcome and the next morning we returned to the Frankfurt airport and were literally escorted through the maze of terminals, customs and security to our gate.

Alls well that ends well. Home safe and sound. I know so many travelers got through this every single day but for me this wasn't about a delayed or missed flight. It was about discovering that there are lovely people still in this world and sometimes you can rely on the kindness of strangers. Thank you one and all!!

Get a Boyfriend!-Borrowed from the Boys

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:28:00 +0000

OK, your love life aside this Fall you need a Boyfriend---

Mario Testino

Yesterday morning the temps were frosty and for the first time this season I had to grab a sweater---I was late so I reached for an old baggy pullover and was reminded how much I love that 'Boyfriend" look.

Maybe it was Audrey in the crisp white men's shirt that started the classic style of borrowing from the boys but every college campus has a football game sweater that you have to envy--now the Guy sweater is all "dolled up"!

The "Sloppy Joe" Sweater is everywhere this year and I am loving the look that Stella McCartney does so well!

It seems everywhere I look on every page I turn there is another fabulous floppy comfy pullover borrowed straight from a boyfriend's closet but with a feminine sexy style...

Alexander Wang

Atlantic-Pacif

Classic, often elegant and always scrumptious with Super simple stitches and gorgeous yummy yarns-I have to have one!...so of course I am running for the needles! Maybe I can knit the Boyfriend too!!

Still "That" Girl!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:03:00 +0000

“‘That Girl’ threw a hand grenade into the bunker, and all the other female characters walked right through.” Bill Persky, co-creator That Girl

45 years later she is still “That Girl”-Ann Marie, the first “girl” on television to live on her own, in New York City no less, chasing her dream to be an actress and doing it with great style—never could figure out how she could afford such a fabulous wardrobe, but I know I wanted to be her one day—still do :)

In the rear view mirror Ann Marie was a little ditsy, and she did dream of an engagement ring from boyfriend Donald as much as she did a starring role, but she was full of enthusiasm and unwavering optimism about her life and her dreams. She always picked herself up and would never settle for ordinary. Before Ann no girl on television had her own place in a big city, let alone her own thoughts and opinions. I was a very little girl watching That Girl in reruns but I saw something different in Ann Marie.

No doubt I loved her clothes, and I had the That Girl Paper Doll books-there were That Girl dolls and McCalls dress patterns as well! Sure she had her share of "Lucy-esque" escapades but I worry about young girls finding role models that show them the "Yes I Can" image most girls need to help them believe in themselves and to pursue their own dreams. I don't see a lot of that on television, sure there are professional women portrayed but are they really people girls can look to for inspiration as I did with Ann Marie, Mary Tyler Moore and later Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal and Carrie Bradshaw? The original That Girl, Marlo Thomas sees reason to hope:

"...the young women watching today will not only be entertained by these "girls", they'll also think, "Hey, that's me!" Or, " Wow, that could be me!" And that is one of the best things television can do: give people a chance to see themselves transformed. And to let ideas and characters come from below the surface and say, "I am here! See me!"

Thank you Ann Marie for pushing open a door that let all those other characters take the screen and help so many girls think-"I can be her!"

What's on The Menu?

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:34:00 +0000

I love finding vintage graphics to use as focal art -movie and theatre posters and lobby cards, magazine covers, fashion and perfume advertising from old magazines,art from children's books all make fabulous eye candy. In my dressing closet there are Hermes, Dior, Lanvin ads from the 40s and 50s. My powder room has perfume ads from Gruau and in the kitchen there is a sweet watercolor of Beatrix Potter's showing Peter Rabbit's Mum in her kitchen along with a sign from my favorite ice cream shop on Cape Cod.

In the dining room, however, along with my "fine art" hangs one of my favorite pieces. A vintage menu cover from Mirabelle restaurant in London. We are often so busy deciding what to order in a restaurant that we may overlook the attention to detail and the fun of the menu we are ordering from. Very often the menu is one of my favorite things about a restaurant and reading a menu can be as much fun as reading a good cook book...and no calories!

The art of menu design is celebrated in a new book from Taschen. Menu Design in America explores the history of menu art and features hundreds of graphics from American restaurants from 1850-1985.

An Icon Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was First Lady of the United States in a time of great change, promise and turmoil in this country. This very young woman with extraordinary poise, grace and style would capture a nation and the world's eye unlike any other First Lady,a term she did not like. The Kennedys were in the White House briefly and before my time, yet her images and her presence have captivated me as they have so many for whom she became larger than life...but she was very real, and very human. This week 50 years after her husband's inauguration we heard her voice, that soft breathless almost little girl voice that would reveal a great deal about the woman behind the fashion shots

In March of 1964, just 4 months after her husband's assassination, Jackie Kennedy sat for a series of recorded open conversations with her friend and historian Arthur Schlesinger to talk about her experiences as First Lady. These were not conversations about that horrific day in Dallas, but rather a love letter to her husband and a revelation about this woman's vulnerability,insecurity, strength and candor. Jackie Kennedy throughout her life was a fiercely private public woman,..perhaps the most famous woman in the world, who for obvious reasons guarded her privacy, her children and her life. So why would she have done this and what did they tell us about Jackie? Come Visit Political Woman

Caroline Kennedy: "...I think people really need to understand the purpose of an oral history. And it really – the value of it is it is immediate, it is honest...I think that was very brave of her to do that and to be honest. But it’s got limitations. It’s just – it’s a primary source document. It’s like a diary or something like that, it’s really a snapshot...This was something where she felt the obligation to be honest and she had always told us that she was going to put it away for 50 years...

"...There are flashes throughout where I hear her and there are parts to me where it sounds like it was a very long time ago, just the way she speaks and the things she said...It was funny because my daughters listened to it too and they were just absolutely horrified…’Did she really think that?’ And of course time has moved on and it shows you both there are many timeless things in here but it really is a snapshot of a world that we barely recognize,”

Moving Beyond the Horror-Beyond the 11th

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:34:00 +0000

“There’s a way in which each of us makes small choices every day. And after a period of time those choices develop into a pattern. Each moral and ethical choice forms our identity. It seems to me that the terrorists who flew planes into the buildings on September 11th, they started making choices a long time ago — choices took them so far off center that flying a plane into a building seemed like the right thing to do. It’s like any one of us. We choose our way into being ourselves. And I think that’s what Patti and Susan do in little choices and in big choices. When given a choice between violence and love — they chose love. When given a choice between retribution and restoration of harmony — they chose restoring harmony. When given a choice between death and life — they’ve chosen life. That’s just who they are. It’s who they’ve come to be. It’s who they’ve chosen to be. And because of that, their children are learning to choose life as well.”

—Jim Fleming, S.J., Patti Quigley’s brother, in Beyond Belief

I wrote this post several years back, but on this the 10th anniversary of a day that haunts us still, as it should, I believe more than ever that the only answer to be found in that day is to Move Beyond-to take the memories and create change, make a difference that resonates in lives and that has true meaning. Hanging flags, building monuments, dedicating memorials are all important signs of remembrance but do they move us forward as a society, do they show the world we believe in hope?

I think what I will always remember most viscerally about that morning is the sky. It was a September sky, that rare blue, clean and clear, that reflects the perfection of a late summer/early fall New England day. I wonder now how often I looked at the sky that day. How could a sky that glorious have held such horror?

On the morning of September 11, 2001 I was watering the late summer flowers willing them to keep summer going a few more weeks. I drove to my office with only a small news blip of a plane having flown into a building in New York. By 2:00 as I drove back home there were no planes flying in the sky. When the roar of a plane's engine streaked through the complete silence of that afternoon I pulled the car over with my heart pounding as I realized the aircraft I heard were fighter jets from one of the Massachusetts bases. Once again I looked to the sky.

Living in Boston we all had six degrees of connections to the thousands of tragic stories of that day. Some of those stories lived their lives less than a mile away. Susan Retik and Patti Quigley lost their husbands, David Retik and Patrick Quigley, on flights that left from Boston that day. Susan was pregnant with her third child and Patti was eight months pregnant with her second child. They became single Mothers, Widows, living within a drama that changed everything for all of us but for their lives most of all.

Patti and Susan watched as the country prepared to strike back somehow in some way and saw that the women of the country that housed and trained their husband's murderers had been left alone too. The stories of the women of Afghanistan moved these two American women to action, to turn an unspeakable, deeply personal, tragedy into a promise of hope. Susan and Patti soon learned about the vast number of widows in Afghanistan who had no support, financial or emotional, for themselves or their children. They felt a connection to these women whose lives were shattered by war and had nowhere to turn to rebuild their lives, none of the support that helped Patti and Susan get through. From that connection came Beyond the 11th "...to help provide financial and emotional help to these widows and their children and to give them hope for a better future." Please Visit Pearls of Grace

A BIG Box of Crayons...and LOTS of New Books! First Book for Back to School

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:34:00 +0000

Nishan Akgulian

"We have a little girl in our program, a pre-school child. She liked her book so much, she slept with it every night under her pillow. She wouldn't part with it for anything!" First Book

I think the true sign of Growing Up, not Growing Old- just growing up, is when Labor Day weekend rolls around and you actually miss going back to school...guess I am all grown up because all I want to do is go shopping for a Big Box of crayons, some cute folders, new pencils and lots and lots of new books.

Nishan Akgulian

What's your favorite book? Do you remember the first book that was your very own? How about a book that inspired you? Maybe there is a special book that introduced you to new horizons, brought a new kind of magic into your life and set you on the path to a lifetime of reading?

Books are a treasure in my life and I cannot imagine my world without them. I adore Nishan Akgulian's whimsical illustrations for Bas Bleu, my favorite little book and reading catalogue.

Akgulian's work happily expresses the joy of reading anytime, anyplace,anywhere, and what a special role books have in our lives.

A teacher told us that when she asked her class to bring in a book from home, three of the students brought in the phone book because that was the only book they had."
Kyle Zimmer, First Book

First Book works to get books into the hands of kids who don't have access to new books, opening a world of reading to them. Come join me in a Back to School Celebration by supporting First Book-Please Visit Pearls of Grace

One for Shoe and One for Shoe-TOMS Gives Back "One for One"

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:02:00 +0000

"What if I started a shoe company and every time I sold a pair of shoes I gave a pair away and that way as long as I continue to keep selling shoes these kids would have shoes for the rest of their life" Blake Mycoskie

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie was traveling in Argentina and found that so many children there had no shoes to protect their feet. Deciding that he wanted to help, Mycoskie created TOMS, a comfy,casual,caring and very cool shoe company with an important mission-TOMS matches every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. "One for One". Partnering with humanitarian and health organizations TOMS and Mycoskie return year after year to provide shoes to the same kids as they grow. So many children across the globe grow up without the most basic of needs-including shoes putting them at risk of not only cuts and sores but also disease. Wearing shoes also opens the doors to education for children as schools will not allow them to attend barefoot. As of Sept 2010 1 million pairs of TOMS have been donated to children in need in 20 countries around the globe.

TOMS sells comfy eco-friendly and responsible footwear with a stylish twist. The best known TOMS are a slip-on espadrille style.

The Artist Styles are among my favorites and I love artist Mary Gregory's hand painted TOMS

TOMS are truly a great canvas to express a point of view-none more important than Blake Mycoskie's. Come Visit Pearls of Grace

Taking Charge!

noreply@blogger.com (SweaterGirl) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:35:00 +0000

True Confession...I like to be in charge! Its not that I don't play well with others, I do, I really do!--as long as they do things my way :)

This summer in the gardens of Camp MP though NO ONE is listening to me

and things look a bit wild.

So what do I do when everything starts to get out of control...

I find a lovely cobalt pitcher to contain my world.

Now, that's better!