The Magic of Libraries
I love this story about a lady who returned her overdue book to the library after 63 years! It just shows books and libraries continue to write beautiful stories even decades after they have been read or visited.
Books are, for me, magical objects that can unlock countless lives and any real or imagined realm. That makes libraries the stuff of dreams because what other place is there where you can simply go and choose, free of charge and accessible in no time, your next life or your next ‘trip’?
I haven’t borrowed a book from a library in over a decade I think. Still, the last time I visited one was only last year and I do it as often as I have the chance, even virtually. I simply love the atmosphere and the feeling of endless possibilities that was so important for me growing up.
Source: The Fort Washington library the year it opened, 1914
And while we’re on the topic of libraries, read about the New York Public LIbrary’s secret apartments – can you imagine growing up on the upper floor of a library?! The next best thing if the Hogwarts letter doesn’t arrive…
Wrought Iron Garden Furniture
Since last summer, I’ve been on the hunt for some authentic vintage wrought iron or cast iron garden furniture. I simply love the look of it, its charm and elegance, although I expect it will be a bit uncomfortable and a bit of a burden because of the weight. Most sets I find are the more modern ones made of aluminum alloy, which at least would sort out the weight issue and are much cheaper. Unfortunately, they are all the same very ornate design variation, compared to the beautiful old ones where one can see such a variety of styles…
I need to make a decision soon, we’ve waited for a long time for warm weather and long days and now it’s time to enjoy them!
If you’re interested, read here about the difference between wrought and cast iron and here about the difference between cast iron and cast aluminum.
Source: Old Anthropologie Chairs Collection
Scrapbooking
Source: All images are via the beautifully and thoughtfully curated Instagram account Paper of the Past – Historic Scrapbooks Uncovered
How much do you know about scrapbooks? I didn’t know much but it’s one of those topics that have been on my list to research for a while. I found this article to be brilliant at going through the five centuries history of this more and more popular past-time that started in England.
I didn’t realise it goes so far back and I didn’t realise what an industry has developed around it, especially in the US, it seems to me. I do wish I had known about scrapbooks earlier in my life. Ever since I can remember I have been collecting odd little bits that would have found a perfect home in a scrapbook. Instead, I have some folders for most of the holidays I’ve been on and I’ve thrown away most of the things that had to do with everyday life just because I didn’t know what else to do with these and they kept piling up. From tickets to museums or napkins from restaurants to receipts for various purchases and clothes labels – these are just a few examples of the things I’ve saved over the years and later half-heartedly discarded.
There are, at the moment, all sorts of variations and ready-made resources, as well as countless inspiration sources one can use, but all I want is a basic plain A3 album where I can simply paste ‘scraps’ from my daily life on blank pages, adding the occasional thought if I feel like it, a photo here, a baby milestone there… no rules, no big expectations, no pressure.
With most of our lives now digital (photos, correspondence and pretty much every other keepsake-worthy item or moment) and all of us making efforts to reduce our paper print, I feel like this could easily become a random half-finished failed experiment that will be missing the essence. But equally, it can become such a fun and precious little thing that I do from now onwards to record my and my family’s story…
To be continued!
Unintentional Digital Scrapbooks
A collage of recent pictures, screenshots and notes from my phone
To perfectly illustrate my point above about the challenge I see with keeping a modern-day scrapbook while most of our lives are digital, I have three separate yet somehow connected articles saved over the past few months that seem to me to be speaking of the same thing – how our phones are in fact our modern scrapbooks.
The accidental stories we created through the basic act of snapping a screenshot (because let’s face it, they say a lot about us), turning to our Notes apps (or sometimes draft emails in my case) for writing poems or deep thoughts, browsing our endless photo galleries to travel back to places or moments in the past… this is all through the very basic functions of our phones, while there are also many other apps that record essential bits of our daily lives, conversations with friends and families, the books we read and our favourite music, all the plans we make, pretty much everything we buy and so much more.
Get inspired by what others are making out of this material that we all have in abundance. This can be some kind of personal art, but I’ll be the first to say it requires time and effort to curate it.
En Primeur or Wine Futures
Searching for something quite different, I stumbled upon and got to learn a bit about Wine Futures or buying En Primeur, which means buying wine before it has been bottled and released onto the market. That allows for buying cases at a cheaper rate, but it also means you will receive the wine up to three years after the purchase. It can be a great idea especially if you have your eye on a specific vineyard that releases limited quantities.
Of course, there are numerous things to be considered, but who knows when you will find this information useful?! Maybe next time you’re on a trip to the south of France, where the concept was invented centuries ago, on a wine tasting tour discovering a delicious Bordeaux. You might decide to make your future self a gift and bring the holiday to life once more, at a great price too!
Mom Jeans
Source for all images
I had something quite different in mind for this week’s style find, but then I received the first pair of mom jeans that I ever bought and it sent me on a hunt for ways to wear it. I confess, I am not convinced yet, I don’t know if I can pull it off, being a petite with little to no curves. I am used to volume on top and skinny on the bottom, mom jeans mean the opposite or at least an hourglass silhouette with a sharp waist.
It seems to me that for this apparently relaxed and ‘forgiving’ style, one must actually be very skinny and ideally wear heals. Still, I am not giving up after one try… I found great inspiration and I am ready to experiment. I do love the jeans I got – the double waist detail is what brought them home. It helped that they were also 50% off!
Bath Pillow
I know at least one person who reads this letter and needs this in her life (hi, Ramo!) If you enjoy long baths, this is bound to enhance the experience – I present to you the bath pillow! I haven’t had the chance to test one yet, but here is a guide that might help to pick the right one for you!
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Merci!
