In which I sing praises of good things going on, my earlier blog crisis notwithstanding

1) Tara's got a great idea going on in her life: One Project a Month (OPAM to those in the know).  She looks around and identifies one corner of her world that she'd like to whip into shape (we all have them: the I'll-get-to-that-someday, not-quite-disastrous-enough-to-warrant-emergency-attention pockets of the house).

I asked her if I could post her photos of her last month's triumph + she generously agreed.  DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF THIS IDEA SHOWS UP ON MY WALLS.  I love it.  You can see details of this particular project here.  I love the blend of black-and-white and color, the fantastic close-ups (she's a photographer so she had great shots to choose from), the square format, the groupings, the TTV effect (she explains it better than I could), the modern + unobtrusive Ikea frames.

2)  Believe it or not (I'm sure you do) I still have a bunch of my kids' artwork in boxes and folders.  Sometimes I took a photo of them holding the art and then got rid of it but much of it remains, even 13 years after the fact.

When I saw this collage by Jan Eleni, I was happy I kept them (or at least some of them).  This is genius.  A collage of miniaturized kids' artwork.  Brilliant, I say.

via Design Mom

Do you think I could get the same effect by scanning them in myself and printing on a great printer? Or here's another idea I just had: a collage of your family's yearly holiday cards. 

3) I have been particularly inspired lately by the lovely, delicious offerings of the foodie blogs.  In particular, I like Annie's Eats (no, the Annie is definitely not me), The Pioneer Woman Cooks (I know, with everyone else on the planet, right?), and Smitten Kitchen (who wins my vote for the cleverest cooking blog title and who sells her fabulous photos of food here. There's another idea for the collage! A food one for the kitchen.) What's important to know is that I, by nature, do not usually feel the love for cooking. Eating? Yes, got that covered.  But I have been a pretty utilitarian cook for my family.  I rotate through a standard 4 or 5 dishes.  The picky young eaters won.  Yawn.

However.  These daily culinary ideas have been just the thing to spark my kitchen creativity (or is it still creativity if I'm just recreating their recipe? Hmm. Don't know). Honestly, sometimes I just look at the post and admire. But more and more, I break out the bowls and give it a try. Let me know if I'm missing out on one of your favorite food sites.

4) Allysha's hosting an virtual book group for Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.  I have to admit I've never read it (I know! And I call myself a bibliophile! I haven't read Anna Karenina either. Sorry) but I'm looking forward to joining in after reading her introductory tribute to it.

I love summer reading.  {Mom, remember the summers when I used to stretch out on the beige sofa and read All Day Long? And only every once in a while would you nudge me to go outside and do something? Thanks for letting me do that.  I was so oblivious to anyone around me...you probably could have used my help somehow...but it was a great gift, that endless reading.}

That's it for now. We're off with our friends to the Cape this weekend.  

I hope you have a good one!