Happy Birthday Dorothy L. Sayers!

Today Dorothy L. Sayers would have been 120.

If you don’t know who Dorothy L. Sayers is I want you to drop everything your doing right now and 1) pick up any one of her mystery novels (my favorite is Gaudy Night, but please don’t start with that one, it would be unjust, start with Whoose Body or The Nine Tailors. Guady Night needs to be surrounded by a sense of anticipation in my opinion.), 2) get both volumes of her letters and start reading. And when you’ve read those pick up Creed or Chaos.

This woman was phenomenally brilliant. To say she was just a good mystery writer would be unfair. She wrote everything! Plays, prose, poetry, novels, philosophy. You name it. She even completed a translation of the Divine Comedy.

Life As of Late

Happy National Donut Day!

Did you know today is National Donut Day? Check out this clip from the Times that lists places that are handing out free donuts! Score!

Keds or Toms?

I want a pair of canvas shoes for the summer, to wear on days when my pedicure doesn’t look so hot but I want my feet to be cool. But I can’t decide which to get! Keds or Toms? I love the classic look of Keds, I also like the way Toms look. And then what colour should I get? I am leaning towards red since it seems to go with everything, but navy might be nice too. Thoughts?

Plus, does anyone else think it’s funny that the branding on both these shoes includes a blue label?

Or maybe I should get a pair of Bensimons?

The Paris Skyline

Just in case you needed a get-away in the middle of your day! Check out this panoramic view of Paris!

Bruschetta on the Back Porch

Summer arrived this weekend! And with it came yummy bruschetta and sweet watermelon! And eating on the back porch! I love warm weather so much!

What’cha Read’n?

I haven’t been able to read a whole lot lately, but I have finished a few good books! I’ve also bought a ton of books too. I am currently on a self imposed book-buying probation until all my current un-read books have been read, or in the event the library that has taken up residence in my bedroom (for really, it is a library) spontaneously combusted, and I am, somehow, left bookless.

First on the list . . .

An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis De Sales. I’ve been reading this one page by page for at least a year now. It is so good. I read it slow on purpose just to make sure that I was giving it the attention it deserved instead gorging on text. It’s a very good guide for living a virtuous every day life.

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. This one was first recommended to me in college my dear roommate. I’ve been meaning to read it ever since she told me about it and I finally did! It is the love/conversion story of a couple. Both knew C.S. Lewis and the books has a lot of his letters to them (which was a treat by itself). Word to the wise – read it with a box of tissues. The image above comes from their description of how they guarded their love. They built via various habits, practices and virtues what they called the “shining barrier.” I really liked the concept.

Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene. I am not the world’s biggest Graham Greene fan, he is just too dark for me. However, Travels with My Aunt was a great read, it hardly felt like Graham Greene! It was full of dry, English humour, wit, and a happy ending! What?! Not to mention that the Aunt character is a total riot.

We All Scream for Ice Cream

These Haagen-Daz comercials found their way to my computer while I was watching The Office Finale. (The Office is over! Sniff.) Anyway, I loved them both! And now, thanks to the successful marketing of Haagen-Daz, not only do I want ice cream, I also want to go back to Rome, cook Italian food, and watch Swan Lake. Le sigh.

Where Did You Go Joe DiMaggio?

If you follow me on Instagram then you’ve already seen this picture and heard this story, but I thought I would share again. I went to the post office and asked the postmaster for some “pretty stamps” he obligingly reached behind the counter and put these in front of me.

These stamps remind me, I so excited for the Nationals this year! All the way to the series this time! Whoot!

Busy Bee

Okay, now that I have typed the phrase busy bee, all I can think of is that scene in Gladiator where Commodus has reached a-place-that-is-beyond-creepy and he calls Lucillia a busy bee. I always want to scream at Lucillia to just grab her kid and leave the palace.

But I wanted to pop in for a minute to once again apologize for not posting and to assure you that I am still alive and well! I’ve been in over my head in events, planning and projects. The picture above shows the sewing project I’ve been working on – 20+ Shakespearean shirts for a middle school production of Taming of the Shrew. Ooo, ooo, that Shakespearean rag. . .

And to add to the randomness of this post, here is a poem for you:

MORNING AT THE WINDOW

by: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

THEY are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,

And along the trampled edges of the street

I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids

Sprouting despondently at area gates.

The brown waves of fog toss up to me

Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,

And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts

An aimless smile that hovers in the air

And vanishes along the level of the roofs.