It's been sort of a busy week at work and I had to make myself presentable in front of clients, usually I love a sleek dress with heels and adding on a vintage brooch from my personal collection.  Today I'm wearing a 1950s Schreiner of NY pin that I got last year, they have matching earrings too but somehow the clips are too painful to wear all day long.

My favorite pin lady is none other than Madeleine Albright.  She uses her pins to reflect on a particular issue that she's working on at a given moment or simply to reflect her mood of the day.  I highly recommend her book Read My Pins, which is autobiographical yet at the same time with stories and reflections anchored on each particular jewelry from her collection.

I find her stories so fascinating and it gives me a lot of courage and confidence to pursue my own career.  It's so interesting to read stories about her life dealing with tough political situations yet she shows a feminine side through her choice of jewelry, as a woman I find that quality very relatable.  Sometimes I think life is such a adventure if you face life's challenges with some humor and courage, and it's really the only way!  Wearing a little pin is a daily reminder that as a woman you can go out in the world, be your own person and pursue your dreams!

One of my all time favorite character in crime fiction is Lucy  Eyelesbarrow from the Miss Marple series 4:50 from Paddington.  Lucy is a professional house keeper in high demand with an exclusive list of clientele, she happens to be an acquaintance of Miss Marple.  Lucy is a girl who's independent, travels alone, and no doubt loves to solve a thrilling murder all the while maintains a fabulous lifestyle.  

The episode opens with Mrs. McGillicuddy witnessing a murder while traveling on a train to meet Miss Marple, after the train conductor refuses to believe the two ladies's stories, miss Marple enlist Lucy's help to find the body and solved the crime.  

Lucy accepts the challenge and arrives at Rutherford Hall disguised as holiday help to the Crackenthorpes... in no less than a fabulous red vintage car( I suppose they would just call it "car" back in those days) and makes an impressive entrance.  She then plays a important role in solving the murder but also sorting out her love life on the side.  

In any case, do check out this episode as I don't want to spoil all the fun details. 

I saved these pictures from a while back and just today found it again, and even now I'm still in owe of her wonderful style!  If there is a fictional world I'd like to be in for a day I think being in this beautiful setting solving murder mysteries with Miss Marple and Lucy would be it!  

I've been looking at online pictures for some creative home renovation ideas.  The last time I did anything to the house was over three years ago, and I'm really looking forward to do something creative with the house again.  There is actually a large amount of work that still needs to be done.  Some of them include three bathrooms that badly needed renovation, a new kitchen, exterior paint, repairing the badly cracked drive way, and probably a complete rebuilt of the garage at the different spot of the backyard.

 The tv room in my 1923 cottage was originally a tiny bedroom.  Over time the previous owners pushed the ceilings and walls further out to make the room bigger, but the ceiling had low beams and weird layout.  And since there's no definition between the kitchen and tv room, this part of the house just looks like a huge long hallway.  This is probably the most heavily used room in my house and I'm never quite comfortable in it.  Lately I've been thinking about some renovation ideas like reconfiguring the ceiling and windows to make the look more consistently "vintage."  Or doing some kind of wall beam to make this open space a bit more defined.

Anyhow, lots of ideas and not enough time and energy to get it done, but a girl can dream right?

I really like the little round window idea.  I have a couple of half round windows from the 90s that I was never too fond of, and I would love to replace with round shaped windows or somehow tweak the framing to make it look more vintage.

The frame work of this bedroom is pretty much what I want my tv room to look like, albeit my room is not nearly as wide, but I think I can achieve that vaulted ceiling look complete with vintage chandeliers.

Anyhow, my renovation plan probably won't happen for quite sometime, but having some ideas is a good start!

This video is so inspiring, makes me want to pack up and move to a small town or live in the back woods country. 

Best documentary I've seen in a while!

I saw this pomegranate bonsai at my local nursery and absolutely loved it! It seemed easy enough to make one from a regular dwarf pomegranate tree. 

My inspiration of the day. Found this bonsai at a local nursery, it's gotten me thinking of making one for myself, can't be too difficult, can it?

Recently found this old copy of Essays on Music by Romain Rolland. I read it in Chinese while studying music in Beijing around the time I was 15 or 16. I remember those days tucked away in the school practice room with all my music and books and hiding in there for hours on end. It brought back memories!

Love these outfits! From here.

Have you been reading my milk toof? 

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

They took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

I can always relate to art with a theme of nature. By Rober Bissell.

A song that gives a pick me up in the morning better than any coffee I know. The most beautiful voices I know, but never again.

Last night I had a craving for sweets, particularly, pie. So I made a trip to my nearest chain supermarket and bought a whole lemon meringue pie. Before I even had a chance to taste it, I already knew it wouldn't be good, the inside looked plasticky and it smelt like high fructose corn syrup. I braved myself and had one bite and threw away the rest of slice on my plate. Disappointed and had no time for another trip, I settled for no desert. It is the one thing I couldn't turn up in my kitchen, I can fry, roast, poach, bake, steam just about any kind of common home made meal but I can't make a dessert. There were a lucky few times in the past when I got to eat homemade fresh pies( my mom don't make them, keep in mind pie is not really an Asian thing), and they were a different animal altogether. It was fresh, warm, delicious and in this time of year, full of autumnal charm.  It could be a project for the weekend to bake a pie of some sort, but for now I dug into my library and thought I'd share this great baking book with you. The Golden Book of Desserts is the most beautiful dessert book I've seen, not just because I'm partial to a golden cover on a dessert book, but all the finished dishes are beautifully presented, and there are a great varieties of desserts to choose from, it's definitely my inspiration of the day!

I have been looking at rugs at Anthropologie lately and I kind of like the idea of hanging a beautiful rug on the wall.  I like all these, especially the lobster!

Food for the soul: Ballets by Tchaikovsky.

Have you seen the Black Swan? I already went to the theater twice for it, it's the best movie I've seen all year!

I might be a little late in posting this but this series of photos by Sacha Goldberger is too good not to share, check out the full article here.

I'm obsessed with Indian music!

Ondine

Je croyais entendre
Une vague harmonie enchanter mon sommeil.
Et, près de moi, s' épandre un murmure pareil
Aux chants entrecoupés d' une voix triste et tendre.
                                         CH. BRUGNOT (Les deux Génies)

I thought I heard
A faint harmony that enchants my sleep.
And close to me radiates an identical murmur
Of songs interrupted by a sad and tender voice.
                                        CH. BRUGNOT (The two Spirits)