Fire and ice (must be having an 80s moment?)

First thing I saw this morning was the orange of the sunrise on an icicle. Theses are results from a random web search for "fire and ice"...I was surprised that these roses did not show up, as they have the name "fire and ice" too!

Narnia (remembering the magic of youthful reads)

Big Pine Key

Though I have not yet been here, we are heading there next week for a few days for a very special event, and this warm-looking place is my muse of the moment on this nostril-freezing, bone chilling day here in the northeast!

Panna Cotta with Berries

Click here for a listing of lovely panna cotta recipes from... epicurious.com

green inspiration

Black bridal dresses and non-traditional weddings!

We are eloping soon...and looking for ideas for our consular wedding later this year...I can so easily get caught up in offbeatbride.com - a phenomenal place to read and view "wedding porn" (pictures of weddings!). Check out these excellent blue and black details from an Iowa punk rock wedding. I do love black, but could I do it for a beach wedding? This lady did!

An ottoman kaftan...

Kaftan
Turkey, 17th century
Silk satin with inlaid appliqué design
166 cm
Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Museum

Exhibited at the Smithsonian in 2006

Check out this amazing online, interactive exhibit

simple is elegant, sane

More hats, this time - Turquoise

Vanishing footprints

An exemplar of my foray into the world of photography...the perfect moment just after the last swim, before the footprints vanish...


...and a few other types of vanishing footprints...

Inspiration from a lime green ribbon!

Today I am just plain inspired by the power of a listserv (and now blog) I have belonged to for a while now-it has helped me so much to hear other womens' stories about their trials and tribulations with endometriosis, a miserable condition that does not get nearly enough attention. This is evidenced by the fact that this dialogue box just showed the word as unrecognizable in its dictionary!

So, this isn't the usual lovely image that I find inspiration from - my muse for a moment - but it is a major force in my life that has for now, led to the inspiration of the collective power of groups!

Note the interesting orange-background graphic by Marla Campbell...and the image with the hot water bottle that is me so much of the time these days...sigh! One of these days I need to put my applied social research skills to good use towards addressing the ways in which women treat and manage their endometriosis...tenure first!

Frozen roses

Inspired by the memory of a walk to school with my Mum, circa age 7, where we saw a lovely peachy-fuschia rose on the old wooden fence with the touch of Jack Frost's first visit of the season, seemed like a miracle. How I miss my Mum!

Still enjoying Obamafterglow

"I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you." - Barack Obama, Election Night 2008

The letter "S" (what a great shape)