Stolen Time

The other day I had the guilty pleasure of time for myself. So I pretended to be a tourist in my city. Here are some of the images I collected. I hope you enjoy them. Beauty is everywhere I look.

Claes Oldenburg sculpture.

One of many of the beautiful churches in the area.

I love to experiment with angles.

The sky was amazing.

I am always attracted to light fixtures.

These onion domes were part of the detritus behind a homeless shelter! Aren't they amazing? I could see them used as art in a very large loft.




I stopped into a local florist's shop, called Vase to Vase. The owner was very friendly and talked to me about his business and he let me play with arranging his gorgeous vases! What could be better?

It was a good day.

All images by Peggy. For more of my photography, please see my city and sky set at flickr. (link)

The State of Things

Image from Better Homes and Garden Decorating, Spring 2008. This is the current inspiration for my place. I adore the pink and orange with large amounts of white. During my recent illness, I was too weak to read so I stared at this picture. As I recovered, I began thinking about things. Just how many things do I need? Can I live with less money if it means more freedom?

I won't lie. I love objects, especially pottery. I love reading blogs and seeing how people adorn their homes. I am not anti-stuff, just anti-clutter. When faced with major life dilemmas, things become less important to me. Increasingly, I find that things don't make me happy. The thrill of the pursuit is short-lived. I do want my place to be cute, but the truth is I am happier with fewer things.

Lately I've had to take a break because, like many creative people, I felt saturated. I needed the break to decide where I want my life to go, including my creativity. One thing has become clear (or maybe clearer) for me. I want a simple life. I've been clearing out stuff because I may be moving. Whenever I am feeling the need to soul search, I always return to simplicity. A friend recently told me I live like a church mouse, I found that to be a compliment. I want to use a smaller footprint, to leave less of an impact on the environment, but that's a topic for another post.

Here's how my apartment looks today.

I know the rug is too small. I would like a large faux sheepskin rug. I would also love a sectional, then I wouldn't need a chair. Alas, neither is in the budget. And it's best to travel light for now.

I adore pillows. The exercise ball provides fun extra seating as do my several ottomans.



It's humble, but gorgeous textiles provide luxury.

The bowl was a gift. It is vintage and made of banana leaves!

I am loving blue pottery.



I want a new lamp, but opted to just pull this one out of my closet. I would like to turn this shade into a hanging lamp.

I would really like to have a red or shocking pink candelabra. I adore this one from Urban Outfitters, but at $48.00 it's too steep. (I know, I know. I'm cheap.)

Maybe I'll find a candelabra at a junk store that I can spray paint. Just what I need. Another project to procrastinate about.