Page 56

The fifth sentence on page 56 of Miss Manners Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behaviour reads;

'Let those dear people be, in their own happy world, and come and listen to some tough social truths from your very own Miss Manners.

You have heard, perhaps, of such advantages as beauty, brains, wealth or charm. Forget them. It may be accepted in your class that this person is "pretty" and that one "smart"; it may be known that one has a big allowance and another is always nice enough to share. In this age group, none of these characteristics has anything to do with popularity, and often they have nothing to do with the people who are supposed to have them.

The child who is thought good-looking is merely (often a plain one) who is smart enough to make people think so. '

I was tagged by Broke Ass Bride to share sentence five and the following sentences from page 56 of the nearest book to hand. I bought Miss Manners Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behaviour on the recommendation of our very own Miss Meg. After devouring Miss Manners on (Painfully Proper) Weddings I hastened to Amazon and bought another three of her books. This one is to be a Christmas present for a friend who believes that Debrett's Etiquette for Girls and the new Debrett's Guide for the Modern Gentleman should be required reading for all.


This meme had a second part, to list 6 things you value and 6 things you don't, but that's just one of those lists that I can't get my head around so I'm not playing that bit. Sorry!

Again, join in if this appeals, don't if it doesn't. Leave a comment if you do.

Fourth of the fourth

I am loving all of the tagging going on around these parts, keep it up and I won't actually have to think of something to post for myself for a good few weeks.

I was tagged by Vanessa of the fabulous Stopping to Eat the Roses to share the fourth photo from the fourth folder on my computer. This is what I found....

In June of 2005 The Boy and I spent five days in New York City. I loved it, never have I felt more at home in a place and if I could afford to and The Boy didn't become apoplectic at the thought of moving house and it not being to the countryside, I would be there in a heartbeat.

On our last day in the city we went to Coney Island. It was the evening, it was getting dark. It was quiet and almost completely deserted. It was magical...

"America has built for herself a Palace of Illusion, and filled it with every species of talented attractive monster, every misbegotten fancy of frenzied nerves, every fantastic marvel of the moonstruck brain - and she has called it Coney Island."

Richard Le Galliene, "Human Need of Coney Island." The Cosmopolitan, V.39 No. 3 (July 1905)

Our five days in New York were the start of a month long adventure for me and even longer for The Boy. We went from there to Connecticut, where for ten days The Boy helped his parents prepare their new boat for a voyage across the Atlantic. At the last minute before we were to leave for two weeks in Berkeley, he decided to go with them. I travelled back to New York and across the country to California by myself and I spent two wretched weeks in Berkeley before heading home across the Atlantic alone. As I flew over the ocean I knew that my boy was down there, somewhere. And a small, scared part of me doubted that I'd ever see him again. The boat had no communications on board, I had no idea where he was, how he was, whether they were still afloat. As the days after they were supposed to be home ticked by and the phone didn't ring, I curled up with my computer and read the New York Times online. I fantasised about living in the city that had felt like home and I stared at the map of the world that hung on our wall. I drew a boat on it and I wondered where he was. Then, one day, ten days late the phone rang. It was him and I couldn't believe it. Alive, coming home, tales of being lost in the ocean, a broken boat, never again.

Have a bouncing good day...

Just 'cause.

Via A Cup of Jo

I can't decide...

I can't decide if I want a pumpkin or if I want to be a pumpkin...

Photo by Becker

Little somethings....

It's been forever since I spent a day (or week) lusting after little somethings on etsy. It's the perfect way to pass a day of computer chores that are really dragging.

This beautiful notebook by Pumpkin Sputnik might inspire me to do something more creative than ogling little somethings...



I love this super shiny papier mache bowl by Up In The Air Somewhere

I thought that this great card by Sugar Street Cafe said 'Let's get old and stinky together'. I kind of wish it did.

Common? Or classic?

I've dreamt of a necklace made from sea glass for the longest time. I never imagined a way that one could be elegant, rather than homemade though. This is the necklace I dreamed of...

Pretty poppy bowls by Prince Design UK

I like this stegosaurus.

I can't decide if this pretty organza hair flower is too peach? Perhaps it would suit someone with dark hair better?



I didn't love this enough to be a wedding ring, but I love it enough just to be a ring ring.




I've always wanted a perfectly round locket. This one is round, and perfect.



This Caribbean Droplet bowl With Hole is fabulous. In a fit of boredom I might have bought myself a very similar one earlier today...

All images from etsy and courtesy of the individual sellers.

Procrastinating....

"I'm afraid if I shake it too hard the glitter will fall off."

East Side Bride, on A Practical Wedding.

That's why I'm struggling to write about our wedding. There was me thinking that I was just a lazy bastard, but actually I'm scared I'll rub off the glitter. I just didn't know until East Side pointed it out.

Falling in love...

I bought this card for The Boy a month or two after we had started going out. I never gave it to him. It wasn't an easy time, I wasn't the most trusting. I was scared of falling in love but what fool wouldn't be? Look how far there is to fall if you can't quite reach....

I kept it to remind me that the leap was worth it. That although it was terrifying the exhilaration of letting go and the deep relief of finding those hands,of catching and being caught would be everything. I kept it because looking at it made me aware that not letting go, allowing him to hand there upside down while we swung away from each other again would break both of us, that there wouldn't be a second chance, that only one swing would bring us close enough to catch hold of each other.


This little card says more to me about love than the oldest oil paintings, the cleverest poems and the most heart wrenching love songs. It says love is a leap of faith and only you can decide whether or not to make it.


For more by Harold's Planet (who are wise and often hilarious peoples) see here.

Lovely dress, lovely lady, lovely morning....

Doesn't she look like a Greek goddess? Or perhaps a very stylish Oscar winner?

Kristina (of Lovely Morning) has picked what looks like the most simply stunning dress and I can't wait to see it from the front. Guessing from her stunning invitations and generally exquisite taste I am imagining it will be a very stylish affair.

Images courtesy of Lovely Morning.

At the altar...

Today I was so excited to see this post on Lauren and Desaray's blog. I adored their engagement photos when I saw them on Punam Bean's blog and emailing Punam to ask if I could share them has been on my to do list for an embarrassingly long time (actually everything on my to do list is getting embarrassing. I'll let you guess for yourself if the laundry got done or not...)

So I decided just to point you in their direction and let you look for yourself.

While the sunshine portraits are stunning it is the pictures of Lauren and Desaray in the tattoo parlour that I really love. There is an intimacy and power in them that I can't find words to describe, but they are infinitely moving and utterly beautiful. If a little gory in places....


Go, look, love....


Image by Punam Bean and via Dingmoonment.

today, to do, guilty, facts...

Did today...

1. This. Can you tell it took 8 hours? No, I didn't think so.
2. Fantasised about Kitchenaids
3. Threw fizzy painkillers all over my computer
4. Mourned the loss of All Things Bright and Beautiful.

To do...

1. Edit our wedding photos. Sigh
2. Wash dishes. Double sigh
3. Laundry. I hate laundry. I'll let you guess for yourself how many sighs that provokes.
4. Blog. Really blog, not just 'ooh, I have three and half minutes to spare, I'll write something that requires about as much thought as brushing my teeth' blogging.

(by dzg_iò)

Guilty Pleasures...

1. Reading fashion magazines on the toilet
2. Organic Peruvian 70% dark chocolate
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Reading bitchy, shallow, red-carpet fashion blogs.

(source)

Random Facts...

1. I wanted to be a fashion designer, until I achieved my dream and got into the one Art School in the country that teaches fashion design. At which point I decided I wanted to be a photographer.
2. I can't whistle. I try but I just blow spit everywhere. Which is nice.
3. I gave up chocolate for a year once. During that year I kept 6 maltesers in my desk drawer, you know, just in case. I ate one near the end of that year. It did not taste good.
4. I'm bad with numbers. Really bad. I just don't like them at all. The Boy is bad with words though so in our relationship he does the maths and I do the writing. It works out quite well.

(yours truly, by The Boy)

I was tagged by Wedding Fanatic and am passing on the questions to all who read them! I know, I know that's not how it works but humour me.

The Kitchenaid Mixer: I have questions...

How long until it breaks?
2 months like the steamer? 6 months like the toaster? A year like the iron? 2 years like the bread machine? How long?



How much to ship it from America?



Why does it cost £350 here and $300 there? That's double. Double is obscene.



Do I just want one because it would look pretty on our oak worktops?




Would owning one make me able to follow recipes?
Would owning one fill me with such baking prowess that I don't need to follow recipes?



What colour?




Answers on a postcard please.




(Images from Amazon.)

Vestine's Story...

How easy it is to watch the news, to read the papers and to be appalled. How easy it is to say How dreadful, how could we let such a thing happen? It really is awful and how easy to then forget. How easy to be safe, to rest assured that it won't happen to you because you live in a civilised world. How easy to be able to choose whether you pay attention or turn the other way, because it's just too sore to think about.

How difficult to go there. How heartbreaking to see. How utterly devastating to hear. How brave. How very brave.

And to live it? To survive it? There just aren't words. Here, from my safe world I just can't comprehend the life, the strength, the heart break of a woman like Vestine.

Bittersweet.....

I adore this dress on etsy. Can we have another wedding? One with a short dress? And no vendors? And more cake?

Images from Lynnsrags, found via From Diamonds to Vows.

Autumn tables....

I'm trying not to hate the fact that summer is over without it ever having started. This table helps....

Via Style me Pretty, photographer unknown. Please leave a comment if you know who took it,
thanks!