SPRING!

The weather is warming up (82°F as I write), so I am shifting for the moment from the Fall Paris Wardrobe to Los Olivos Summer!

This outfit was inspired by my new Trippens...

The style is called Union, and it is in one of my favorite Trippen colors...

"Black Ice".

The pants are V8712, an OOP Marcy Tilton pattern...

I made View C, added a band at the bottom, and made sure to use these cute
pockets..they are particularly fun in stripes!

The fabric is a woven stripe in shades of gray on white, from Marcy Tilton.

The top is Style Arc Daisy, without the extra hems. The fabric is from the mists of time (i.e. I don't remember where I got it). It's a very drapey smocked rayon.

Hanging with Buddha...(and yes, I'm showing off the glorious roses :)

Maggie was up last weekend and we did our "fun in the kitchen routine" as
usual. The April cover of Saveur Magazine caught my eye in the market; Dave and I enjoyed our trip to Sicily so much, and particularly the food and wine, so I knew we would enjoy this:

So we made the Sicilian Seafood Stew with Couscous and Almonds (although we

substituted Quinoa for the Couscous, as Maggie is GF 

and we also made Sicilian Caponata, from the same issue.

The peas are from Dave's garden! It was a delicious dinner!

And on to the sad part...we lost our beautiful Paddywack 5 days ago...

He was only 6 ½, he went suddenly and way too soon. He was, of course, a 

part of the family, and as readers of my blog know, my beloved Fashion Accessory.

R.I.P., Paddy

I'll be showing up at Patti's Visible Monday later this afternoon, so pay us a visit!

TTYL

REACHING FOR THE LIGHT

It's been almost a month since my last post...the last two months of the year are often difficult for me...I teeter on the edge of depression. The expectations of the season are sometimes overwhelming, and all I want to do is sleep till January 1. Over the years, I've amassed many ways of coping; one, obviously is to hide away in my studio. Another is to get together with loving longtime friends and let my inner extravert out...

Yes, that's a plastic bag on my head...

and here I'm dancing my heart out. All of us are "of a certain age" but time
hasn't slowed us down much!

I'm almost back to normal, whatever that is, and ready to share my life again.

I made another kappogi for my friend Joan, for Christmas,

from a Japanese cotton from F&S Fabrics in Los Angeles. I use mine so often, I
hope she enjoys this one as well.

I also made a pair of "lantern pants", V8712 OOP, from Marcy Tilton, to go with a new pair of boots. My elegant friend Willie from Oregon stopped by on her way to spend Christmas with her family in Los Angeles. She looked so stylish in her
pants, jacket and boots, that I tried to copy her look...

(picture lightened to show details). I haven't quite got it yet, but I'll keep trying!

The Visible Women  are having a post-holiday meet up later this afternoon over at Patti's blog...

come over and say hi!