A Few Blossoms

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Taking of Toast

I missed my chance to take photos of all the pink blossoms (and tulips) along Park Avenue. “I’ll take them tomorrow” is not a good way of thinking when it comes to trees, especially with all this earlier warm/later cool weather. I managed to snap these out on Long Island over the weekend. It was a smaller tree, and I didn’t have my camera with me, so this one, not-even-in-focus cell phone picture will have to suffice. One year, I will make it to DC (or back to Japan) for the cherry blossoms.

As always, I’ve been collecting links to share:

+ It was a sad moment when, after seeing this cup on Eat Drink Chic, I discovered in the comments that it was not one I’d be able to purchase for myself.

+ Will you look at that typography?! So glad a friend brought the work of Simon Walker to my attention (via The Fox is Black).

+ I was intrigued by the art featured in this post on For Me, For You and decided to check it out. It turns out Mammoth and Company is a bit like 20×200, featuring art prints in different sizes, with the 8×10 versions costing only $20. There are many prints from which to choose, but I think my favorites are “New Nature Systems 7” by Russel Leng, “The Season of Life” by Mark Warren Jacques, and “Moraine Lake” by Grant Harder.

+ One of my favorite bloggers, Anamu, is moving from London to Kuala Lumpur, and she’s having a moving sale on her webshop, The Pond Market! There are lots of great finds from her flea market adventures across Europe, so be sure to give it a look.

Photo by Taking of Toast

Back from the Southwest: Part 2

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Taking of Toast

Wow, did this week seem especially long for anyone else? I don’t think a week has felt this long in ages. Oh, well. It’s almost the weekend! Before I get to part two of my photos from vacation, I thought I’d share just a few things I’ve found myself thinking a lot about this week:

+ I am totally in awe of the table settings (and photos!) from last week’s Sunday Suppers dinner. It’s no wonder I keep seeing Amy Merrick‘s work everywhere.
+ The return of Arrested Development is more in sight than ever before.
+ I’ve already made plans with myself to try out Portland-export Pok Pok sometime soon.

Now, on to the photos (finally)!

Happy weekend!

All photos by Taking of Toast

Back from the Southwest, Part 1

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Taking of Toast

I’ve returned from the Southwest, all in one piece and almost caught up on sleep. It was, as expected, a lovely break, filled with good friends, good food (especially cookies!), and, yes, a few good horses. I realized on my last day how free of music it was, though. I used to spend a lot of time sitting on the back patio of our room listening to music (as I read and relaxed), but for some reason, this year, I just didn’t. Over the years, my music tastes have changed, but the CD I think I will always most closely associate with our time out there is John Mayer’s No Such Thing. I loved that CD when I was in eighth grade — that was 10 years ago (!), and yet I still remember listening to it out there more than any other music. (This may be because it was a CD, so part of the memory comes from taking it out of my CD case, putting it into my player, etc. As much as I love my iPod, flicking through songs and albums just isn’t the same.)

Although some things were different, many things were still the same, and I was reminded once again how important the place, the atmosphere, and our time out there is to me. And, as usual, I took lots of pictures, even though I realized that I’ve been taking many of the same pictures for the past two or three years. Here are just a few. (I can’t tell you how excited I was about all the cacti in bloom. It’s maybe the second time we’ve been there to see the flowers.) Part two will follow!