HOME + ONCE WED PEEK

I'm home and sorting through the bounty of paper products. I can't wait to share a few more finds and snaps. But before I do: I'm so very beside myself to have collaborated with Joy, Jose and this happy couple. The splendid photos (including an oak! tree! covered! in! lace!) can be seen over at Once Wed. Check the site tomorrow for a tutorial on how I dyed these escort cards. For now, I'll leave you with a little glimpse of this fun project.

BERLIN, PART II

Across the street from Meirei is Anna Blume. In addition to being a cafe, they are also a flower store. And they provide oversized fleece blankets to their customers. I am still marveling at this luxury. You know when it is just a little bit cool but you'd love to sit outside and you think to yourself "If only I could snuggle up in a sleeping bag here on this patio and sip coffee in the brisk spring breeze. That would be the ideal solution." This inclination is nationally recognized at outdoor cafes. It's here, eating sour cherry cake in a cozy blanket, that I start plotting how I might move to Berlin.

BERLIN, PART I

I spent the weekend in a delusional haze in Berlin, dragging my friend from one hole-in-the-wall philatelist to yet another art supply store. In turn, she introduced me to some incredible food and neighborhoods. It's going to take a while to organize my thoughts (and images, thanks to a dead camera) about the design mecca, and about Germany in general. This is because most of the time here I've had an internal monologue that goes like this:

"I think I like Berlin more than Paris. What a horrible thing to say."
"That is horrible. You should stop comparing the two."
"But isn't this what the Germans are known for? Their design?"
"Still, you should be impartial to these two great cities."
"Oh look, another paper store."

For now, let me hone in on Meirei, the first restaurant we went to for lunch, in Prenzlauer Burg. It specializes in Alpine delicacies, which include all sorts of dumplings, bread puddings, oxtail stew, baked goods, sparkling juices. It was impossible to count the thoughtful details, but I'll start with: the Alpine murals of cows and goatherds from 1905; that announcements are written on oversized doilies; that "private" is hand drawn on the door, as is a little heart for no apparent reason; that the newspaper's "Z" is so very elegant, and it publishes historical photos from WWII on the front page; that the savory bread pudding is so very pretty. Tomorrow: cake + blankets.

TIL SOON

It's been a fun few days of greens and blues and now I'm off! Fingers crossed for a few posts while I'm away.

BERLIN BOUND

I'm headed to Berlin tomorrow to visit my dearest, oldest friend. I've had barely a minute to give any thought to this trip (suggestions welcome!). This morning I reflected on what I know about Berlin, and the atmosphere and images I associate with it. I came up with exactly three points of reference, all related, and all crucially important to my nostalgic aesthetic and development as an admittedly sentimental person. The first is the video for U2's Stay (Far Away, So Close!)-- the song's opening bars catapult me back to being 13. The next is "Wings of Desire," the heartstoppingly beautiful Wim Wenders film that inspired this video (which Wenders in turn directed). And finally, Mark Doty's poem "The Wings," which refers to the film.  The entire poem, which is worth seeking out (as is the entire book) is available here (and starts on page 39). For now, I'll excerpt the paggasge that, thanks to Ellen, has been etched in my mind. I find myself refering to it constantly, like some mantra. The image above, of the angel and the reader in the library, is from the scene Doty describes, and which you can see here.

...Some days things yield

such grace and complexity that what we see
seems offered. I can't stop thinking
about the German film in which the angels
--who exist outside of time and thus long

for things that take place--
love most of all human stories,
the way we tell ourselves what we dread or wish.

Of all our locations
their favorite is the library;
the director pictures them perched
on the balustrades, clustering

on the stairs, bent over
the solitary readers as if to urge us on, to say Here,
have you looked here yet?

-From "The Wings" by Mark Doty

SMALL BUSINESS CRUSH: GREENSAW DESIGN & BUILD

This weekend we were honored to attend a ceremony celebrating Greensaw's transformation into an employee-owned co-op. The idea is this: the good folks who work for Greensaw will now own a stake in the company. It marks the first such arrangement in Philadelphia in a long time. I don't think I fully appreciated the concept until I heard Judy Wicks talk about how increasing ownership is a vehicle for sharing wealth and resources. Her article "Local Living Economies - The New Movement for Responsible Business" offers a good introduction to the socially responsible business movement. And it was John Abrams'
"The Companies We Keep" that inspired the notion in the first place. Imagine where you work. Now imagine yourself and your co-workers as shareholders. The very idea feels revolutionary and audacious, and also exactly what our economy needs. True to form, Brendan organized a bang up party with homemade venison stew, charcuterie on salvaged wood cutting boards, home brewed beer, and a feast of Armenian delicacies contributed by one of the owner's mothers. The ceremony culminated with Brendan calling up each employee to the rustic stage-- from furniture maker to finisher-- to sign the company's guiding principles as the crowd cheered and applauded. And then I teared up. It felt, in the best and most unexpected way, like a wedding. Greensaw's beautiful work speaks for itself so please check it out, and read about the co-op process on their blog. It's been a joy to observe Greensaw grow over these last five years and I can't wait to see what their future holds.

ENGLAND, PRESENT

Today seems like as good a day to continue celebrating England (wasn't the lace on Kate's dress pretty terrific?). So let's, with a photo of KG + SC, taken on his graduation from Oxford in his handsome red robe (no, no surprise that KG's dress just happened to match the color perfectly); tablesigns that I just sent across the pond (yay Charlie + Karena!); also unearthed from the Yarton archives, this lamb being walked on a leash (yes, things like this happened all the time); and a video from PJ Harvey's spectacular new album "Let England Shake," which has been on constant rotation ("In Dark Places" kills me every time). Run do not walk to her website where you can see beautiful short films that Seamus Murphy created using reportage + live performance footage for every song on the album. Happy weekend!

COTSWOLD MEMORIES

Revisiting some old photos I came across these from our blissful summer in England. We paid a visit to the Painswick Rococo Garden during a ramble through the Cotswolds with Kate. At the top of the hill stood a tiny church, with these phrases from the Song of Songs inscribed on the window panes:

"My beloved is mine and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies"

&

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

Also at the suggestion of Lexi we had lunch at Daylesford Organic market. Words cannot describe how happy the produce looked. The day ended in the rooftop pool of the Thermae Spa in Bath, overlooking the Roman ruins. What I wouldn't give for more days like this.