Friday's Fancies: A Dreamy Reading Space

Someday, I'll have a room with a deep sofa that almost swallows you, loads of soft and cushy pillows, and wall to wall books.  Until then, I'll keep dreaming.

Source: romapri.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: skonahem.com via Katie on Pinterest

I strayed a bit from the usual fashion-themed posts, but you can check out some great style today over at Long Distance Loving.  Enjoy!

Fun Found About: Hey Chickadee

Lately, I've been thinking about how to make my style--clothing, writing, reading, decorating, everything--more grown up and mature, but every now and then, something too irresistibly cute comes along.  This morning, it was the online boutique Hey Chickadee, discovered via a friend's tumblr page.

Let's explode with cuteness now.  Is that okay?

Source: heychickadee.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: heychickadee.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: heychickadee.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: heychickadee.com via Katie on Pinterest

I want them all, please, and I don't really even wear jewelry, aside from my wedding and engagement rings and the occasional necklace my aunt makes me.

Visual to Verbal

Yesterday, I was poking around Etsy and noticed a pattern in my favorite items--nature motifs, mostly, and particularly tree and branch motifs.  I love to connect visual beauty with words that, if unable to capture it, can at least describe it and delineate some understanding of its meaning, some understanding of why it resonates.  In that spirit, I turned to a few quotations (found here) to verbalize what it is about trees that is fascinating.

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. ~Willa Cather, 1913

Source: johanfrancoise.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk? ~Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

Source: cocokelley.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

Why are there trees I never walk under

But large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?

~Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1892

Source: wishflowers.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

Anthropomorphized trees seem to come up frequently in literature and in discussions of nature, as seen in the quotations above.  Trees are ancient, majestic, inspiring, and even ancestral in a way.  According to these writers, they are full of history, stories, and even a touch of an oh-so-human desire to be noticed.  In short, it seems that trees attract our attention and appear in our creations because they remind us of ourselves, only stronger, more magnificent, and more lasting.

I hope I haven't bored you to death today or gone off the deep end.  I just thought I'd try something different for today.