serendipity

finding harmony in new harmony

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." -- Mahatma Ghandi

Every now and then this gal needs a break.  After months of working and little down time, I accepted an invitation to visit from my friend Laura Foster Nicholson, designer and fiber artist extraordinaire.  You may have seen some of her work at Crate and Barrel or Land of Nod.  Here is an adorable linens collection she recently designed for Land of Nod.  Too cute!

New Harmony, Indiana is an  amazing contrast in architectural styles which is rather remarkable when you consider it's population is just 900.  There are the remains of traditional Harmonists structures, one of which has been turned into a life sized pin hole camera!

 Main Street is primarily Victorian.  Don't you love the bank?!  It's now the headquarters for the mother-son textile design team Docey and Owen Lewis, descendants of Robert Owens, one of America's leading 19th century social reformers.

New Harmony also features the work of contemporary architects Philip Johnson and Richard Meier.

I didn't make it to the labyrinths for which the town is famous with the Harmonists having designed the first in the region during the mid 1800's.  The day had turned cold and dreary.  Not a problem, I just have to make a return visit.

st. louis nostalgia

An inch of ice on the streets with temperatures hovering around 10ºF did not dissuade me from ordering a scoop of chocolate ice cream.  I was in full nostalgia mode.   You can leave your hometown, but your hometown never quite leaves you.  I was back in St. Louis and found myself at Crown Candy.

 I hadn't been there since childhood.  The effect was still the same.  I was the kid in a candy shop.  

Crown Candy is an old world place dating back to my grandmother's days.  The surrounding neighborhood dates back to the Civil War with some amazing architecture.  It's one of those places that time forgot.  The chocolates and lollipops are housemade, as is the ice cream.  The soda fountain is the same.  Forget Lady GaGa, modern adaptations such as the jukebox play Yes and Cream.  

I sat back, enjoyed the ice cream and let the memories flood over me.  Watching a 4 year old try to eat a jawbreaker bigger than his fist was an added bonus.  

thinking about jane

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library." -- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

The good thing about winter is that it makes fine weather for staying indoors, sipping hot chocolate and snuggling under the afghan for a spot of delicious reading. Jane Austen has been on my brain. It started the other week after viewing "The Jane Austen Book Club." I realized that I had read Emma and Pride and Prejudice, but the not the rest. This oversight must be corrected! 

While in London, I was staying in Highgate near Highgate Cemetery and Hampstead Heath. The heath offers grand sweeping views of the city, especially from Kenwood House, a small museum featuring the work of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Constable, and other notable British and Dutch painters. It's free too, donated to the country by the first Earl of Iveagh whose great grandfather had founded the Guinness brewery in 1759. (Just another reason to like Guinness.) Walking back to Highgate Village, you can swing by the cemetery to see the graves of George Eliot, Karl Marx and Jane Austen's cousin, Eliza Austen. 

Romantic comedies to be sure, Austen's novels are also a scathing critique of the times, especially of the limited roles for women and their dependence on men. A feminist with a bonnet. I love her descriptive details. Sink into your chair and escape for a few hours. 

 So with Jane Austen in mind, I am starting my own version of a Jane Austen Book Club. You can join me through Good Reads where I am registered as Enjolive. In the meantime, enjoy these lovely romantic creations found on Etsy.