Morning's Light

Glimpses of beauty and simplicity around the world.

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  • reunion in a bag

    Blonde designs - reunion in a bag

    Blonde Designs is a new favorite blog of mine.  They have such creative ideas for customizing party foods, beverages and goody bags.  But this recent post is an instant favorite of mine.  They created a "reunion in a bag" for a friend who couldn't be with them at the latest reunion.  The green bag from Target is adorable!  And I love all the little packages.  Definitely favoriting (new word! new word!) this idea and will use it in the future….for guests at my home, a birthday present….or just a special treat for someone going through a difficult time.


    Blonde designs - reunion in a bag - items

    When I saw the stationery they were giving away, I realized it looked familiar.  Two years ago I won a set of personalized stationery from Blonde Designs and adored it.  Friends who received letters on those notecards felt so special that they were receiving such quality paper in the mail! 

  • a tidy linen closet

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    [MCCALL’S MAGAZINE, KIDS IN LINEN CLOSET], originally uploaded by George Eastman House.

    What an orderly linen closet! My towels and other linens have yet to make their way onto the shelves in such a neat manner – and tied with ribbons, no less. Would you look at that!

  • organized shoe collection

    Wood + wool stool - shoes 3

    Ingrid is a Dutch designer who makes items such as the wood + wool stool seen below.  I saw some of her photos in an Apartment Therapy post today about paring down belongings to highlight what's important to you. I'd say Ingrid has pared down her bedroom to show the shoes that mean the most to her.

    photos: flickr

    Wood + wool stool - shoes 1

    Wood + wool stool - shoes 2

  • flower chair

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    fermob flower chair, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

    Great desk area.
    Love the chair.

    Brief post as it’s one of those days. Feeling out of sorts. Perhaps a cold is arriving soon.

  • the stylist

    Perhaps I've seen too many fashion/style shows on TV lately, but this had me in stitches.

  • ++ inspiration ++

    Boxes - juju

    image: grijs


    It's late. Almost Saturday morning. I am both wired and relaxed- even sleepy.  How can that be?!  So I'm browsing through pretty pictures, knowing I have to get up in mere hours to go with four children and their mom to see a 3-D version of the new kids movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".  Silly title for hopefully a silly film.

    Following the movie, perhaps my brother Jay and his family will not have left our mom's house yet to drive home (two hours away) and I can see the family for a little while.  

    If not, I'll work on some pages to be handed out to junior high girls at church on Sunday – to introduce them to our small groups (each girl will be in a group according to her grade:  6th, 7th or 8th grade –  with two leaders per group.)  We're going from two junior high leaders for the girls last year (me and one other person) to SIX people.  So great.  We have college students who are helpers…and they're so enthusiastic and passionate about their faith and about working with teens that it'll be a fun year working with them.

    We have a table to decorate to draw the attention of the junior high girls..so we're going for Girly Glamour.  Lots of black background (tablecloth, foam board) and then gold accents with pages personalized for each leader with little quirky facts about each leader and an introduction to each group.  My favorite quirk about my assistant leader is, "I like a good bowl of cereal."  Quite random yet stated in all seriousness.

    Here's my midnight rambling.  Aren't you lucky?!  At least I'm not telling some story about some uncle's cousin's neighbor's stylist's client's grandmother who saved sugar packets from restaurants for 80 years and left it all to her grandkids.  

    A better idea is to let you enjoy these pictures from a favorite French blog.  

    Olivelse - 01 09 


    Olivelse - 04 07


    Olivelse -10 08

    images: olivelse

  • weekend + french home


    Trek lime lite 2008


    Aren't four-day weeks after a holiday weekend the longest weeks?! This one was made nicer for me by two things:  my early-morning water class started up again at the gym and I was given a bike that I took out for a ride last night. (Hadn't ridden a bike in ten years!!!)  Both activities are so much fun that I may now say "Treadmill?  What treadmill???"  

    The weekend holds swimming, biking and the kick-off weekend for the youth service at church.

    Oh yes…my weekend goals also include going through my kitchen and donating much of what I haven't used in the 3 years I've lived here…then neatening the remaining items.  If I could bring the colors found below into my dining area, that would be lovely too!

    French home 3


    French home

    Last two images via Le Journal de la Maison.  Thank you, Marianne!


  • instant thrifting

    Thrift store sign

    photo: pixeljones on flickr


    instant thrifting…A stack of items for the thrift store sits by my front door, waiting patiently, I think, to be taken to the thrift store.  I could go after work or at lunch, but I seem to wait for a minimum of ten items to be in the pile before I take a donation in.  I should be more like the guy who seems to have perfected the insta-donate action.  I was helping the thrift store employee unload items from the backseat* of my car once when a young guy drives up, hands the employee one sweater, and then drives off.

    *note… Normally one would put items for donation into the trunk of a car but the trunk of my car is 90% full.   Quite embarrassing at the grocery store parking lot when I want to load groceries and look around to see if anyone sees my full trunk.  I glance over with envy at people who open a trunk, pop in their few cloth bags of groceries into a clean trunk, shut the door and go merrily on their way – no guilt hanging over them about needing to clean out the trunk.  

    Sophie…When my little Honda sedan is clean, her name is Sophie.  When it gets a tad messy, I apologize to Sophie while I pat the dashboard for the car not looking perfect.  When the car trunk is full and there are items out of place in the front seat?  Then the car has no name.  


  • Apartment Therapy – San Francisco + Orla Kiely

    Over the weekend, I was browsing some of my favorite sites – a list that is topped by the oh-so-inspiring Apartment Therapy.  I read the San Francisco one since I lived there for years, the Chicago one because it's the closest to me now, and the New York one because it's New York City!

    Orla-Kielys-office-004


    At AT:SF, I see a familiar photo of Orla Kiely's office that I adore and showed last week. Thanks, Monika, for linking here on AT!  What a treat!

  • charming french hotel

    Hotel-le-senechal 2

    The Hotel Le Senechal on the Ile de Re near La Rochelle is a beautiful, charming hotel, one I will add immediately to my list of where to stay when I finally visit France!   I'm recommending the large room that is for weddings and meetings to the Youth Guy for the February youth group leadership retreat.  The church will cover airfare to France, yes?!


    Hotel-le-senechal 1  

    Hotel-le-senechal 3

    Hotel-le-senechal 4

    Hotel-le-senechal 5

    via ill seen, ill said