Front Porch Talk

Revisiting the Plaza & Eloise

Thanks to having a one year old in the house, I've had the pleasure of re-visiting books I loved when I was young. Chief among my favorites was Eloise, the story of a girl who lives in The Plaza with her English nanny. The story is loosely based on the antics of a young Liza Minelli. Suffice to say, this exceptionally quirky girl manages to terrorize everyone in the Plaza. I remember spending time just pouring over the illustrations, done in black & white with pink details. The illustration of her bedroom alone kept me happily engaged, so much detail to absorb!

When I was quite young, I kept all my books in a closet with a french door that had a white muslin curtain. I loved that closet. I would open the french door and sit on the floor indian style and look at my books. So a love of closets started at a young age. With my youngest, I decided to have fun with her closet and make it into a lovely spot, instead of purely practical. The photo isn't very good, but you get the general gist. A curtain for a bit of privacy and to play house, shelves for toys and, of course, books. The interior is wallpapered in a print that is a simple silhouette of trees in green. A white branch hangs from the rod with green butterflies attached. I think it may be my dream closet.

Of course, there is already an edition of Eloise waiting for Ellie. Someday, I hope she will get as much joy from a simple book and a space just for her as I did as a child.

I would love to hear what your favorite book was as a child, maybe it will even help me discover another great favorite.

Aspiring Director

My husband & I are playing with some video taken on my son's Flip. You're the guinea pigs.

Speak Up Inspiration, I'm listening!

Spring has an odd affect on me. In my realm, several things must be accomplished once spring has sprung. One of them is to paint something. This drives my husband crazy nutty as he despises painting and both of us are rather awful at it. I don't mean the artistic painting, I mean the paint a room kind that in general takes no to very little skill whatsoever. This spring has been a bit bumpy for me so I tackled small - an ugly little 3 drawer bureau used to house piano music. I painted her a healthy, high gloss yellow. She now sits in the corner of the living room, across from my polka-dot club chair and no longer has the ugly sister complex.


If you were to go into my dining room across the hall, you would see that I've confiscated our rather large table to my writing endeavors. Taboo subject in general. I do not discuss current writing projects, suffice to say, lots of research (which I love) and plenty of Moleskin notebooks with pencil scribbles. But I am yearning for inspiration to come and knock me upside the head. She comes in fits and starts like a tease than leaves for some other sap, only to return once again at two or four in the morning - whole lines of witty dialogue and not a pad or pencil to be found. Damn that muse!

So when a general blah feeling makes me want to shed my skin, I employ an old trick I've used since I was a teenager. Quotes! and more Quotes! Pinned willy-nilly all over my house. I do sometimes wonder however about these witty, just-so quotes. Did these people, say people like Twain, really just extemporaneously make these fabulous quips while someone just happened to be there to record it? Or is there a little more thought and introspection going on? PLEASE let it be the latter or I'm a dead woman.

Anyhow, here's my quote of choice at the moment. Maybe that sly muse will land on you, because heaven knows she ain't been here for a while:

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes to you." Thank you, Mr. William James.

Still waiting for my zap.