Without Coffee...

From Pinterest)


I don't drink coffee and some days, this is exactly how I feel.
Just got home from the long holiday weekend and trying to get back in the swing.
Will have a regularly scheduled post for you sometime soon.

In the meantime, Happy Tuesday!

Wallace Fountains of Paris

If you've traveled to Paris,

you'll recognize these fountains. 

Named the Wallace Fountains after the philanthropist 

and Englishman Richard Wallace (1818-1890) who,

after receiving a rather large inheritance,

decided Paris should benefit. 

They serve as drinking fountains found throughout the city

and these larger models (there are several kinds)

are decorated with caryatids and dolphins.

The caryatids (sculpted female figures serving as columns) represent

kindness, simplicity, charity and sobriety.

Designed by Wallace and Charles-Auguste Lebourg,

a sculptor from Nantes,

they were meant to help the city's inhabitants after the Paris Commune 

when many of the aqueducts had been destroyed and the price of water rose. 

While I have not drunk from them,

I have used them to spritz myself on hot summer days. 

They can be found in nearly every arrondissement 

and while reading about these beauties, 

I just learned there is more than one in our 15th arrondissement neighborhood

though I have yet to find them.

Always a treasure hunt in Paris! 

(Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen)

The Heroine's Journey~ Teaser Tuesday

Hosted by MizB at should be reading.

Here's how to play:

*Grab your current read,

*Open to a random page,

*Share a few “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page,

*Please no spoilers!

*Share the title and author.

This week's selection is from Maureen Murdock's 'The Heroine's Journey':

"It is in these moments of being truly vulnerable, however, that we can really grow. Jean Shinoda Bolen says, 'When we are doing something because it is expected of us or to please somebody else or because we are afraid of somebody else, we become further alienated from a sense of living authentically. If we just keep living out a role that we know well, the cost of that is to become increasingly cut off from that which is in the collective unconscious, that which not only nourishes us, but also provides the raw material that allows us to mess up. Very often in transition periods, that's exactly what is called for, a change by going through chaos, of losing the way, of being lost in the forest for some time before we get through and find our path again.'"

I've just started this book that I've wanted to read for years. Published in 1990, Maureen Murdock breaks the male template of the hero's journey according to Joseph Campbell and inserts her own understanding of the wounded contemporary female through her work as a therapist and artist. This passage itself, found by asking for guidance and then opening to a random page, touches me more than I expected.

Happy Mother's Day Cake

 Pinterest (via Williams-Sonoma)

Love this cake! 

And love my mom...

 though she's been gone almost ten years now. 

Enjoy your mom today. 

Enjoy every minute. 

Tell her how much you love her. 

Her love is like no other's

and is irreplaceable. 

Moms, write your kids a note,

a treasure to be found later.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there! 

You deserve the best!

Greek Market Olives~Travelin' Tuesday

I love the color of olives, ripe and unripe. 

These are from the outdoor market under the Palamidi fortress in Nafplion, Greece,

a little tourist destination two hours south of Athens on the Peloponnese.
These would go perfect with some sliced cucumber and tomato,
feta cheese and olive oil.
And a little Greek sunshine.
We finally have some sun here this week.
Hope you are enjoying whatever you've got.
Happy Tuesday!