The Power of Cathy Walsh and Worcester bits...

Cathy never fails to make me smile, laugh out loud or make me feel like maybe I am not thoughtful enough, not even close. Besides being unbelievably creative and original with her floral designs, Cathy Walsh is probably one of the most generous and thoughtful businesswomen in the city. Free wreaths at Christmas, so every business has one............what?

Cathy Walsh is a doer, not a sayer, not a dreamer. She does amazing and incredible things for other people, for the whole city! Now she and a group of rebelrousers she has enlisted are planting flowers around town for the International Sunflower Guerilla Gardening Day, May 1, originating in Brussels, Belgium. They were building the "bombs" tonight in her shop! ( I wish I peeked in the window to see this go down). I can hear the mission impossible music now! Sunflower mud bombs that will be hurled into deserving spots around Worcester. All the Romanians will be so happy. It will feel like home with all the sunflowers blooming. I think I shall plant some myself!

{image via Sprout}

Sprout has earned the Best of Worcester Florist award for the 6th out of 8 years she has been in business. Congratulations to you Cathy and Francoise for all you do to beautify and make people smile. Your work makes people happy at important and special times in their lives. You take full advantage and make every order extra Sprouty!!!

For more info
on the movement and how you can help spread the sunflower love around Worcester,
see Cathy's blog for details.

Congrats also to the other winners of Worcester Magazine's Best of Worcester including Armsby Abbey for 13 awards and Punkystyle for her creative and inspiring fashion adventure blog. Don't miss her next clothing swap here in Worcester. She was Chronicle'd for her swaps in Boston!

Canal District Clothing Swap
Saturday, May 30th, 11am - 4:00pm
Where: 138 Green Street/ Crompton Place

......................

and I saw on
I'm From Worcester.....
Still Green is premiering at Worcester Showcase North.

I like your TUSH and your HICKS

{Tush 138 Green Street Worcester, Massachusetts, photo via Erb Photo's Blog}

{Tush Denim Boutique Worcester, image via Erb Photo}

If you haven't been in to Tush and you are fashionista and jean connoisseur, I highly recommend stopping by located at 138 Green Street Worcester, Massachusetts. Deb Covino and Shannon Gray have put together a collection and taste is top notch and the store is funky and fun, and you have the benefit of personal attention.

Ooh, they also carry the jewelry of Jessica Hicks, who I just love. She is all over Hollywood glam and is based in Nantucket, Massachusetts, but was raised in good ol' Worcester. Now she is hobnobbing with celebs and getting press wherever her designs go. Nice.

{Sarah Jessica Parker with Jessica Hicks image via Jessica Hicks}

{Image of Ali Larter and Brooke Sheilds wearing
Jessica Hicks via Bella Diva Designs}

Pretty sweet, huh? So, what is that? Two amazingly cool designers from Worcester in the last week. Christina Sullivan of Tocar, NYC and Jessica Hicks. I wonder if they played Little League here in town. I don't think the Paula Zawalich Dance Academy would have supported athletic activity, so I believe I shall find out about Jessica. That would just make me smile.

Side note: I was having dinner with friends at Block 5 in Worcester, Covino connection, and our waitress had the most amazing necklace on. She had a nice summer tan and the delicate silvery yumminess just glistened on her neck. I asked her about it and she said, "Oh, my sister's design"...Hicks connection. She returned in a moment with a business card. Good sister, fine jewelry...and the food and drinks rocked, as usual. A good night out in Worcester.

For those of you from afar, Block 5 is across the street from Tush, so a good shop and a tastey treat across the street makes for a great adventure. Mike Covino, Deb's hubby is also part of Niche Hospitality Group, aka Mezcal, Bocado, as well as Block 5 and I hear some new Worcester locations are on the way!!! If you live in Worcester, you know the lowdown. If not, you should visit and stop in any of the 3 locations...you won't be disappointed.

In true Worcester fashion, there are family and friend connections everywhere!

West Side Babe Ruth

West Side Babe Ruth co-State Champs 2008

Our West Side 13 yr. All Stars were left out of last post. Jesse Burkett is the feeder league for most of these boys, who went to States and then New England Regional Tournament last year in Westfield, Massachusetts, battling it out with Westfield. Good times last summer, looking forward to another great season at Logan Field. Matthew is in the front left.

It's the season

{ MA DIST 4 2008 SENIOR CHAMPS
Players: Megan Kasala-Hallinan, Kara Finlay, Kristin Poti, Toni Scola, Caitlin Brosnihan, Catherine Lucy-Meagher, Lauren Kiritsy, Liz Griffin, Kelley Fluet, Colleen Olen, Kristina Latino, Ellie Higgins (first row-left), Laura Madaio, Deanne Jacobson }

Every spring and summer we gear up for outdoor softball and baseball. That means several practices and games per child (2) per week. When your daughter plays on 3 teams, and your son another, that makes for alot of action. We live in the Tatnuck area of Worcester, Massachusetts, which means they have grown up with Jesse Burkett Little League. This league has brought so much to our family and the community here in Worcester.

On any given day of the week, you can head down to Rockwood Field or the A field and find families and friends having fun, playing ball, munching on Burkett fries and watching their kids learn to play ball, never giving up, coming back from major defecits to win big games. As pitchers, my kids were also lucky enough to have learned to work hard under pressure, in front of alot of people, especially at States, when Elle threw the winning game bringing in the winning run on a bunt with two outs! As this public pressure thing puts the fear of God in me, I am full of gratitude for this bonus!

They enrich the kids with a love of the games, the teammates and give them an amazing spirit of the game itself. My children have been coached by some of the most creative and dedicated coaches out there, so I just wanted to post a little cheers to JBLL and thank them for over 10 years of incredible memories. From Ellie's first day of T-Ball to regionals at the senior level, your dedication and commitment have given all of our families the best springs a softball/baseball community has to offer!

JBLL also created a strong base for so many to play highly competitve ASA and AAU, and giving them the skills and foresight to prepare for college ball, while maintaining a commitment to learning and fun. From sending the boys to Willamsport, Pennsylvania for the Little League World Series, and the girls to Albany and Maryland for Junior and Senior Regionals and now hosting Senior Regionals in what will soon be a great new complex here in Worcester, Burkett and the coaches and friends always show them the way. It's not a league, it's a family.

New York City

{image via ffffound}

The National Stationery Show is fast approaching and with the summer-like weather and raging sunshine this weekend, my jealousy is peaking that I can't be in the city this weekend. It seems to always rain for the show and getting a cab in Manhattan in the rain is not fun. My friend, Andreea (aka PR partner) is in the city until Tuesday for the International Beauty Show...........hairdresser haven. She is there making sure the big huge screen doesn't fall down and break the blow dryers for Expert Satellite. Have some Soho fun for me, Dre. I am there with you in spirit.

Tocar Interior Design

{image via DECORATI Access Interior Designs Magazine}

{images via Tocar}

From her hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, Christina Sullivan ventured to New York City and now has become one of the youngest and most talented designers to watch! In partnership with Susan Bednar Long, whom she met working at Polo Ralph Lauren. She struck out on her own after Polo, attaining impressive clients including one of my favs, Donna Karan. Imagine designing for DK? Before connecting with Susan and founding Tocar, a Spanish word meaning to influence or to touch, she was already well on her way.

Keeping her on my radar, I knew Christina was in New York designing. With my love for design she kept me inspired...I heard that she was at Polo, then Hilfiger. It had been her dream since we were girls in dance school here in Worcester. We worked in retail together as well, at G.W. Walrus in the old Worcester Center Galleria. There was a lot of talk of fashion, design and music...her love for U2 ran deep. I recall her resourcefulness even then, trying to meet Bono with a connection of her grandmother's neighbor. We had a great time there, I think she owes me one, because I worked the day of the concert for her, after standing in line to buy the tix. I recall her having a swatchbook even then. We were no more than seventeen.

One day, perusing Elle Decor, I flipped open a page and there she was! So I immediately tried to find her. Her design firm reflects the aesthetic she has always had, even as a young girl, elegant, polished with every detail attended to.

Check out the link, they have been mentioned in every design mag possible. Congratulations Christina and Susan. I hope to see you when we head out to NYC for the National Stationery Show in a few weeks!

Tocar Interior Design
165 Madison Ave, Suite 500 New York, New York, 10016 USA 212-779-0037 info@tocardesign.com
www.tocardesign.com

1stdibs has a great slideshow showcasing Tocar's work.

Featuring the artwork of Jella Verelst

{image via Zentangle via Jella Verelst}

Zentangle inspired artwork by Jella Verelst, of Kalmthout, Belgium. Jella recently came to the US for the Zentangle certification seminar, where I saw many of her amazingly intricate designs. She is inspirational and an enthusiastic creative I was very fortunate to meet.

Now is a the perfect time to learn how to Zentangle. It provides relaxation and a complete satisfaction. Not too many things in this world give you that. I can promise you, Zentangle does. Once introduced, you will find yourself looking for 15 minutes to complete one.

Invitation Inspiration

Here are a few of my new designs. By Michelle May for Checkerboard, photographed by Adoniram Sides for our Paper Bouquet Wedding Collection.

Depending on your personal style, you can find the most unique and exciting invitations.

{Modern Alchemy’s scented candles via Lovely Package}

Good candles can be pretty pricey, this package would make me consider any price. Honestly, it has perfect shelf appeal, in fact, it does not belong on a shelf. It deserves to be saved, both the box and the candle. How could you take a flame to that pretty thing?

It's circa 1970 and and we have Aunt Rosie's couch with the plastic still on it, in the room where children can only go when photographing the Easter picture in the Sunday finery...it's that good. I want to touch the box, and maybe smell it (the box and the candle) too.

Sidebar, visit Modern Alchemy, be patient and you will not be disappointed. Lush, details have been attended to.

{student work FIT via Lovely Package}

{vodka via lovely package and ffffound}

Don't forget to check out the next post, visit THE RED ROOM
and comment back for a chance to win cool handmade earrings.

Prelude to the Red Room

“Red is the color of passion and desire- that is the crux of this project – my passion and desire to create beautiful images.” - Scott Erb

This is a taste of The Red Room Project, Scott Erb's follow up project to the 20 Artists of Worcester. Recently posted were new images, that are just completely stunning...so I could not resist the share, a prelude to an in depth post on the photographer Scott Erb and the subjects, as they push the boundaries and creative limits of the red room. Enjoy.

Visit
THE RED ROOM
...
and come back here and post a comment,
and be entered to win a pair of handmade earrings!

Bali Heaven continued

{all images via living etc.}

I am so in love with this place. I almost can't stand it. It is the sweetest creative environment that I think I've ever seen. The colors and subtle drama really evoke the organic and eclectic style that I crave in everything from food to fashion. Annelie Audureau and her husband, Jean-Jacques, the creators of this eco-friendly heaven have gotten inside my creative brain and run wild. I love their free spirited approach to everything.

In my town and in my world I find that, I step into people's homes and they are interchangeable. Apples or chickens and roosters in the kitchen, standard items. Put it this way, I just never fit in. My children's friends and their parents who would come into my home, not knowing much about me, would step into the kitchen and kind of do the "i am not looking around at what is on the walls" routine.

Upon my walls are photographs taken by my friends on world adventures, paintings by my admired artists friends, art created by my children and myself along with various collected artifacts. They have all received the single eyebrow raise from those who put apples in their kitchen. Don't get me wrong I love apples and paint alot of them in fact...for our Jewish New Year cards. Those apples pretty much rock. Done right, apples on your kitchen walls could rock. A chartreuse apple on a nice sepia wall with a little gold silk screen action would do justice to the apple. Bottom line, the cock and the apple need a new vibe.

Kick some color and originality into your life...today. Sorry apple and ah, chicken lovers. You won't find them in my kitchen, but your children will have their eyes opened to some really great art and photography. All the while saying that they can't believe my friends "can make that". When they ask lots of questions about the artists and where they live, what they do and how they do it, I will think of myself as a little cultural contributor to the free spirit world. I am not your average mama so please don't look for my apples.

Eco friendly in Bali

{ all images via living etc. UK}

I could really be in heaven in this laid back Bali beach house, made from recycled materials, some like the roof were traded by the builder for a brand new roof. The Asian and international spirit, the bohemian flair, and the completely laid back cottage aesthetic are really appealing to me.

Flora Fauna

{flora images: first two via sprout, cherry blossoms via decorno}

My magnolia buds haven't grown in 2 weeks. Hopefully today will give them a boost. Happy spring day to everyone in the North East who has been waiting and waiting for warmth. Enjoy the sun. Play hookie. Have an ice cream cone. Watch a little league game. Go for a walk.

Enjoy your Friday!

Live in the sunshine,

swim the sea, drink the wild air…

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Simple Pleasures

I have been thinking alot about simple pleasures. Little things that make life amazing, sometimes ecstatically amazing. A friend once taught me to look at the little things. Look around you and stop taking it all for granted pretty much...without words mind you. The example was amazing and humbling to me. I never really looked at the world the way he was describing it to me. I never saw what he was seeing and I felt pretty much ripped off that my eyes had been closed. So from that point on, they have been wide open and my world is a richer and more exciting place because of this experience. That is what happened to me.

Recently, I have been thinking about the small wonders in life and thinking that sometimes I am so busy that it is very easy to miss a lot of juicy tidbits. Distraction and blurred focus can do some damage to the small pleasure detectors. So I decided to lock and load mine and really focus on the small fun things................
Like: Watching my baby learn to speak and the little mispronunciations that make us all warm inside. Watching her discover the world. Listening to my son practice his guitar. Listen to my son play his baby sister's eucalali. Watching my big daughter pitch 9 innings and walk off the field with a big smile on her face, even though they lost by a run. Watching the sunset and all the amazing colors look like a surreal painting and not natures art at all. Listening to children play. Watching our 20 month old obsess over her green froggy boots that she must change into several times a day. Listening to the ocean. Feeling the warm sun on your face after a long winter. Cooking for the people I love.

These are just a few days worth of thoughts. I am wondering what your favorite moments are. Comment back here and let us know what else I am missing or haven't thought of...

{ps the little one, Soleil was on my lap as I wrote, she saw the image load and ran off. I heard her mooing over something, so I looked to find her struggling with her Robeez in frustration and next to her on the floor, the froggy boots laid, waiting for her attention. Life is sweet.}

Colors of Spring in the Netherlands

Fields of tulips via the style-files are just making me insanely amazed at the neat rows of natural color. Flowers are truly an unbelievably valuable gift of nature. Just wow! Visit the style files for more amazing images.

Sit in reverie,

and watch the changing color of the waves

that break upon the idle seashore

of the mind.

~ Longfellow ~

Pushing the Envelope

Handlettering by Paul Shaw via typornography and eye blog. Ha! I am so consistent in what I love it scares me sometimes! I was searching for more of Paul's work and hit on myfonts to learn that he is the designer of Beata, Donatello, Cresci, which has the descending Q like Trajan that I adore, and Pontif, which may just be my new obsession. It's so New Yorker W /tombstone-ish Roman.

I realize I need to learn alot more about type and its origins. I use type all day. I should know who designed them and when.

Happy Easter

{image via martha}

Today is the day of Easter egg decorating at our house.
Happy Easter and I hope everyone's Passover is wonderful!

Oh Black Betty...

{yeah, the high spartan balenciaga via departement feminin in black...ooo}
I don't know where I could wear these around town, thank god I can't afford them...a girl can dream!

{villeroy-boch memento new glory washbasin via trendir}

{jaliska black glass tablewear via trendir}

{another spartan indulgence via departement feminin}

I don't know who would use this product, but I found it on decorno a while ago, and archived it just because it was too funny to pass up. Some things you should just let go.

Her quote"Seriously. I don't have time to make the carpet match the curtains. I am too old for this shit." I am a big fan of decorno, so if you haven't checked it out yet, please do so.