May 2022 in Pictures

"I think it annoys God if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." — Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Currently • May 2022

“All things seem possible in May.” — Edwin Way Teale

READING:

• Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty — “New York Times author and journalist, Anderson Cooper, chronicles the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty—his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts” (Goodreads).

• Sweet Paris: Seasonal Recipes from an American Baker in France by Frank Adrian Barron — “Inspired by the tradition of l'heure du goûter, a daily French tradition similar to British teatime, and autour de la table, the idea of gathering around the table with good friends and delicious food, Sweet Paris is a love letter to the sublime world of desserts and the City of Light” (Goodreads). I don’t even bake, but I really liked this book.

• Beautiful Little Fools — “Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. It is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled” (Goodreads).

WATCHING:

• My Next Guest Needs No Introduction (Netflix) — I’ve never been a big fan of David Letterman nor of many of this guests, but this show is really interesting and I have found a new respect for many of these people. And I still love George Clooney.

• Downton Abbey: A New Era — The costumes and the scenery were beautiful, especially the villa in the South of French.

FEELING: Tired and eager to be done. Enough said.

ENJOYING:

• Springtime in my garden

• A wonderful spring weekend in Door County, enjoying the cherry blossoms and wild flowers. We had coffee and cocktails and watched beautiful views and sunsets from our porch in Ephraim. We enjoyed beverages and delicious meals at The Inn at Cedar Crossing (walleye sandwich), SBYC, Clover & Zot (tempura artichoke hearts cilantro chutney and yogurt za’atar), Chives (brunch board, croque monsieur, macarons), Fika (cherry blossom latte and cardamom roll), and Barringers (prime truffle burger).

• Dressing the Abbey at the Charles Allis Museum

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

• The end of the school year — 8 more days for me

• A trip to Universal Studios with the Larsons in June

PLANNING:

• Spring Break in Paris — The dates are set and the airline tickets are purchased. I’m currently searching for places to stay and curating lists of new-to-me restaurants, shops, and attractions. It will be so wonderful to be back after 3.5 years away.

Door County - Spring 2022

"Spring is far more than just a changing of seasons; it's a rebirth of the spirit." — Toni Sorenson

Tiny, perfect forget-me-nots in Peninsula State Park

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Like walking in a fairy tale

Pure white trillium (harder to find after Friday afternoon’s storm)

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Iconic Door County cherry blossoms at Seaquist Orchards in Sister Bay

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Every variety of violet, Wisconsin’s state flower

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Elusive lady slipper orchids in Ellison Bay Bluff County Park

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Wild strawberry blossoms, wild columbine, white forget-me-nots, yellow bellflowers

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Ferns and funghi

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“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” — Thoreau

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We had coffee and cocktails and watched beautiful views and sunsets from our porch in Ephraim. We enjoyed beverages and delicious meals at The Inn at Cedar Crossing (walleye sandwich), SBYC, Clover & Zot (tempura artichoke hearts with cilantro chutney and yogurt za’atar), Chives (brunch board, croque monsieur, macarons), Fika (cherry blossom latte and cardamom roll), and Barringers (truffle burger).

My Wildflower Garden 2022

“If all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wildflowers.” — St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Bloodroot

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White Trillium

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Virginia Bluebells and Brunnera

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White Bleeding Hearts, May Apples, Ferns

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Violets

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Heptica

Dressing the Abbey MKE

"I don't know why we bother with corsets. Men don't wear them and they look perfectly normal in their clothes" — Lady Sybil Crawley, Downton Abbey

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“Dressing the Abbey features 35 beautiful costumes from the internationally acclaimed television series Downton Abbey. Each costume represents a moment in the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their staff, who lived on the Downton Abbey estate. This fictional series follows members of the household from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 through the first World War and into the summer of 1927.

The end of the Edwardian era, at the outset of the first World War, marks dramatic shifts in both the lives of the English aristocracy and the fashions they wore. By the end of the war years, the grand Yorkshire estate of Downton Abbey seemed like an old relic in the norm-busting era of the Roaring Twenties.

With societal change came new fashion, especially for the young women of Downton. Shorter hair and hemlines replaced corseted silhouettes and long skirts. Women began to engage in politics and social causes.

Inspired by period fashion plates, magazines, paintings, patterns, and photographs, the exhibition’s wardrobe is a mixture of old and new designs. Some costumes were custom made for the series. Others are original period pieces. A few costumes in the exhibition were created by the award-winning London-based costumiers, CosProp.”

The Charles Allis English Tudor-style mansion, designed by Alexander Eschweiler — a prominent local architect and completed in 1911, is at once elegant with its marble hall and staircase, functional with this cutting-edge lighting and plumbing, and whimsical with its basement bowling alley. I lived across the street from the museum for two years in the mid-1990s and never visited until last year. It’s certainly worth a tour even after the Dressing the Abbey exhibit closes after this weekend.

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Links I Love • May 2022

"Purple puts us in touch with the part of ourselves that is regal. Purple is the queen in all women; it helps us keep our backs straight and heads held high." — Byllye Avery

• “Very Peri” Pantone’s Color of the Year 2022 Around the World

• The 10 Most Beautiful Villages To Stay in Provence, France - I’ve visited Cassis, Èze, and Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

• Best Flea Markets in Paris for Bargain Shopping - I hope to discover Vanves on my next visit. (More on that later!)

• The "Best" of Paris: Some favorite dining and eating places in Paris according to David Lebovitz

• La Galerie Dior — This new fashion exhibit is on my Paris to-do list.

• Home is a Cup of Tea — This is lovely.

• I am really eager to see this movie this summer.

• The Audrey Hepburn Guide to Paris because “Paris is always a good idea.” — AH

• Calatrava Revisits His Iconic Milwaukee Design, 20+ Years Later