Musette

Lipstick Queen

2008-05-02T11:08:00.005-05:00

My picks right now are Lipstick Queen's Saint Pink.

Shu Umera Has a line of reds which are suppose to be flattering to all skin types. I have to try it!

Seeing Red...

2008-05-01T19:33:00.007-05:00

This morning while I was perusing the NY Times website this article caught my eye,"Hard Times but Your Lips Look Great". Being a lipstick collector and obsessive balmer this looked like something I must investigate. The gist of the article is that when the economy is hitting the skids, historically, lipstick sales have gone up. It seems when we can't splurge on those spendy new jeans or gorgeous pair of Lanvin flats we can treat ourselves to a great lipstick. So wether it's Chanel or Yves, Petal Pink or Flame Red lipstick is the eternal pick-me-up. Hmm, what will my new summer color be?

Ladies and Gentlemen....

2008-04-05T15:34:00.005-05:00

Anita O' Day. A feast for the eyes and ears. The 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Anita had a reputation for liking a recreational drug every now and again and had been picked up and jailed a couple times by this point in her career. This part of the concert was done on a Sunday morning. She thought people might come and expect to see a disheveled bum so she donned her best hat and her sassiest dress and she knocked 'em dead.

It's a Doris Day day!

2008-04-03T16:47:00.008-05:00

Today the snow is almost all melted ,it's sunny and nearly sixty degrees. Happiness in the air. Doris Day is 84 years old today. I heard that on the radio this morning and I smiled. I thought of how many great films she's made. What great music she's made. She was one of the girl singers with the big bands in the forties. That is forever impressive to me. Growing up I always watched "Pillow Talk" and "That Touch of Mink". My sisters and I would swoon at her wardrobe. She always looked so...fresh. I found out as an adult, what a survivor she was. How much she had lost and never seemed to falter in her optimism. She's passed on her good heart to the care of animals. She's a pretty cool lady. So, Happy Birthday Doris!

calgon take me away....

2008-03-28T21:55:00.002-05:00

Happy friday!

I'm It...

2008-03-23T21:07:00.012-05:00

Tagged by Miss Cavendish(thanks ever so), I will now drone on about the wonders of my world. Personally, I love reading others answers to these questions. I find it as interesting if not more than say....Victoria Beckham ? And I find an absolute thrill in doing the answering. It does take a bit of pondering. I hope I'm not going to answer these too swiftly and betray my authentic self. Right. Carry on Musette. Oh, the images are:(left) the lovely Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver and (right) Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery. I added Carole Lombard because she's pretty and funny. A long time ago...my mother said to me, if I were an actress I would be like Carole Lombard. Dear mother. Ever since that day I've loved her! She had the mouth of a sailor but she was still a lady. That's our connection.

Books I've Read Recently:

1. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers

2 .Lee Miller~A Life by Carolyn Burke

3. The Letters of Noel Coward by Noel Coward & Barry Day

4 .Beauty:The Invisible Embrace by John O'Donohue

5 .Garden People:The Photographs of Valerie Finnis by Ursula Buchanan

6. A Rose for Mrs.Miniver:The Life of Greer Garson by Michael Trojan

7. The Perfect Summer:England 1911,Just Before the Storm by Juliet Nicolson

8 .Lartigue's Riviera by Mary Blume (Unbelievable images)

Things I Frequently Say:

1. "Shut up!" (a la Elaine on Seinfeld)

2." Up, up Goof " (Goof a.k.a. Alice my dog)

3. "Oh dear"

4."Could you rub my back?"

5."If you could be anywhere today?..."

6. "What do you feel like eating?"

7. "Ben?" yes "I love you".

8. "Nice".

Music I Like:

1. Fisherman's Woman Emiliana Torrini

2. August Day Song Bebel Gilberto

3. After Midnight Nat King Cole

4. Mushaboom Feist

5. Sweet Georgia Brown Anita O'Day (the live version from the Newport Jazz Festival 1958)

6. Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grapelli

7. Skylark, Rockin' Chair, Baltimore Oriole Hoagy Carmichael

8. The Way That Young Lovers Do Van Morrison

What I Couldn't Live Without: (no special order)

1. Lip Balm

2. Ben

3. Alice my doggie

4. Hand Lotion

5. Books

6. Imagination

7. Space/Nature

8. Humor

What I'd Love to do Before I Expire:

1.Visit Papa Stour's Bolt Hole

2. Paint a beautiful portrait

3. Speak fluent French

4. Go to Paris with Ben

5. Have a couture gown made for me

6. Own a cabin by a lake/or a stone cottage by the sea

7. Have a flat stomach

8. Write one great sentence (see e.e. cummings )

Style...

2008-03-17T08:52:00.016-05:00

Look at these beautiful smiles. On the bottom left is Rossana Orlandi.( This article was in the Elle Decor UK Jan. 2008). First the face caught my eye and then her words. I love this quote about "style is to be free". She owns a cool shop in Milan. She was a knitwear designer for 30 years and became "tired" of it so she opened her own place of specially chosen pieces(see link at side bar) . The fact that she is beautiful without being traditionally...beautiful. It seems cliche but I wish we were shown more people like her in our media. Real. Unique. Inspiring us to be ourselves as we really are.

The other beauty at the upper right is Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. A beautiful singer. She seems to have an inner peace that makes her luminous. (Read about her life here @ www.bach-cantatas.com/bio/hunt-lorraine.htm.)

Happy Birthday!

2008-03-17T07:21:00.002-05:00

For Patricia on her Birthday.....May your day be filled with the same kind of goodness and beauty you have sprinkled on all of us. Happy Birthday!

My Spring: Part ll

2008-03-14T06:15:00.012-05:00

The second subject I'm drawn to is the mystery of Ireland. I'm Irish and St. Patrick's Day is like a pre-celebration of the first day of Spring. That's the obvious stuff. What goes further is the way the world looks to me when Spring is trying to break through. The snow melts away but everything is still wet. The sky takes on a drama. Light versus dark, and the combination is so moving. The stormy clouds with shards of light coming through and how that light canopies the land just as it's trying to shake off it's winter brown. The smell of rain and thawing soil. The air is soft but the wind is rolling and wild with change. It may be my favorite time of year.

The mystery isn't just in nature's shift. It's that "Irish" feeling. Ancient and deep. Dramatic and sad. Those feelings lead me to the other ways I think about the Irish. The story-telling. The respect of the past. The creative fire that burdens and inspires . Music,poetry and humour.

Recently,through NPR, I discovered a man named John O' Donohue and his words fed me. He speaks of beauty and the soul, of love and intelligence. Yesterday one of his books I ordered came in the mail. I want to share one of the passages......"When we lose sight of beauty our struggle becomes tired and functional. When we expect and engage the Beautiful, a new fluency is set free within us and between us. The heart becomes rekindled and our lives brighten with unexpected courage." (from "Beauty: The Invisible Embrace")/Photo source:Flickr tassie303

My Spring: Part I

2008-03-13T17:38:00.008-05:00

Every year about this time the same thing seems to happen. I am drawn to two main subjects. The first of which is old movies. This is not odd for me by any means. My boyfriend says if I'm watching TV he knows it will either be black & white or British. I can't help it. The odd thing is, it seems to be the same movie for as long as I can remember. "Breakfast At Tiffany's". So before you roll your eyes and think I'm another Audrey Hepburn band-wagoner,hear me out. It's not just about the clothes and how beautiful she is. It's not just the New York setting and cute George Peppard. It's how everything comes together along with... memory. My memories of watching with my sister dreaming of when I could wear my hair up like Audrey. Put on lipstick and go to crazy parties. The vastness of what was ahead! Sitting in the dark with just the tv's light on our faces, my night gown stretched over my knees. There's something about the light and the colors of this movie that makes me feel spring-y. Same with 60's French movies. Catherine Deneuve and Anouk Aimee. Another connected memory. In Spring I want to feel pretty. My image of pretty is the image of my mother when I was growing up. Watching her put on make-up and putting her hair in curlers. Looking back the fashions draw me back to that time.That was beauty and in Spring I'm seeking a fresh beauty and so that's why I return again and again.

So in the coming days if you need a little bump? Buy yourself some tulips and a new lipstick and walk down the street with the spirit of Holly Golightly and think of your own kinds of beauty.

I'm Here!

2008-03-12T09:51:00.003-05:00

Well, after watching all these wonderful bloggers having so much fun I've decided to jump in the game myself. I'm a little nervous but really excited. I hope for at least some of you this can be a place for respite, humour & beauty. So "hello" and hope to talk with you soon....