There Is A Light...

I love me some Gibb Brothers.

They show up in many forms and many places, in some way or another.


It can look like this:

(To Love Somebody, written by Barry and Robin Gibb)

OR it can look like this:

My love is deep.

Happy Friday my friends!

Inspiration Wednesday: Goethe

"That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has Genius, Power and Magic in it. Begin it now."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe






What leap of faith have you taken, and how did it work out?

November 2

Ladies, don't take it for granted. The 19th amendment, which guaranteed all women the right to vote, was not certified until 1920. If you're not good at math, let me point out that that was less than 100 years ago.

Suffrage Atelier, 1913

For our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers who marched in the streets, despite being  assaulted and thrown in jail, who fought to be considered first-class citizens under the Constitution, please go vote today.

Don't know where your polling place is? Click here.

Have a question? Call the California Voter Hotline: 1-800-345-8683

Inspiration: Sister Corita

I can not wait for Aaron Rose's documentary on Sister Corita Kent to come out. It's called "Become a Microscope". WHEN IS IT COMING OUT?!  

Corita Kent was a Catholic nun, an artist and an activist who taught at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles in the 1950's and 60's. She found inspiration in pop culture and American consumerism and then juxtaposed that imagery alongside spiritual texts to protest racsim, poverty and the Vietnam War. Naturally the Catholic church didn't always like this, and the head of the Los Angeles archdiocese, Cardinal McIntyre, called Corita a "guerilla with a paintbrush". That's guerrilla, not GO-rilla. 

Sister Corita , If I, 1969. Screen print. (© Corita Art Center)

Sister Corita,  Love Justice. Silkscreen.

In "Become a Microscope", Aaron Rose uses archival 16mm footage shot in the 1960's as well as interviews with Sister Corita's former students and colleagues to show her unique perspective about looking beyond the surface of things and finding beauty in the mundane. 

She said "Love the moment and the energy of the moment will spread beyond all boundaries." Good stuff.

Tuesday is Fantasy Day!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a model-turned-painter and to have a country house in Upstate New York that you share with your talented photographer boyfriend and your adorable dog and you have a garden from which you prepare lunch and you look annoyingly cute in cut-off shorts and a big t-shirt and your house has that perfect bohemian artist quality without being too dirty or disorganized and you have time to work on your art and wander around the garden like a little woodland fairy? Me too. 

Wonder no longer. Thanks Todd Selby. 

That's Dan Martensen and Shannan Click. Jerks.

Gilda Speaks

"I can always be distracted by love, but eventually I get horny for my creativity." 

— Gilda Radner

Steve McQueen

The Fantasy Home

Dually inspired by the fantasy of moving out of the cramped, funky (like bad-funky), dark apartment we're living in now and moving in somewhere light-filled and spacious (spacious meaning Andrew can't spread his arms and simultaneousy touch opposing walls in the bedroom), I've been spending a lot of time looking at interior design and architecture blogs. This house made me pee in my pants a little bit, so I thought I'd share.  Courtesy of Dwell.

I love the earthy colors and and vintage furniture mixed with the modern materials choices. And that pink canvas on the concrete wall! Full on.

There are floor to ceiling windows that open to this view. Yes, please.

If you're an artist and you live in a house like this, you have to have a record player.

If I lived here, I think there would be a lot of magic happening. I'm just saying. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Eloise as Inspiration

"Getting bored is not allowed."

-Kaye Thompson

Eloise reminds me 

to be a little audacious

to embrace our peculiarities

to be a good listener

to get a little exercise now and then

and to dismiss the idea of perfection.


Thanks, Eloise.

"Eloise" was written by Kaye Thompson and beautifully illustrated by Hilary Knight. 

Finding Fall Here

Let me give it to you straight: I think Summer is over. All through the marine-layer laden last few months, I was holding the hope in my heart that we would have a killer Indian Summer come September, but alas, I almost froze to death in my quilt-less bed last night, and now I'm looking out the window at a dull grey sky.

But let's not dwell on the negative now, shall we? 

I actually adore Fall. Growing up in a place without true seasons, I looked to a venerable and highly revered source to learn about Fall: The J. Crew catalog. And I learned that it meant cuddling on the couch with my dog and my handsome husband at the Lake House in my Cashmere Popover Hoodie in Burnt Sienna, reading the newspaper, drinking coffee,  having perfect teeth and a lot of fun.

Oh you marketing geniuses at J. Crew. 

My feeble and impressionable mind still clings to these imaginary scenarios which will be forever burned into my brain, and I get very excited when the weather turns cold, which here in Santa Barbara means 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Much to the chagrin of my 17 year old self, I didn't grow up to live in a J. Crew catalog,  but there are certain things to do around town that help me get in the Fall mindset:

Knit and Pearl Boutique

I don't know about you, but I know it's Fall when I have the urge to start knitting. This year I'm determined  to learn to make something  other than  a scarf (like maybe a blanket?). Knit and Pearl Boutique has beautiful natural fiber yarns and offers an array of classes as well as Knitting Social Nights every Monday. Check out their blog for updates and classes.

5 E. Figueroa St., Santa Barbara

My Fall Heaven

The French Press

I find a very strong cup of coffee can be just as helpful as prescription drugs  when Seasonal Affective Disorder kicks in, so you will probably find me hanging out at The French Press sipping on one of these:

Amanda S., via Yelp

 1101 State Street, Santa Barbara

The French Press serves Verve Coffee which is actually french-pressed and everyone who works there is friendly and artsy-looking. If you squint your eyes, you could pretend you're in Austin or Portland. They have two patios where you can read, write, or pretend to read and write while people watching. 

The  Santa Barbara Public Library

September will always remind me of going back to school, even as I'm approaching 30, but now I get to read for pleasure rather than homework. I love libraries (it's FREE!) and frequently boast about my collection of library cards hailing from San Francisco to Albuquerque to Grenoble. Having a lot of library cards means I'm very intelligent.

The Santa Barbara Central Library has it's own distinct brand of cool and (besides books) offers everything from muttering homeless people to hip librarians (check out the staff picks blog!) to an extensive music selection. The have a lovely Great Room to curl up and read in, but disinfect the chair first and don't fall asleep or you'll get kicked out. 

This is not the Santa Barbara Library

This is the Santa Barbara Library.

I barely got to break out my bikini this past summer, but I'm going to just accept it and move on. Now it's time for writing, reading, cooking soup, knitting and general hibernation. What is it about Fall that makes me feel so domestic? Did I really just say cooking? 

This time with you, dear reader, has been lovely, but I must get back to the cabin now to look thoughtfully out the window and write love letters to my handsome and scholarly boyfriend in a comfortable Heather Grey Schoolboy Blazer. Talk to you soon.

Love,
Meg

Weekend Inspiration: Finding Love Here

I woke up so full of love this morning! I had a "smile in my heart", if you will. I've never been a zippity-do-da kind of gal, but sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the beauty and love and friends in my life, and it makes me want to whistle a happy tune. It makes me want to smile at strangers. It makes me want to throw on a simple white cotton dress and ride around on a bicycle with Andrew singing "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" in the soft light of the countryside.

So, Love is my inspiration today, and that video reminded me that I love Paul Newman. What a hunk.

His 50 year marriage to Joanne Woodward was remarkable, and obviously an anomaly in Hollywood. Paul was quoted as saying their marriage lasted "because of great impatience tempered by patience. When you have been together this long, sometimes you drive each other nuts, but underneath that is some core of affection and respect." (Source: Nancy Griffin, "Newman's Luck",  AARP Magazine, 6/2005)

It was rumored that Joanne was engaged to Gore Vidal before she married Paul, but Vidal later claimed that it was just a stunt to capture Paul's attention. Yeah girl! I'm glad that worked out for ya.

She said of their marriage: "sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, that's a real treat" (Simrhan Khurana, quotations.about.com). Andrew frequently makes me laugh so hard that I fart, or pee in my pants, or both, so I know what she means.

After being asked how he stayed faithful to Joanne, Newman is famous for saying: "why go out for a hamburger when you have a steak at home?" Ain't that sweet?


I learned about Paul and Joanne's altruism through my mom, who for several years, took a group of kids from her school district in East Salinas to the  Hole In The Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut. It's a non-profit camp for children with cancer, started by Paul and Joanne 20 years ago, with the intention of creating a place where  sick kids could reclaim some of their youth and "raise a little hell". You should really click on that link above to find out more about the camp-- what they do there is so inspiring.

My mom stood next to Paul at the salad bar in the cafeteria once.  She said he was probably 80 years old, but he still made her knees weak. It could have been those famous blue eyes. But a man committed to his wife with a kind heart and a sense of humor? That would make my heart flutter any day.

Here's another inspiring couple that was in "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid":

Sam Elliot  was an extra while Katherine Ross' character was busy choosing between Robert Redford and Paul Newman (who would you  choose? I lie awake nights pondering this. Please discuss in the comment section.) He said "I was just a glorified extra. Being an extra, I wasn't going to accost the leading lady, although I sure watched her work a lot." I'm sure you did, Sam.

Well he had to wait a few years, but they've been married since 1984. 

My mom and I attended a party in a very rural part of Carmel Valley and the Ross-Elliots were there. (Hang out with my mom, you'll probably meet a heart throb.) I was introduced to Katherine and I said "you look so familiar, do you come into r.g. Burgers a lot?" My only frame of reference for recognizing people at the time was having waited on them. She replied with a grin "no, I just have one of those faces." My mom's friend overheard the whole thing and pulled me aside, hissing through her teeth "That's Katherine Ross! You know, from The Graduate???" 'What the heck was she doing at a party on a ranch in Cachagua?' I wondered to myself. Then I saw Sam and swooned. I mean he looked just like this, so I guess maybe he really is a cowboy.

Speaking of swooning:

In other news, I'm thinking of taking up Ping Pong.

Don't even get me started on Robert Redford. No seriously, don't. I'm trying to write a blog post about love here, not post gratuitous photos of hot babes. I think.

But back to my point, I'm just a big ol' dork for love right now. I'm in it. With Andrew, with my friends, with Santa Barbara.

I feel like that annoying John Mayer monologue from "Where the Light Is". Not that I have that album and listen to it all the time or anything. Not that I inadvertently memorized the part where he says "So I'm gonna experiment with this love thing. Giving love. Feeling love. I know it's corny but it's the last thing I've got to check out before I check out." Oh John, you're so simultaneously fascinating and full of shit.

A real lover.

SO! My mission for myself and my mission for you, my dear and faithful reader, is to go out and focus on all the things that bring you love this weekend. Whether it's romantic love, friend love, pet love or love of shirtless men in cutoffs playing ping pong, feel it! Focus on it. Hold it. It's a big beautiful world out there, ready to fill you up with wonder, if you let it.

** For the sake of the blog, Andrew loaned me his old camera and is very patiently teaching me how to use it. I went to the park near our house yesterday and caught some sweet moments, I think. Pardon the beginning photography. 

Lindsay and Prada: Pet love!

Cute kid and ducks love!

Insert pun here.

Love Meghan

Champagne wishes and RPV dreams

Last Friday Andrew and I headed south to Rancho Palos Verdes for a weekend-long wedding bonanza for his friends Brian and Erica. He was in the wedding, so thanks to Erica's very generous parents, we got to stay at the Terranea for two nights. Holy high rolling! 

Brian and Erica

I have always been fascinated by the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Sandwiched between Torrance and Long Beach, the area always struck me as a diamond in the rough that is Los Angeles.  It's easy to forget you're in the smoggiest city west of the Mississippi when you're surrounded by wild peacocks, open space and a rugged, beautiful coastline.

Mary Donovan

I read a little bit about the history of PV before we left and my imagination got all fired up!

The Palos Verdes Yacht Club (not sure if it ever actually existed, but it looks great)

I read that Myrna Loy and Ethel Barrymore used to attend lavish parties at Villa Narcissa, which still belongs to the Vanderlip Family, the original developers of the area. Old school Los Angeles Glamour! Oh the magic I would find in Palos Verdes!

Villa Narcissa,  Courtesy of Palos Verdes Peninsula Library District

Myrna Loy!

 The wedding attire was formal,  so naturally I had a neurotic crisis about what to wear. In looking for inspiration, I started thinking about Myrna and other movie stars of the 1920's and 30's.

I was thinking Great Gatsby! 

And the Roaring 20's!

I also had an at-home-coloring fiasco last week and I have black hair now. I thought I'd make hair-lemonade and work with it.

 How cute is Nancy Carroll?!

I watched numerous tutorials on YouTube trying to learn how to do a "finger wave". I was obsessed! I borrowed a curling iron! I bought bobby-pins! I had great big dreams. 

But my inherent laziness  won out, and I pulled a total cheater maneuver and just stuck a bunch of bobby-pins in there. I may have curled two strands, so all the room that the curling iron used up in my suitcase wasn't a total loss.

And lucky for me, a girl can't look bad when she's got a hunky man in a tuxedo on her arm:

Andrew's Mom loaned me the strand of pearls at the last second. Good call, Marion.

Of course, Erica looked stunningly beautiful.

Although I prefer this look on her.

There was an 80's cover band!

So of course this happened.

Looking deeply into Andy Dick's eyes...

Nicole is such a fashion maven. She matched her glasses with her beautiful dress. Hawt!

Love was all around us that night. Jarrod and Katy were really feeling it.

True Love!

See? It's true. E+B = heart.

Thanks Erica and Brian for a fantastic weekend. I wish you all the happiness in the world and a long, wonderful life together!