Jonathan Adler Needlepoint

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I’ve never been a great fan of Jonathan Adler’s stuff before, but have to admit to hugely liking his new needlepoint pillows.

There’s a great photoshoot of his Palm Beach house in August’s Elle Decoration UK where we can see the pillows in action.

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I’m thinking that mod lady with too much eyeshadow would look very fine on here, once we’ve got round to painting the wall.

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Oh and extra points to anyone who can tell me where to source that light fitting hanging above the purple chair (with the green curtain behind).

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The Very Definition of Pleasure

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Well I knew they were irresistible, so I didn’t even bother resisting. Here’s what arrived in the mail the other day and they’re even more beautiful in person than they are online. 

The covers are stunning and the paper inside is smooth and expensive.

There really is nothing more satisfying than a beautifully-made book, particularly when you discover that Valley of the Dolls has somehow metamorphosed from being the trashy book you read for the sex scenes as a teenager, into a great classic of feminist literature and can therefore be read without guilt.

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The Cabin in the Mountains

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This weekend was spent swimming in crisp, emerald lakes; listening to the wind in the aspens; messing about in boats; gazing in awe at the Milky Way and Jupiter’s moons through a telescope; hunting Sasquatch in the woods and swinging on Sky chairs…

.. all courtesy of our lovely friends who have just acquired a rather luxurious log cabin in a valley near Leavenworth. 

Sometimes we are very, very lucky indeed.

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Wii Fit and Paul McKenna Weight Loss Challenge – Update

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Two weeks ago

Well here’s a quick update on my ‘progress’.

Apart from a couple of days off when I went camping, I’ve been Wii Fitting every day and also following the Paul McKenna eating guidelines, though not doing the self-hypnosis CD very often.

And I’ve managed to lose a grand total of 0.8lbs in two weeks. I also think that when I peer at the photos above, my hips and mid-section look a wee bit trimmer – a testament to all the frantic stationary hula-hooping I’ve been doing.

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Here’s my BMI according to Wii Fit. My immediate goal is to get out of the ‘obese’ category. I’m actually quite pleased with my progress so far, as I’ve been socialising so much recently, so I’m going to keep going for another two weeks.

Here are some specific thoughts:

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God, I love this machine.  It’s fascinating to see how much more addictive it is than normal exercise – just because you get to set ‘records’, compete with others in the family and have your progress monitored in a very precise way.

The yoga and strength exercises focus very much on developing balance and core muscles and I do think my posture has improved. I’ve been doing strength training once a week with a trainer and she’s been noticing that I do appear to be noticeably stronger.

People have been scathing about the aerobic exercises, but I’m certainly sweaty and exhausted after I’ve finished doing them.  I love the rhythm boxing, find the hula-hooping to be hugely hard work, and it’s scary to me that I seem to prefer jogging in place on my rebounder following a cartoon dog round a cartoon island than going out in the fresh air and jogging outside. 

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Well, if it does end up working it will be fabulous, because I can’t tell you how much I’ve been enjoying my food these last couple of weeks.  I’ve noticed that when I follow my body my eating patterns change a lot.  I eat more in the mornings and more after exercise, but then really only want to eat a very small supper.  That’s been the biggest challenge for me so far – making delicious food to eat in the evenings and then realising I can only have a very small portion. I’ve been very good at eating when I’m hungry (what a pleasure that’s been), very good at eating what I want to eat (I’ve been eating crisps!), moderately good at savouring what I’m eating, but still need to work (a lot) on stopping when I’m full.  

I’m also finding it scary but motivating posting pictures up on the Internet, so you’re all going to have to put up with wobbly fat pictures for a bit longer.

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The Lab

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This month’s Lab is tonight at Velocity’s South Lake Union showroom as usual. 

It features Lauren and Emira talking about their book and website The Boss of You which markets itself as ‘everything a woman needs to know to start, run, and maintain her own business.’

I really hope to be there – I feel like I’ve lost my ‘mirrormirror‘ mojo in recent months and need to be reinspired –  though at the moment it’s not entirely clear to me how I will manage to fit it in between unpacking, laundry, repacking (we’re off to our friends’ cabin in the mountains this weekend), Rolfing, training and er, actually working on my business.

Another date for your diary is the next Lab on August 20th which is entitled Bring + Brag   – a show and tell night for local creative people to showcase their art, products, or business. 

I know that some people who read this blog fit into this category, so this is a golden opportunity to ‘market’ yourself and your wares to an audience of Seattle creatives, retailers and bloggers among others.

If you want to take part then email the lovely Ali at Velocity and I look forward to seeing you next month.

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