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One of the most memorable and moving moments for Rick during our honeymoon, was understandably when he craned his neck to view the masterpiece that is the Sistine Chapel. We could have stayed for there for hours, even days, soaking it all up and taking it all in. Almost too much for the senses!
I loved it too. But my moment of truth and beauty came at the little-known Capuchin Crypt. This is a small crypt, unassumingly tucked away off one of Rome’s busiest streets. It is decorated (if decorated is the word) with the bones of hundreds of monks. Painstakingly arranged in beautiful patterns. I wanted to write about it, but then found this eloquent blog post from The Life of a Lost Muse, that did it for me: http://thelifeofalostmuse.blogspot.com/2010/05/capuchin-crypt.html
Thanks for putting it into words. So beautiful, heartbreaking, and such a useful reminder of our tiny place on the earth. I unearthed a few more pictures from Google images that i wanted to share (photography was not allowed inside):
Turns out our honeymoon delivered more than an endless stream of the world’s best cappuccino and most delicious gelato. It also delivered a much-needed creative shot in the arm. A dose of inspiration, in terms of color that slaps you around the face, an awe-inspiring sense of history (enough to remind you of how small your place in the world really is) and in shapes that would intrigue and delight even the most ardent minimalist fan.
So, after my favorite colors of Italy, here are some of my favorite shapes. Shout out to our beautiful hotel in Amalfi, the Luna (an old convent), for providing most of these, although the Vatican museums were kind enough to donate a few…
During our fabulous Italian honeymoon, color was one of the things that made me feel alive again. Even in San Francisco, the city by the bay, with a riot of natural beauty all year round, day to day life can sometimes prevent you from living in full color. I realized this when we got to London on the first leg of our trip, and I realized that most of my clothes were variations on black stretchy cotton. So sad! Yes, kinda stylish, but a little sad too.
So, i was delighted and inspired by the range of color on display – some natural, some not, some vivid, some muted. Here are my favorites:
I’ve been struck down by the same plague that seems to be circling my office like a grumpy vulture. Streaming eyes and nose, aching jaw and head, and a throat that feels like sandpaper. After a day spent trying to recuperate (but in reality, trying to do a little work so that i wouldn’t find myself buried for the rest of the week), i needed a little inspiration. So i turned to my bedroom wall (from where i write this, prone, with pillows!), and was cheered by this beautiful Georgia O’Keefe print, an abstract rose. Rick and I bought this last year after her SF MoMa exhibit, and have only just got around to hanging it in our new place. I get endless amounts of joy from looking at it, so was today’s ray of light:
(Georgia O’Keefe, Abstraction White Rose, 1927)
Rick and I are finally moved into our new apartment and it’s slowly starting to look great. The emphasis is on slowly though! And no matter how hard we tried, we still arrived at our new place with more clutter than we knew what to do with.
But the next few weeks and months will see us start the endless process of ‘tweaking’. Now that everything is in place, we now need to make everything look great.
For inspiration, i turned to a very stylish pair of friends, Jess and Tim, who have managed to capture their diverse styles and eclectic tastes together into a cohesive whole in their London apartment.
I hope they don’t mind me sharing some of the design elements that make their space so cool, and won’t mind when Rick and I start ‘reflecting’ them in our own place! Flattery guys, flattery!
On the first day of a new decade, I kind of like this juxtaposition between the old (yes, red mailboxes still exist in small English villages!), and the new – the stunning exterior of the Bull Ring shopping mall in Birmingham.
