waltz me like a cupcake at a tea party

photo by P., cupcakes by her (wow) mom

by studio violet

by ever-lasting sprout

from hello sandwich

thank you pippi. thank you ffffound.

The sun shone down for two consecutive days until, right around 6 o'clock, the skies opened up and it rained straight down. When it stopped and the steel sky mixed with the light of the end of the day and lit up all the flowers and the grass and all the green, it was like a measured decision to push the envelope of the gorgeousness of the day with just a little more gilt, a little more decoration, a little more sugar on top.

And suddenly all of the images I am drawn to, and the sunshine and the rain and the pressure of designing a new collection are tweaking my maximilist tendencies, whispering, "don't worry... just add a little more...push everything as far as you want to go and don't hold back...the rest will follow"...

Bad with Names, Great with Faces

not the actor that stopped by my stand at the Brooklyn Flea

At the Brooklyn Flea on Saturday, an incredibly handsome British actor stopped at my stand and, even though I had no idea what his name was and could not remember what I had seen him in, I pretended not to be starstruck. I think it was Sex and the City. Or some incredibly innocuous romantic comedy that I watch as a reward for my brain. He was blonde and chiseled and had a gajillion dollar smile:

Handsome British Actor: "Wow, these are just lovely..what are these little pieces?"
Me: "Oh those stuff is, I mean those pieces are...umm...glass pendants of antique glass inlaid-foil milk, I mean it's milk-GLASS and they're pendants probably from around the turn-of-the-country's, umm, I mean century."
HBA: (He examines my idiocy from under his sunglasses)"...oh wow....very nice! Do you just find them in thrift shops and such?"
Me: (trying to be charming, luckily coming off pretentious) Well, I have a few sources for antique bits in Paris and a few for bobs here in the states and well, I find them that way. doy douuuhhhhhdoyuuuuh...."

A few more quips and witicisms and he was gone, disappearing into the abyss, Bonbon postcard folded up in his back pocket, off to be handsome and quasi-famous somewhere else in the world.

When I get home, I google british actors, new british actors, australian actors, british australian actors nyc, sex in the city bit roles, australian british sex in the city chiseled features, dimpled chin... to no avail. But I did find the above, an insanely handsome picture of this fellow, Hugh Dancy, to which I thought, come on people. How can you be THAT farking good looking? I mean really....

(Here's to the real star of Saturday...)

Monday's Dose of Inspiration

When vegetables are this sexy, they must be exposed for what they really are: glorious. But it turns out that when you buy this many vegetables, you have to cook them, even if you don't feel like cooking. There came that moment when we realized this and needed to act.

Out of sheer laziness we popped strawberries straight from the bowl into our gullets, grilled the asparagus, boiled up the little potatoes and the eggs and tossed them with a lemony vinaigrette* (and a butter lettuce and snap pea salad), and roasted everything else: beets, carrots, onions, even the rainbow chard, with a little salt and olive oil. We thought we were getting fancy when we took out the food processor and make a little garlic scape/olive oil puree which we've been using for everything...omelettes, mixed with fresh ricotta and eaten by the spoonful (sinful), this lemony vinaigrette:

* 1/4 tsp. sea salt, 1 tsp dijon mustard,
juice of 1 lemon,
finely chopped shallot (or a tsp. of the garlic scape puree),
1/4-1/2 cup good olive oil...
Whisk together first four ingredients and then slowly add olive oil until emulsified and the taste is just right...

If we are what we eat then I am a giant glass of fast acting fiber...

weird week of loss and growth

by Richard E. Aaron (this was my favorite michael)

by the etchasketchist

It's the week America lost some strange yet powerful icons as well as other friends, while it rained and rained. Read this very touching post about things left behind by P, written earlier this week.

Have a good, very much in the moment weekend.

The Cat's in The Bag

bag by mi purocorazon
(Hey Carolina, I think I've found you next season's model.)

Icky's really been getting into things lately.

Last Night's Class

Last night was the second of our studio workshops: Fabric Flower Corsage. I taught a very talented buncha ladies how to make three different kinds of fabric flowers and they rocked the house. Even Icky got drunk and adorned by evening's end and it was such a good time, I am going to have to hold a second one: Tuesday evening July 21st with all new materials and some new twists.
I am also adding some serious new flowers to the Bonbon store so stay tuned. I am addicted.

Flower Corsage Workshop #2:
Tuesday, July 21st
7pm-9pm
$65 plus $25 for materials
Class size limited to 8!
To register or for more details, write to me at deb@bonbonoiseau dot com

Oh Linden

This blog has made me rethink the idea of time passing--I commemorate things now that previously existed only in my mind prior to keeping logs like this: the first rose blooms, the window of opportunity for zucchini blossoms at the farmers market for once-a-summer blossom fritters, or the smell of the Linden trees as they open on my street getting stronger and sweeter this one week only in June, just as they did last year and the year before. It's one of the best smelling weeks of the year in these here parts.

This blog is my own personal farmer's almanac. It's helped me to learn my rituals.

Monday's Inspiration: Thinking Fellers

by Raul Guttierez

* Heading East by the photographer Raul Guttierez (his photographs above). I love where he's been and where he goes.

images, some from here, found by GS

* Projections by Giovanni Sidari. He is my neighbor. He is an architect. I just found out he has this blog and it's filled with big beautiful questions about what gets built, our relation to what gets built, and the spaces in between. It has compelled me for the last 3 rainy days since I found it. (found via welcome to the living lab-my other neighbor)

photos by Aun Koh

* Chubby Hubby by Aun Koh. Because I love reading about food by a man who loves food. And who loves his wife. The fact that he lives in Singapore and is a mean photographer is the perfect flavor enhancer.

For the new week, in honor of Father's Day, and an inspiring start of summer, blogs by a few good men. The images to words ratio slash inspiration factor is huge in these. Be impressed in infinite ways.
Happy (almost dry) Monday...

And More Fleurs Grow in Brooklyn

Not much has gone according to plan today. Visited the market early, I hovered over the flowers like a bee, the rain is coming in waves, we are glued to the news.