right now i am sitting on a chair upholstered in velvet, surrounded by cooing birds and a endless amounts of wood, with a cup of dean + deluca earl grey tea on my knee and the ripples of a lake about twenty feet away. i'm living in spoilt rural style on the cusp of waterville on the cusp of augusta on the cusp of portland, maine. and did i mention the mellow chocolate lab with sleepy eyes named ella? *wag wag*

i'm here just for a weekend vaca with my friend alyssa and her consort arlen, whose folks live up here. it's been so picturesque and dreamy, with the organic milk (by maine cows, moo) composing the most perfect morning café con leche and local blueberries in the fridge. yesterday 'lys and i hit stylish downtown portland and briefly visited the wild, freaky consumerist village of freeport (with the l.l. bean mothership herself!). i'll have pix on flickr soon, but my fav store was this place milo portland, a small independent boutique hosting emerging designers such as they're house brand milo in maine and canada-grown the people have spoken. a very charming used bookstore and café casco bay books adjoins the space. i loved these shirts, and snagged one up:



organic and abstract, very hipster à la maine.

i'll indulge with more news later; we're about to head out the door to watch little miss sunshine on this very much not-sunshiny-at-all day. droopy and grey and very inviting for curling up with a book.

however, two small tidbits.

i just designed a tshirt for wmbr; it'll be given out to new students during orientation and flaunted all over the station.



lemme know if you want me to hoard one for you ;)

also, i am re-falling in love with trashy diva, a vintage-inspired high-end boutique in new orleans. i actually visited the store, years before the whole katrina disaster -- glad to know they're still in business.



super sweet and oh-so red hot.

p.s. portland has a scandanavian specialty store that has everything marimekko and moomin troll. needless to say, i was in umlaut and double vowel heaven.