After a whirl wind trip to London I am back in Provence… and to me, it finally feels like the official start to summer… let the cicadas chirp. lavender fragrance scent the air and golden sunflowers brighten my day… I am ready to bask in the beauty of a Provencal summer… We drove… it’s a long way from London… about a 1000 kilometres… but it’s the one time of the year when we can pack up the car and transport all those heavy and cumbersome items that are too difficult to carry by plane… Yes… I did buy the Anthropologie plates and glasses… they are gorgeous… and I can’t wait to use them… As tired as I was last night, I could not resist unpacking them and seeing how they worked with everything else in the kitchen… Love them, I fear an addiction coming on…
Apart from the china…we drove a carload of books… always books… I think ‘book’ should be my middle name… For some reason I associate summer with books… the reading, the flicking, the pouring over interiors and the countless ideas that come from doing that… Summer spells ‘time’ in my world so it’s a chance to indulge in the written word and learn from inspired photographers…
Additions for your ‘interiors’ library…
Details: A Stylists Secrets to Creating Inspired Interiors
The Joy of Decorating: Southern Style with Mrs Howard
Creative Walls: How to Display and Enjoy your Treasured Collections
***
Additions for your ‘personal’ library…
I Love Your Style: How to Define and Redefine Your Personal Style
Eyewear: A Visual History ( if you are an eyeglass fan like me… don’t miss this one from Taschen…)
One: Living as One and Loving It
***
and for dreaming…
My Heart Wanders: A Celebration of Taking Risks, Letting Go and Making a Home Wherever You Are
***
I hope you enjoy these library recommendations… and that they bring you hours and hours of reading pleasure… xv
;)
Look forward to seeing all your Anthropologie goodies in situ.
Joy of Decorating: Mrs Howard has gone straight onto my list. Off to look at your other recommendations.
Paul
Thank you for the book recommendations.
So, so glad to know I’m not the only one who lugs boxes of books from one home to another. My husband always says as he loads the boxes in the car, “But don’t we have books down there?” Yes dear, we do.
Enjoy Provence Vicki and I hope you relax after that long drive. And merci for more book suggestions…
Sam
Enjoy those delightful books as you bask in the light of a Provencal Summer. Isn’t it always great to drive for a change and be able to load up with things that definitely won’t fit in the overhead!
Love that image of the statue between the chatting women – a Paris park no doubt?
Happy week to come – Mary
Thankyou for great selection of books.I have been catching up on your posts and was thrilled to read of Paddy’s
astonishing feat.What a stressful time for you and the family. How proud you must have all been. Trish
Sounds like a good addiction Vicki! That is quite the drive but if it means you are snuggled in for a relaxing summer than I bet it was worth every kilometer. Much love XO
Monsieur Amazon will be lugging 3 photography books up my steps any day now! I can’t wait.
And the statue in your photograph. I believe her sister is standing amid the roses in Square Geoerge Cain in the Marais!
http://paristhroughmylens.blogspot.com/2008/12/122008.html
Bon dimanche,
V
Love your new china and your ever-expanding library! I’ll live vicariously through you as my NYC apartment is filled to the gills – must move to Brooklyn soon so I can dig into designing books and actual home decorating. Bon dimanche, Vicki!
hi Vicki,
Just received my Aussie gourmet traveler and saw your article on the wish you were here page. You’re famous!
Tina
I truly enjoy just hanging out in a beautiful garden during summer just like in the picture above. It is so relaxing.I will definitely check out those books for some more inspiration. Thanks.
Bringing all those things home makes the drive worthwhile, and sometimes it’s just fun to drive no matter what. I am browsing the book list and know I will find something I must have. xx’s
I love the statue…found it amusing she is posed between two women chatting under the trees
Thank you Vicki, the books look wonderful! It is a beautiful sunny day here in New England as I listen to Wimbledon on the radio!
)
I couldn’t agree more with you! I love your line….
“summer spells time”. Btw, I bought the book you recommeded a bit a back, Segreto. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! Thank you!
Have a beautiful summer bathing in the lavender scented air and golden Provence sun!
xxx
I loved the Amanda Brooks book…very fun.
The Victoria Alexander one looks like a great read!
Thanks for the tip…I’m busy collecting good books for my summer on Vancouver Island. Like you, we’ll be loading up the car and heading north soon.
I can’t wait to sit on the deck and crack a new book. I even love the smell of a new book!
Have a great summer
Beautiful summer image… Time is what I dream of in the summer. With little ones it seems like summers are packed full. I do, however, slip in plenty of reading time during the long evenings, so thanks much for the book recommendations!
Happy summer,
Keri
I can relate to how easy it is to develop an addiction to Anthropologie. There’s one not too far from where I live. I need a pair of horse blinders when I drive by to keep going without stopping.
A carload of books is a worthy haul no matter the distance. In my opinion, as long as there are booklovers left in this world, the planet is in good hands…:)
Thank you for the library recommendations. It’s a nice selection and I see one or two I’m looking forward to adding.
Hello Vicki
That is a long drive but it must be very interesting too.
I always feel rich when I have a stash of books to add to my library.
Helen xx
Vicki the books sound wonderful and so does “time”! I love that idea of books, sun, summer and long days with fabulous sunsets! Hope you have a wonderful summer in your beautiful Provence ….. run through a lavender field for me!
best wishes and thanks for visiting!
Frances
I checked out the books, love them. But can you tell us who is that woman in the garden, marching forward?
This is a small garden in the Marais, in Paris… The sculpture sits in the middle of the rose garden.
Thank you!
xoxo
I’m sending the link to a sculptor friend in NYC who does public pieces.
Thank you for the book recommendations -I agree summer is for reading! There is just something about sitting outside in the warm breeze and enjoying a good book! Enjoy you summer – send some warmer air and sun up our way…it’s been a bit too cool for my liking so far.
Books and Anthropologie…and I’m set!
So glad you have such fun goodies to enjoy at home. You will LOVE the glasses…I would just recommend to handwash.
Thank you for the wonderful list of books, Vicki!
xoxo,
- Irina
Hi Vicki, Wishing you a wonderful, sweet summer filled with books, dogs and children. I like your list–am currently waiting for “Mrs. Howard” to arrive. How is the harvest looking this year? Mary
My dad visited Provence for several days last week ~ I’m so glad he’s seen it at such a beautiful time of year! The Anthropologie plates are very sweet and quirky. Taking the car once a year sounds like a necessity, Vicki!
Bonjour my dear!
I am late in coming but excited to see your recommendations! Your trip through the countryside back HOME to Provence (Oh I wish I could say that for myself!) sounds lovely. And I TOO would have unpacked in the middle of the night, those fantastic plates from Anthro…..
Be well and enjoy a soothing, French summer afternoon. Anita
How funny, Vicki, to read your comment about the Anthropologie serving-pieces and your immediately unpacking them to see if they “worked with” the kitchen.
Just last week, I went to a fairly unpleasant dinner at the house of an obviously soured-on-each-other, middle-aged couple that I apparently have to know…or, at least, have visited at least once.
The husband’s a markedly (even for this high-tech area)driven and powerful pharmaceutical CEO. The wife is a fairly disoriented, oddly fluttering, and transparently unhappy woman. Their children are long-gone to college. I’ll admit that my sympathies, within twenty minutes of meeting the couple, lay with the wife (who at least wasn’t unpleasant….just sort of sad and confused).
At one point during the dinner, I remarked on the plates (which I did think were awfully pretty). She said “Oh, I just got those. I’m so glad you like them…I didn’t know at first if they’d work with the house….”
….and her damn husband, in front of everyone, snarkily said “Fine….they work ‘with the house’….maybe now you can find someone who’ll work IN this house????….”
The table went silent. I figured he’d just given me permission to dislike him as thoroughly as I’d initially been inclined to do, so I simply said “Are you a psychic?…..you’re chanelling my EX-boyfriend from my thirties…..”
In any case, your anthropologie things are lovely. Oddly enough, I’ve never set foot in one of their stores. I gather they’re quite addictive.
Level Best as Ever,
david Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Thanks for the tip on a book for “dreaming” – not that I really need help in that area haha! I am also a great lover of books. The older the better.
~ Clare x
I know that you enjoyed your trip to London. My eyes were certainly glued to the tv for Wimbledon!
Happy that you were able to get you wares from Anthropologie, and I fully understand loving the store. It is one of my favorites.
Enjoy your books! I so much enjoyed reading and looking through French Essence the other day. Your book is amazing. I see something new every time I look through it.
Happy Monday.
Teresa
xoxo
That sounds like the perfect place to enjoy summer! Beautiful photo! Now I’m off to see the anthropology glasses you purchased! Have a great week:)
Jen
The I love Your Style book is actually on my list. Yeay. I love the plates from Anthro and I’m sure they go perfectly well with everything in your kitchen. Enjoy.
Hello Vicki,
You are quite an inspiration, so I have nominated you for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award. For more, click here–>http://italiagal.blogspot.com/2012/07/very-inspiring-blog-award.html
~Michelle
Vicki,
I discovered your book at Anthropologie in Canada just over 3 years ago – so I smiled when you posted how thrilled you were to be there – as I was just as thrilled to have discovered you!
All the best,
Kate
Thank you for the book recommendations, Vicki
I hope you had a wonderful time in London, I’m sorry the weather was so miserable for you…just wanted to let you know I have a new blog address
my old one is no longer working.
Thanks, Vicki,
Catherine
http://www.cashmerelover.com/