My Style in One Picture

AT8, originally uploaded by sammybee.

From the Right Bank has issued a challenge: show off your personal decorating style in one--just one!--photo. This isn't easy to do, but I decided to give it a try. I thought about sammybee's house right away, as I have several rooms from her home in my flickr favorites. Her kitchen is so wonderful to me: boho-eccentric, bright but dark, rustic and glam, layered and personal. Clearly it's a space that is loved and used. I think it's pretty great.

Through the Keyhole

I'm joining Holistic Mama's Through the Keyhole ("real people, real homes") for the first time this week. This time the theme is a real-life view of our coffee tables and how we use them. This is ours, which is actually a Japanese kotatsu, or heater table. Japanese homes can be quite chilly and drafty in winter. Our Japanese house had large, single-paned windows and no insulation, so during the cold months (which thankfully weren't that many or all that cold in our part of Japan), we would sit on pillows on the floor under this table, which has a quilt that sandwiches between the top and the base (we remove it during warmer months). You sit under the quilt and turn on the heating element under the table. It's quite cozy. 

Now that we're in Germany and have a woodstove right by the table, we don't really need the heater part, but it's still nice to sit under the quilt. We often eat dinner, Japanese-style, here, which is why there are place mats. It's also often a study center for my kids and the place where I have breakfast and get on my laptop every morning next to my trusty hund, Yoshi. Oh, and there's usually a stack of books atop; right now the titles are Gypset, Garden Anywhere, MaryJane's Outpost, and The Idle Parent. Our coffee table is a happenin' place, indeed.

Haus Vignettes

I realized recently that I haven't posted very many photos from my haus. Here's a handful I took awhile back. They are somewhat Asia-centric, but that's because--well, much of what we own and love came from Asia, especially Japan.

Okay, enough for now. Have a lovely day!

New Mori Girl Mag

This is a great new Japanese mook called Valon, which is all about the Mori Girl lifestyle. I was excited to find it on ebay. If you know and like Spoon, you'll like this. Click on the pics below for more detail.

You know how Mori Girls like baskets and clogs, right?

Kawaii!

Such adorable succulent mini-gardens--and check it: there are Mori Boys, too!

I love Japanese bikes. Crocheted mushrooms? Yes, please!

Lovely, fresh style...

Mori Girls are often musicians, like Yuki Hanai. And Mori Girl picnics are always fun...

Incidentally, if you know of any cute Mori Girl blogs, I'd love to hear about them!

Bernkastel

See, I told you I'd post some Germany pics! These are from Bernkastel-Kues, an adorable, touristy town on the Mosel River, about 45 minutes from our house. It's a very popular place to be when the weather is nice or when it's September--wine-festival time. It's also quite nice in December.

We spent a lovely afternoon with my parents here two weekends ago. And yes, we did have some delicious crepes.

Paris: A Miscellany

I've been meaning to post some more Paris photos, but the past week really got away from me. I am a creature of habit, and when I get out of my little routine, things just don't get done quite the way they should. But here's another handful of pics, taken mostly by me:

Peace! That's all from Paris until the next trip. Maybe soon I'll post some photos from Germany! I know, right?

Paris: Left Bank

Sorry I've been remiss in posting more Paris photos recently; my parents are here from the States (very exciting--their first time to visit us in our almost seven years overseas!), and we've been busy this past week doing little driving tours of villages and towns in our area. But here's a handful of pics from the Left Bank, where I made my obligatory trip to the wonderfully-ramshackle Shakespeare and Company bookstore, seen in the first photo below: