Thursday 13: 0709.27

Thirteen Things about MISS MELISS
Things that Begin with T

  1. Tackle Boxes My grandfather used to take me fishing from the pier in Atlantic Highlands, and we would sit on tackle boxes. Later, after he died, I liked to explore his tackle box, playing with the hooks and lures and all sorts of masculine treasures.
  2. Tangrams: These “dissection puzzles” are made from seven geometric shapes. You’re given an outline, and have to arrange the shapes to form the design. More fun than it sounds like, really.
  3. Tank Tops: I wear tank tops all the time, either under v-neck t-shirts, just layered, over bathing suits, or under button down shirts. They are a staple of my wardrobe.
  4. Tap dancing: My favorite kind of show dancing because you cannot tap-dance while being upset or angry. It’s just not possible. Tap-dancing is joyous, freeing movement.
  5. Taxis: I am a city girl. I like the luxury and ease of cab rides. Taking a cab up and down the hills of San Francisco can be as exhilarating as the biggest roller-coaster, by the way.
  6. Tea: I love coffee, of course, but I love tea as well. It can be soft and soothing, vibrant and stimulating, or deep and mysterious. Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey are my favorite writing teas, and mint blends are my old stand-bys when I need something refreshing. I live on iced tea in the summer, and hot tea and soy chai lattes with honey in winter.
  7. Tesseracts: Madeleine L’Engle used them to demonstrate space-time concepts in A Wrinkle in Time but tesseracts have actually been around longer than that. You may know them by their other name: hypercube, although, just as all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares, all tesseracts are hypercubes, but not all hypercubes are tesseracts. You can’t really DRAW a tesseract, but…it’s sort of like cubing a cube.
  8. Texture: I love the way things feel. The cool softness of fresh sheets, the crisp brittleness of a fallen leaf, the moisture of drizzle, the plushness of Miss Cleo’s fur, the more wiry but still soft feel of Zorros, the slickness of ice, the way velvet changes texture depending on which way you brush the pile…I could go on forever.
  9. Theatre: There is something completely cathartic and marvelously magical about live performance. All other forms of entertainment lack the visceral connection between performer and audience, and the necessary level of willful suspension of disbelief.
  10. Tights: I hate pantyhose, but I love tights. Cotton, colorful, and not just hosiery, but a fashion statement in themselves. Also? Extremely comfortable when wearing boots.
  11. Tomatoes: My favorite way to eat them is just to pull them from the vine, brush any dirt off, and bite into their sun-warmed succulence, but, like Harriet the Spy, I’m a fan of tomato sandwiches as well. A little mayo, whole grain bread, and slices of tomato – cheddar cheese if I’m feeling particularly self-indulgent, sprouts if I’m trying to be uber-healthy – and I am a happy woman.
  12. Travel: I love experiencing new places and different cultures, though I like coming back home also. I like train trips more than planes, and would love to spend a summer on a wooden boat, but mostly, I just want to go and see and do.
  13. Trowels: My grandfather (it’s fitting that I start and end with him) kept a special set of gardening tools just for me. Petite sized handles with cushy foam, for digging beside him in the garden. The trowel is my favorite.

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Bedroom Fantasies

I like to write in bed. In fact, I do my best writing in bed. I even just emailed a friend that I was thinking about taking the desk out of my writing studio and replacing it with a day bed, so I could write the way I want to, and still be in my own space when Fuzzy’s monopolizing our bedroom sleeping off his over-night maintenances.

I mention this because if I do take such a drastic measure, it’s an excuse to go shopping for bedding, not that I need an excuse, really. Like books, you can never have too many pretty quilts or soft cotton sheets.

I browse online a lot, so when I found Terry’s Fabrics, you can bet that I was excited about the bedding potential they offered. Then I realized all the prices were in pounds, and they were in the UK. Still if I’m converting correctly, their prices are great, and they have an entire section of their website devoted to interior design tips, which I really enjoyed reading through, since my official knowledge is pretty much limited to grouping things in odd numbers, and never referring to draperies as drapes.

If you actually live in the UK, you may want to know that they have actual physical storefronts in Staffordshire and Stockport. Personally, I’m always a little bit more comfortable doing business with a click-and-mortar shop instead of one that is online only.

Check them out.
And then tell me about your design inspirations.
I really want to know.