There's a ladybug crawling on my earlobe

Sunday, August 12, 2018. Blue sky is chasing the August summer storm clouds away. The AC purrs as Rita stretches her leg catlike. The suburban birds chirp outside and the sun drives the humidity higher as I take pen to paper, white daisies in my ears. (In full disclosure, I first drafted this blog in ink on lined white paper). It is just a typical lazy summer Sunday. So those daisies are real, well not real flowers, but they do hang from my earlobes. They have a pale yellow honey gem center and the tiniest of lady bugs crawls on the spiky green leaves. Looking at them, you can almost smell summer. They are Les Néréides earrings and whimsical in a way that only the French can get away with. Les Néréides jewelry is my latest obsession. My sister discovered this gorgeous jewelry line - honestly I don't know how exactly - when she was on the hunt for a ring for me one Christmas. She got me the most gorgeous Gigi-inspired ring. I have forever been enchanted with Gigi's white satin dress. It was adorned with two navy birds at the shoulders and she wore it the night that Gaston introduced her to Paris. I love that movie - Leslie in plaid jete'ing through Paris and her allegro tennis in Deauville.

Back to Les Néréides - I purchased a cat hanging on a curtain rod pin for my brilliant sister to wear on her cardigans to her work at The MET. My shopping was all rather disciplined until sister and I visited the London shop during a trip in April to see Natalia Osipova dance Manon. (Natalia was spirited and it was a life-affirming performance. See sister's intermission smile at right, simply priceless.) We visited the Les Néréides shop post ballet class at Pineapple Studios. We purchased stud roses for sister and a pair of long floral hangers for me which I wore to the English National Ballet the following night. (Lovely to see Alina Cojocaru even if the program was not to our liking.) We went back the following day to Les Néréides to get a "G" (for Gallagher) necklace for the two of us to share. Those chilly spring London days were a stark contrast to today's warmth. The days in London were civilized and restorative; the hours were filled with garden walks and simple dinners of 'les sandwiches' in our Airbnb apartment on Chepstow Road. A cortado at Caffe Nero's on Westbourne Grove is a must for any visit to that part of London.. The funny, sweet thing is that part of the charm of the London trip was French, from Les Néréides to Maison Kayser. My sister and I have since purchased more earrings, such as the aforementioned daisies and 'beauty and the beast evermore rose earring.' The feminine, floral themes speak to my wish to have a garden one day. I am ever dreaming of my escape to the country and in my mind's eye I can see a garden full of pink and lilac Cosmos, Buddleia, yellow roses, white Sweet William, fields of lavendar, yellow Black Eyed Susans, Lamb's Ears, and roaring Tiger Lilies. You would find me sitting under a willow tree planning my next bake whilst I sip coffee from a Royal Dalton or Limoges tea cup.