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Mary and I had a lovely lunch and walk through the east village together. She always teaches me something new about the area, including places to get great bites for a good price. We had lunch at the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant and then had dessert at Venieros. When I complimented her Giraffe print socks she told me, ” You never saw a plain sock on Fred Astaire”.This is how Mary connects with Fred and adds some even more spice to her ever fashionable appearance. Check out some pictures of Mary from previous posts below.

[Photos by Arturas Valiauga]

These awesome photos were taken by Lithuanian artist Arturas Valiauga from a series entitled, I Dropped in on Stepas House, We Talked about Life; Still Identity. I find the collections of photographs and clippings on the walls of this couple’s home very inspiring. A catalogue from a show where these photos were featured describes their environment as “Home becomes the map of the inside and outside world.” Many of the people I meet and talk to have collections of photos and scraps of papers they have saved over the years. Some collage them into artworks, others place them into scrapbooks hidden in cabinet drawers. I love the idea of filling one’s home with visual memories and inspiring words. Debra writes on her walls, Mimi Weddell’s refrigerator was full of her favorite quotes, like ” Rise Above It” and I have a drawer full of clippings that are just waiting to fill my walls! What better way to wallpaper?

I found this photo at a flea market a few weeks back and fell in love.

[Photos by Smilla]

Smilla ran into Helga,”The Queen of Charm” again the other day. Although I haven’t been to Cologne to meet her, I have developed a great appreciation of her style and personality through Smilla’s words and photos. Smilla’s writes of the meeting,

“A few minutes later I ran into the Hat-lady; Helga, with the bracelets again, and today she had her diary with pictures with her and a dog. She makes wonderful photos from roses of herself in a mirror,she is unbelievable.We plan to meet in her apartment, and she will show me her paintings . I saw some one of them in the photos and they look quite interesting.The dog belongs to a shop around, and she feels sorry for him, so she asked if she should take him for a walk sometimes. Mulan is 9 months old and a wild one, but she handles this so easy. So yesterday we went for a little walk together, and again I witnessed how easy she gets along with other people; she is definitely an attraction, band she talks to people very naturally.”

I can’t wait to see Smilla’s shots of Helga’s apartment!