After The Storm

During the storm the prayers, hugs, letters, cards, phone calls and visits really helped. And after the storm, they continue to soothe.

Thank you all for suffering with us through the tough times, and for warming our hands until we are able to see the sun shining again.

Desire To Inspire

After moving into a new apartment last year, I got an urge to look up designs for my bedroom. Of course HGTV topped the list, but then Flash held me back. Determined not to give up, I went digging, elsewhere. Believe it or not, there is an elsewhere - it's called Desire To Inspire. And so came my introduction to the blogosphere.

Desire To Inspire digs up amazing pictures and design ideas from portfolios of your favourite, stylish and even lesser known designers. I think I can safely say that they compile the best design ideas all in one place. They say they are aiming to inspire readers one room at at time but in reality their two daily servings are more than enough to make you plump with inspiration and arouse just all your creative urges. The occasional reports (and pics) makeovers by the blog operators keep things real and equally inspiring, and show that the ideas that fuel dreams can come into your own home. Chances are, all you have to do is run to a hardware, get some paint, supplies and a handy boyfriend (the latter is not found in all hardwares). Run by Kim in Canada and Jo in Australia, Desire To Inspire is inspiring both to a blogger and a design fanatic. And so, I just had to reach out and ask these few questions. Here are the unedited responses. Enjoy! And take a trip over to Desire To Inspire.

S.S.: Kim, you live in Canada, Jo lives in Australia - two hotspots that have been abuzz with creativity and are getting increased artistic attention in recent times. Would you call your Canada-Australia liaison a coincidence or sheer genius? (why?)

DTI: Our Canada-Australia liaison was a coincidence at first and proved to be a stroke of genius not long after we began the blog. We met on Flickr, a photo-sharing site, and became fast friends with interior design as a mutual passion. We got the idea for the blog and ran with it and it became successful almost instantly. And we've never looked back. I think it's awesome that we come from similar countries, where both are very well known for their super-friendly inhabitants!

S.S.: Monday - Friday, fans have come to expect your treat of 2 posts (at least and except for those very exciting days). Without divulging too much of your blogging techniques, how do you keep yourselves inspired to inspire us each day?

DTI: To keep all our readers constantly inspired, we spend ALOT of time gathering names of stylists, photographers and interior designers to feature. Google has become our best friend. We both spend much of our free time researching for new blog content.

S.S: Jo's in the morning then Kim's in the afternoon, do you have a get-ready-to-blog routine?

DTI: Our routine is fairly straightforward. We both do most of our reseach on the weekends, and then Jo gets her posts ready in the mornings before she heads off to work (and schedules them in Blogger to publish first thing that day). I get my posts ready in the evenings when I get home from work and then the next morning I schedule them to publish that afternoon.

S.S.: You both present so many novel and inspiring finds on the daily and at times I feel like I would give anything to have them all. Honestly, how would you describe your signature style and how do you preserve it?

DTI: Jo and I have no signature style, both in our homes or on the blog. We post just about any style (except I draw the line at country), just like our homes are a miss-mash of all sorts of styles. I'd like to call us eclectic. You can interpret that any way you like. But we both have a serious addiction to thrift stores and flea markets. I love bringing items into my home that are fun and original and have a history. I rarely buy new. If I do it's because the good vintage furniture is really hard to come by in Ottawa.

S.S.: Any goals,anything big on the horizon for Kim, Jo and Desire to Inspire?

DTI: Hmmmm. I have a couple bathrooms in my home that desperately need complete redos. I need to pay off my kitchen first though. And tons of little projects to go tide me over until then. Jo is on the hunt for a house to purchase as she currently rents, but real estate in Australia is SO PRICEY so she's had to be patient in the hopes of finding the perfect fixer-upper. As for the blog, we are moving off Blogger within the next few weeks and are also planning a redesign of the blog so lots of work in the respect ahead of us.

Thanks so much Kim, Jo and Desire To Inspire.

A Haiku for You

Just about a year ago, Kezumie Weekly introduced me to a new word: haiku. Yes, my limited vocabulary is oh so shameful, but lucky for me I'm still young and refining ;-)) It was a nice sounding word that turned out to be a description of a Japanese-type poetry. Further research has led me to conclude that a haiku seems an ideal powerhouse : short but very compact, combustible even, need I also mention - economical.

At the same time, they are like such pretty little flowers you give to someone special, notes of specialness. As more persons go on to discover the haiku, it seems they are becoming popular gifts for those special occassions and just because whims. Working on a few myself.

Dare I say it? One more threat to the greeting card? Come on now, personal personal was always on everybody's wishlist.

Have a great weekend!

Pear Time

My sweetheart at home says he's never seen a pear, much more to have ever had one. Sounds funny to some extent, but yet again we live in Jamaica where our idea of a pear equates with some varieties of what's called an avocado. Here, pear, the fruit from temperate places is called American Pear. This is what he claims to have never tasted.

So I decided to make him less provincial and introduce him to one or two of the varieties - Anjou and Boss - available locally. Into the light and with excitement.

And since I'm at it, this is how we here in JA have our own pear. Since summer salads aren't so very filling, I like to hit it up against some nice, soft bulla and call it supper. Believe me, beside sweethearts and a good book, it's the next best thing to come home to. Be sure to ask for it on your next trip down. I love pear season!!

You're So Special

(Via Etsy)

Yes, you are - gold brass Memoirs Swallow Locket by Glitzer available here on their Etsy store.

It doesn't exactly fit the profile of a statement necklace, but for me a locket is the ultimate expression of cherish, history and intimacy. A locket seems very much like a promise, so very personal, private and esteemed. The gold brass finish on this piece is a rich sentimental blend which makes it so special.

I'm a lover of sentimental jewellery not for the sake of owning a possession but simply for what it connotes. I quite think Glitzer hit the mark on this one. Don't you think?

Facing up: Soulmate Fantasy vs the Reality of Incompatability

Yesterday's posting of the loft got me to thinking further of issues of love, dreams, wishlists, reality and incompatability.

Ever had your heart set on ... It seems to me this picture has the ideal structure I am looking for in a loft, seen it in my dreams even. My mock up (scratchings) mirrors it somewhat and the simple, clean lines seem to be a natural attraction beckoning me to move in. So why not?

Because its barren sterility leaves me feeling empty, cold and void of the eclectic warmth that courses through my soul. It would indeed be sad to give up on the beauty that is this space on this basis, especially if you own it. Surely, with the additions of decor and personal style, the space could easily evolve into ideal.

But mature backbones do not play 'hung up', adults ought to lead the life they dream.

Willing-up Some Inspiration

I am at that place
where laughter feels foreign, a bloodshot of guilt
The prospect of joy - strange and dim.
I'm sitting in times grave with the ambivalence of silence.
where the sentiment of dreams have gone deflated;
and my whole being has never been this shattered.

(Via Desire to Inspire)

So, I'm trying to will me up some inspiration.

Ideally, I'd love to own a loft. Just not one this sterile. But I must say I like the openness of this one with its clean, modern lines and that statement light pendant is a must have.

Here this minute, Gone in 15

Just another day, another not so ordinary day, up and ready to go. Who would have guessed, to meet the transient nature of life.

Angella Garwood (1961-2009)

A Chance Questionning Pamela Mordecai

Growing up as a student in Jamaica, the name Pamela Mordecai was synonymous with books for English language mastery and poetry. Think: New Junior English Revised and Sunsong. However, the lady behind the name is more than the cover. She is a poet, a writer, a teacher, a scholar and a living literary mastermind, with a whole body of work spanning several decades that commands serious attention and speaks to its own relevance. And of course, to my proud boast - an Alpha girl!

(Via All Booskstore.com)

I came across her poem 'My Sister Cries the Sea' and it was like a personal rediscovery. I am honestly put over the edge of awe when I read the effortless grace with which she writes and the creole duality of language she uses. So... I took a chance, on Facebook.

Mustered up some boldness and posed some questions I had been dying to ask from day one. Here are her unedited responses:


SS: Who is a poet?

PM: Well, the most inclusive definition would be, “anyone who has ever written a poem”. Another, more limited one might be, “one who earns a living from writing poetry.” And of course, there’s a pretty wide range in between!

SS:How can one find his/her voice as a poet? (Is this a crazy question?)

PM: No, it’s not crazy. I’m assuming that what you mean by ‘voice’ is the particular, unique way of writing – sometimes referred to as a ‘signature’ – that makes a poem distinctive, identifies it as the poet’s own and no one else’s. There’s only one way to do this and that is to become very skilled at your craft, in other words, become a really fine poet. As for how one goes about becoming a good poet, there are now thousands of books, websites, blogs, etc., that give advice on how to do that; there are fine arts programs in universities and colleges, and there are workshops offered by writing schools (intra-mural and long distance) and individuals, and there are writing retreats to go to all over the world, including in the Caribbean. Any google or bling search will give any aspiring poet loads of information.

SS: How do you get your poems from your soul to the page?

PM: Well, I don’t know about the ‘soul’ part. They come from the whole of me, and they are often very bad-behave, so I guess maybe I have a bad-behaving soul! But to answer the question, I simply write them down and keep revising till I get them right. There are a few people I ask to read them for me, including my husband Martin, a superb writer, and my daughter Rachel, who is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she teaches English, as well as other writers who are family and friends. I call on my colleagues as well, but only the ones I know will be honest.

SS: What were you thinking when you wrote 'My Sister Cries the Sea'?

PM: Poets shouldn’t ever answer questions like this, but just for you! I suppose I was thinking that Earth is dying, because we are killing her with pollution, and I was visualizing how that was showing itself in places in the Caribbean where I’ve lived (Jamaica, Trinidad). The ‘sister’ in the poem is, perhaps, all the women who know and are concerned about this impending death, and perhaps all the women writers (so they are sisters in that special way, as fellow writers) who know it, and perhaps the women who foresee earth’s dying as part as an impending end-of-the-world scenario, since I do think we are looking at the end of the world. But I hope there’s more to the poem than that. (Like, why is she ‘crying the sea’?) But I’m not going to do any more explaining of it… Poems should speak for themselves.

SS: Do you have a routine for reading/performing your poems?

PM: Again, I’m not exactly sure what you mean by a routine. If it’s a reading where I can do what I please (in other words, one that’s not confined to a particular book), I usually try to include some children’s poems because I have some that work very well and because I want people to recognize that good poetry for children is good poetry for everybody. I also rehearse what I’m going to read, even if I’ve read the poems a hundred times, and I time the readings carefully, since I hate when readers go over their allotted time. I try to take my audience into account as well, and to choose poems that will appeal to them. But that’s about as routine as it gets.

SS: What is your fondest memory as an Alpha girl?

PM: Roller-skating around the old McAuley Hall.

SS: May I contact you again if i have other questions?

PM: Absolutely. Thanks for your interest in my poetry. I’m going to take the opportunity to mention my collection of short fiction, PINK ICING, which appeared in 2006. You can see a review at http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/205862

You can also read the first story at http://www.insomniacpress.com/title.php?id=1-897178-32-

And you can listen to me read an excerpt at http://www.hswliteraryagency.humber.ca/videos/Pam%20Mordecai.mov

I also highly recommend following her blog http://jahworld-pmordecai.blogspot.com/, it is teeming with inspiration.

Heroic Measures - Saved

I now have mine sitting on my desktop. Do let me know if you have any problems with the downloading. I am willing to forward a copy via email.

If not, dance around, it's always a swell feeling to get a gift from a friend like Oprah. Happy reading!!

Ring the Alarm - It's July 20th!

It's now here - July 20th, the beginning of Oprah's gift of a freedownload of Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment. If you are a member of Oprah.com, come 11:00 a.m. just login and you will have all of 48hours in which to download the book. And if Oprah is giving it away, you know it's a must have/read! Happy downloading!!

Idle Whiles

Idle whiles spent re-inventing old jewellery.

Pages From My Notebook

So recently, I found the notebook of one of my dreams - think blank pages perfect for recording stuff. I should say that when I get anxious I take comfort and inspiration in blank pages. Initially I thought I would write quotes that have left an impression on me.



It started out that way.

Then, one night in bed, this happened... ... and then, things took on this trend.




There's no telling what will come out when you hover over a blank page.



So, why change now?

I feel like I have definitely made this notebook my own and I love love it. Go after your loves today!

Help Wanted

Vintage Sundays

Everytime I think Bookophilia, I think "LOVE LOVE LOVE- really lives up to its name". Really, they think of everything.

If you are somewhat into books, then you know how they at times pile up and at times you flirt with the idea of getting rid of the already-read, if it's worth it.

Well Bookophilia is seeking to help you solve that with its Vintage Sundays. Vintage Sundays occurs every Sunday between 12:30p.m. - 4:30 p.m. in which Bookophilia facilitates trading of used books on the store's deck. If you happen to be interested, just call ahead to register on Thursday or Friday. Then on Sunday bring along a small display table or ask for one to be provided. Registration costs a mere $500 but pricing of used books is up to the trader. It is still not too late to call for this Sunday, if you do, Happy Trading! Be sure to do your part in promoting the event: tell a neighbour, tell a friend, do your bit to get the crowd out.

Get ready! Get set, for July 20th!

Come Monday July 20th Oprah will be doing it again! For all of 48 hours she will be giving members of Oprah.com the chance for a free book download: Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment. Click here for details on how to become a member. Mark those calendars, set your alarms, clear your USB drives and get ready for the free download.

"Tun yu han mek fashion" - Get Creative!

As a Jamaican child, I grew up hearing the Patois phrase "tun yu han mek fashion", which simply means 'get creative to come up with a solution'. And to many extents, Jamaicans have done just so - clothes, food and hairstyles. But what seems not to be esteemed in our culture is the idea of wearing someone else's old clothes. Family hand-me-downs of course fall into an entirely different category, those are somewhat acceptable. But a stranger's - from foreign places or greener pastures - is just a big no no. Call it pride or superstition - old bruk is old bruk.

Then I came upon Jessica Shroeder's blog - What I Wore and did my mind change! The site blogs pictures of outfits Jessica wore, usually the day before - to work, the park, a date with the boyfriend, on a slow day or some other event. The outfits are usually pretty, sometimes striking but always creative and vintage. That's right vintage! All her ensembles incorporate some vintage piece that she's thrifted, sometimes modified (by her very own sewing hands) and paired with complementary modern pieces from your regular department store such as Target. She details the source of every piece she wears - jewellery, blouse, skirt, dress, shoes, belt, handbag, you name it.

The best part about the site is that the ordinary girl can identify with Jessica, because she is just that, ordinary! A likeable girl with a keen fashion sense but one who will not bend over backwards to slave for the labels machine. She shows how with just a little creativity, mixing up your favourite pieces and a few vintage pieces, you can be fashionable, beautiful and creative. And yes, like us she is often seen in the same pair of sandals. And why not, if you love them? Talk about 'tun yu han mek fashion'!

Travels on a Page: From Jamaica to the World!!!

I was down and out for a bit, but I'm back and itching to go somewhere. So starting July 15, I will be sending a little piece of me/Jamaica travelling on a page across the world. By means of my page, I will be able to touch and travel through places I have been dreaming about.

I will be sending my page via post to bloggers I adore and friends living in these places. When the page is received in the mail, the recipient will then place a stamp and write a line/sentence on the page, then mail it to the next address in line or to the address that is most convenient (which has not yet received it). The person next receiving the page will carry out the same process until the page has been filled. After all the page has been filled the person who fills the very last space will mail the page back to me in Jamaica. If there is a place that the recipient believes is a 'must must see', they may send it to a direct contact in this location on the condition that this contact will mail it directly to the next contact on the list.

If you would like to participate, do send me your mailing address at shoshanasullivan@gmail.com. This DOES NOT have to be your personal address, but it should be an address at which you are sure to receive it via airmail. When you receive the page, feel free to take it to your favourite/a popular site within your country. Take a picture with it there (email me the pic ;-)) then send the page along to the next contact the following working day. And yes, by all means, blog about it.

The Artist is Human Too

"Before you judge me, try hard to love me"
- Childhood, Michael Jackson

I can't judge what I don't understand entirely. What I do understand is that yielding to creative impulses is like walking a tightrope between cathartic satisfaction, public response and even divine approval. It calls for constantly negotiating the burden of artistic compulsion and deciding responsibility. Regardless of what is done and created, the results are often cocktails of speculation and mischaracterisation. Then, there is also the matter of creative frustration. Yes, the artist is human too.

Summer Movies

Nothing says it's summer quite like the movies - summer movies. The other night I was up late/early(1:30 a.m.) and couldn't help but watch (again, but) to the end - Summer Catch with Freddie Prince Jnr and Jessica Biel.

Click here to read Wiki's plot summary.

It took me back to the days when I spent the whole school year waiting for the freedom of summer to come back. The days when I had no big exams on the horizon. Days when I could spend couple days out of the week on a beach in Negril or Bluefields. Travel the countryside hither and thither with my Dad meeting new friends and reconnecting with old. Watch all those summer movies - all day and night: My Girl, Rags to Riches, Problem Child, Grease, Cry Baby, reruns of all my favourite teen-angst series. Morning reruns of 227 and The Jeffersons. Daytimes with music videos on BET, MTV's Summer Beachhouse and Beach Karaoke. Everything with kids happy, shopping, fun and boy crazy. Britney Spears, Missy, Timberland, Puff Daddy and Mase. Ahhh the days when the light bill didn't matter, neither did the price of gas, and fast food did not make me fat. The days when "I can't cook" was ok and didn't leave me starving.

Kingston Art is Happening

Still running is the Kingston On the Edge Art Festival. Lots of things to see, do and enjoy.

On tonight:

Final Year Show

Edna Manley College

1 Arthur Wint Drive

Admission: FREE

Dance On The Edge

Philip Sherlock Centre, UWI

8pm -10pm

Neila Ebanks, Stephanie Belnavis, Kerry-Ann Henry, Maria Hitchins, Dancers of Jamaica, Michael Holgate, Sodanne Professional Moves and Shady Squad.

Contribution: $500

Go on out and get inspired.

Writers' Block

(Via Oh Hello Friend)

Recently, a poet told me of a battle with what seems like a bad case of writers' block that has been running several months now. For a writer serious about your craft, this - I believe - is the ultimate torture.


It can be frustrating having a story inside of you that is trapped and wrestling to get out, but that just stops short when you lift your pen. Earlier this year, February to be exact, I had that problem. Determined to be a starving artist than to peddle my work, I set them aside in storage. So I went about my other passions. In fact, I went to a book launch (A Permanent Freedom by Curdella Forbes) and believe it or not, I fell beneath the drum of a drummer boy. Trust me, the melodious energy he hammered out of his hands left me sooooooo inspired. I had never experienced drumming like that. Better yet, I never really paid attention to the art of drumming before.


Point is, sometimes a story makes you restless but may not be mature enough to make its way to the page. Sometimes we may need to distance ourselves from the passion which fires up our writing. And then, sometimes we need to broaden our experiences and allow these to influence our sensibilities from which we write. Don't be afraid to feed off the energy of other artists and artforms. And that is why I have included again the picture above - so inspiring.

Wish List

The manager of human resources where I work has as her mantra: "What gets measured, gets done." I think there is some sense to it, but I also believe sometimes 'what gets measured may get dropped', but nonetheless, I admire her optimism - that's the way to go!

I have been travelling to various places on book pages and I have now decided that I am going to stir into some activity and try to actually see the places I've been dreaming about. I'm making my list and working to the cost. It seems that to get the reality I want starts with making that first mark on the blank page. Of course when I head off to a book store, I usually have some idea (vague or bold) of the some books I'd like to find, but then when I get there, I find so much more than I had bargained for. So, for a start - here goes:

Ride the Eurostar from London to Paris; Walk through the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican City, Rome; A bystander at the Cannes Film Festival; Jules Verne restaurant, Eiffel Tower, Paris; View the palaces in Versailles; Touch down on Dubrovnik; Live in New York City for a year; Somewhere in Germany; Somewhere in Holland; Gondola ride in Venice; Albarracin, Spain; Backpack across somewhere in Europe; Prague; The Louvre; Russia; Sweden; Greece;

Watch me add and do please, help me to add, if you wish.

Kingston On The Edge

This weekend plenty of activities will be held in keeping with the Kingston on the Edge Arts Festival which runs from today, June 20- Saturday, June 28. Every line up is looking really good. And the best part is that many are for FREE, my favourite word. Click on the detailed listing below and see which best suits your tastes.

(Via ArtJamaica)

Pineapple Watermelon

So you have been asking and I went digging about to get some info on this yellow-looking watermelon. I actually went back to the vendor (he has less of a crowd these days since he no longer has this watermelon variety) and he says this is a hybrid watermelon.

Still not satisfied with such a shallow explanation, I got in touch with one field officer at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), St. Elizabeth who had a more satisfying explanation. According to him, this 'yellow'-looking watermelon is in fact a hybrid/genetically modified watermelon called Pineapple Melon because of its sunny yellow colour.

They are grown in the main melon-growing area in Jamaica - Flagaman/Pedro Plains in the parish of St.Elizabeth. They are not cultivated on a large scale, often to satisfy the fascination of hoteliers and their guests and some leading supermarkets. With a glut now on the melon market, the vendor probably found himself with a couple. Anyone interested in growing a few of these Pineapple Melons may obtain seeds from farm stores in the Flagaman/Pedro Plains area, Jamaica Livestock Association or Carib-Gro Agro & Garn Supplies.

I hope this fills the curiosity. It has for me.

On being 27

(Via Oh Hello Friend)

At ages 16, 18 and 21, I tried desperately to find the special somethings about being that age, but didn't. Then after I crossed the 25 line, I felt like a dinosaur going downhill. So up until April, I had spent the last two years answering the question: 'How old are you?' by saying 'I'm 25+'.

Then I turned 27 and believe me, I suddenly feel alive, free and adult. Twenty-seven positively feels like the best time in my whole life. I've been serenely ecstatic even to the point of having the impulse to get something to mark it, something chosen by me. So, I went out and got two new ear piercings. My first piercing was done by my mother when I was all of two months old, so I had long forgotten about how these things feel and now have a ridiculous fear of pointed edges -needles, ear piercing guns, etc.

Needless to say, four gunshots through my flesh was terrifyingly-painful sweet. A trillion thanks to Elizabeth Ramesar who supported the cause, warmed my cold feet and kept company on terror's threshold. I now have a total of three piercings, one to mark the total decades I've lived less three years. [(30-3=27)I'm not the sort to sit through 27 x 2 shots.] At this point, I believe things will only get better; in fact, the best is yet to come.

p.s.
I'm still trying to get a good pic of the piercings taken.

Summer Fruits

Since it's always summer here on the Rock, it is not something extraordinarily special (unless you're a student). Except, that it brings the widest variety of fruits at their cheapest: jackfruit, pineapples, melons and of course, mangoes! But of all the melons I have seen in my lifetime, I had never before come across this; and due to crowd fascination, I could only get one pound to try out, not the chance to ask the local name.

Last Sunday in Bookends

This came to me 1:30 one morning, right as I was riding the bus of a dream. I grabbed the scrap paper and pen at my head, and used my cell phone for lighting and then...

Chalkboard Dreams

My bedroom door is an ordinary ply, but of late I've had a serious urge for a chalkboard conversion to stream lines to a poem that have been swimming around inside me for more than a couple of days now. Right about now, the simple page of even my favourite notebook just will not suffice. I'm craving wide open surfaces on which to plot big letters, words and those somethings else that also need to get out. Lest I become feverishly frustrated, I went picture shopping on flickr and found some neat ideas I'm saving for future use in my dream loft.

I'm particularly loving this first one up. THIS is how I feel ... like writing from ceiling, wall to floor.


Chalkboard gorgeous and a neat door idea.

... and then, magic happens...

Own the look...

I'm also loving these looks from Forever21. Personally, I prefer more length on dresses but I LOVE how the subjects own the look of these über formal dresses with the most unlikely pairings - denim jacket and khaki vest.

Casual Chic

Janina Top .... Love. Love those shorts and that necklace ... all from the twenty8twelve collection at Bluefly. See ... short shorts can be classy. Take me shopping, pleaseeeeeeee.

Readers Bookshop

I'm glad the day I discovered Readers Bookshop - a little used and new books bookshop tucked neatly inside the Liguanea Plaza, Kingston. Housing a wall of tightly stacked books, this used books bookstore allows you the freedom to experiment with new genres, authors and styles at less than half the price. Trade in your already-read novels for a discount off your choices. Trade them in again when you're through reading or when you're simply ready to part with possessing them, and get a further but smaller discount off your next selections. These have been some of my finds: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Girl With The Pearl Earring, The Kite Runner and Midnight's Children, The Sound of Blue, Breadfruit, Promise Me and many others. Since the local parish libraries aren't exactly the places you can rely on to get those novels you've heard of and have grown anxious to read and with books now attracting a tax, Readers Bookshop is really a good trade off.

Summer Memories

Summer 'o6 was my best ever. I was lucky enough to fly into Maine experience my first camping trip, wallpaper a bathroom for the first time and attend the first ever bonfire held just for me. A lot of firsts - I know, Maine sure makes me sentimantal, as do its charming memorabilia. My favourite store was The Smiling Cow in Camden. I decided to make a virtual stop by and found these charming charms. The humour, sentiment, lobsters, and scents ... they all say, come back, come back!