My Beloved Anthropologie Meets Gwen

My summers north as a kid were never complete without a walk-thru of Gwen Frostic's studio. It typically complemented the perfect afternoon -- hours spent perusing books at the Beulah library, indulging in homemade zucchini muffins at a local Benzonia cafe, and then a visit to Gwen. She signed a notebook for me once -- something I only remembered after she passed in 2001 -- but meeting her as a child was the equivalent of a celebrity in the highest order... And she never disappointed.

This week's news that my beloved Anthropologie had finally been made privvy to this youthful secret of mine brought me such delight. Their clip from Facebook follows below, but all you really need to know is that this further cements my love for this brand. Enjoy.

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In her 95 years of life, Michigan-born artist, writer, and illustrator Gwen Frostic managed to set up her own printing shop, publish 20 books, and produce scads of paper ephemera, all while battling the effects of cerebral palsy. Many see Gwen as a pioneer who dabbled in “DIY” long before the acronym became a topic du jour in today’s blogosphere. Case in point, our merchandising director Jeffrey discovered Gwen long before the dawn of the Internet. He explains:“As a child, I would regularly pass a sign for her studio along a busy country road. It was modern but rustic, big and almost epic, but still very Gwen, complete with her stylized signature and blue heron in flight.”A lifelong fan of her handcrafted, outdoorsy aesthetic, Jeffrey describes what it was like to receive the gift of a Gwen Frostic book.“It was a copy of My Michigan, written and illustrated by Gwen, with her trademark block prints and muted colors. I had all but forgotten about her at that point in my life. It took me a minute, but soon I realized it was a Gwen Frostic, and I was instantly transported back to a place I missed so much.”To experience the enchanting, inspirational art of Gwen Frostic for yourself, check out our new line of books and stationery: http://bit.ly/2uRgCE

I Love Anthro

How do you unwind? Everyone handles their quiet, personal time differently: My dad hits the road on his bicycle for a good, 20-something mile trek. The hubs is a beer and old music DVD kinda guy (the more vintage the sound the better).

For me, it's perusing through some of my favorite design blogs, watching HGTV, reading, playing trucks with our little guy or becoming one with my beloved Anthropologie Web site. Nothing excites me more than browsing through the catalogued wares and imagining each and every occasion they'd best compliment. For example, the maize-colored Juliet Cardigan with the Kousa Berry Bag perched on the shoulder would be such a stylish look for the Saturday Farmer's Market. The dark grey Wrapped In Ruffles Jacket topping a cute swing skirt would make for a killer date outfit with my hubby. And Giada uses this very Lovin' Spoonful Measuring Set -- or so I hear. :)

So tell me, how do YOU unwind?

Things We Are Loving This Week

Prepare yourself... there are a lot of mentions:

• Practically an entire week of bonding with my little bro who was visiting from California. My day off this past Tuesday consisted of breakfast with him at Cafe Muse, perusing Detroit's own Eastern Market, investigating an enormous warehouse of an antique store (and laughing at finding the world's oldest hand mixer that resembled the one mom had when we were kids), Slow's BBQ for lunch, stalking the cast and crew of the Red Dawn movie remake being made inches away from my house, exploring downtown Detroit, and hitting the Kings of Leon concert. As you can imagine, it was a blast.
• Hosting Ross and his girlfriend Ryann for the weekend, who instantly captured my heart upon entering our house and declaring "so I was reading your blog and saw..." Awesome lead-in. Seriously awesome gal (love ya Ryann!). Is it too forward to say I'm planning for her to be around for years and years to come?
• Spending time (although it flew by) with Butch and Susan who also came for a visit this weekend. And watching Butch's endless patience with a 2-year-old determined to outrun him.
• The former Washington Street Show Choir member in me is just smitten with Fox's Glee. If you spend your nights dreaming up choral renditions of Journey's Don't Stop Believin', this show is for you. I giggled my entire way through this week's scene of football players getting down to Beyonce's "Single Ladies."
• This. Adorable. Bow. Bag. Bequeathed to me by my lil bro's girlfriend Nicole (who is also the amazingly talented designer behind Omelle shoes. Have you visited the latest collection? If no, get thee here immediately. If the Fancy boots suddenly appeared on my feet, I wouldn't send them walking. I'm just sayin'.

• UofM football is 4-0. Enough said.
• This week's new dictionary of HWB words and phrases: hela-cop-ee (helicopter), 'it's fy-eehn' (in reference to seeing an airplane flying), bidge (bridge) and gas-hop-air (grasshopper) and of course, when searching for something [enter item here] ware ARRRRR you?
• The fact that when Hunter sees the moon in the daytime, he raises his finger to his lips and declares "shhh, the moon is sleeping!" :)
• My growing obsession with design blogs. Like this one, Design*Sponge.
• The new bedroom lamp, courtesy of a seriously fantastic Anthropologie Sale rack find:
• Our new church. There, I said it. We've been secretly going to church. And I think it's revolutionized a new type of spirituality between us. Check them out.
• The Black Keys. Specifically their song "I Got Mine". It makes for a great late-afternoon gotta-bang-out-this-final-report motivation.