KinderBlogging

When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.Winnie the PoohThe House at Pooh Corner

Well here I am in BlogLand!

Pretty funny place for me to be spending time. I have lived days, weeks, hours, late nights here... reading, learning, trying to understand and make friends with this new planet. I have a Headache that may not go away til  the next millenium!

You see, my concept of good technology is a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn- so you can imagine what trying to decipher HTML does for me. Although I suppose if you are not a knitter and you tried to read a knitting pattern you might feel the same way. I guess it is all about learning a new language and though I think French is much more elegant I am trying to speak BLOG. Like mastering any new skill I find something I didn't know each time I step to the plate.

I may not do everything in Blogland the way it was supposed to be done but that is probably true for most everything I do in my life.I will speak Blog with my own style.

As I write this I have to giggle to myself. You know the old adage "if a tree falls in the woods..."and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise??? Well I think the same has to apply to this new adventure. If I write and no one is out there...OK so I am talking to myself---what else is new? My hope is that eventually "if you build it they will come" will kick in here.

So why do this?? now THAT is a question I have been asking for weeks as I was trying to decorate this new space without any fabric or paint but with only "code". Can't I hang wallpaper here somewhere??

I suppose the easy answer is that I have always had a lot to say, but probably the truth lies in my need to create a world that stands apart, that functions as a beautifully upholstered cosy chair,safe from the day to day annoying and the CNN style noise. A world where color, gardens, music , literature, skeins of yarn,beautiful spaces and the perfect handbag matter.

Do not think that I exist as a vapid piece of fluff ,or that I live an oblivious life filled with "stuff" not substance-far from it! People matter and politics is one of my favorite sports(forgive me Red Sox). This is a planet in a great deal of pain and I will chat a lot about that and about every individuals role in healing this world, and this country.

I just know that now more than ever I need to fill my corner of the world with all that brings me joy. I don't think I am alone in feeling this way. So many of us are so caught in the current of our lives that we risk being taken out by it. I have come to realize,however, that many simply don't know how to do it. Thus this space. It is my goal to share what I know, what I find, and what I love.

The name of this Blog is Strands of Pearls which comes not just from my goal of having each post bring "readers"(you will be there,right?!) a gleaming pearl of style, design, advice, literature,travel,recipes, gardening...and oh yeah shopping! but is also about pearls themselves. Pearls come from the sea I love, formed miraculously in a protective shell. Each is unique and precious on their own and can speak so much when strung together.

Wearing Strands of Pearls has come to define Classic. Pearls have been worn for centuries by women who have helped define their time and indelibly influenced our style.

As I thought about the feel for this space I wanted a sidekick, a"mascot",someone to come along for the ride who would act as the visual for the style and tone I want to create here. I expect my choice of sidekick will change with the subject, but as I designed each section of the blog I kept finding Audrey. No, not just for her famous pearls but also for the life she led. A life dressed by Givenchy, but filled with her commitment to her children and the children of the world. Audrey became an icon for many, a cliche for some, but beyond her fame she was a real woman, a Mother, a Humanitarian. She transcended her celebrity and lived beyond, and above, the "little black dress" we all love. She not only wore her pearls but taught us all how to truly wear the pearls in each of our lives. Today, May 4, would have been Audrey Hepburn's 79th birthday so it's appropriate that for this new adventure I bring Audrey with me. Happy Birthday Audrey!

Pearls for me are also about connections. They connect us as women,and most especially they connect us to the women who have taught and influenced us. Strands of Pearls have been worn and passed down from grandmothers to mothers to daughters and thus link generations. When I want my grandmother with me(which is pretty much every day) I wear her pearls. The connection to the precious, the memorable,the inspirational,the irresistible runs through those strands, as I hope it will here.

So I am putting on My Nana's pearls, taking a deep breath and pushing that scary "Publish Post" button. And so we begin...