Grassi Family Crest, by Properzia de Rossi
1510-1530, silver filigree and carved peach and plum stones
I believe this is the first piece of jewelry we have ever used as inspiration for Style Imitating Art! And de' Rossi was an interesting character--her first attempts at sculpture involved carving images onto peach & cherry pits. That takes some major skill.
Send your photos to Jen by Monday, January 26th to be included in the next SIA roundup! I expect lots of bling for this one.
Young Woman Watering a Shrub, by Berthe Morisot
Oil on canvas, 1883
There's nothing like a migraine two nights in a row to wipe you out cold.
But anyway--here's this week's SIA inspiration! I have to admit that I have never heard of Berthe Morisot, but I'm really glad Salazar picked a piece of artwork by her to highlight this week. Send your photos to Salazar by Monday, January 12th, and she'll post the roundup the next day. Enjoy this one! It has some great colour in it.
It's 2015! Holy cannoli! I guess I should do some sort of review, right? Everyone does that nowadays. So here we go!
January: my hair was so short, you guys. I also had to regrow the top layer of skin on my lip after I learned the hard way that I was allergic to bananas. I also, on January 1st, officially became a librarian.
February: snow came to Cardiganland, for once. I also started dating my boyfriend. (Whoa!) Oh yeah--I also learned to play Call of Duty. Is this good? Is this bad? I'm really not sure.
March: I spent most of my time at work, getting ready for our first library con & summer reading!
April: I spent quite a bit of time buried under my horses' winter coat, clipping it off his body. And Concert Calendar 2014 started with a bang at an Against Me! concert, and then a whimper when Miley Cyrus cancelled on us.
May: This was one of you guys' all time favourite outfits! Library con was a go, and it was a big hit! (We're already working on 2015!!) Dani sent me a giant box of clothing that changed my style and my life, and I fulfilled a long held dream to see Vampire Weekend live.
June: summer reading commenced, and in short order, I spent a long weekend in New York City for the Governors Ball Music Festival, I had to put our barn cat down (RIP Ziggy), and I spent a week in Vancouver for work (and fun!). The month was a total whirlwind, up and down, but capped off with a Say Anything concert, I can't help but look at June as a good time.
July: America happened, and I wrote about my time in New York, which was a partially overly emotional experience. Summer reading ended, and one of my best friends from work left the library to get her Ph.D. (I miss her, but I'm very proud!)
August: FALL OUT BOY. MILEY CYRUS. NICKEL CREEK. Concert Calendar 2014 kicked into very high gear after summer reading ended, and I got injected directly in the tailbone. I think it's still crying in pain. I also made it a full year without dying my hair!
September: I survived housesitting and DragonCon, the latter for the second year in a row. One of my best friends from college, E., got married, and my boyfriend and I travelled to Virginia Beach for the wedding (and a ton of Wawa trips!). Football season started, finally, which was great--but I ended the month on a bad note, when my doctor broke the news that I was going to need back surgery to correct a recurred disc in my lower back.
October: I survived a ride at the fair and will never do it again. My boss and I presented very successfully at the state library association annual conference, and I went under the knife for a second time. My time in the hospital was comical, but even better, it was worth it: the surgery was a success!
November: I spent most of the month recovering from surgery, watching HGTV with my mom while hopped up on Percoset and working on cross stitching stuff. I went back to work part time a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, which was an ultimately successful endeavour!
December: holidays ahoy! My boyfriend and I travelled to Asheville for lots of Christmas lights, good food, and mountains. I went back a week later with S., L., & M. (see below) for more Christmas lights, and it was awesome. I got a new pair of glasses, so I can still see really well! And the holidays attacked, but it was worth every moment of utter insanity. & my hair has gotten WAY longer since January!
I hope you all had a wonderful 2014. I'm sure I'll talk about 2015 in my next post, but for now, looking back at the year that was: I feel pretty lucky. Aside from putting Ziggy down and having back surgery, 2014 was a pretty stellar year. I survived, and even thrived, in my first year as a librarian, I made some new friends, and snagged an amazing guy. I even used my passport! Parts of me will miss 2014, but I'm looking forward to what 2015 brings.
Happy new year!
