A man's personal male attendant, responsible

for his clothes, appearance, and manners.

  

A rack or stand to hang clothing. A box to

store a man's wallet, watches, and jewelry.

      

The MR. does not have a valet, he has a chair,

near the closet, which he uses, but not to sit on.

is also an online men's lifestyle publication.

"Updated daily, Valet offers news on fashion,

grooming and culture--in a mix of both aspirational

and approachable price-points.

 

Crafted especially for the 21st-century gentleman,

women can (and do) appreciate our charms too."

valetmag.com

I have to admit, this was supposed to be a

Son's birthday / Father's Day / MR's

birthday/tribute

but I got a bit wound up in all the celebrating &

the time slipped by.  But still, look at some of the neat guy "stuff" that I found!

I've grown to appreciate guy stuff.

Maybe it's because my daughter and I live with two guys and we think they're neat keepers! 

 

This is something that CNP & his best friend

SDC would decide to do if they got bored in

the middle of the night!

I like 

"Valet's growing reference guide of helpful style tips,

last-minute tricks and ingenious instructions for a wide

range of the modern man's dilemmas."

 

Like... how to find a good barber,

& secrets to the

perfect wet shave.

 

The Etiquette Handbook will even tell him

how to pronounce designer

names!

I don't want your MR. to get snubbed by some

snarky sales girl for messing up

Ann Demeulemeester

or Veronique Branquinho.

Now, how about his clothes?

The Clothes Handbook will help him

decipher his clothes' care labels.

"The 'care instructions,' as they're referred to, don't do

much instructing, so please allow us to decode and then

offer real-world translations."

 

Next, to baseball and barbeque, there's no

greater American summer ritual than (anyone)

washing my car.

 

The Car Handbook at Valet has a tutorial on how to Detail Your Car (in 15 minutes).

Evidently, pre-treating is the key!

I wish! 

At there are also wonderful articles

written about fascinating men & their stuff, like

this one about a Rolex that belonged to

Sir Edmund Hillary.

It was discovered on Mt. Everest!

  

Thanks for sticking around & reading my

a belated tribute to my guys.

Oh and one more thing -

If your MR. could use a solid, masculine

piece of furniture with a dash of Kennedy-era

cool. One that will not only help him stay organized, but keep his clothes fresh and the dry cleaning bills down.

Here is a beauty I

found at 1st dibs!

Water Paper Paint

This weekend I spent some time exploring

Water Paper Paint.

It's a charming book written by the artist

Heather Smith Jones.

cover artwork by Heather Smith Jones

I actually came across her blog a while ago and got a sneak peek at the book while it was in the works.  I'm always looking for creative ways to play with paint and Water Paper Paint is full of wonderful ideas!

photo by Rachel Saldana for Water Paper Paint

It's written for all creative types, whether your background is mixed-media, textile art, journaling, or papercraft.  It's a grown-up book full of inspiration and each exercise is written and beautifully photographed entirely from the artist's perspective.

This botanical by the author is what caught my eye.  I love botanicals but I've never tried to paint one.  Until now!

artwork by Heather Smith Jones

My garden is full of bulbs that gave quite a show earlier this spring and now have laid down to rest.  So I thought I'd give it a try.

photo Lisa Porter

I went to the back of the garden and pulled up an assortment. 

photo Lisa Porter

I'll admit that up until now, I had never really thought of bulbs & roots covered in dirt as being all that interesting.

Ahemmmm...Helllloooooo...

photo Lisa Porter

I started photographing them and suddenly Mother Nature had my full attention.  Here's one of many examples that I'll choose from to paint. 

photo Lisa Porter

In the meantime, If you're the creative type, and I know you are, stop by the blog Heather Smith Jones and say hello to the artist & author of Water Paper Paint.

 

The other project in the garden this weekend was to create a place near the potting bench to clean up!

 

photo Lisa Porter

We've had an old galvanized feed bin for years and Gracie has always loved it full of cool water for jumping into on hot summer days. I used the water at the end of the day for cleaning up garden tools & muddy boots.

photo Lisa Porter

Gracie's not so fond of jumping in & out of it anymore and I'm not so fond of bending over and cleaning up anything at the end of the day so using old fieldstone that Collier & I gathered, we built a base to raise it up. We added a spigot & now we have a garden sink!

photo Lisa Porter

photo Lisa Porter

She'll be sure and let you know when she gets a new pool.

photo Lisa Porter

And I'll be sure and let you know how the botanical turns out!

School is out & it's officially summer, painting & blogging time!

I've missed you all,

His list.

Lately, we find ourselves taking every possible opportunity to enjoy the last days of summer.

 Summer is when my son grows. 

It's also when he likes to add new things to his list.

He believes that summer is not a time of life — it's a state of mind.

It depends on the quality of his imagination and having more courage than fear.

Having an appetite for adventure over the love of ease.

Going after new challenges...

 

and the joy in the game of life.

Checking wakeboarding off his list and having an appetite for what is to come next.

It was fun to watch.

xo mom.

Photos via the picture taker, me.