Greek Myths by Ann Turnbull and Sarah Young

"Greek Myths" available on amazon

I found this book for Charlie over the summer, but we hadn't really looked at it until the other night—and then we couldn't stop reading. It's a selection of classic stories from mythology (the minotaur, Arachne, King Midas) that's not sugarcoated but perfectly appropriate for a third-grader. Ann Turnbull strikes just the right tone: fantastical, a tiny bit flowery—and then totally down to earth. Sarah Young's beautiful illustrations are perfectly detailed and amusingly gruesome. (We especially liked the bloody bag carrying Medusa's head.) Percy Jackson gave Charlie some familiarity with Greek mythology, and he'd read a bit on his own,* but he was ready for a version with a real viewpoint. It was so nice to relax, regress a bit, and simply enjoy reading to him, not worrying about making him read too.

*If your tastes are a little more old-school, D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths is a great introduction to mythology; it's much more comprehensive and totally straightforward in its storytelling.

design project: nautical sitting room

A friend is updating her guest room; she wants a nautical theme—but doesn't want it to look like an overdone beach house. After a quick Etsy browse and a look at a few other online stops, I put together a few pieces she might like. These are definitely nautical: clean, fresh, unfussy.

Ship print

Starfish wreath

This carved swordfish really appeals to me, for some reason

Rope doorstop

A zigzag pillow isn't too obvious

French-inspired seagull

Limpet-shell mirror

Anchor print

West Elm rope lamp

Seagrass rug

Wooden buoys

Sea coral print

fall, finally

A long week ended beautifully, with perfect weather, new bikes, early Halloween decorations and mini pumpkins.

serena and lily bazaar

These two designing women have great taste; their online Bazaar selection includes some fantastic limited-edition and randomly found art and home objects:

Too bad this elephant was sold...

and so was this sunset.

But this vintage illustration is still available...

and so is this soothing painting.

crafty little recycling project

Revamped art-supply jars via this web site

Today Cool Mom Picks featured this cute project: Glue plastic animals atop used, cleaned glass (or plastic) jars, spray-paint the lids—and you get matching, appealing containers for pencils, beads, collage pieces, whatever. You could store jewelry and other treasures in there too: maybe even plastic animals (we have a few in our house—my only problem would be convincing Tessa to spare some for the jar lids).

giles and brother archer bangle

Archer bangle bracelet

I was doing some highbrow airport reading, and I saw this great-looking bracelet on the editors-recommendations page of InStyle. Giles and Brother's Archer bangle is clunkier than I usually go for. But something about the knots is perfectly tough and cute. (Click on the link to get better views than this small photo; I'm still figuring out the finer points of image copying in Blogger.)

cute little purses

I'm shopping for a bat mitzvah present for my niece. Her mother suggested a purse, so I've been shopping around for something pretty, petite, and possibly pink. Of course there's Coach's Poppy line and the Dooney & Bourke mini barrels, but Etsy has some great ones—totally different from what everybody else is carrying, and maybe even cuter. I would happily carry any one of these:

Hermes-pink pouch by Farrago on etsy (from Budapest)

Mulberry hemp-cotton bag by Tippythai on etsy (from Thailand)
(how cute are those buttons?)

Striped bow bag by Peacelovenpolkadots (from Arizona)

Of course, when you're 13, maybe you just want what everybody else is carrying.