Umbrella Weather

This has been a week filled with umbrellas . . .

On Wednesday, I spotted the image above at Making it Lovely where Nicole shared it in a "favorite things" post. She borrowed it from ohbrooke who passed it along after finding it here.

Photographed by Jesus Manuel Nieto Bobadillo, this image of colorful umbrellas floating over a street in Spain is at once mysterious and enchanting, optimistic and ethereal. I love it so much,

it's my new spring screen saver.

Today, it's raining. Again.

The weather people say it's to be a short, less intense storm this time. But any rain is enough to require an umbrella. Where do you park yours when you arrive back home? Mine typically ends up on the bench on our porch. If I didn't have a porch, I suppose I would need one of these:

a wise and whimsical owl from homedecorators.com

contemporary chrome from target.com

a welcoming ceramic pineapple from gumps.com

simple and super affordable from ikea.com

a masculine leather cylinder from gumps.com

clean, classical iron from lampsplus.com

classic porcelain from overstock.com

a porcelain forest from venucci.com

hammered, aged copper from lampsplus.com

banana fiber woven over a wire frame from bellacor.com

antique silver over copper from lampsplus.com

imported Italian ceramic from bellacor.com

woven bamboo at jcpenney.com

glazed and baked terracotta rainboots from zgallerie.com

This one is my favorite. . .

the one I would buy for myself if I didn't have a porch for drippy umbrella drying . . .
the umbrella's umbrella from arcadianlighting.com

. . . not only because it's great looking but because it reminds me of this . . .

Mary Poppins!

I mentioned the movie in this previous post about some of my own favorite things. Now, it's a musical too. Currently touring the U.S. And I went to see it last weekend.

( click on this pic for a musical treat )

The players and musicians were wonderful. The story was virtually the same as the movie but with a few interesting exceptions and changes that added more music and action. Of course, I found the staging equally captivating : the sets, the backdrops, the lighting, the props; the costumes, the rooftops of London and the magical, transforming Banks house on Cherry Tree Lane.


Proper credit for this experience must be given to my very thoughtful husband who gifted me with tickets at Christmas. (thanks again honey!) The Ahmanson Theater at the Music Center in L.A. is a lovely, intimate setting that was filled to the brim with the fantastic, larger-than-life production... complete with Mary and her magic umbrella flying off the stage and out over the audience at the end!

Some of you may recall that my single, all-purpose New Year's resolution was to "lighten up", with have more fun falling under the umbrella of that intention. Seeing Mary Poppins on stage was a most supercalifragilistic step in that direction.


[Click on any of the umbrella stand images to go to their sources.]