summer treats

For those of you that blog, are you every plagued by having nothing interesting to say? That's where I'm at right now. I'd rather stay quiet than bore you to tears with a lame story about our summer routine. We're having fun—just not really blog-worthy/story-telling fun. The good news is that we're all ok.

A rare treat is that I've had some time to indulge in lots of reading. My night table is buried under stacks of all sorts of bound paper goodness. Before you start thinking that I'm on a scholarly quest, let me clarify that my reading materials are of a wide variety.



I've been flipping through magazines, some of my crafty books (partial collection in the photo—trying to keep it down!), business-y type books, self-helpish books and some mystery/espionage fiction books. Don't ask me what titles are included in that last category because I'm almost embarrassed to say them out loud. Kind of how I feel about my chick-flick movies. They're like a piece of chocolate one may sneak in during a momentary lapse in a diet—sooo good and for my knowledge only.

Much to my delight, and coinciding with my current reading frenzy, I got a beautiful book in the mail called The Handy Book of Artistic Printing. It narrates one of the forgotten episodes in American design and printing history, when intricate borders and embellishments where in high demand. There are over 150 examples of century old printed ephemera, that were researched by the authors, who happen to be graphic designers themselves. I'll admit that I don't typically read historic themed books but I couldn't put this one down. There was so much to look at and a lot interesting information to feed my knowledge craving neurons.





Alternating with the reading, I've had to tackle some late-night work too. I sneak in a movie to keep me company. An added treat is when Mr. Z stays awake during one of my girly selections. Last night for example, we were totally engrossed in watching Sense and Sensibility. I know all the scenes by heart and it still entertains the heck out of me. I just think that Jane Austen was a genius.

By the way, does anyone have any good book recommendations? I wouldn't mind expanding on my repertoire and I think my night stand can handle it.

And yes, I did notice that while I have nothing to say I managed to squeeze out a post out of nowhere. Ha!