Norman Rockwell, I Love You.

Just professing my love. It’s what I do.

Read about him, won’t you?

A few of my favorites:

a friendly reminder…

That face.

Those eyes.

That stare.

That talent.

Kitten Heel Marvel loves Paul Newman. In case you forgot.

Shag!

Have I professed my love for the artwork of Josh Agle, aka Shag? (He took the last two letters from his first and last name and Shag was born. Neat, huh?) He creates these funky, swinging sixties pieces that easily transform you to another time and place. Check out a few below and check out more!

Crazy in Love.

What is it about oak-lined streets that make me so dizzy and crazy in love?

Why do I have visions of wearing an antebellum dress and strolling down one of these long, gorgeous paths with a beau named Shelby or Logan or…Beau?

During my trip to Savannah, I gazed down streets like these and nearly squealed from the romance and mystery of it all.

Sigh. Happy Friday, ya’ll.

Anastasia Krupnik, I love you.

She was fiercely intelligent, hilarious, insecure, brave. She was my age. She wanted to answer the telephone by saying, “for whom does this bell toll?” (Awesome or what?) She was obsessed with psychology and Sigmund Freud. She was everything to me.

I discovered Anastasia Krupnik in the books of Lois Lowry, one of my favorite young adult authors growing up, but I truly believed that she could be found on her surburban street somewhere, hanging out with her brainiac parents and her annoying little brother, Sam. She was so real to me. This morning, as I read a feature about the recent boon in young adult novels, I broke out into a silly grin when I turned the page and saw an interview with with Ms. Lowry herself, in which she discussed how she loved writing the Anastasia books. (The series has since ended, to my chagrin. Apparently, her publisher felt that the series was “outdated,” being that Mr. Krupnik, at one point, used a typewriter. What-ever.)

I decided this morning that I want to revisit the world of Anastasia. (A few years ago, I ignored the curious looks of a few kids who watched as I nonchalantly sauntered over to the young adult section of the library and commenced with squealing as I looked through those old books.) The article in the paper reminded me of the joy those books brought me, and as I remain a sucker for nostalgia, I resolve to go back in time.

Can’t wait!

The Anastasia Krupnik Series

Anastasia Krupnik

Anastasia Again!

Anastasia At Your Service

Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst (my personal favorite)

Anastasia On Her Own

Anastasia’s Chosen Career

Anastasia At this Addressen the special “he” wants to meet her.

At Least there’s Pie…

But there shouldn’t be. Note to self: never eat apple pie 20 minutes before working out. You will move very slow, almost lethargically so, and you will want to bail out of your beloved class. Thank goodness you didn’t, but the desire was overwhelmingly present.

From now, I will not succumb to the weakness of pie and pastries (and double cheeseburgers, which have reared their ugly, yummy heads back into my life). No more junk! No more junk! I will stick to salads and bland sandwiches and that will be fine for me. Because, in the end, I’d rather eat boring tuna that squeeze myself into an outfit that will undoubtedly cut off the circulation and land me in the emergency room. Those paramedics may need a little comedy here and there, but not from me.

No more apple pie. No more junk. The mantra begins…

I think cookies are OK, though.