Hiromi

Oh, friends. I have been busy. I had an amazing Memorial Day with my favorite visitors, then a wonderful week in LA with my family and finally, last weekend, I was on a silent yoga and meditation retreat for writers.

Easing back into the real world has been crazy (dealing with a mouse problem can feel like a full-time job and when you already have a full-time job plus a desire to be social, stay fit, eat good food, watch Game of Thrones and maintain sanity, you feel like you're on overload). Feels like it.

Anyway, my blog is a huge priority for me, so when it's been over a week since I've posted I get a little anxious. Hope I haven't lost any of you!

One of the highlights of my trip to LA was going to Bergamont Station with my dad. I hadn't been in so many years and thought it would be a fun activity before lunch. We saw lots of art and even a succulent garden planted in a car. A fun surprise was popping into Hiromi, a beautiful paper store that specializes in paper from around the world.

Paper is one of those things that I see and handle everyday, but don't think much about. However, when the paper is a piece of art, it deserves some attention. For example, wouldn't these ones below make the most fantastic wallpaper?

This store was a piece of art in itself. Everything in its right place, it showed off the delicacy and versatility of paper-as-art.

I asked if I could buy that lighthouse paper off of the wall. Sadly, it wasn't for sale. I'm a real lighthouse nut, so that was too bad.

I love to imagine a profession that requires weekly trips to Hiromi. It's moments like these when I wish I had a designer's eye or was a letterpress printer. Imagine all the inspiration that would come from these sheets of beauty!

Even the white paper was beautiful. All the different shades and tones. It evokes a Victorian lace dress or a bed of fine linen.

Aside from paper, Hiromi carries little notebooks, cards, folders, and...

tape! Trying to figure out a special way to use these...any thoughts?