Mouse's dad is coming to visit. She is offering up our favorite poem from when she was small. Wish us luck.

There Once Was a Puffin
by Florence Page Jaques

Oh, there once was a Puffin
Just the shape of a muffin,
And he lived on an island
In the bright blue sea!

He ate little fishes,
That were most delicious,
And he had them for supper
And he had them for tea.

But this poor little Puffin,
He couldn’t play nothin’,
For he hadn’t anybody
To play with at all.

So he sat on his island,
And he cried for awhile, and
He felt very lonely,
And he felt very small.

Then along came the fishes,
And they said, “If you wishes,
You can have us for playmates,
Instead of for tea!”

So they now play together,
In all sorts of weather,
And the Puffin eats pancakes,
Like you and like me.

Mouse is agog. Look at this beautiful sand animation from "Ukraine's Got Talent," by Kseniya Simonova. More about this piece here.

Papel picado in Tepoztlán. Mouse is a huge fan of papel picado. If Mouse ever gets hitched, there will be papel picado everywhere.

Yeee! Look at Mouse's new little friend! This is a pincushion plant. It's about four inches tall. I had never seen anything like this--the little orange berries look just like pins! Anyway, he needs a name. I think Oscar, but do you have any ideas?

By the way, I don't know if this is true about all Trader Joe's, but our Chicago store has these darling little guys for less than $5. Woohoo!

More from the lovely garden with the plant wall. Mouse wants a little courtyard garden where every inch of available space is dedicated to plants, or benches, or little stone paths, or fountains, or grottos, or shrines...
Or a water fountain with a DUCK HANDLE. A duck handle! Please send Mouse a duck handle for her birthday, gods of chance.

P.S. I really think you ought to click the photo of the duck handle and appreciate it up close. If you are anything like Mouse, it will make your day. xo

Mouse continues to trudge along in the quest to un-paraben her beauty supplies. It's a tough job (have you checked the ingredients on your mouthwash lately?). Anyway, here are some of the new soldiers, so far, so good:
Clinique Repairwear Anti-Aging Makeup SPF 15: It's a little heavy. And it's slightly too light. But it is the only non-Lancome foundation that has ever worked for Mouse (Lancome was making foundation for the incredibly pale since before everybody else started wearing sunscreen like I do. But it has hella parabens). I'm trying to replace Lancome Photogenic, which is lighter, more light-reflective, and does better about not sinking into fine lines. BUT, Clinique Repairwear is paraben-free, covers smoothly, moisturizes, and works on your skin all through the day. I like that. And someone should try Clinique Even Better, which actually works on evening pigment. It's too dark for Mouse. But tell us how it is!
Clinique Zero Gravity Repairwear Lift: Hm. Got a sample. Doesn't seem to take a lot of it to be my night cream, which is good considering that it's about $70 bazillion dollars. Has retinol (good!) but no parabens (good!), and the retinol is in a low enough quantity that my face doesn't peel or turn red. Mouse might also try SkinCeuticals Retinol .5--anybody an expert on that one?
Origins Balanced Diet: Finally, Mouse is still trying to replace her yellow Clinique lotion which she has been using since she was twelve (yes, twice a day, every day), and is chock full of parabens. I can't tell how this one is working so far. We shall see. Does not burn my eyes, does not peel or feel weird on my forehead, does not smell icky. And very reasonably priced, at $25.

Mouse missed this news last week, but is very excited that Sookie and Bill are getting hitched.*

(Photo here.)

*The actors, not the characters.

BONJOUR! Know what's better than working all afternoon? Playing hooky with your mom. Mouse's mom came into town yesterday, purportedly just for lunch, and we ended up hanging out and being silly all afternoon. We went to see Julie and Julia, which was perfect, since Mouse's mom learned to cook the Julia Child way as a Home Ec major back in the sixties (when she wore hats). And taught Mouse to cook that way, too. Dry the meat! Don't crowd the mushrooms! Never enough butter! Etc.

The movie was delightful, Julia was unflappable, and all the women had a limitless capacity for reinvention. Love you, Mom! Thanks for our stolen afternoon.

(Photo here and also all over the place...)

Congratulations to Meg at A Practical Wedding, now a practical bride! I hope it was as joyful as the moment captured here.

Image from Our Labor Of Love, from the incredibly gorgeous wedding of Anna and Brett.

(Ultra-pasteurized milk with Bob Esponja)

(Imported Spanish jelly)

(Wrestling or hugging salt-and-pepper shakers. Ghosts? Luchadores?)

A few more images from Mexico, this time Coyoacán. Happy Monday, nice mice.