The Eye Of Anthropologie

Julia Cameron, the author of "The Artist's Way", has touched the heart of many of us who wanted to explore a path to higher creativity. Many of us are still proponents of "morning pages' which is a daily journaling technique to sort out our lives and open the door to creative possibilities.

One of her other great techniques is setting aside a portion of time to have a "play date" each week where you would get out of the house or your normal routine and expose your senses to something that might just make your heart sing.

Yesterday, I took the train to Toronto to spend the day with friends but also to visit the Anthropologie Store on Yorkville Avenue. I have been a visitor to Anthropologie stores for years in many of the large US cities and I was thrilled when the stores arrived in Canada. Anthropologie has always been one of my favorite "play dates."

It's the colors, the textures, the stories their merchandise tell us. When you walk into Anthropologie, it's best to stand there for a second or two just to feel the vibe that the store decor for this month will be featuring. The windows on the outside are usually just a hint to what you might find inside. Anthropologie has created a retail experience for you to unfold ....

hence ...

you become the anthropologist.

These lovely little burlap and ethnic cotton bags drew me in quite quickly. What was inside of them? A wonderful candle with an exotic aroma. I felt I was possibly in Bali with Julia Roberts in her most recent movie, "Eat, Pray, Love."

For me, it's difficult not to be drawn to anything Parisian. The little pottery hand painted plate with a picture of the Eiffel Tower had me at hello but look carefully at the the plate rack made with two spoons. All of this was positioned on a table filled with glorious decor and life style books.

In this corner, you discover a flavor of Africa. The textures of the display jump right into your eyes. The quilts on the left of the picture are made from soft brightly colored cotton and tied in the middle for display purposes with scrapes of contrasting material that just make your heart race a little. The simple frame above the quilts is lattice woven with scrapes of material that keeps your eye moving. The texture of the baskets, the wall paper, the elephant trophy head made from papier mache .... very simple. Simply wonderful.

The shapes, the textures, the colors of this wonderful collection of amber bottles on a shelf in the window gives you a sense of the old juxtapositioned in front of the landscape of a large city.

It's a simple way to escape perhaps.

This little collection of old mirrors were on a dark wall but the reflection of the 
glass pulled me to that corner. I have collected old mirrors and was trying to 
think of a way to display them in one of my bathrooms. I love how they abut 
each other with an old picture in the middle for interest. Would love to know 
how they antiqued the actual mirror to look so old....

Do any of you know the secret of antiquing old mirrors?

Notice how the colors in the clothing are picked up in the old frameless art above the shelf. I just love to see pictures stacked like that.

I must have spent close to an hour in the store meandering through this safari of ideas and wonderful merchandise. The little details on all their clothing and home decor items just kept my eye enraptured.

Julia Cameron was correct ... an hour away from your day for a
 "play date" is almost as good as a vacation.

That is the allure of Anthropologie.