Bathing Belles

So you head down to the beach, nicely outfitted in a broad brimmed hand, a sweet bathing suit, and a good dollop of sunscreen. You look nice - practical, but with shades of Esther Williams. And then She appears: the skimpy, skinny, overly tanned, jiggling beach bunny. It's just the indecency of it that bothers Olive, not any faint jealousy about how someone can be that toned.

If you want to return to a beach season when you weren't visually assaulted, take a peek at this collection of "bathing belles" from the late 19th century to the 1930s, including actresses like Clara Bow and Carole Lombard. Some of Olive's favourites:

Awaiting a Change of Weather

The towels are fluffy, the iced tea cooled. The umbrella is ready to be unfurled and toes are ready to squish through sand. But Olive's plan of a beach day has been foiled! Drat the rain pelting down her windows. Ah well, it just gives her more time to plan!

This week we browse the the best beach goods, beach games, and beach wear! Indeed, anything to do with sun, sea and sand.

All this week at Olive Writes.

Perfect Papers...

Is it possible for a crisp sheet of parchment, embellished with a gently stylized design and classic, yet unpretentious type to inspire what you actually write? Olive thinks so. For example....

Leeming Brothers
(gloriously English fine stationers)

Dear Madam: We regret to inform you that your novella, Last Gasp in Almalfi, has been rejected for publication. While your style of writing is lively, we would encourage you to cut out the treacle for your next attempt.


BellaBlu Designs
(English bulldog personalized stationery)

Twigsy! Just a short note to say 'merci' for the fabulous weekend at The Grange! I think Bonzo and Maxy had a lovely time together, barring that unfortunate sniffing incident... Anyway, you will send me the recipe for your plum pudding, won't you?

Hemingway's Advice

Or don't you like to write letters. I do because it's such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you've done something.
~Ernest Hemingway

I couldn't agree more, Mr. Hemingway! I think we should take his advice... peep over your desk. Is anyone looking? No? Lovely! Start writing, and don't feel even a little bit guilty.

Write with Me

Sit at your desk. Good. Now write!

Ah were it only that easy. Before anything readable can even start to emerge on your blank page, you need something especially pleasing to write with! Olive suggests the following:

1940s Royal Quiet De Luxe Typewriter
from etsy's Poetic Home.
(you have to read their description of this typewriter - your finger will inch toward the 'add to cart' button with every word)

Somehow this darling little machine, with it's dusky salmon case brings to mind writing illicit love letters at the Ritz, champagne casually in hand. Not for you the rush of rhapsodic verse a fountain pen brings about. No, your letter would be off-hand, yet tastefully suggestive... just like yourself.

Montblanc
Greta Garbo Fountain Pen

This is the kind of pen, I'm almost sorry to say, that would inspire the "I'm yours, and yours only" sort of note. You grab it during your lunch hour and furiously untwist cap, heedless of the ink that has just splattered your sweet new blouse. Really, this sort of unbridled writing can't end well, for you or your wardrobe.

Classic HB Pencil

Surely there is some implement that won't induce hysterical missives. We need a practical, straightforward, in-control sort of writing device... Oh yes, the HB. Now here's a pencil that allows you to really get somewhere in life. What courses to take at your choice of Ivy League college? Crisply written and done. Charitable function written in your diary? Duly noted.

This week... We write!

A little ironic, isn't it? This whole week is going to be devoted to the art of writing - and Olive means the old-fashioned kind - through the medium of the computer! As much as we love to Facebook, Tweet, and tap out a quick email, it's time to turn to something a little slower, a little more tactile. Join Olive as she reacquaints herself with...

Typewriter keys and scratchy pencils, thick parchment and the most delicate of stationery, and those places of fantasy where you just know you could really write.

All this week, only at OliveWrites.

This Weekend...

Please, please don't do laundry, wash dishes or dust! Save that for the last two hours of Sunday night. For now, try....

Bike Riding.
Good for the head, especially on long, coast-worthy hills.

Baking Mango & Rhubarb Crumble.
Good for the soul and stomach when
baked quietly and eaten slowly.


Read a Child's Novel.
Good for an adult mind that needs clarifying.

Olive apologizes if you have to wear your least-favorite outfit on Monday, but really, didn't you have more fun?

Click each picture for sources and information.