Hurricane Irene and tropical storm names

What do the amazing jewelry shop Odette New York (more on this in another post!),

this neato fabric and print shop, June craft,

Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine,

this iconic portrayal of Ophelia by Waterhouse,

and this Greek statue of Irene have in common...other than loveliness?

                                                              

Odette, June, Florence, Ophelia and Irene are fantastic names! So fantastic, in fact, that they have been chosen to name some of the most powerful forces of nature, tropical storms. These are strong, striking, beautiful names for powerful forces of nature, art, myth and  us. 

 I find myself thinking about storm names after heading to the store to stock up for Irene (I know.) Irene is the goddess of peace! Let's hope she stays fairly peaceful.  

There is  the whole association with the damage done by storms, and I want to be reverent about that, but here's the thing: these names have a vast history prior to being names of storms. My entire household and many relatives are represented here, as are yours, I imagine.  I really think it's interesting how many amazingly stylish names have been used on these storms

So here they are from this year and years past (they recycle), and from all parts of the globe (aside from the current Irene):

Rina

Beryl

Agnes 

Cleo

Ione

Iris

Isadore

Opal 

Ophelia

Odette 

 Dolly

Florence

Hermine

 Eloise

 Fifi

Flora

Hattie

Fernanda

Norma

Selma 

Zelda

Xina

Aletta

Miriam

Willa

Jova

Cosme

Dalila

Flossie

Ivo

Nona 

Kiko 

Octave

Priscilla

Winifred

Orlene

Isis

Georgette

Estelle

Darby

Celia

Agatha

Velma

Elida

Iselle

Karina

Odile

Hilda

Jimena

Nora

Vivian

Trudy

Winnie

Akoni

Iona

Lala

Olana

Pena

Ulana

Pama

Ekeka

Kika

Neki

Omeka

Unala

Niala

Eillie

Kirrily

Olga

Zelia

Fina

Heidi

Lua

Edna

Hadi

Uriah

Yvette

Blanche

Frances

Penny

Ruby

Gretel

Esther

Claudia

Dovi

Heta

Ivy

Lola

Rae

Daphne

Fanny

Koko

Louise

Ogni

Priya

Zita

Funa

Innis

Atu

Freda

Helene

June 

Lusi

Osea

Ume

Epi

Ursula

Veli 

Yali

Gita

Iris

Rita

Mona

Violeta

Zosimo

Isko

Venus

Oma

Uka

Zoe

Velo

Usta

Wilby

Yuri

Xangy

Zanele

Wiley

Clovis

Xylo

Irwin

Otis

Abe

Frederic

Gilbert

 Hugo

Oscar

Cristobal

Hector

Iggy

Oswald

Koji

Rowe

Igo

Vincente

Tico

Keoni

Wallis

Leo

Amos

Luis

Bune

Chris

York

Waldo

Frank

Howard

Lino

Igme

Rolly

Mele

Huko

Wali

Loke

Oho

Walaka

Javier

Newton

Seymour

Virgil

Xavier

Zeke

Boris

Hernan

Simon

Vance

Nolo

Freddie

Hamish

Jasper

Neville

Ferdinand

Harold

Ernie

Lucas

Arthur

Beni

Tomas

Zuman

Walter

Hagar

Reuben

Winston

Oli

Lin

Seriously, what a savy set of names! I can scarcely find one that I don't really like. Is a name nerd selecting these names for storms that they revere and respect, that they put so much of their time into studying, or do the namers of storms find these to be unusable for people,so they're kind of toss aways? I find the latter extremely hard to believe. Not a bad name in this pack. 

Albert & Henriette

The oxfords at Albert et Henriette! J'adore! I love to wear matching shoes with my girls. I think if the shoes are chic and adorable, then there's zero cheese in matching!  

    While I'm a sucker for brown, I also love the black, blue and yellow shoes!  I adore the blue sandals at Albert & Henriette for little girls and boys, too. 

Beautiful shoes for Mom and kid? Awesome! And what a beautifully named shop! 

The accompanying blog, Le Dans La,is home to some really pretty photos. I first learned about this blog over on Decor8 , where I learned that Albert and Henriette is run by a woman named Zooey, and the shoes are handmade!  Apparently Zooey named the shop after her grandparents, which makes the name even cooler and more special, doesn't it? You can read that article here.

A lot of you will likely recognize the picture of the smiling girl in the yellow frame (via La Dans La, above)  by Yoshitomo Nara. We had the same one sitting on our beside table while I was pregnant with Nona and while she was a baby before transitioning with her to her own room. She loved to hold it and smile back at it, so the image is very dear to me; my heart skips a bit every time I see it, still.  I was fortunate enough to see an exhibit of his in Honolulu years back and have been a fan ever since. Below is the same picture. Nara would actually be lovely on a smiling little girl like this!

From today's inspirations and musings:

Henriette (Ettie, Rettie, Henri)-- a variant of Henrietta, it means "home ruler."  

Albert (Bert, Bertie, Albie)-- I really, really love this.

Oxford-- Another place or animal name. I could actually see this appealing to some.

Yoshitomo (Yoshi and Tomo are also nice.)

Nara

Today marks the start of the second week of this blog's running, so I'd also like to say a whopping thank you to all who stopped by in our first week here!  

What do you guys think about these names? What about the shoes? 

 Are you a fan of Yoshitomo Nara's? Have you ever been to one of his exhibits; what did you think?

 Happy Wednesday!

(images courtesy of Albert et Henriette and Le Dans La) 

Simpli awesome names

 

    So it's December of 2009, we've just done an epic move across the Pacific ocean, settled into a temporary, but cozy basement-apartment abode. I'm in my first trimester of pregnancy number two (puking and eating nothing but clementines-- terrible diet but lovely name), when I realize that I've  done nothing for my sweet, patient, little two-year old for Christmas. This was the first year that she was really able to get it, and I had been looking forward to this, right?  I promptly called my mother to borrow a Christmas tree and then hightailed it to Etsy on a quest for the perfect doll!

      But that could take weeks, all handmade and what not, right?  There's no time, right?  Darn it, I was not going to the only place in my family's town, Wal____.   Surely someone on Etsy could help me and compensate for my total lack of planning.

When I found Simpli Jessi and her dolls, I happily braced myself for sitting upright for a while (rather than lying prostrate on  bathroom floor), ate a clementine, and was so excited by her creations that I felt no nausea for an entire two hours of gasping at her dolls, and their names!  After much deliberation (Francoise or Cleo? Francoise or Cleo? or Benny? or Eko?)

I chose Cleo for myself, I mean for my little girl.  Cleo arrived in plenty of time and it was love at first sight for me, and then for Nona as she unwrapped her on Christmas morning. If only Nona would adopt Cleo's love of cabbage, which I assume Cleo loves because her mother did.

   Yes, the dolls and animals in Jessi's Etsy shop simplijessi have  a thoughtful accompanying story.  Here's Cleo's:

--"Cleo makes paint brushes for artists. When she was little, Cleo used to watch her father in his workshop - he was a book binder. Cleo's mom liked to experiment with recipes, her favorite food was cabbage. Cleo also has a little pet bird named Frost. "

and what about the name Frost on a person? I rather like it.

Some of the names of dolls and animals currently in her Etsy shop:

Girls:

Nanna 

Kiki

Tula

Berta

Birdi 

Yuka

Fanny 

Leonie 

Boys:

Hector

Roger

Neo

Marcello

Calvin

Albert

and ones which were in the store in the past: 

Girls:

Mint 

Agnes

Tressa

Frances

Attie

Malin

Jutta

Veda

Edith

Alice

Maude 

Addy

Blueberry

Noa

Yume

Elinor

Elka

Moira

Ida

Sally

Irma

Elona

Oive

Llona

Balu

Mara

Eko 

Orla

Gretel

Mio

Isny

Oli

Didi

Lil

Liesel

Elodie

Uni 

Aleksandra 

Ania

Cecile

Miga

Bertine 

Jules

Louise

June  

Irma

Ida

Emmylou

Boys:

Bo

Flip 

Clive

Anders

Roger

Timo

Zeek

Jasper

Randy

Malcolm

Hank

Damien 

Edgar

Bruno

Henri

Juan

Benny 

Amos

Lloyd

Louie

Rupert 

Fritz

Satchel 

Dieter

Hans

Avery

Wyatt

Migel

Leon

Manuel 

Lars

Lyle

Franco 

Oscar

What a list! I'm keeping my eye on this shop for a long time to come for name and craft inspiration. 

    What your favorites from this list? any other names they remind you of? Any you plan to use?

     I simply love Simpli Jessi--her dolls, her bears, her cards, and her taste in names!

*all images and inspiration from simplyjessi