THE MID CEYLON-TURY: BUTTERFLY CHAIRS

BKF or "butterfly" chairs were first designed and manufactured in Argentina in 1938. They were inspired by late 19th century military furniture, which was used in wartime and needed to be both stable and portable.

This design has been popular since the time it was made. Here's an authentic mid-century version from an auction site: 

And here's a modern version sold today on CB2:

These chairs are still made in Sri Lanka! I saw one recently in a Sri Lankan family home here in the Sacramento area: the husband had brought the chair all the way from Sri Lanka! Like many butterfly chairs from there, it had an intricate cultural design tooled into the leather, as in this one found at the store NaomiPainting on Etsy:

You can also find plain ones like this at Laksala, the official State gift and souvenir store of Sri Lanka:

I love seeing interpretations of mid century designs from Sri Lanka (and all over South Asia): it's so inspiring!

MOTHER'S DAY 2014

Hope everyone had a most wonderful Mother's Day, whether you're a mother or not, whether you're close to your mother or not, whether your mother is here with you or passed on, I truly hope that your day was happy and fulfilling. I believe all women who nurture children and play positive roles in their lives are in a way "mothers" of those children. 

I feel lucky to be have been born to my mother, who I truly think is one of the greatest mothers ever. She sacrificed so much for us, and my only hope, wish and prayer is that I am born to her in every life to come!

Here she is, a brand new mother (I'm her first child), in a groovy graphic-print dress that looked to be a staple in the wardrobes of women all around the world ... at least, if this picture's any indication, lol! Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful Ammi!

I also found some beautiful vintage gifts for her! One was this collectible Mother's Day porcelain plate from 1972, the year I was born!

She went crazy over it! The design is painted in 24 karat gold, and the ladies at the shop where I found it also loved the fact that it was the year my mother became a mother -- it's like the plate was meant for us!

I also found this lovely little vintage magnet, which we gave as a gift from our son, her first grandchild.

My mother love decorative magnets, and this one has hooks for things like keys, which she's always misplacing lol! She loved this little gift too.

Our son caught that stomach "bug" that's been going around this weekend, and although he was much better today, everyone's Mother's Day plans had to be postponed (our grandmother's passing was also a factor in that). So we'll go out to celebrate probably at the end of the week. 

Despite all that, ours was a lovely happy memorable day, and I'm so very grateful for that!

MY GRANDMOTHER: IN MEMORIAM

Last Saturday we got the saddest news from Sri Lanka: my grandmother, who helped raise us and who looked after us while my mother went to America (and then brought us to her over a year later), passed away in her sleep. My aunt and her family were looking after her, and my mother even got to go and visit her for a couple of weeks right before she died. She was in pain, so no-one wanted her to suffer. But it was still a huge blow for us all.

I now have no living grandparents, and my mother has no living parents. But cliched as this may sound, as Buddhists we believe that they are still looking after us, and depending on our karma we will meet again in another life. 

But for now I'm in this life. And I want my grandma.

Here we are, three generations of women - my mother, me (at around one month old) and my grandmother:

I will miss her for as long as I live.

THE MIDCEYLON-TURY: VINTAGE SRI LANKAN TV ADS!

Look what I found: a series of vintage Sri Lankan TV ads on Youtube! They're from the '80s and '90s, but what's interesting is how mid-century furniture styles were still popular those days -- you can see this in the Arpico ad around 3:34 on the video timer. Well worth checking out!

The furniture on the ad was made for the masses and affordable, so not "high end" in any way. Which is funny when you consider how trendy and pricey things like hairpin leg tables and Saarinen-style furniture are today, here in the U.S.

Sri Lanka has not caught up with today's mid-century mania yet. Decor trends hit Sri Lanka veeeery slowly, so it'll be fascinating to see if these styles will ever come back over there!