Stand Back! Holly is A'Coming.

This weekend my dearest Holly is coming to visit from India. I'm so excited I can barely stand it -- I could fall out of my chair from the excitement. I get a haircut! I get to go to the flea market with one of my best shopping buds! I get to just do nothing and be with one of the people who makes me happy simply by her presence! Everything in life gets more colorful when Holly's around.

And, to top it off, she is a lovely sight to behold -- almost identical in appearance to Lady Elliot, by Gainsborough:



The same milken-complexion, strong brow, rosy lips, piercing eyes and mane of grey hair. And it looks like she's wearing my emerald.

I've visited Lady Elliot in the Frick Collection a few times since Holly left for the land where, as Diana Vreeland put it, "pink is the navy blue," and it used to be that every time I saw the painting it tugged at my heart a bit. But now looking at Lady Elliot in reproduction just makes me excited for the weekend to come.

Welcome home, old friend.