My friend Fran calls posts like these things that “frill” her. So in honor of her, things that are frilling me lately:

• In the car, my boys and I are listening ceaselessly to Frances England‘s album, Fascinating Creatures.  B loves “Blueberry Pancakes” and “Digging in the Dirt.” J is undecided.  D loves “Daddy-O” (because, he says, he aspires to be a dad like that) and I love “Sometimes,” “Paint a Picture,” and best of all, “Books I Like to Read.”

• A blogger I read had this funny picture of a friend up at her site today (if you grew up with The Parent Trap, it will make perfect sense), and reminder of Nora Ephron’s words, “Be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

• Thanks to following Vlogbrothers rather than just occasionally watching some videos, I have found The Lizzie Bennett Diaries and have begun reading, watching and trailing it voraciously. It’s hilarious. Spot on. Worth a date night or two to watch/read together, since D and I are both fans. (Confused? The home page isn’t great.  But there is a great explanation of the project here).

But here’s my question. Take a post like this, or better yet, say I see something artsy and craftsy that I love, and I try to make a version of it myself: Is that plagiarism? Or is it, as Anne once said, “the sincerest form of flattery?”