Janelle Monae

You know I love me a good asylum. Add some seriously funky dancing and you had me at hello.

Just popping in

Felt the need to explain that I haven't been sucked into a black hole.  Well, not literally, but I guess the black hole of springtime in the garden and the start of wedding season looming and the return of motivation to finish house projects did kinda get me.  Can't really predict when it will shoot me back out either...

Pretty stuff that would look really great in my living room was first seen on Belle Maison.  Sources can still be seen there.

I got a wild hair...

Decided to start working on my wardrobe for GaGapalooza.  So I took this piece of inspiration:

and came up with this for my trial run.  Holla.

I'm quite pleased with the effect, but am thinking of adding an eye zipper or red lace face veil for the real deal.  But not bad for just playing around a little this afternoon, no?

Sweet Teddy

Anyone that has spent any time with my little family knows that there are really five of us.  Steve, Lex, Hayes, Noah, and Teddy.  Reading an excerpt from Home by Anita Kaushal on ABT this morning has me thinking about this little threadbare, loose-jointed, and lets face it, pretty nappy guy this morning.  He's been with us since the beginning, and has never been gone more than three days. (This was during his famous trip to the "castle up north".  When Hayes was two, Teddy was MIA for three days and Hayes was devastated.  The only explanation Hayes had was that Teddy was visiting the castle up north.  It took us three days to find him and realize the castle up north was really the space between the closet rod and upper shelf in Steve's closet.)

Teddy has cuddled with Hayes every night; told him stories and harbored his secrets; been to the circus, Key West, show and tell more times than I can count, and the doctor; has been rescued from a dog's mouth, some older kids at a park, and frequent attacks from really big dinosaurs.  He's smart, silly, likes to eat cereal and fruit snacks, loves to be tossed up in the air, and has a magic wand and deep voice.  He also gets to have a birthday party, complete with mac n' cheese, cupcakes, and the song, whenever Hayes has a really bad day.  It always works.

 

Teddy has always been included in the family pictures, so the outward effect of all the love he receives has been as well documented as Hayes's growth into a creative, tall, sweet-natured little boy.  And while others often comment on their often equally rumpled appearances, I think they both just keep getting more handsome everyday. 

 "You’ll never know which thing will become the best-loved, can’t-do-without, the night-time necessity. It might be a hand-stitched hand-me-down, a bright new soft toy, or a well-used blanket. Whatever they choose, it will mean security to your children and bring a sense of personal belonging and wellbeing. And you’ll end up treasuring it almost as much as they do."
 --Anita Kaushal, Home

*While Noah is pictured above with Zosa, it was a short lived friendship.  Noah is much more attached to a blue blanket that he named Momma, followed later by Blankie Momma.  And while it absolutely melted my heart to have his most beloved thing to snuzzle with named after me, Momma just hasn't quite developed the personality and charm that Teddy has.   

Wandering further off track...

The trilliums are blooming (!!!) and I've fallen in love.  I keep thinking about available-for-adoption Jazz night and day, but the timing and a huz with a focus on reality means it just isn't meant to be.  So...I present all of my Seattle area readers with the opportunity to steal my soul mate away.

More info also available from:

Vashon Island Pet Protectors

Vashon Island, WA
206 389-1085
info@vipp.org

Seeking Job

Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce?  Are you hiring?  Because I promise to wear gorgeous, ladylike Louis Vuitton from the Fall 2010 Collection (by the cutie patootie Marc Jacobs below) every single day.  Maybe we're on the precipice of a new wave of oppression, but the girl in me that loves to twirl in full skirts* doesn't give a damn.  Can I bring you a scotch Mr. Draper?

 *Ok, you caught me.  I just want to be able to pimp out my waistline that recently, through some delightful  miracle appears to be quite small.  I'm guessing its actually an optical illusion created by the rapidly expanding evil empire down below.  But I'll take the silver lining, and cover up the rest with some Louis-style, as soon as Banana/J.Crew/Target start cookin' up the knock-offs.

Hey, I'm headed to the stormy beach for the rest of the week.  Catch you on the flip side.

Hoarding Intervention

Brilliant!  A collage of all of those impossible-to-toss school projects, finger paint landscapes, and scribbled love notes.  Hayes and your artwork drawer...here I come!!!  

 

From oh dee doh.

Real Weddings: Sabrina + Wes

Pictures from a beautiful late summer day at DeLille Cellars last September, courtesy of the groom's friend, AK Vogel (based out of Tennessee).  Wes and Sabrina are here in Seattle finishing medical residencies before they head to Boston next year where he will be doing a pediatric cardiology fellowship.  The wedding for these two smarties was a destination wedding of sorts, so they chose DeLille because of the beautiful grounds and Washington wine country feel.  Wes is originally from the southern US, and Sabrina from Paris, France, so all of the guests would be visiting Washington, many for the first time.  (I felt like a bit of an outsider; my sister had flown in from Birmingham to visit/help, so other than my dear friend Kate Leiser from Unveiled Events, I think I was the only one on the premises without a charming French or southern accent).

So with no further ado, enjoy their beautiful pictures, complete with fragrant gardenias to pin in the hair, a precious flower girl, an outdoor cathedral space, a sassy cake topper, and a groom with some serious moves.