holy wow...i love this!!!

i stumbled on this amazing artist, celeste potter, while dilly dallying before work...the song is pretty groovy too. and then i....whoops, almost burned my oatmeal trying to post this.

as a milestone approaches...

Ms. Christensen you are so absolutely stunning at 40...thanks!
i think that it is so easy at times to slip into feeling a dread or a denial of age.
...for me that it is. i used to always say that i had a dorian grey complex.
and i wept on my 21st birthday for the passing of years.
time is swift and can often be cruel. and now 20 odd years later(yes, for real odd...in some ways and quiet and simple in others) i feel the number forty creeping up the path and i truly don't feel that much different. i mean i don't wander around in a macrame bikini top and a gypsy skirt so much anymore, but the converse are still there. i still loathe cottage cheese and i still love to ride a creaky old bike with a bell on it's handlebars. ok i need to wrap this up...blah blah blah. i could go on and on waxing poetic on the virtues of being forever young as a state of mind. all i will say is that i have something big planned in my year that will be forty...and that i have a slight girl crush on helena christensen because she IS forty and also i resurrected my love for john cusack after watching say anything for the gazillionth time the other night. the end.
photos of Helena Christensen for Odd Molly (via Haus Maus)

treasures from wisconsin...

little treats from my trip to lush and green madison,wisconsin...
*a carousel ride with a very dear friend(i miss you Monica!!!)
*a tiny milk glass pitcher
*a pink pony holding down a mountain of lava
* an ode to dr. evermore
"can i come hide with you in your post apocalyptic garden?
i'll care for your creatures of iron and steel.
i'll sweep out the remains of life as we know it and
bake you a pie of cobweb and thistle
and together we shall be fed for all eternity..."
*my feet catching sun at devil's lake
* the little girl who has stolen my heart
i had a most excellent vacation!

bambino

this is my first little baby from the garden. sweet little lemon cucumber, how lovely you will taste sliced with some feta and sardines...

circus~y

all pictures were taken in the shop today...
i was bored and needed a break from bingeing on atomic fireball candy. i've had circus on the brain for the past few days. it started last friday when i caught sight of a big red and white striped tent going up in a field. the wind was blowing and the clouds tumbled a bruised grey over the foothills.

dream...

i want to live here. period. it is southern gothic at it's best.
i look at my own small apartment in sunny california and sigh...
images are from the blog beauty everyday located here.

weekend

my weekend was filled with thrift stores, shop updates, music, strong coffee, and the pasadena flea market with a friend. i fell in love with the mirror in the top picture. i have been telling people that i stole it from the palace at versailles(re-watched Marie Antoinette last week....guilty pleasure).
greg and i are now hooked into True Blood. we don't have cable so we are patiently waiting for the dvds to trickle into the video store. i want the books now too.i hate to admit it, but i am a sucker(ba-dump-bump) for vampires and sultry southern towns with sketchy inhabitants.

under the sea...

i just remembered these pics while i was watching a shark show on PBS. i took them at the monterey bay aquarium last summer.
floating tendrilly blobs of coloured gelatinous goo.
i could have watched them for hours.
~i ate four of greg's freaking amazing cookies

untitled

lower photo by lara jade
june gloom is upon me. my fingers and toes are chilled and i wish that i had a big mug of cocoa and a fire to curl up in front of...or at least a fancy umbrella. please note that anyone reading this outside of southern california will just not understand.

luckily G has whipped up some chocolate chip cookie love.

nice...

last week was new shoe week... the black ones are from miz mooz and the sandals are bandolino.
i have honestly never worn sandals like this, but i am digging them(and not because the kooky lady at macy's said that they looked sexy). in reality errr the reality of last weekend, i let my sister jessie talk me into wearing them to the zoo. it rained. i had "zoo feet" the exotic cousin of "7-11 feet." this is the story that i shared with my boss today after she complimented them. i think i amuse her.

happy earth day!!!

some morning pics of what i am trying to grow on my little patch of asphalt and roof. marshall l-o-v-e-s walking on the roof he feels like king of the castle. he also loves posing for the paparazzi. so this was a good morning for him. not shown were my lemon cukes, chocolate peppers and patty pan squash. fingers are crossed that they make it in this heat.

an interlude of colour...

these photos are from the "Holi Festival of Colours." it's a Hindu celebration to welcome spring and the triumph of good over evil. what i love (aside from the obvious thrill of slopping pigment all over everyone, their mom and oneself) is the look of absolute joy on everyone's face. i am choosing to ignore the other obvious fact that powdered and liquid pigments whether synthetic or natural can be inherently dangerous in a plethora of ways...on a side note, i am plotting something exciting...

a spraying i will go...

i'm up way too early for a saturday because.........i'm off to work in an hour to airbrush a gynormous cloak to look like the the stony face of a mountain. 6 dancers and one singer fit under it. there will be fun to be had in the costume shop today for sure.
but, before i ventured out, i needed to post these little dolls as seen in the blog of sveta drescher.
very inspiring and beautiful. thanks to Lobster and Swan for posting the link to these lovelies today.

in honour of mister jones...

i thought that i would rustle up some pics in a salute to Stephen Jones. and then i was a little miffed(ha!) when i realized that my millinery photos are pretty limited. i made all of these several years ago. the first one was for "The Merry Widow" and it is a wire crown and buckram brim.the black bird is quite old and i think that i threw some vintage lace pieces on there somewhere too(there's a lot going on with this hat!!!). the other two are from "The Marriage of Figaro." i was hooked on Philip Treacy at the time. the black one is a black velvet covered wire frame with coque feathers, tulle, fabric flowers and wired rhinestones. the second number is a bridal piece. it is a wire "fontange" style frame with vintage velvet leaves and paper hydreanges(never use paper flowers for a long running opera...most unfortunate). you can't really see the veil, but is has an added scalloped edge with embroidered flowers and then i cut out more little flowers and stitched them throughout the tulle. note to self...take camera to work.take pictures with said camera...cuz these pics are ollllllllllld. thanks for indulging me! stephen jones, YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

oh to be in london and to be a mad~hatter...or, another hero

i make hats on a fairly regular basis, but this first little film made me a little misty...it sums up very quickly, the hours of labour that go into making one simple top hat. i soooooooo wish that i was in London to see this exhibit.

welcome spring...

i wish that i could say that this is me, but it's a stolen photo from Graham and Green and Design Sponge's cherry blossom post.