Adventures in Post-Nuptial Life

Aloha from Maui!

2010-09-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

After a very long hiatus....hi again, blog.

We're on a babymoon! I haven't announced it here yet but we're expecting a little girl in early December. We're in Maui celebrating the waning last moments of relaxation and freedom.

We stayed at The Whaler on Ka'anapali Beach. It's an old 70's condo complex in arguably the best location ever. According to my mom, it used to be THE place to go in Maui. We're in an ocean front corner unit. The waves are practically right underneath us. It's pretty incredible!

These next couple photos feature the view from our huge wrap-around deck.

One of my favorite things about Maui is the pina coladas. I try to have one every day. These days, they're non-alcoholic. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I love them just as much.

One day we went to a Whaling Museum. Here's Brian with some whale bones.

Ka'anapali Beach!

One day we drove up the coast and watched surfers.

One day we went snorkeling. We saw those giant turtles! I have a photo of me, 7.5 months pregnant, in snorkeling gear -- but alas it will not be showcased here. It's positively ridiculous in every possible way.

Today we revisited our honeymoon resort, Napili Kai -- and went to the Sea House Restaurant. We have fond memories of our first brunch in Maui on our honeymoon. We sat oceanside and watched spinner dolphins while eating banana and macadamia nut pancakes.

And of course, one night we had dinner at my all-time favorite restaurant, Mama's Fish House. I've had two of the most memorable meals of my life here now. It's a magical, romantic experience, and a perfect way to celebrate our upcoming addition!

Ready to go home...mostly because I miss our dog so much.

2009 Cuteness in Review

2009-12-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd give you all an end-of-the-year treat: a compilation of our cutest animal photos of 2009!

(In no particular order.)

1.) Bean in diapers

2.) Bean in diapers, part deux (with cats)

3.) Waking up

4.) Oliver is a great accessory

5.) Sleeping with toys

6.) Cuddle bear

7.) Walking with dad

8.) All grown up

9.) Clearly, ready for motherhood

10.) Best friends

11.) Also best friends

12.) Loving her new orange toy (and not necessarily getting her picture taken)

13.) Just.... pretty.

14.) Like a lazy coonhound

15.) Like a French prince

16.) Supermodel

17.) Art director

18.) Turd burglar

19.) Christmas cat

20.) Lap dog

21.) And finally... the coonhound spooning the pixie bob

Christmas Spirit Party

2009-12-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

With over 30 friends, Christmas shots (cough syrup meets mouth wash) and peppermint bon bons, how could you go wrong? It was a great party, circa 2005 -- and it feels good to be back!

Thanks to all of you responded to my frenzy of texts, e-mails and calls - and who reliably brought bags of ice and limes. I always freak out about not having enough of something before a party. This time it was ice and limes. One week later, I have about 30 limes and 5 bags of ice out on my deck (which haven't melted yet because of the frigid temps!). Whoops!

Getting ready for Christmas

2009-11-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

It's been months since I've posted anything. Life has been very busy, but perhaps I've also been lazy.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up in Bellingham. My mom did not fail to impress in her Martha Stewart meal. Now it's nearly December, and I've spent the weekend doing winter yard clean-up, and getting ready for Christmas. I'm feeling more festive than usual, perhaps because it's been a year filled with many challenges, trials and tribulations --- I'm definitely really ready for 2010, and the refreshment that a New Year should entail. I'm also very ready to celebrate this '09 holiday season with friends and family. Next weekend, we're hosting a party for friends--I think we might buy a keg! (to compliment the mulled wine and cranberry margaritas) -- and I am busy making our home feel like Christmas. We have old timey Christmas music on, and I'm trimming our tree (it's a good one this year) and I am struck by how much I love and appreciate... my mom. Christmastime at my mom's house has always been an OCCASION. She unfailingly rocks the garland, the festive tabletops arrangements, the VERY fancy tree, lots of gold ribbon, handmade wreaths, candles, spray painted gold pine cones, miniature Christmas lights --and at one point, a nutcracker collection.

I loved helping her decorate our Christmas tree when I was growing up. She always put on sappy Christmas music and my sister and I pulled out our favorite ornaments, retelling stories and anticipating what gifts might be put under the tree. We always had a near-perfect 6+ foot tree in our living room, decorated with my mom's beautiful selection of trimmings -- which of course, perfectly coordinated with the room. (She usually bought a small second tree that we could decorate with our silly Christmas-themed crap. It stayed in the upstairs hallway or playroom.)

I'm hoping to carry this tradition on with my kids, but in the meantime, I'm actually totally enjoying making a version of my mom's tree in our own home. As silly as it may sound, I'm totally inspired by her Christmas design aesthetic. I don't feel guilty that I mostly hide away the tacky red and green homeade ornaments from my past, replacing them with a selection of very sparkly gold, turquoise and bright pink ornaments (yes, they coordinate with our living room).

My mom is an extremely talented self-taught interior designer and I very much appreciate her ideas and influence. She by no means has ever told me how I should arrange my home, but I have of course gleaned from her vision, and I'm thankful for her impeccable taste, as well as her holiday spirit!

New obsession

2009-09-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have a new baby obsession:

Nora Bentley.

Nora is my friend Scott's - and his lovely wife, Meg's - baby. Scott is my friend from high school. The gang of us used to spend entire evenings in Scott's parent's rec room watching awkwardly lighthearted guys build pyramids out of themselves (we were really advanced). And now he's a dad. Weird.

Nora is simply the cutest thing of 2009.

Tre chic... and I owe it all to Cori

2009-08-28T18:00:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my friend Cori, I now am the new proud owner of these lovely and crazy chairs by Thomasville, circa 1965. I'm soooo in love!

I'm really undecided on how to proceed. They need some work because 3 of them are blue in tint and two of them are yellowish - like somebody tried to get creative at one point. Both work, but I want all 5 to match. Also, they should be reupholstered.

In an ideal 2009 world, what would these look like? I'm thinking a creamy white with gold gilded accents, refreshed but in keeping with their original aesthetic--but I've also heard opinions of bold and black. Thoughts?

Ya win some ya lose some

2009-08-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner. Believe it or not, it was supposed to be pizza. Damn I was looking forward to it, too!

Fourth of July weekend = dog weekend

2009-07-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

We spend the majority of this beautiful fourth of July weekend catering to our dog, Bean - who is approaching one-year old now.

She had the dog weekend of the century, going to different dog parks (including the amazing beach dog park in Edmonds), an overnight in Bellingham with her buddy, Oliver (my mom's dog), and taking a walk on the Interuban Trail.

She even treed her first raccoon!...admittedly from the back seat of our Mazda. But we were still proud.

It was a good fourth of July on Chuckanut Drive, with plenty of good barbecue and delicious cocktails. A relaxing retreat!

A tribute to keyboard cat

2009-06-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

Today is officially the hottest June 3 ever. In Seattle, at least.

That sort of record isn't taken lightly. That's some heavy shit. A blog post on June 3, 2009 deserves an equally important record.

What about cutest cupcake ever? I think so.

Seattleites...the general population..... look no further. Meet, keyboard cat (the cupcake):

This was our friend Katie's most amazingly delightful 34th birthday present. Designed and created by Charra (who by the way, is up for, like, top cake decorator of the world contest - literally) this gem brought many laughs and tears of joy to the attendees of Katie's birthday party on the eve. of May 30th.

And just because I ate it right after this photo was taken (3 minutes ago) doesn't dimish its staying power. Keyboard cat (the cupcake) will be with me -- with us -- forever. And for that, we have only Charra to thank.

Dream shoes

2009-05-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

Can they get any better?

Chie Mihara, $Too much for me.

Flower arrangements

2009-05-04T13:03:00.001-07:00

It goes without saying that one of the best parts of spring is the beautiful flowers - and bringing them inside to make fresh arrangements.

It's even better when you can cut them from your own yard!

Springtime yard improvement

2009-04-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

This past week we have spent a good amount of time trying to transform our yard. The work commenced last Thursday, when a small team of professionally outfitted men arrived at 9 am to take down our huge conical shrubs on either side of our house. The shrubs were as tall as our 2-story house, yet the guys were done and cleaned up by 11 am!

I felt guilty at first -- it's weird taking down plants that have been established somewhere for probably 40+ years -- and our house looks pretty bare now, but I think in the long run, it's the right decision. Those bushes were really overpowering, and the thought of hiring people to come trim them every year wasn't too appealing to us.

I'm also really excited about free wood for our fireplace. It's amazing how resourceful (a.k.a. cheap) I've become since owning a house. I think I finally know the value of a dollar!

We got hit with the landscaping bug though. (This seems to happen every spring.) My mom was down here so she helped us decide which plants needed to go, and what we could potentially replace them with. My mom has been gardening for years and years, and her expertise is much needed, and appreciated.

We took out this huge ugly juniper shrub that really had nothing going for it. Now we have to figure out what to put in its place.

We are excited to see that "Fabio" came back - and multiplied? Do tulips multiply?? I can't remember why his name is Fabio, but he was a gift from Brian's mom during tulip season last year. He's very handsome.

One more tree is scheduled for removal this week (thank you, stepdad). So, now it's time to be thrifty and figure out how to fill all of our yard's holes with new and beautiful foliage - I can't wait for this part!

A homeade life

2009-04-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

I highly recommend purchasing this book by Molly Wizenberg, a local writer of the blog Orangette. A Homeade Life was just released this month, and not is not only a charming, enjoyable read, but it also has excellent recipes. I have made three things so far, and two of them were absolutely fantastic: the buckwheat pancakes and this:

Banana bread with bittersweet chocolate and crystalized ginger. I made it this morning and we've been snacking on it all day. It's incredible.

I won't share the recipe because you should really buy the book!

Estate sale finds

2009-04-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today I went to an estate sale in my neighborhood of Ballard. I'm really loving my finds!!!

All of it for only $150!

Brian will likely scream "I'm not a French prince!" and worry that slowly but surely, he will find himself living in this room:

But, go to a friend's child's little league game on a Saturday morning, leaving your wife to her own wishes and desires...and this is what you might just have comin' to you.

Womanhood

2009-04-09T21:31:00.001-07:00

Our little Bean suffered from a pretty intense UTI when she was a little one, so our vet recommended waiting to spay her till after she became --- a woman.

Well everyone, today, it happened.

Little denim diapers and everything. (She is SO mad at us right now.)

An oceanic family history

2009-04-08T16:41:00.001-07:00

Apparently, my great great grandfather, Samuel Chapin, was a seaman. This is his photo, and his seaman ID card. I'm pretty obsessed with him right now.

My new partridges

2009-03-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

I can't really describe why I'm so obsessed with these little partridges. I just am. They are the heaviest, fatest little birds I've ever sat on a shelf, and I love them.

I got them at Shop Good Grace on Etsy, the same place that I bought my yellow vintage tufted pillows, which I also loooove.

Theresa (owner) and I have been emailing back and forth for the past year, and what a sweetheart she is--she refunded my purchase of the partridges and told me to make a donation to the LAM Treatment Alliance, which is fighting to find a treatment and cure for the disease that my mom has. That warmed my heart! Maybe that's party why I love these birds so much. But they're also just so adorable, it's hard to get over it.

Arizona

2009-03-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

We recently got back from a little getaway to Scottsdale, where we visited Brian's lovely parents. The weather was pretty chilly (with the exception of Saturday) but somehow it still feels like vacation, as long as there's a pool and palm trees.

The Lodis family recently added Shae the shepadoodle (German Shepherd / Standard Poodle mix) to the family. At 9 weeks, she's as cute as ever -- and has far surpassed Bean's manners, already.

She likes to sleep right next to (in) her water dish.

One day we went to Sodona, which was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there, I had an appointment with Claudia the pyschic! My first visit to a psychic! Oddly enough, she called out many rather specific things about my life and personality. She knew my mom was ill, she knew Brian had lower back pain, she knew I was self-employed. I don't really understand it...but it was fun!

Our next trip on the books is Austin for the Chrissy and Danny nuptials. So excited!

Parties, baby showers and puppies

2009-02-23T17:28:00.001-08:00

Things have been busy, as usual. I've been working too much. Not eating exceptionally well. Our house is messy and dirty. Our yard is starting to grow. And the cycle continues...

One highlight over the last couple of weeks was a great party at the new Engine Room at Georgetown Studios, newly acquired by our favorite neighbor (and talented photographer), Kathryn Barnard. Listen up Seattle -- this is the place to host your next party. It's amazing. Huge. Fun. And relatively inexpensive.

Also, Lindsay turned 30!

She and her husband joined us in Georgetown on the 14th, and the night somehow ended at Gainsbourg bar (great snacks, cocktails and music) in Greenwood with us chanting "Lynden for Life". Horrifying.

Another happy moment was the new addition of Shae to our extended family. Brian's parents picked up the 6-week (young!) shepadoodle mix a little over a week ago.

We also had a fun PUPPY PLAY DATE with Lacy's new baby, Roscoe. He is the sweeeeeeeetest thing ever. A little cattle dog lab mix. Oh he's darling.

I also went to a 30th birthday party of a very pregnant Nicole, where all of the guests were also pregnant -- followed by two baby showers. The last shower was this past Friday night, hosted by my beautiful mom, who created a lovely spread (including homemade coconut cupcakes) as per usual.

This was in honor of the soon-to-arrive baby Russell, who belongs to Gina, friend and accomplished caterer. (They're opening a restaurant a month after the baby arrives. Crazy? Ummm, yes.)

I also made this convertible necklace/bracelet, which is currently selling at Revival. Get it!

Next up is a long weekend in Scottsdale. Can't wait to meet Shae in person!

This week's cutest pic

2009-01-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Such a lazy hound dog!

Gentle Cori

2009-01-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday week to Cori, who had the gentle-est party that I've ever been to!

Everyone wore pastels, and I broke out my cashmere heart sweater. We had lavender infused water, and listened to sweet songs. Here's my sister and my friend Joey, looking positively like they represent a creepy eastside Church/cult!

This week's cutest pic

2009-01-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

Like a little angel that she is... here is Bean post-surgery.

Metaphysical!

Finley's first cupcake

2009-01-10T18:30:00.001-08:00

My friend Justyn's baby, Finley, turned one today. They had a sweet birthday brunch celebration.

Brian and I overslept, and recovered from mild hangovers (thanks to copious amounts of delicious sangria last night) as we raced up to Edmonds -- without a gift! -- to celebrate her special day. Just like any lonely, thoughtless, childless couple would.

Our lack of preparation and planning doesn't imply that we don't LOVE FINLEY MORE THAN ANY BABY ON THIS EARTH! She is so so so cute. I'm legitimately thankful that my kids aren't born yet so they don't have to compete.

I loved the progression of her first cupcake. (And it really seemed like she completely knew what was going on--that this celebration was for her.)

All done!

Chairs, a long time coming

2009-01-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

One of our recent home improvement projects was finally finished, thanks to Brian who got down to it and started painting a few weeks ago.

I bought these chairs on Craigslist not too long after we bought our house and all of the sudden had a dining room. Actually, I bought a table (which never made it to our dining room and instead sits in the basement, becoming the cat's feeding station away from the crazy food stealing dog) and these chairs came with them. At first I thought we'd trash them but then I looked at them again, and realized that they could probably be pretty cute with some help.

This summer I picked out some glossy white paint with my mom and got to work...

But then, I got really sick of it. And stopped painting entirely. For months. I had no motivation without having a fabric picked out to recover the chairs. And I realized that I was very oddly freaked out of picking out a fabric. So one day, I made my mom come with me and I found a cute green print.

But the chairs still sat there, unpainted.

Then, over Thanksgiving when our neighbors asked to borrow our dining room chairs (they needed extra), I said yes but I was mortified. Our chairs were falling apart, chipping, stained, and totally disgusting. So I almost decided to start painting again, but didn't.

Then, Brian got frustrated and picked up the paint brushes, and painted for about 3 days straight. And we brought the fabric to this wonderful upholstery gal in Bellingham who finished the job -- in one day -- for only $30 a chair.

And voila! Cute chairs!

Now our dining room is getting close to being done. I would eventually like to get an area rug, and we were bummed to find out that our Christmas present to each other, a beautiful dining hutch that was partially paid for through a compilation of saved gift cards to Jayson Home & Garden over the years, is actually a piece of crap. (Thanks again to the honest sales lady who wanted to save us from the frustration of shipping and picking up a heavy pile of poo.) Anyway, we would eventually like to find another hutch that we like. But it's looking pretty good and I have to say, I think it's really a fun challenge to decorate on a budget; it makes you appreciate it all the more.

My grandma's furry friends

2009-01-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

I love my grandma. I've known for a long time that she is a smart, interesting and crafty woman (see the amazing beach house she made here).

My grandma is a dog-lover extraordinaire. She has owned dogs for the majority of her 89 years. From boxers to poodles to more poodles, she has owned and loved the pooch. But, I never really realized the depth of her love until recently. Until her hat collection came up in conversation this holiday season.

You see, I have come to find out that each time one of her dogs passes, my grandma actually KNITS A HAT USING THEIR FUR. I asked her to model these for me this past weekend.

Apparently they don't even smell like wet dog in the rain! Amazing!

The missing cutest pics

2008-12-29T09:32:00.000-08:00

My "pics of the week" for Bean have pretty much been suspended because...well, over Thanksgiving she became not as cute. She developed cherry eye!

It's pretty gross. Surgery is semi-optional, meaning, it's not hurting her or anything but there's the chance she'd develop long term eye complications (dry eye). So we decided to do the damn thing and take her to a doggie eye specialist.

Anyway, here's a recent iPhone snapshot of her yawning. Gross eye is hidden!

She's really growing up -- definitely starting to look more like a dog and less like a puppy. She continues to be a holy terror and a sweet love bug, all wrapped into one. We love her!

This weather is nuts

2008-12-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

Today a man skied by our house!

Last night, as the snow was accumulating, I really began to think that the dinner party that my college girlfriends and I had planned weeks ago wasn't really going to happen, but everyone with the exception of Nicole (who lives way out near Bothell) rallied and managed to get here. We had a nice time catching up, and I'm so glad because Seta, from Chicago, is only here once or twice a year.

They all stayed the night, we freaked Brian out by talking about periods, and then borrowed shovels to dig Seta's car out from a pile of snow.

It's still snowing here, and apparently the weather guys predict another 5 inches tonight. I know most people are stir crazy but I'm actually enjoying this, as it has provided me my first days off during the middle of the week in at least a year.

This week's cutest pic

2008-11-24T12:52:00.001-08:00

Bean actually fell asleep like this. Aaahhhh.

I woke up to this.

2008-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

We're up in Bellingham right now for my friend Joey's wedding reception today. We came up early to spend time with my mom, and have the most AMAZING SOUP EVER -- Chanterelle Mushroom Chowder-- at Nimbus last night.

Anyway, I woke up to a dog jumping on my head, and to this:

It was beautiful watching the fog lift:

Something makes me think that if this was the first thing that saw everyday, life would be just a little bit easier.

This week's cutest pic

2008-11-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

What started out as playing and being ridiculously adorable...

Turned into this...

Oh my.

Happy Election Day

2008-11-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

It's certainly been a wild ride. From watching hilarious Tina Fey Palin sketches, to receiving emails declaring Obama is the anti-Christ, to watching my longtime Republican mother (and many of her friends) become die-hard Obama fans, this election has been the most interesting and entertaining for me, to date. I'm sure many of you feel the same.

I hope the outcome is exactly how I want it to be.

Cheers!

UPDATE:

And it did!

We happened upon an amazing street party on Capitol Hill on our way back to our car. Check it out:

This week's cutest pic

2008-10-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the lamest blog ever! Where I only post photos of my puppy!

She loves to sit in the sun in our kitchen. Wheee!

Weekly Bean Update

2008-10-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

I'm getting asked to do a weekly Bean update. This is not a difficult request for a proud new "mom" to fulfill.

Below are my two favorite videos from this past week. The first showcases Bean experiencing some pretty vivid dreams. The second is her first experience with new iPhone ringtones. Both are priceless.

I think I did it

2008-10-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

I think I made the best meal of my life. This past Monday night my mom was in town so I made us a nicer-than-average dinner: Cumin rubbed halibut with an heirloom tomato vinaigrette, and a black lentil and roasted chanterelle ragout.

These pictures don't do it justice. But these lentils were amazing.

Finley + Bean = unprecedented levels of cuteness

2008-10-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Justyn stopped by to meet our puppy, Bean, with 9 month old Finley. We had a major cute session - I thought you'd all want to partake. Hope it brightens your day!

Meet Bean!

2008-09-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

In some ways, I've been purposely avoiding my blog. I kind of got sick of it. But also, I've been incredibly busy with work. Which is good. When you're self-employed, you need to relish the times when you have too much work.

Because I've been so busy though, I've really had nothing interesting or blog-worthy to talk about. This all changed this week when we flew to North Carolina to pick up our new puppy!

Bean is a Redbone Coonound from the south. We've secretly promised to only talk to her in a southern drawl.

There were many cute puppies, but we knew exactly which one to pick when she curled up - literally - and fell asleep in my arms.

The North Carolina countryside was beautiful, and her breeder, Sam and his wife, Kim, from Rebel Red Kennels couldn't have been better hosts. His farm and the surrounding area in Lincolton, N.C. is absolutely idyllic -- straight out of a movie, or a Norman Rockwell painting.

So far, so good. Bean slept through 10 hours and two flights back to the west coast, and she even sleeps through the nights in her crate next to our bed. She loves crawling in the fireplace, and sleeping with her nose tucked in between your head and your neck -- no matter what position you are in.

We are in love.

Veggies

2008-08-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Everybody (meaning my mom & Lindsay) is freaking out about my veggie tray that I made on Friday night. It was actually really fun to put together.

On Losing the Sonics

2008-07-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

One of the more challenging but honest-to-God rewarding parts that I've experienced in my relationship and marriage is developing an appreciation for what the other person is deeply interested and involved in. This is not easy for me. I am admittedly tunnel vision, and tend to be fairly selfish. But over the past few years, I've come to a fairly significant new understanding of sports --- primarily, basketball.

In the past two years, I've even actually, for the first time in my life, enjoyed myself at basketball games. We've gone to a handful of Sonics games together, and I've been standing and cheering at close games, and Brian has tried to impart his encyclopedic knowledge of every player across the NBA. I fade in and out, and in all honesty, most of the time I really don't know what is going on. I couldn't point out a foul if my life depended on it. But that's not even the point. I have seen what an impact something as "silly" as an NBA team can have on the lives of people. I used to think sports was just (oh, I hate to admit this in a public forum) a silly meathead Sunday afternoon activity, but I have come to realize -- only through marriage and a lifetime commitment -- that I was wrong. Sports is ultimately very central to the lives of many people -- and like music, or jewelry making, or a dog, they can be very life/soul enriching.

I went to dinner last night to celebrate my good friend Amber's wedding coming up this weekend, and five of us girlfriends from freshmen year of college were sitting around drinking wine, having a gaggingly airbrushed moment of reminiscing. And I'm fairly sure that I interrupted the scene, when, just hours after the Mayor Nickels' sellout announcement, I found my blood rising as I explained to them my feelings on the subject. They looked at me like I was batshit crazy... like I was a Brian trapped in Krista's body...a terribly frightening thought.

I'm not even sure what to be more mad about. The fact that we just personally lived through a dime store crime novel with a heavy handed punch line that money is the only thing that talks? Or by the fact that our governor wouldn't even glance at perfectly viable attempt to keep our team here, making her, by all accounts, a lazy bitch? Or by the fact that if I have a little boy someday, he'll be jipped out of sharing a special experience (many, really) with his dad because of arrogance, deceit, and greed. I don't know who to hate more... Howard Schultz, Clay Bennett, or David Stern. They are all ill-intentioned creepsters who should all be worrying about burning in hell...or at least about reincarnating as blind cave salamanders.

And Mayor Nickels? He is a buffoon - a total dumb dumb. I can't even wrap my head around the logic to agree to this settlement. The economic impact alone of not having an NBA team will undoubtedly wipe out whatever minuscule profit he thought his city was making in this 45 million dollar deal. I highly doubt our city will see an NBA team again, at least anytime soon. But at least we have the Fun Forest, Celine Dion, and a bloated, couperose-inflicted city leader in which to rest our city's economic hopes!

If this announcement would have been made two years ago, I would have watched my soon-to-be-fiance's face drop -- I would have seen the disappointment on his face as he wonders what he will replace this interest in his life with, and I wouldn't have even understood it for two seconds. But today, after a wild ride of engagement and almost a year of marriage, I feel his disappointment and anger. It'll still be easier for me (than him) to chalk this one up to another adventure in post-nuptial life, but at least I now have a glimpse into the magnitude of some fans' emotions, and of this city's latest historical event.

Somebody buy this

2008-06-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this necklace today on the homepage of Etsy and was inspired to post it. It's so interesting - reminds me of my wedding necklace a bit. It would be awesome for a dressy occasion. I want somebody I know to buy it!!

Here's my wedding necklace (made by Carolyn Attal in Scottsdale, AZ) that I loved so much.

It's weird how now that I make jewelry, I am attracted to different things. A year ago, this necklace (Etsy necklace) probably would have been "too much" for me to handle, but now I have a big appreciation for intricate details.

I took a clois0nne enameling class a couple weeks ago and had a great time. Basically it involves bending thin wire to whatever design you wish (with as few separate pieces of wire as possible), and filling the design with tiny chards of glass, and then firing it in a kiln. Over and over again. It took ALL weekend to make this:

It's not without it's imperfections (the last firing made it turn yellow for some reason!) but I ended up oxidizing it to give the branches more contrast.

Enameling is fun, and it's this particular class at Danaca Design is the type of class that total beginners can take. I highly recommend it.

Painting projects

2008-06-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Poor Brian, he is upstairs painting our hopelessly tacky upstairs bathroom. It's a project that I started actually, about 2 months ago or maybe even more... but it's so detail oriented and ANNOYING with lots of painted cabinets, and trim work, and windows - and there's toilets in the way and the whole project just stinks. My dad is coming this Friday to stay the night, so the pressure is on.

I also started this painting project last week. I'm repainting these vintage chairs that I essentially got for free. HIGH GLOSS WHITE! If I can fix the inset caning part okay, I think they'll turn out pretty well. I need to find a nice green fabric - something that will go with our lovely drapes (that we have yet to hang)....cuz those cushions are pretty pretty nasty.

Paint paint paint. I went to a meeting this week with white paint in my hair - realized it when I got there. That was cute.

The Danish Modern Couple

2008-06-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'm very skeptical of people who design their homes with only one type of style. For instance, there's The Pottery Barn Couple who only decorates in dark masculine woods and poufy couches, or the Hollywood Regency Girl who obsesses over faux bamboo, or the French Country Lady who primarily displays roosters and slightly irregular glazed bowls (oh wait, that's my mom, tee hee).

Well you guys, I am afraid that we're becoming the Newly Married Danish Modern Couple. Noooo!

Yes, we are.

We recently purchased this beautiful table from Craigslist for only $300 so I couldn't pass it up.

But seriously - we already have a Danish modern credenza and two recently recovered Danish modern arm chairs.

Then we also installed this mid century light fixture above our stairway landing.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

I am kind of liking these chairs that are currently on eBay..... mostly because they are simple, would match the table, and the upholstery would match the 1958 EAMES ERA dining room window panels (sheesh). But seriously, tell me to stop!

I gravitate towards more feminine pieces, whereas Brian is more modern - but we have found a safe haven, if you will, in Danish Modern. I like it because it has clean lines without sacrificing warmth.

But enough is enough! Somebody needs to put a moratorium on this!

Etsy vintage shoe finds

2008-06-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my many subscribing readers, is this your dream day? 3 posts in a day - why yes it is!

I was online tonight and found these two pairs of amazing vintage shoes, and I had to post them in case my friends have the right size of feet!

First... I wish they were in a different color but... I just love the side. "Lincoln log" cut outs Italian wedges! That's too much for me to handle.

Second... whoa, amazing...you can't get better than vintage tapestry flats. GET IT!

Manipulating the search engines

2008-06-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

One of the projects that I recently completed was a goodie. Good meaning, the outcome surpassed even my own expectations.

I've been working with a really nice orthopedic group, Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle, for the past year. When I met them, one of their priorities was to "optimize" their site. Essentially what they wanted was more traffic, because theoretically more traffic equals more patients, right?

As it turned out, their old site was not only outdated looking, but it was built in a way that wasn't search engine friendly. It was all Flash and image-based, unreadable by The Spiders. They were absolutely invisible to the search engines - I think the only way to find the site was to type in the company's exact name into Google. So I had to tell them that they needed a completely new website.

Then I partnered with some nice, smart people to actually build the new site. I wrote some original content with search engine optimization in mind (trying as hard as possible not to make it too noticeable) and recently launched the site.

And voila! Within one month of launch, their site was located on the first page of organic search results for almost every keyword that I identified.

It felt really great to see those kind of results. And even though I feel like I only scratched the surface, I still feel like I learned a lot about online marketing over the past year.

Thank you to Adam, a Claremont alum who I recently met and who helped this project work!

Finley update

2008-06-09T10:18:00.001-07:00

Last night we saw Ian and Justyn and their baby (cutest baby ever?), Finley. She's 5 months old now.

I'm majorly obsessed with this baby, it's kind of ridiculous.

For more toe sucking shots (it's her new thing), check out her blog. She's so cute!!!

What a few small interior changes can do...

2008-06-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took the ugly brass fireplace doors off of our fireplace. Why we hadn't done it earlier, don't ask me. It made such a difference. Lindsay was so obsessed with the difference that she inspired me to go look at the old real estate pictures -- the ones off the real estate site when we were looking to buy our house.

WOW. What a difference moving some granny furniture out, painting the walls, and taking off some ugly brass fireplace doors, can make in the feel of a room!

Before:

After:

Aahh, much better. This is why people should look past the interiors of a home when buying. :)

Lindsay -- go for the tacky hacienda!

A few highlights

2008-05-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

I had to take a mini hiatus from The Blog. During my weeks, I've been busy trying to build the jewelry empire, and on the weekends we've been consumed with homeownership. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks. (Let me warn you, this might be the longest post ever.)

A few weeks ago I had a trunk show at hands down my new favorite home decor store, Revival Home & Garden. It was fun, and I met the lovely designer of Sabrina Love handbags. Brian, Katie, and Lindsay & David showed up to support - thank you!

And, I totally have a crush on this store:

Next highlight. Angela, the lovely designer of Flora & Fawn, has helped me navigate the jewelry scene a bit over the past month, and I hooked up with a company that can manufacture my line. It's too early to announce anything official, but things are moving well in this arena and I'm super excited. My head is spinning but since this is how I generally operate, it's all good. Here is me enjoying celebratory margaritas with my favorite biz ladies, Cori & Aviva of The Adventure School.

Moving on! Over the past few days, we made major leaps and bounds in terms of the shape of our yard. Our yard is totally insane. It's gigantic, for one -- there's a lot of space. And two, the people who lived here before us lived here for 32 years, and the woman was a gardner. And by gardner I mean she filled the entire yard with every color of flowering plant possible. So slowly but surely, we are (appropriately) ripping certain plants out, trimming back, and just generally just trying to dejungle-ize.

Yesterday I ripped a bunch of plants out of our backyard. There are so many pointless old lady plants back there. So that was good. And today Brian and Steve tackled the front of our house. We have lots of gigantic evergreen bushes out front. I don't know, walking up to our house, I kind of feel like an old republican, with so many gigantic sculptured evergreen bushes. Here is our progress. (And by our, I mean their.)

It looks a little bare now, but here is where we're going. This is a picture of a house in Magnolia that we looked at during our home buying process. It was suuuper wonky inside but the yard was so thoughtful.

Just give us a few years (and a couple thousand dollars?).

Last but not least, our weekend commenced with a fun evening with our lovely neighbors, Tim and Kathryn. Tim owns a delicious smoothie catering business called Pulp, and Kathryn is a wonderful photographer. (High fives for dual self employment.) I think our search for a dog breed might be over after meeting their dog, Bella.

We have been researching and discussing certain breeds, including the Shiloh Shepherd, but I've sort of been holding out. The Shiloh Shepherd is a cross between a German Shepherd and a Malumute, and they are insanely smart and mega people pleasers (read: easy to train) but their crazy amounts of shedable hair freaks me out to a paralyzing degree. I am the one who does most of the vacumming and laundry, and apparently I don't do enough of it because our house is often times resembles one giant hairball. As much as I loved the idea of this perfect canine companion, I kind of can't imagine adding a shepherd to the mix. Anyway back to Bella! She is a Redbone Coonhound -- a breed that has minimal shedding, and no dander, making them as hypoallergenic as any big dog can be - PLUS, she is my ideal dog in terms of aesthetics (this isn't her but it's her type):

Long floppy ears, beautiful red coat, rather svelte. In terms of their build/lines, Redbone coonhounds somewhat resemble Weimaraners, which I love (but apparenly weimaraners can be smelly, and somewhat difficult to train). We're not in a hurry but we're super jazzed!

This weekend's craft

2008-04-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

I love the look of oxidized metal. I've purchased oxidized components plenty of times, and I've done it a few times in my metalsmithing class, but I hadn't played around with the technique at home yet until this weekend.

So, I had these vintage copper components that I wasn't sure what to do with -- I don't feel like raw copper is generally all that wearable.

So I mixed up a solution of liver of sulfer and let them soak. They were absolutely blackened when they came out of the mixture, but I brushed them with a brass wire brush until they were a nice, muted gray. With the larger hoops, I etched a scratchy surface on them. Then I paired them with some vintage Swarovski rhinestone and glass components, delicate 14K gold filled chain, and handmade hammered French ear wires. Here are the end results:

Much better!

Shop for a good cause!

2008-04-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Seattle friends!

You are invited to Revival Home & Garden on Saturday evening, May 10th for a trunk show featuring a few jewelry designers including myself, as well as... other things (not sure exactly what).

10% of all sales will benefit the Susan B. Komen Foundation.

I'm trying to get busy, making some new things. Here are a couple examples of recent pieces.

This first pair are inspired by the 1920s (beware, I'm really fascinated by these days as of late) as well as the bright/bold contrasts in high fashion this spring:

I have no idea what my inspiration was for this necklace, I'm not gonna lie:

Hope to see you there!

Welcome to my new gardening blog

2008-04-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm always posting about plants but it's my new obsession so, get used to it.

I did so much yard work on Sunday that my body was actually sore yesterday. This doesn't mean much, however, because I am one of the laziest people I know.

The yard is looking great though. Brian edged the hell outa our lawn, it was pretty intense! And I got some pretty ground cover plants at Swanson's Nursery the weekend before last but since apparently we now live in Antarctica, I haven't had a chance to plant them until Sunday.

Here's the golden thyme, planted in the rock garden:

I actually kind of hate these white flower bush things. And the purple pansy things, ew, old lady station. But, I planted some succulents and the the tiny grass plant here on this corner:

And here, ladies & gentlemen, we have my favorite plant in our yard. I do not know what it is but it's gorgeous right now:

Also, we went to the tulip festival the weekend before last. The tulip fields were not in bloom yet (even though they usually are) because believe it or not, they're too wimpy to brave snow and ice storms. But the tulip garden featured a some blooms, and I took a few photos.

These are brave daffodils, not tulips:

Awe, Kodak moment!

And finally, two things you don't see everyday -- alpacas and wild turkeys:

And finally finally, Brian's mom bought us her favorite version of tulips, "Fabio," while we were at the tulip festival. We planted him upon our return back to Seattle. I had to take a picture of poor Fabio suffering in the snow storm last Friday night. There is something so terribly wrong with this picture:

Reasons why I love this photo

2008-04-21T10:33:00.001-07:00

In order:

1.) It showcases my new antique drum table that I purchased off of Craigslist last Friday for $60. I love a good deal. Against Brian's will, I am trying to carefully integrate a few classic pieces into our home. I think it will provide some synergy with the whole traditional, 1948 vibe going on.

2.) It includes two of my most favorite people in whole world.

3.) They kind of look like they despise each other.

4.) Lindsay's black motorcycle jacket.

5.) The blooming pink Camelia tree poking out from the back!

Pretty trees

2008-04-18T09:09:00.001-07:00

It's such a crappy day outside. Totally gray and rainy...yet again. Even though I'm not in the mood to blog -- my coffee hasn't kicked in yet -- I'm thinking that my photos might cheer me up a bit.

On the weekends, Brian and I like to walk up to Golden Gardens park. Not to see the Puget Sound ocean, like most people -- but to watch the dogs at the dog park. On our recent weekend walks up there, I realized that our neighborhood has become intensely pink. There's one particular street -- actually I think it's our street, but up a little bit -- that is lined with pink cherry trees. They are all in bloom now (well I am sure the awful weather this week did some damage) and it's really really breathtaking.

Brian took this one, it's the best:

Even the dog park has a pink tree:

Awwww:

My obsession with tufting

2008-04-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

My favorite part about spring, like most people, is the fact that it's still light out at 7 pm. Tonight, like 5 minutes ago, it was particularly light. The sun was shining through the corner of our living room, and it was just so pretty that I had to take a picture. Then I realized that I hadn't bragged about my new deadstock 1960's tufted pillows that I got for $30 on Etsy yet!

My personal feeling lately is that everything should be tufted. That's not really true, because I saw these beds yesterday and thought "cellulite thighs," but in general, I do love love love tufting.

(Photo from House & Garden)

Anyway, the light was shining on my tufted pillows and I was inspired to share. First, this is the view outside of my window. Until recently (the whole time I've lived in this house) this was a very bare tree, and I just find it so charming with its new spring growth.

I'm starting to like this little corner of our home. I want to get a taller, skinnier pot to put that plant in, so it doesn't compete with the table. Those mid-century Danish modern chairs were recently recovered in ivory faux leather (a.k.a. slightly squeaky vinyl)....I've had those suckers for awhile so their makeover was a long time coming. We recently purchased that little gold mirrored top table from Revival Home & Garden, a wonderfully charming new home interiors store in Georgetown (that actually, thanks to CJ, will start carrying my jewelry -- as soon as I can sweat shop enough together for them. The Frank James trunk show wiped me out!)

Here's a small sampling of Revival H&G, which was recently featured in DailyCandy:

Can you Fed Ex enchiladas?

2008-04-07T21:19:00.001-07:00

This sort of pains me to write this. But I think we found John y Betty's Seattle Mexican restaurant....just shy of two months after their frustrated and hungry selves picked up and left this town.

I've had my eye on this place for awhile, but they keep rather temperamental hours and it hasn't happened yet. Until Saturday evening.

The restaurant is to the right of this Cafe Fiore on the corner of 80th and 32nd Ave NW (it's about a 10 minute walk from our place):

And for the love of everything holy, it's so fantastic!!!! It's called Cocina Esperanza. It's been kickin' it near North Beach since 2003. They play terrible, terrible Mexican pop music. The chips are second rate and need a generous handful of salt, but other than that, it was outstanding.

Check this out. This was my soon-to-be-demolished cheesy enchilada dinner:

It came with pinto beans and roasted potatoes, and full cloves of roasted garlic. It was ridiculously good.

Here's Brian's Carne Asada. Hmmm, it looks way healthier than mine:

We also shared a really great pitcher of Sangria. It was probably the best Sangria I've had since my NYC days.

The restaurant is a perfect size for a birthday party, I have to see if they'll rent it out!!!!!

Tuggy... Buddy. I'm sorry that we failed in our search to locate the perfect Mexican food restaurant while you were here, but I guess that means you and the Shiba will have to visit soon!

Sharing a "recipe"

2008-04-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

I've been writing about the surgical treatments of hip dysplasia for the last hour and a half. I need a break.

My last post was depressing.

You have to try this recipe, let's call it ravioli with kalamata olives and pine nuts, for lack of a more interesting title. I made it up and it's easy and delish. The recipe is not very precise. I hate recipes.

First, go buy these raviolis. Rising Moon Organics, Basil, Asiago, Pine Nuts & Pesto. (Can ravioli be made plural?)

Boil 'em up. Simultaneously put these things in a saute pan:

Some olive oil
A reasonable amount of minced garlic
A few flakes of red pepper
A healthy smidgen of white truffle oil, yum

....Over like, let's say, medium heat.

Also, toast up some pine nuts. Watch them carefully because they burn easily.

When the raviolis are done, toss all ingredients together and add a handful of feta.

It's really good. This photo does not do it justice. It's really really good.

Week o' hell

2008-04-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

It's been an extremely difficult week. An eye-opening week. A week where I think I truly realized the utter shittyness of human nature and of corporate America. A week that makes me want to isolate myself and my family, and seek protection. FAMILY COMPOUND. We'll grow our own vegetables and knit our own clothing and sing songs to each other for entertainment. Hippy lifestyle - I FINALLY GET IT! Goodbye career aspirations, HELLLOOOO spiritual awakening.

There's nothing like a week that just stares you in the face and says "You thought you were cynical before, well try this!" And then kicks you in the face.

For those of you who know what I'm talking about, all of your warm wishes, thoughts, prayers, and offers to buy iPhones are very much appreciated. This week has made me realize how lucky I am to have the people that I have in my life. And my family rules. They are amazing, supportive, and strong.

I'm out. Until next time....

While cooking...

2008-03-25T19:01:00.001-07:00

Tonight I am making roast chicken covered in a fresh rosemary and garlic paste, and a rice salad with kalamata olives, feta, and a lemon vinigarette. It's going to be delicious. Sometimes I really outdo myself.

While waiting for things to cook themselves up, I uncovered these super depressing stats that I was compelled to share.

Work by the numbers:

3% - Although worker productivity rose by nearly 20 percent since 2000, the real median hourly wage rose by just 3 percent.

3 - Census data shows that earnings of full-time, year-round workers in 2006 dropped for the third year in a row.

21% - Nationally, jobs in industries that are growing pay 21 percent less than those in industries that are declining.

+3% - Since 2000, the Consumer Price Index rose by nearly 3 percent a year, leaving workers with considerably less buying power.

-8% - For America's younger workers, the picture is even worse. From 2001 to 2004, median income fell 8 percent for householders under 35.

-4.2% - As of 2006, the median income of working-age families was down 4.2 percent since 2000, a loss of $2,375 in 2006 dollars.

50% - Only about half the workforce is offered and participates in health or retirement plans through their employer.

Our generation is effed. I should probably make a decision right here right now to not think about slash seek out this kind of information anymore.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Trunk show slash fundraiser next week

2008-03-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty excited about this trunk show coming up next Thursday! I will be showing my jewelry at Frank James, a really cute boutique in Bellingham. It's actually a small fundraiser for LAM Treatment Alliance, a nonprofit organization that's working hard and fast to find a cure for the rare disease that my mom suffers from (LAM). 10% of all clothing and jewelry sales for the evening will go to LTA. Alison, the owner of Frank James, is apparently painting the town with flyers and press releases... so may your thoughts be with me as I operate as my own personal sweat shop for the 2nd weekend in a row.

Since the crowd will most likely consist many of my mom's friends -- classy, stylie mommies -- I have been expanding my horizons and integrating more gemstones and semi precious stones. I think I feel more at home slapping together fun colors, shapes, and motifs from vintage materials, however, this has been rewarding in a new way. Every material that I have been working with lately has inspired a very reverent reaction...sounds kinda lame, but it's amazing what our earth can produce.

Here are a couple newbies that will be debuting next week:

Light green amethyst (prasiolite), tri-colored quartz, amethyst quartz, & sterling silver:

Chalcedony, tri-colored quartz, and 14K gold filled wire/chain:

Lemon topaz, labradorite, and sterling silver:

If any of you are interested in supporting this really important cause, visit my Etsy site and make a purchase OR, even better, go directly to LTA's website to donate. We are so grateful for everyone's generosity in helping to fund research to find a cure for LAM!

Learning the ropes of gardening

2008-03-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Spring is officially here. There are a few plants in our yard making a colorful appearance. It's really fun because I've never seen our house in the spring or summer, so everything is a big surprise.

So, gardeners out there... I'd like to learn the name of the plants in my yard. Please help.

What kind of plant are these? The blooms look bigger in this photo than they really are in person. They are really tiny, almost lavenderish.

Daffodils, right?

The first bloom on this tree appeared this past week. The entire tree is FILLED with buds so I'm super excited to see how this completely changes the look of our house. (The tree is right in front of our house.)

Also, this weekend we debuted the lawn mower! (I watched and pissed Brian off by snapping photos of the momentous occasion.)

More photos to come as the yard fully embraces spring.

The world's most beautiful handbag

2008-03-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

I think we all should have a moment of silence for this handbag.

Ok, that's over.

THIS IS MY PERFECT PERFECT HANDBAG. (And it's on sale right here at Bluefly for only $1328! What a deal!)

Oh, fashion. So silly.

The decision to get a dog

2008-03-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes decision making is an interesting process.

A few weeks ago, Brian and I started talking about getting a dog. This idea has always been in the back of our minds but hasn't really been even a feasible scenario until the home purchase a few months ago.

OK, slight topic transition. So, I'm not really sure why the government feels it needs to get its nose in the business of the market, but it sure does. From slashing interest rates to printing more money, the Feds are really trying to stave off a recession aren't they. We kind of know it's coming though. It's just a matter of when. I'm sorry I'm so DOOM AND GLOOM... but who was it?...One of my friends recently mentioned that our generation is the first generation who won't do as well as our parents did. Why is this? I don't really know, I don't have a macro-enough perspective, but my scary Republican background slash Claremont McKenna ridiculously difficult (for my week left brain) Econ 101 class sort of makes me think that it's mostly the government's fault. I still believe that if free markets took precedence, our country would do better, and therefore more people would benefit. Now before you go calling me an uncompassionate right-wing lunatic.... well, just know that I really care deeply about issues facing low-income people. But having worked in/for essentially a city-backed nonprofit venture for 4 years, I'm just not sure that our government - at least not alone - is the best way to solve those issues either.

ANYWAY, back to decision-making. Brian and I have been on the fence about adding a dog to our burgeoning family (that's not really burgeoning). But all this doom and gloom is really making a case for it. Call it escapism if you want, but for some reason, I just feel like if we had the opportunity to do THIS with our dog, somehow I might forget about the bleak future of America and the fact that if we were truly selfless people, we wouldn't even think about pro-creation.

So, when Brian sent me this video this morning, after WEEKS OF DELIBERATION (I know), it was decided, welcome home future Shiloh Shepherd!

Birds

2008-03-10T11:39:00.001-07:00

I'm actually extremely over all things bird, HOWEVER, I'm making jewelry for a wedding and swallows are part of her theme, so right now I have millions of these little brass swallows laying around my jewelry room. So, I thought I'd design a pair of bird earrings for spring. I like the vintage rhinestone connectors a lot...they are really pretty and sparkly in person.

This got me to thinking about bird jewelry and how ubiquitous it is. Birds and owls and fawns and stuff like that. It can cute -- but way way over done.

Anyway, here's some bird inspired jewelry that I actually like -- or at least find interesting. Maybe I'm not really into wearing these things personally, but I think they're sweet, unique...or something.

The material is what makes these next two stand out. Who makes porcelain jewelry!?!? That's just crazy. These pieces are made by Lladro, a Spanish porcelain company that's been around since the 50's.

This next necklace is interesting because of the way it's constructed. She hand-formed the bird shape out of wire and then wire wrapped the entire thing with fine gauge gold wire.

Bird and flower necklace by Orange Poppy, $46.00.

This next necklace, by Seattle designer Amy Bengston, drives me nuts actually -- it's the epitome of overdone bird jewelry, to me -- but I am so interested in how you can carve so delicately. It MUST be stamped out. There's no way in hell she could mass produce these with such accuracy. I'm very interested in how designers make things that look handmade that really aren't.

Ok, and I have to say, I secretly really enjoy admiring Amy Ruppel prints, so this collab is interesting.

New Amy Bengston/Amy Ruppel jewelry:

I don't really have a lot to say about this next bird piece, except for that I've never really seen anything like it, and it sort of proves that you really don't have to have good ideas to be a jewelry designer. It's all marketing, folks.

Bling rings by Blanc & Reed, $30.

Ok and last but not least, these are sweet little earrings made by somebody on Etsy, and the thing that I most like about them is the romantic vintage pearl component, and also the fact that she alternated the green flower from top to bottom. These I can swallow. (Get it?! aaaaaaaaaaaaahhaa.)

Pearl Swallow Earring, Etsy, $49.00

Enough sweetness! My next post will have to be about huge, tough studded cuff bracelets. Bye for now.

Measuring lights

2008-03-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

I'm really into these measuring lights by Chrissy Angliker made out of coiled measuring tape. They'd be great in a sewing room, but since the last time I used a sewing machine was when I manufactured hideously disgusting flannel pig-printed pajamas in the 9th grade (the elastic waist band was suffocating even for my then-14" waist, proving I had no talent even for the simplest of all sewing projects), I think I'd have to create a different use for this light. I think they'd be cute in Brian's studio. It's really our office, but it sounds way cooler to say studio, and you can actually casually and honestly say that word when you're a designer. ANYWAYyyy, they'd look good in there.

Speaking of our office, Brian painted it last weekend. A muted green with a charcoal gray chalkboard paint wall. It looks really really great...will post photos later!

The Krista Faye flat

2008-03-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Etsy, the glory of modern mass production, and of course, ME, the fashion world will delight in a new peep-toe flat by Jeffrey Campbell this fall.

I found these on the homepage of Etsy a couple nights ago, forwarded to my friend Ty who's repping JC shoes in NYC, and WHAM BAM! Jeffrey purchased and sent to Spain for production. Hopefully my strict terms of contract will be met: that a size 5 gets sent to me in Seattle, immediamente por favor.

I love the lines from the side.

Yay!

Little Finley

2008-03-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the most adorable baby ever came to our house!

Little Finley came into the world about 7 weeks ago. Her mom is my childhood friend Justyn. And her dad is Ian, who I met when we were all living in NYC.

Babies don't normally inspire me but Finley is exceptionally adorable. Huge eyes, perfect little features, super tiny. To quote Lindsay, "she makes the Gerber baby look like a mongrol." Yeah... something like that.

Check it out!

Congrats to Ian and Justyn!

A Ballard walk

2008-02-25T17:01:00.000-08:00

This weekend was so gorgeous. We took a walk down to the Ship Canal, and I took my camera along. I don't pretend to be a great photographer but I will share some of the better ones, anyway. I love Ballard!

Cherry trees!

65th Street:

37th Ave NW:

I like the way they modernized this 1950's brick home with the rock and pig wire railing:

Road that leads down to the Ballard Locks. This a bridge for the train:

I'm pretty sure this is the little beach house on the canal, where my uncle John and aunt Sharon are moving in June (guess where I'll be hanging out!?):

This is where the ship canal enters into the Puget Sound:

Below is my neighbor's crazy tree. I'm dying to know what kind it is. It was gigantic, and really really weird looking.

Ok, that's it for now. Sorry there hasn't been another continuation of the Spring Jewelry Trends post like I promised. They are still coming but instead of researching jewelry, I've finally been back to making it!

I've got spring on the brain

2008-02-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Happy President's Day! I wish that I could share in everybody's joy of having the day off, but unfortunately I have a marketing plan to write, an op-ed to write, and a client meeting. Yuck. Sometimes I do miss the days of a 9-5 with guaranteed holidays and paid time off.

Another sunny day though...I am loving this change in weather. We went up to Bellingham this weekend to visit my mom. The weather was gorgeous and the temperature was surprisingly warm. In these long, rainy winters, I find it easy to forget about Washington's scenery. The drive home yesterday was just beautiful. Snow on the tops of every mountain, bright sun, blue sky. I wish I would have brought my camera along.

Here are a couple other photos that I'll share instead, from a similarly sunny day. This is Shilshole Bay/Marina, just underneath the bluff that's a few blocks away from our home. The water was so blue this day!

I'm loving our new neighborhood, it's so quiet and friendly. I like our little block, and think I will like most of our neighbors -- who I'm sure we'll get to know come gardening season. I'm noticing that the grass in our yard is slowly beginning to grow though, and I'm really intimidated by the amount of yard work that's staring us in the face. As soon as spring breaks, our weekends will no longer consist of sleeping in late, making brunch, and having a lazy day of making jewelry and watching sports. But, I'm looking forward to the unexplainable satisfaction that gardening can bring, and I'm glad that Brian's dad is excited about teaching me how to care for things. Our yard is just crazily packed with fully mature plants and trees of every variety. It will be interesting to learn the intricacies of each one.

Ok, back to work now.

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

2008-02-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

My friend Lindsay, one of my best friends since junior high school, is celebrating her birthday today!

Here's to being young and hot, Linds!

Jagerbombs!

Spring '08 jewelry trends - Part I

2008-02-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

It seems like yesterday that I was researching and writing about fall jewelry trends. Time flies in these long, cold, rainy months, doesn't it? Well spring is on the way, and while you shed that layer of sweaters and scarves, you'll be making more room to express your style through jewelzzz. So here's what to look out for.

Spring Jewelry Trends

Saturation
Lots of color. Tomato red. Electric blue. Neon shades of pink, yellow, and green. Yellow will be big again this spring.

Mod electric earrings, by Totinette. $16.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8307129

Pony earrings, by Trove Designs. $25.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9420426

Mini to the nines earrings, by boldsimple. $14.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9448635

Seeing Red, by marie fly fly. $30.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9450497

Gemstones
Gemstone jewelry is making a comeback. Especially those in yellow tones (citrine, yellow topaz, amber), and blue tones (aquamarine, blue sapphire, lapiz, London Blue, chalcedony). Rock crystal, which is clear, will also be big.

The Kelly, by Dana LeBlanc Designs, $48.00
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9166775

Faceted aquamarine drops with 14K gold-fill, by Raraavis. $28.00. www.etsy.com

Geometric rock crystal on 14K gold-fill chain, by Raraavis. $26.00. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7133522

Big bold necklaces. Geometric shapes. Multi-strand necklaces.

Long beaded necklace, by Hazell, $125.00
www.etsy.com

The Monaco, by Dana LeBlanc Designs. $54.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9489985

Yellow and gold freshwater pearl triple strand necklace, by fantcastle. $35.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5657877

Bows

Delicate bow necklace, by Rachelle D. $12.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9494948

Glass jar bow necklace, by Autum Leah. $12.50.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8030589

My pretty baby bracelet, by Opulent Oddities. $32.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9534256

Tribal themes.
From carved beads to natural-inspired materials such as wood, coral, bone, and coconut, jewelry is going primitive.

Hand wrapped coconut ring, by tomate, d epingles. $20.00
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5420798

Blood red coral and vintage silver tone pendant necklace, by Curly Sue. $25.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8385716

Trade wind hoop earrings, by Kim B Designs. $36.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8755245

Kalar wood earrings, by Salt Run Designs. $16.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9070576

Charm bracelets.

Opal pearl, gold, rhinestone vintage charm bracelet, by Original Jewels. $80.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7406754

Love and adornment vintage charm bracelet, by Just Be Designs. $30.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9543300

Stay tuned for more spring jewelry trends later this week!

Paint dilemma

2008-02-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

So this week, we decided to paint our dining room a bright color to, in my mom's words, "inspire appetite, and conversation."

Brian painted Benjamin Moore's Tangerine Dream up in a few places on our walls and I can't quite get used to it. It's so drastic, and without any real furniture or window coverings in there, it almost looks like we're teenagers with a wild-haired idea.

I was inspired by this amazing photo of a room designed by LA-based interior designer Jarrett Hedborg (excuse my off-centered scan/crop, which really impedes on the symmetrical beauty of this room). The wall color pictured here is Tangerine Dream.

I just love the retro 1940's look, which could really work well in our 1948 home. The problem is, one of the reasons this looks so awesome is the bold contrast -- provided by the dark rug, the lime green couch, the bright yellow lamps. And it's probably rather important that they have two huge and rather neutral pieces of framed art. To date, we essentially have nothing in our dining room, so Tangerine Dream might look extremely bizarre. Should we do it, and risk looking like (temporary) fools?

A big week

2008-02-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

This week has been so insanely busy; I've been working till midnight almost every night. I can't believe I'm even finding time to post today, as the big fundraising event at Seattle Design Center that I've been planning is tonight, but I guess I've been so organized up till now that it's sort of like a "show up and execute" situation.

I've been supremely stressed out but something beautiful has emerged out of the quagmire of never ending work. I've received a lot of support from my two favorite men in my life, Brian and Puli.

First, Brian decided that he would worry about all of our dinners this week. I thought, "Cool, pizza. I don't have to cook." But on Monday night I was pleasantly surprised with a restaurant quality Curried chicken and sweat potatoes over Basmati rice - and on Tuesday I was surprised with Chicken with roasted lemons, artichoke hearts, and capers, over angel hair pasta.

Both dinners were really delightful! I didn't even know he could cook! Up till now, he's cooked a real "from scratch" dinner once, and I've been begging for that same dinner ever since (Greek Spaghetti). Two dinners in a row is unbelievable, and he was going for a third until I suggested going out for drinks and appetizers last night at this new bar in Ballard.

What got into him? It's so adorable. I feel that having someone cook for me is one of the biggest treats of all time. I just love it.

Back to Puli. Last night I was creating guest file folders and he decided to really jump in and help.

The particularly funny thing is that he didn't fit in that box, at all. His rear end crushed and hung out the back of the box.

Less than 24 hours to go before I get my life back!

Peter Jennings (the cat)

2008-02-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

It's official. Peter Jennings needs a new home.

Many of you know this funny cat. He is a real weirdo.

My friend Carrie rescued him from a homeless girl as a 7 week old kitten - the rest of his litter were tortured and killed. He's had a hard life. And now he is making my life hard.

Ok here's the situation. He HATES living with other cats. And one day I found myself living with 3 cats. This is not only too many for one house, but it's too many for Peter Jennings. He is begging for a one-cat owner - someone with a yard. Someone who will let him run free, feed him daily, and give him high-fives. He is a hard hitting journalist. He doesn't have time for emotional moments. He loves to catch rodents and be crazy.

Anyone have any ideas?

Krista

England

2008-01-24T19:17:00.000-08:00

I got back from Europe (and my short stint in Chicago visiting Seta) a week ago but this is the first chance I've had to write about it. I've been working my buns off you guys! This auction that I have coming up is a real biggie.

The conference was about 15 minutes outside of Oxford. It was a bit of a bummer because I didn't get to see any of Oxford. The entire conference was held at one location, in the middle of the country. It may not have been exciting but you couldn't deny the peaceful, beautiful setting, the gorgeous landscaping, and the stately 18th century architecture.

The on-site bar, the Gun Room, also recently won a European award of design. It was super cute -- very Kelly Wearstler.

Okay, now on to the important stuff.

Fifty-seven people attended the summit. I would say that maybe a quarter of them were LAM patients or their husbands (or family members, like me), maybe half were researchers, and then a few were from various research or medical-type organizations. I was astounded at how well the conference was organized. It was so professional and so efficient. This is no small feat when you have 57 people who speak different languages in one room. But they managed to keep on schedule and accomplish whatever they wanted to accomplish in each session.

The days were long. I sat in session after session. But I learned some really important information about LAM research.

The LAM Treatment Alliance (LTA) had two primary goals for the summit: 1.) To facilitate a global tissue procurement program, and 2.) To facilitate a global database of LAM patients.

I had no idea that both issues were so crucial to undertaking research in an efficient and effective manner. I was astounded to learn that before Amy Farber (LAM patient and founder of LTA) came on the scene, newly funded researchers were taking up to one year from funding to get their hands on tissue to study. In her words, "One year with LAM is like a lifetime." She felt this time line was unacceptable (as would anyone with a brain and a will to live) and she has managed to reduce that time period to a matter of weeks (keep reading to find out how).

It makes me frustrated to hear this type of information - that it took this long for something that crucial to be resolved. I know this is an orphan disease but I still think that if there's an organization out there rallying for LAM patients and a cure, the least they could do would be to get their tissue procurement situation up to par.

The LAM Treatment Alliance has partnered with the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI), a national organization that distributes tissue and organs all over the country (and world), and they are now getting tissue out in a much more efficient manner. Other continents currently lack a coordinated tissue procurement/distribution program, but at the conference, LAM representatives in Europe decided to partner with NDRI to undertake a LAM tissue program. This is great news!

A global database is another stop gap to research. Currently, each country or region has their own registry of LAM patients. These registries might have 4 patients in it, or 400, but the problem is, researchers can't access all of them -- and even if they could, they have no efficient way to synthesize information. Currently they could not tell you how many LAM patients in the world have an FEV1 below 47 -- so how can they design a trial and enlist the appropriate patients?

The LAM Treatment Alliance has partnered with MIT's Media Lab to build a global web-based database. It's so wonderful that they have the connections and know-how to establish partnerships with such powerful organizations.

Perhaps the best news of all is that The LAM Treatment Alliance was recently awarded a multi, multi million dollar grant from Harvard -- more than double the cumulative amount raised in the last decade.

I loved how their organizational mindset (which carries through to everything they do) is, "If money were no object, what would we do?" I've never really come into contact with a nonprofit organization that thinks like this. It really inspires smart decision making, instead of actions determined out of a mindset of scarcity.

I did not learn about treatment trials in the near future, which I was pretty bummed about. But I did learn about some exciting new science, and I'm sure this will translate into really promising trials at some point.

I didn't have time to see London but I did somehow find the time to make it to Top Shop, where I got a great new navy blue double breasted wool sweater jacket thing. It's hot.

I also had a great time in Chicago with this lil' sweetie. Seta is so cute!

And, while I was in Chicago, I went to the brick n' mortar Jayson Home & Garden, which totally surpassed my expectations. It's great.

That was my trip in a nutshell. Sorry for the long post but so many of you have been asking me, and my blanket reply has been "It's complicated, but I will be summarizing it in an e-mail or blog soon." So there you go.

Going to Oxford on Wednesday

2008-01-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I am traveling to England on Wednesday. This past week – MONTH! – has been incredibly busy. It’s amazing that I am not even working a traditional 8-5 job at the moment and I still can’t seem get everything that I need to get done in a day. But I suppose that moving plus holidays plus Scottsdale plus work projects plus major event in February plus a trip to Europe sort of makes for a crazy couple of months.

In any case, I am going to London and Oxford on Wednesday. The circumstances for traveling to Europe could definitely be more exciting; I am going for a global research conference about LAM, the rare disease that my mom was diagnosed with nearly 6 years ago.

Organized by the LAM Treatment Alliance (LTA), a fairly new organization that’s fighting this disease, the conference will be at Oxford University from Friday through Sunday.

LTA has been working to build networks that support research globally. The 3-day meeting that I’m going to will work to identify concrete steps to ensure that patient coordination is working, and is helping to make research progress in the fastest time possible. How I am interpreting that goal is this: there are many things that need to be done to solve LAM, and patients need to be involved. Researchers need LAM tissue, they need access to LAM patients so they can track their disease, and they need to have willing subjects in which to introduce new drug treatments. LTA is just working to identify how this might work on a global scale, with less than 1,500 diagnosed LAM patients in the world.

Researchers are also going to provide updates on their clinical trials underway, and on ones in the pipeline. They will also talk about ways for LAM patients to coordinate with researchers and drug companies seeking candidates for drug trials.

This last reason -- drug trials -- is why I am most interested in attending the seminar. My mom has been on an experimental drug, Rapamycin (or Sirolumus), for over two years. While it has seemingly slowed her progression, it hasn’t come without serious complications. Most recently, her blood pressure and cholesterol have shot through the roof, sending her to the emergency room this past fall. She was also diagnosed with mild renal insufficiency, meaning her kidneys have been affected by the toxicity of the drug. Her physician took her off of Ramapycin for a month, and was somewhat reluctant to put her back on it. If the day ever comes where my mom needs a lung transplant, all of her other organs need to be very healthy in order for her to be eligible to receive new lungs.

Her physician, Dr. George Pappas at Minor & James Medical is a wonderful, caring doctor and we are so lucky to have him. He weighed the options and decided to put my mom back on the drug but at a lower dosage. I think that she has been feeling the effects of a lower dosage – her breathing has been a bit tougher lately. All of this is motivating me to seek new treatments for her, and I’m hoping that this conference unveils some new hope on the horizon.

It’s not easy dealing with a chronic disease in which nobody has answers for. The day-to-day reality of it is hard on my mom, her husband, and on me and my sister. People ask me all the time, “How is your mom doing?” This is a really tough question to answer. My mom is sick and as far as we know, she will remain sick for the rest of her life. This is not easy for anyone to deal with – however, many people are sick, and many people are more sick than my mom. And all of us, in all likelihood, will be sick someday. It’s just a crappy part of life that hardly anyone can escape.

There are some diseases, however, that just seem unfair. LAM strikes women in the prime of their lives – usually in the childbearing years. Many women are diagnosed during pregnancy because the fluctuation in hormone levels accelerate the disease. As in LTA founder Amy Farber’s case, many women are diagnosed just about when arguably the most exciting things in your lives are occurring. Amy Farber had just gotten married and graduated with her PhD from Harvard. She was about to enter her chosen field (social anthropology) and was thinking about beginning a family when she was told she very well may have less than 10 years to live. Her academic track record proves that she is a go-getter and probably wasn’t willing to let a disease like LAM stop her from her plans, so she established the LAM Treatment Alliance with the goal of accelerating research. She’s beautiful, stylish (love that outfit!), smart, and apparently worthy of receiving Glamour’s “Hero of the Month” (the highest of honors) last May:

In any case, while I am not really excited about traveling to England by myself to talk about LAM for 3 days straight, I do really hope that the conference unveils some new options, and inspires me - and others - to continue fighting this disease that takes too many young women’s lives.

Read more about LAM and the LAM Treatment Alliance right here. There's also a really great article about Amy and her work in fighting LAM in the Wall Street Journal.

Lovely surprises upon our return from vacation...

2007-12-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

We got back late last night from Scottsdale where we were visiting Brian's parents. The weather was disappointing (never really got above 55 degrees) but the company was great. I especially loved reconnecting with Brian's grandma, and the lovely Lodis pets, Zoey and Weber.

Weber, the 13-year old cat, only has two teeth:

And Zoey, in her old age, doesn't move around all that much:

When we returned, my mom, who had been staying at our house and watching our cats, had left me this note, which fully encapsulates my mom -- a go-getter, never-sits-down person (even though her energy is severely compromised) who shows her love through amazing acts of service.

"Welcome Home!
Call me with any questions - you might want to check your vacuum bag. I vacuumed quite a bit so it might be full. Vacuumed the sofa, rug (twice), all main floors except office - got started down the stairs (first 5 or so). The basement could use it for sure. I ran the crystal votive holder through the dishwasher so it's nice and clean. I mopped the main floors (dining room, living room, kitchen). I made you a pot of soup -- potato corn chowder. I brought you some cabinet hardware catalogs to look through. Washed the sofa pillow covers and cozy blanket - wasn't sure when it was last done. I tried to fix the silverware drawer front - it needs screws for the handle to be countersunk - that is part of the problem. It also needs new screws. Your drapery panels are at Sparkle Cleaners in downtown Ballard."

Brian's comment? "We really hit the jackpot with our collective sets of parents." So, so true.

Not only did she make a homemade potato corn chowder which was still warm on our stove, but she assembled our table -- literally put it together -- and set it all up so we could have a dinner when we got home:

Aaaaaahhh SHE IS SO CUTE!

She also bought us this plant (apparently $5.98 at Home Depot!) and potted it in the cute pot that Joan and Brian got us for our wedding:

In addition, perhaps the best news of all. While we were gone, our next door neighbor decided to give us an overt new neighbor housewarming gift and cut down this huge tree in his yard, so we now have a view of the ocean from our bedroom and top deck!!!! It kind of feels like somebody just handed us $20,000 (edit: my dad says $50,000!). It's really really unreal and something that I never ever expected. I am just astounded that we now have a water view; I feel like the luckiest person in the world. I guess schmoozing at a neighborhood holiday party (in the midst of unpacking) really paid off!

Paint!

2007-12-22T21:51:00.000-08:00

One of the last weeks of 2007 has also been one of the busiest. We have been moving, and cleaning, and moving some more. We are finally almost out of our old apartment - about one more load to go.

After a full day of moving and cleaning at our old place, Brian really wanted to have an accomplishment on our new one, so he picked up the paint we had decided upon and painted our entire living room! The color doesn't show up that well at night but it's a very soft blue with a hint of green and a hint of gray. I think it provides a nice backdrop for our couch and furniture. Now all I can think about is painting the brass fireplace doors! Next week...

www.ShopMapel.com

2007-12-18T09:19:00.001-08:00

My friends Jenelle and Stacy opened a boutique called Mapel in Leavenworth earlier this year. They recently launched their website, www.shopmapel.com, and I hope you all check it out! They picked up a few of my jewelry pieces and it was kind of fun to see them on their website. And next time you are in Leavenworth for some bratwurst and stein, look up their brick & mortar location!

We have moved!

2007-12-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

We are all moved in! There's boxes everywhere, but the main furniture is in place, cable is hooked up, and things are starting to come together. I am astounded at how much SPACE we finally have!

Thank you a million times over to Katie, Joan, Chrissy & Danny (<--who worked especially hard!) for helping us move in on Saturday. As my mom said, "You know you have good friends when they help you MOVE."

A few things of note: Brian purchased our very first laundry detergent last night. It felt really momentous. It was super fun to hear the quiet hum of a dishwasher last night. ALSO, I did our first load of laundry today -- in our house. It was so fun. I hope I never forget the feeling of these upgrades. I don't want to get used to these modern conveniences.

I am so sorry to all my friends - I know I've been tragically unresponsive lately. Moving plus jewelry shows plus the holidays plus work equals a very very busy me.

Photos later of the progression of our new Ballard home!

Why this works

2007-12-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a little Photoshop project for work so I ventured on to Brian's computer, only to have one of those moments where you are totally struck with why you love someone.

I found a file on his desktop entitled "house decor ideas," which, on its own, is probably the most adorable thing EVER. But then inside it, I found this photo, titled "wall color, wood, materials".

I am not even sure how I will concentrate the rest of the day. He is SO cute, and he has such great taste.

My other recent moment like this was this past weekend, when I was gmail chatting with Lindsay about a few new Laura Ashley prints, found on her new blog obsession, The Peak of Chic.

She said that these prints would look good in the style of our new home (rather traditional), and I agreed but replied, "Brian would die first." But then I remembered that I should give him a chance. He looked at the prints on my computer screen and to my surprise, pointed out a few of them that he liked. Then, one of the more adorable things ever came out of his mouth:

"Yeah, I've always wanted to do a small bathroom in an ornate print."

I just love that my husband said "small bathroom" and "print" in the same sentence. It's like my secret dream. (Oh, he is going to just kill me when he reads this post.) But see guys? This is why it works!

What to do, what to do

2007-12-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

Lately I’ve been experiencing a whole new obsession with jewelry making.

My metal work class is coming to a close, and although I’ve spent nearly 30 hours in the studio, I don’t really feel like I’ve learned anything. It was such a whirlwind of a class – so much to learn. Especially because I’ve never been a particularly handy person. I’ve never really used a tool. Yes, I said, A tool. I mean, sure I’ve pounded a nail into a wall with a hammer but that’s literally about the extent of it. Last week at class, it took me about 7 minutes just to figure out how to put the drill bit in the flex shaft thing. I mean, the whole thing is entirely confusing.

Last week I used the disc cutter for the first time. I made these little lovelies. (I’m really into all things wood, so I hammered the discs to make a bark-like texture.)

Anyway, one of the things that I’m struggling with as a result of this new hobby, is that I don’t know what to do with all the energy I have for it. It’s literally borderline insane how much I think about it. And really have nowhere to direct my new interest! I say that because I only have three hours in the studio per week, two of which are usually spent listening to and watching my instructor. I want to apply these techniques that she teaches us but the one hour left in each class doesn’t suffice. So that’s why I feel like I’ve learned almost nothing, and also why I am really feeling frustrated.

It’s also bringing up all these unexpected feelings like – why didn’t I pursue something more artistically inclined way back when? I took a ton of art classes when I was little, both in school and on my own time. I loved to paint and draw, and had so much fun in my pottery class. And then as soon as I was privy to the concept of money and jobs and how those two things are related, I started on this dreadfully boring path of political science. God knows why. I mean seriously, there’s almost nothing that I’m LESS interested in today than politics. That’s probably a bit of an overstatement. But come on, really. I can’t believe I used to think that I’d work in politics! Still to this day, I absolutely despise The Pant Suit…what was I thinking?

So I guess I’m open to all suggestions (a.k.a. blog therapy) on what to do here. I kind of wish more than ever that I was a student studying jewelry making under some famous designer. If I lower my expectations just a bit, I wish I had more studio time, and/or maybe a home studio where I could actually solder and make things on my own schedule. Or one of those jobs where you have to use your hands all day. I’m not even being terribly overambitious about this; the other day I drove by a metal fabrication business in Eastlake. I kind of wish I worked there. I don’t even know what they do exactly, but I wish I got to cut and forge metals all day.

Oh dear, I feel this is terribly unrealistic, as I quickly approach 30 and have an impending mortgage payment.

Brian would probably ask me if this was just a phase. I am, after all, a person of phases. But if I think about it rationally, it doesn’t seem like a phase. I started making jewelry a little over a year ago. I had no idea what I was doing but I just thought “that doesn’t look hard, I can do that,” so I started playing around with it…bought some tools, some supplies. Over the course of a year, I’ve only become more and more obsessed with making jewelry. The whole process, from finding the best supplies to learning new tools to making something interesting – it’s kind of the best thing ever. I really haven’t felt this way since my horse riding days. Which I got REALLY into – for about 10 years. So even if this is a phase, it will probably be a long lasting one.

And finally, in my case against The Phase argument, this whole thing has made me realize how much I am like my uncle John. He has never had a traditional job in his whole adult life because he absolutely hates working for someone else (Exhibit A). He’s carved out this amazing (ly weird) life for himself. He has a garage full of tools, he fixes people’s German automobiles, he refurbishes army tanks, he buys random stuff at garage sales and sells it on eBay for a major profit, and finally and most awesomely, he collects used french fry oil from restaurants each Monday which he uses to manufacture his own biodiesel. In short, he’s my hero. He’s so freakin’ weird. The guy is a crafting machine. When he showed me the impeccably crafted knife that he made, with a drop dead gorgeous faux bois finished blade, it was confirmed that this man can make anything. I mean, anything.

I've never been one to approach something in a moderate fashion. I like to go all out. So, I guess I’m open to all suggestions on where to direct this energy. Since there's real life, and a mortgage, and my Claremont McKenna BA in government, and my scarce knowledge of tools, and fire hazards, and all of that stuff.

Details of our wedding

2007-11-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

Way back when I promised to post more photos of our wedding, which I haven't done yet. Partly because I can still hardly think about our wedding day - I still get too freaked out because it was such a traumatizingly stressful occasion - but also because it takes a long time to post photos and I'm not very good at formatting on this blog yet.

Anyway, this week we got a call from the Knot wedding magazine and they wanted to post a photo of our wedding in their "Best of" edition. (Brian's response? "Sweet. Now I can cross off 'being featured in a bridal magazine' off my list.) This got me all excited so I have been perusing my photos again, and decided to post some goodies.

Here is the one they are using:

I think my favorite part of that photo is Gina's adorable leopard print sweater. I also love this photo because it makes our wedding look really dramatic, and cozy. Here's some other details of the wedding.

The boutonnières:

The boutonnières coordinated well with the guys ties, which were all different, and in the colors of brown, gold, beige, etc.

The bridesmaids also wore different variations of gold and brown. I got their dresses different places, from eBay to Nordstrom. Just in case you're wondering, the lowest price dress was the light gold Shoshanna dress that Christa (tall, in the middle) is wearing. It was originally priced at over $350.00 but I got it for $85.00 on eBay! The most expensive dress, worn by Meghan (black hair), was also a Shoshanna dress but alas, we got it on a time crunch . Luckily it did cost less than retail because Meghan is still friends with her old boss at a high end boutique, Fahrenheit 451, in the Hamptons - she ordered it up for wholesale for us.

My sister's dress (brown, on the very left of this 2nd photo) was made by Steve Moore two days before the wedding, after he made the executive decision that the one we ordered from Cicada in downtown Seattle was hideous (note: never go there). To their credit, after phoning Cicada, they agreed that it was unwearable and gave us our money back.

The dresses averaged out to be about $170 per dress which I feel is fairly reasonable, and the best part is that they were all designer cocktail dresses -- totally wearable again.

My dress was a Monique Lhuillier and it was a simple A-line with a feminine drop waist lace detail.

I had my necklace custom made by a woman named Carolyn Attal in Scottsdale, AZ. I loved it and thought that it really made my dress (sans bow jacket) more interesting.

Before the reception started, I took off my necklace and put on a fun Monique bolero jacket with a GIANT BOW. It was a hit! The woman I am talking to is my adorable Grandma Kenner.

We had a seating arrangement for the tables, and instead of having name cards at each place setting, we created a big poster and framed it in a gilded gold frame. It turned out really pretty, I think.

The menu paid homage to Brian's heritage --Greek-infused dishes such as grilled flatbreads with kalamata fig and white bean garlic spreads, and ouzo-spiked halibut with fennel cream sauce. The food was catered by J. Russell Catering in Bellingham, WA - and it was fantastic - hands down the most amazing wedding food I've ever had (added bonus that it was at my own!).

We wanted the wedding to be romantic and classic but we also wanted both modern and natural elements to it. This came out well in things like: the curly willow & lanterns, the tables the programs sat on, and the woodsy yet elegant chandelier that hung above the head table.

The classic and romantic parts really came through in the 500 stems of phallenopsis orchids that Steve Moore arranged in huge "trees"!!!

These were Steve's idea. I was a bit skeptical at first that I'd like them, but they were big and fancy, and turned out to be pretty photogenic.

We really wanted to infuse some beachy sea-elements to the theme as well. This mostly was carried out through sand and sea shells placed on all of the tables.

I think way back when, I also said I'd post more advice. My best advice is to hire a wedding planner, because it's hard to anticipate how stressful a wedding can be, and if you have a good wedding planner, he/she will minimize that element. If you are having a wedding at an establishment that does everything for you, that might be a different story. But if you are trying to create a wedding from scratch in any way shape or form, I strongly recommend hiring someone to help you think of every single detail.

I also suggest trusting your gut while you begin the planning process. If your heart tells you that you want a small wedding, go with a small wedding, and don't let anyone change your mind.

What else. Oh! I also suggest doing your own makeup (that is, if you have any skills) -or at least having a practice run through (and take photos of yourself to see how everything photographs).

And last but not least, if you are having a big wedding, you should have someone designated to be your personal assistant. I always thought that sounded so bizarre -- to all of the sudden have a personal assistant just because it's your wedding day -- but I found it insanely difficult to get myself a beverage or remember to reapply my lipstick. Having someone there who checks in on you every once in awhile would make the night easier for you, I think.

I have a few friends planning weddings of their own right now so I hope they read this and get inspired, while taking my advice to heart! And look for our wedding in the Knot magazine next year!

All my friends are getting famous

2007-11-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Today was a good jewelry day. In the morning, a pair of my earrings were featured on the homepage of Etsy (my secret dream). I had a few sales and a lot of great compliments from nice people on Etsy. One of my Etsy friends, Rachel (Adorned By Morgan) who lives in NYC and makes similarly cute gems out of vintage and recycled materials (which is why we became Etsy friends in the first place) congratulated me...and less than an hour later, when Etsy did the theme switch, a pair of her earrings were featured on the home page. What are the odds? Here's a few of my favorite things by Rachel:

Framed Owl Earrings, $22.00

Purple Stone, Purple Stone necklace, $45.00

And then, my day o' jewelry concluded with a good metal work class. At first I was so not in the mood to be there. I don't know what the deal was but I was on the verge of tears when I first got there, simply from exhaustion, I think (I've been running a million miles a minute trying to prepare for "secret things"). My bad attitude told me to leave. But I stuck it out, and in the end it was totally worth it because I made my first real metal piece -- a ring! Making rings is actually not that difficult, I learned. That is, as long as you have the right equipment and tools....which literally could set you back thousands of dollars if you did it up right.

This ring is made out of sterling silver. I hammered those lines into it before I shaped it into a ring and soldered it all up. I'm pretty happy with it, especially for my first project.

Apparently we are going to bezel stones on top of our rings next week. This blows my mind but okay!

Also, my good friends Cori and Aviva of The Adventure School were written up in Seattle's Daily Candy today. I thought it was a pretty good write up. Especially for DailyCandy, which usually drives me batty. Yay for them!!! (Cori reminded me tonight that world domination really isn't that far off. )

P.S. My husband has only 38 minutes left in his twenties!!!!

Late fall

2007-11-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

Late fall is such a busy time of year. The holidays contribute, of course. And it just seems like even though everyone is ramping up to the holidays, work etc. just seems to escalate because everyone wants to get everything done before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Our -- or at least MY -- hectic schedule can really be contributed to a few different things. 1.) Brian's 30th birthday (Thursday!), 2.) An important biz meeting on Friday, and 3.) Our impending move.

The following picture sort of encapsulates my busy life right now:

That photo might just represent the REAL (non blog) post nuptial life....at least home-life. I feel like I have no time to keep up my home! I thought that once I worked for myself, that I'd have this lazy schedule where I could vacuum and organize all day. Perhaps if my priorities were different, I could do that. But I seem to fill my entire day from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed, with entrepreneurial adventures.

Even though our house is out of order (ehem, disgustingly dirty), I have a good feeling that things will start to flourish soon. And even if they don't... WOW, I've learned a ton over the past 5 months. More than I've learned in the last 5 years of my 9-5 jobs, I would venture to say. But I still have so much to learn. I am busy setting up meetings with biz people who are smarter than I am, and I can't wait to glean tidbits of their invaluable information.

Also, our move is coming up very quickly. One month from yesterday, in fact. My head is full of move-related thoughts. Like, I have to get my drapes dry cleaned! And, my goodness I don't want to spend actual dollars on something like cardboard boxes. Or, how ridiculous is our furniture going to look in this new house? I am mostly just super super excited. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe I will have an actual, real office. I can't wait to have the luxury of a dishwasher. I can't wait!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T20:54:00.001-07:00

Halloween tends to be one of the more creative holidays. Personally, I am not such a fan of Halloween, but I do love admiring other people's work. To that end, I wanted to share a couple gems.

OMG... not a costume! But instead, a real life, horrifying moment.

But, oh wait... here you go. Lacy, as Brittany:

Not related, but also a good (albeit a bit frightening?) one... Katie, as Ewock:

Emily as the quintessential 80's exercise instructor:

What about Kenny, Joey, and Doug, as Prince and the Revolutions? (I can't believe that's my realtor...)

Okay, and so that's all I have for now. So I decided to post old news:

The height of my Halloween career: bush, box, beaver, muff -- and the Mayor of Cootertown!

What I will miss about our apartment

2007-10-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

That's right...

For those of you who I haven't blabbered to already... we will be moving shortly because we have purchased a home! On December 5th, we will be moving into our new home in Ballard's Sunset Hill area.

Fate seemed to play a part in our search. We looked at upwards of 35 homes - maybe even close to 50 - I lost count. But on the first day of our home search, we saw the one that we actually ended up purchasing.

My dad came down for a day of house hunting. In true PK style, he insisted on driving around in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Ballard. ("You should start at the top, Krista, and work your way down," he said. I rolled my eyes, and he started giggling.)

We pulled lots of flyers on many mansions, all in the 1-2 million dollar range. We kept ooohhing and aahhing over the water views. I was just having fun spending a day with my dad in Seattle.

Then we came across a home that looked very nice but was priced a whole lot lower than the others. We pulled the flyer, drove around it very slowly, looked at each other and said, "Huh. Interesting."

We drove around for another hour so so, and then came back to this one to check it out one more time. The older man in the window saw us both times, so he came out and asked us if we wanted to see the home. He gave us a prideful tour, explained that he and his wife have lived there for 32 years, and expressed surprise that it had been on the market for 5 months already.

We went out our merry way, met up with our realtor, and saw a ton of creepy expensive houses, some of which made the blog a couple weeks ago.

A whole lot of fateful occurances happened in between then and the home purchase, but basically we felt like this home was quality, and priced right. Then we ended up getting it for a whole lot less, so it was really priced right. I think this couple was tired of open houses, and wanted to get it off their hands before winter. Just goes to show you that timing is everything!

After tripping over each other (and 3 cats) for the last 6 months, we finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, and are anxiously awaiting the move. Personally, I am looking forward to setting up a REAL home office, so I don't have to climb up on a chair in my closet to take down my printer, and plug it in underneath my side table next to my couch, every time I need to print an invoice.

We've had good times in this little place. I moved here exactly 3 years ago. It's been a fantastic, and unique Seattle apartment. Nestled away next to a (an extremely creepy) park, it has an unobstructed view of Elliot Bay. I will really miss this view -- photos taken during last night's amazing sunset:

I've had a lot of fun memories here, not the the least of which is the annual Palm Springs "Geriatric and Fabulous" theme party. (P.S. I love how Google Earth's map of my place still features a bright green astroturf covered deck.)

That said, there are too many positives about the new place to look back.

For instance, a big, beautiful yard that I get to dig into:

A walk-in closet!

Hollywood Regency built-ins:

A pretty entry-way:

And a real bedroom for my mom, and Lindsay & David! (Look how cute and excited my mom is about not having to brave cats jumping off the couch onto her her face in the middle of the night!)

There are other things that we can't wait to get our hands on and make small cosmetic changes (the kitchen cabinets, the very colorful maroon tile in the bathroom!!), but no changes are dire.

And, can anyone say... New Year's Eve party in Ballard? We will finally get to use the trillions of champagne glasses that we received for the wedding.

Fashion kitty

2007-10-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to turn my blog into a kitty station, but, I love it when I catch beautiful moments like this:

Goodbye bums, hello gorgeous!

2007-10-17T09:39:00.001-07:00

This morning gave me another reason to be really excited that we'll probably be buying a home and moving within the next few months.

I went to my car this morning to take Brian to work, and found out that some creep had broken into my car! I know most urban individuals have probably had this experience many times before, but this was my first. I can't tell if anything has been stolen, so that's a good sign. I didn't have anything of value in there, besides my toolbox full of jewelry tools and supplies, which thankfully was left behind.

This, combined with the dumpster fire fiasco, combined with the fact that my neighbor woke up a few weeks ago to a bum in his living room going through his stuff, makes me REALLY HAPPY to be moving the hell away from this house. It's been a great place for the last few years and I'm sure I'll shed a tear as I pack up, but Kinnear Park seems to be going downhill. From sketchy to even more sketchy.

Speaking of sketchy, the house search has been just that. It's amazing what one can't buy with a lot of money (a.k.a. a huge loan) in Seattle. We've seen it all, but I thought I'd share a few photos of some of my favorite features, while traipsing through people's homes.

Shuffleboard linoleum:

Charming yard accoutrements:

Historic radios:

Inviting showers:

Outdoor fireplaces (I liked this, actually):

And, last but not least, rustic watering holes!:

Reader challenge

2007-10-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hey, everybody!

I am having the most difficult time finding shoes for fall. This has a lot to do with my miniature-sized feet (5), but it also has to do with what I want to wear on a regular basis. The fashion gods must think I have outlandish criteria, because I'm starting to feel like it simply doesn't exist (at least not for less than $400).

What do I want, you ask? I want a pair of awesome shoes that I can throw on with a million different outfits. I don't want anything that rain can soak through. I don't want the ubiquitous tall heels. (Wedges are okay.) I'm skeptical of the lace-up phenomenon. I want a pair of shoes that goes with jeans, mostly. Something I can walk in -- while not looking like a hideous hippy.

My challenge is. Well, I want to know what you all wear when you need a casual pair of shoes for fall and winter. Think practical, but cute. Tell me what you wear, take a photo of your own shoes, or steal one off the internet.

Here is your inspiration. Miu Miu, Buckle Strap Maryjane, $385. I am in looooove.

Have fun!

Sharing a recipe

2007-10-15T23:39:00.000-07:00

When fall comes around, soup starts sounding like the perfect dinner. The following is a super easy recipe that I've been making for years and years, and felt the need to share. It's from the Williams Sonoma "Vegetarian" cookbook. It takes less than a half an hour to make, and it's full of greens.

Greens & Farfalle Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
small pinch of red pepper flakes
8 cups vegetable stock (they give you a recipe for this, but the short cut secret is to buy the vegetarian "Better than Bouillon"mix -- it comes in a glass jar)
1/4 lb dried farfalle pasta (or you can use penne, orzo, fusilli, etc.)
1/4 lb escarole, carefully washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 lb Swiss chard, stemmed, carefully washed, and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used Kale, it worked...you just have to cook it a bit longer)
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
In a large soup pot over medium low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is soft but not golden, about 2 minutes.

Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the pasta is cooked, 12-15 minutes.

Add the escarole and Swiss chard, stir well and continue to simmer just until the greens wilt but are still bright green, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle into warmed bowls and serve immediately. Pass the Parmesan cheese at the table.

Serves 6.

I love this recipe!!!

A motivated helper

2007-10-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

A friend reminded me this morning that my blogging has been severely lacking lately. Not only have I been trying to figure out how to up the monthly self-employed income -- a fairly simple formula called, work harder? -- but we've been house shopping in our spare time. I've probably seen over 30 houses in the last few weeks. Most of them are pretty nasty, but there's one in particular that we like a lot. The only issue is that it's really tiny. But the upside is, we wouldn't have to buy a lot of new furniture! Stay tuned.

We've also been trying to work our way through our wedding thank you's. It took me a few months to muster up enough gumption to even tackle this project...I was so sick of wedding things by the end! But luckily I've found a motivated helper in our cat, Pulgasari:

World's smallest cat

2007-09-08T16:11:00.001-07:00

We already have three cats, which on some days is beyond disgusting, but Mr. Peebles would be welcome to come live with us any day.

This is how much I love navy

2007-09-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Arguably the nerdiest and funnest Friday night activity I've ever done.

Spring

2007-09-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

It' s hard to think about spring just yet - I'm getting so excited that it's finally cooling off at night and fall is on its way - but I was looking at Fashion Week photos today, and well, I just wanted to post some to-die-for outfits.

I'm really happy to see that navy is going to be in next spring because somehow, all of the sudden, it has become my new favorite color. I am way over the sailor/boating phenomenon but I am loving navy in non-nautical ways.

I wore a completely navy outfit today. Navy shirt, navy pants, navy toe nails. This probably breaks every fashion rule somehow, but I get kind of obsessed with things.

Anyway, on to Fashion week. Here's some pretty outfits, some of them showcasing the glory of navy.

Adam Adam Lippes:

Gen Art: (I love this cream dress, below)

Karen Walker:

Rag & Bone:

Lela Rose (by far my favorite of everything I've seen):

What is this scratchy graphic fabric called? I love it.

Jeremy Laing:

Okay, and these next two are also Lela Rose and Jeremy Laing , respectively, but they deserve a special call out because they are so beautiful they made me shudder:

I love a classy lady.

It's gone too far

2007-09-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

I apologize for any of my crafty readers who may be frenziedly sewing tiny vehicles out of scraps of vintage fabric, but come on, this is one of the grossest displays of guerilla marketing that I've ever seen.

I can just imagine the brainstorm session.

Ok, what IS the personality of the Scion?

Independent, young, 20-something. Girl or guy. Creative. Shops at boutiques. Uses Etsy. Doesn't like to feel marketed to.

Okay, GREAT! Go team! So, how can reach them them?

Oooh oohh! I have an idea! Let's create a crafting challenge! Crafting types will have the opportunity to win a free car by creating a creative replica of their car! We can have boutique owners all across the country be the judges!

Yeah! Yeah! We can all it "Craft My Ride."

WHAT!?!?? I think I just barfed a little.

A weekend trip to the cabin

2007-09-05T11:33:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, Jenn, Brian and I went on an adventure; we took the ferry to Kingston to visit my grandparents at their cabin. Jenn and I used to go there a ton during the summers as kids, but we hadn't been back for at least five years.

Suzi loved the ferry!

She also loved the beach!

It was great to see my grandparents, who are nearing 90 years old and are still maintaining two houses by themselves! We were served a very interesting 4th grade lunch consisting of stale bread, peanut butter and jelly, homemade pickles, root beer, thinly sliced pre-packaged ham, an unidentifiable white cheese, and milk.

Old people are funny. My grandma made herself a peanut butter sandwich and then put a ton of iceburg lettuce on it. Her peanut butter sandwich crunched when she ate it! Weird. And then Grandpa made a sandwich with ham and white cheese, coating one side of the bread with tarter sauce and the other side with oyster sauce. "Oyster sauce beats ketchup any day!" he exclaimed. I didn't have the heart to tell him that they weren't even related.

Anyway, I was reminded how my grandma is the original Martha Stewart. Look at this little cabin she made years ago out of driftwood, stones, sand, and found pieces of glass. I love it so much, I wish I lived there!

That's it, just a post full of cuteness.

Husband to the rescue!

2007-09-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

What is it like to wake up in the middle of the night to a blazing fire outside of your bedroom window? Well let me tell you!

On Sunday morning at 4 a.m., our Lower Queen Anne recycling bin was the victim of a ruthless, brutal torching. It didn't deserve it, the poor little guy.

I woke up to 15 foot flames that were spreading like wild fire, so to speak. It was another one of those moments lately where I haven't been so great under pressure. Brian had fallen asleep on the couch, so I shrieked his name and he stumbled over, muttered some expletives, and told me to call 911.

First he tried filling our kitchen garbage can with sink water but it didn't make a dent in the fire, and it was spreading fairly quickly amongst the leaves and brush. Then he remembered that we have this shoddy garden hose along the side of the building; luckily it was long enough to extend to the fire, and within 10 minutes or so, the fire had subsided.

As the fire was dying down, we heard the fire trucks drive right by our house. I ran down to the street and flagged them down.

Frat boy central! They ran up the hill to the fire and said things like, Dude!!!!!! One of the guys let us know that there's no way they'd ever be able to get a fire truck up my driveway. Plan B! They asked if they could borrow Brian's garden hose.

Once they stomped around on the embers for awhile, a couple of them started expanding upon the heretofore sophisticated conversation with small bits, such as, So this is 626, and next door is 630? Huh. Nice place you got up here, eh? This is great!

One time the station checked in on on us via walky talky: What up, man!?

Then one of the firemen turns to Brian and says, Second dumpster fire in this area tonight - do you think it's arson?

But being as he just finished up fighting the fire, he didn't have enough time to conclude his investigation.

What do you all think?

Oh, by the way, it's REALLY FREAKY to wake up to a fire blazing outside your bedroom window.

She's all grown up

2007-08-30T18:11:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to my younger sister Jenn, who graduated today from a 6-month, rather grueling aesthetician program at the Euro Institute.

As a girl who is obsessed with good skin care and has paid for many, many facials, I can honestly say that Jenn is talented at her work. I had a facial from her about a month ago and was blown away. I was having some skin issues leading up to my wedding in July (stress!) but Jenn knew exactly what was going on, slightly switched some of my products, and voila! Flawless skin. Apparently she is top of her class in sales, and gets referrals more than anyone else. Go Jenn.

In honor of Jenn's last day (of driving to Renton to work for 10+ hour days for free), I am showcasing my favorite skin care products. As a product junkie with an aesthetician for a sister, you should listen up. The following cremes and potions are almost essential:

1. Dr. Eckstein's Azulen Paste. People, if you ever get a blemish, put this weird green smelly paste on it at night and I assure you, it'll be gone the next day. It's magical. Dr. Eckstein products (out of Germany) are great, but you can't get them very easily in the U.S. You can pick this paste up at Escape Day Spa in Bellingham, or online at Skin Spa.

2. Dr. Spiller's Jojoba Peeling Creme. This was one of Jenn's remedies for my skin's summer freak out station. This is a super mild exfoliant that has teeny tiny jojoba wax balls (wax balls?), so it gently removes dead skin cells. See, as Jenn explained it, as you get older, your skin cells don't turn over as quickly, and dead skin often just hangs out. At best, it just makes you look ashy instead of glowy, but with some people - like me! - it actually clogs your pores and causes break outs. Wax balls to the rescue! Plus, it's creme based so it's moisturizes while it exfoliates; it's especially great for dry skin. You can get it at the Euro Institute in Renton but beyond that, I'm not really sure. Google it!

3. Arbonne's REpair Corrective Eye Creme. I might be a biased source because I rep this stuff, but honestly, this eye creme is fantastic. I think when men can endorse a semi-expensive skin care product, then you know it's fo' realz. Last fall our household experienced major eye puffiness reduction! I made my super skeptical fiance (he previously thought all skin care was a hoax) use it for 3 nights in a row. The first day he woke up, and looked in the mirror and said, "Load of crap," the second day he woke up, looked in the mirror and said, "Sorry, don't see anything," and the third day he woke up, looked in the mirror, and said "Holy shit!" Best eye creme ever. You can get it...from me!

4. Eminence (organic) Blueberry Soy Repair Masque. I was going to only feature 3 of my favorite products but I had to throw this one in there at the last minute. This is like a 2 or 3 time a week masque that, like the jojoba peeling creme mentioned above, is extremely moisturizing and gently exfoliating. It'll seriously induce a glow so strong you'll almost be creeped out that berries and beans have such strong powers. Plus it smells delicious. This masque can be found at some high end spas including Spa Noir in Belltown.

This concludes my public service announcement for today. Congrats Jenn!

More beautiful jewelry: Kate Szabone.

2007-08-29T19:20:00.001-07:00

So I know I just posted about jewelry a few hours ago, but I was on Etsy tonight and found a few additional pieces of jewelry that I just think are beautiful. They don't exactly fit into the Fall Trends that I was earlier describing, but I think they are sweet and delicate, and are pieces that I'd love to own. They are by Canadian jewelry designer, Kate Szabone.

Within the last five minutes, the designer kind of also became my new hero. She is 27 years old, married, and has a 2 year old daughter. She wasn't happy trying to balance her life between family, home, and working as a real estate agent -- so she redirected her interests toward her love of jewelry. She took classes at what I think might be a community college (what I'm doing this fall), and has managed to turn her jewelry making business into her full, part-time job - working from home. You can find them right her on her shop at www.etsy.com, or on her website at www.kateszabone.com.

Have I mentioned that I'm excited about my class this fall?

Jewelry trends

2007-08-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been doing some research on fall accessories trends. I’m not really one to put this much thought in my own personal style – I tend to accidentally start wearing a trend. And that doesn’t mean that I’m THAT cool that I actually just happened to wear what’s in. What I mean is, I don’t pay any attention and then I'll just start liking and wearing something, and then I’ll see it in a magazine as the new hot trend, and I’ll be like “cool!” But I’m sure it’s osmosis, and my lack of conscious attention to most things. Rose gold is that trend for me right now. I’m not sure it’s a trend, I haven’t seen it in a magazine yet – but I have my bets on rose gold being the new hot thing. It’s so snazzy!

Anyway, this long intro is really leading to the fact that, as a jewelry bizwoman, I thought I should pay more attention to this fall’s trends before I start frantically making things. I’m excited to be taking a metal smith class this fall, but with this venture, my investment into jewelry making will certainly be more substantial. So I need to get smart about what people want.

Here’s what I’ve found – I thought I’d share and then get your feedback on what all you all like right now for jewels.

Fall and winter jewelry trends:

Jewelry is going to be big and more extreme than recent years – jewelry will play more of a role in fashion (yay!).

Semiprecious beads, such as black onyx and smoky quartz (which I personally LOVE). Amethyst Geodes, and other beautiful split stones. I also think citrine might be big, but this might be my own opinion. I think it’s beautiful.

Kris Nations, $70, www.theadventureschool.com

Still a lot of bone, wood, and natural clay beads. Animal prints and animal motifs - mostly tribal.

Gomeagan, Driftwood Etched Brass Flower Necklace, $22, www.etsy.com

Sprout Jewelry, Purple Snakeskin and Sterling Silver Circle Earrings, $14 (!!!), www.etsy.com

Kenneth Jay Lane, Zebra print earrings, $62, www.shopbop.com

Mesi Jilly, Shell and Silver Onyx ring, $800, www.vivre.com

The always classic pearl will be integrated into jewelry design.

Starry Designs, Oxidized Doves Nest Pearl Ring, $26, www.etsy.com

GoMeagan, Eggs Nest Ring, $12, www.etsy.com

Big chunky vintage-inspired cocktail rings (circa 1940's and 50's), as well as tiny stackable rings, and rings with organic texture.

Smoky Quartz Cocktail Ring, $49, www.newport-news.com

David Yurman, 18K Modern Cushion Ring (Citrine), $3950, www.saksfifthavenue.com

My wedding bands, not for sale. But created at Seattle's best custom jewelry shop, Greenlake Jewelry Works

White Metal, Gold Coil Ring, $180, www.etsy.com

Also, bracelets are huge this year - especially chunky bangles and cuffs, and delicate chain/link bracelets.

Kenneth Jay Lane, Enamel Insects Cuff, $150, www.shopbop.com

Kimberly Baker, Ziggy Bracelet, $175, www.kimberlybaker.com

Necklaces will range from choker length to long – but large pendants is the key.

Earring styles will vary, but apparently big loops and circles are still fabulous.

Orno, Circular Zebrawood Earrings, $38, www.etsy.com

Shiny and oxidized sterling silver hoops w/ hand forged ear wires, $38, www.etsy.com

Sterling silver will be big this winter. Also metallics. I also think mixing metals (gold, silver, ROSE GOLD) is super cute right now.

Juicy Couture, Dirty Glam Torsade Necklace, $178, www.shopbop.com

Feathers!!! Crests and badges and anything ornate. Big hearts.

Fat Free, Feather Earrings, $59, www.le-fashionista.com

Telee Couture, Peacock Pearl Drops, $17.99, www.etsy.com

Kimberly Baker, Gwendolyn, $298, www.kimberlybaker.com

The Asian look. Tigers, dragons, and intricately carved things.

Opulent Pearly Pagoda Earrings, $28, www.etsy.com

Lace and cameos. (I am not sure about this…but okay.) And apparently people are still hung up on keys, locks, and lockets.

Thanks for listening to me blabber, while getting inspired for my future designs. So now I'm curious what everyone is into wearing, in terms of jewelry, lately. Speak up!

Wedding biz

2007-08-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight commenced the first "Seattle women in biz" meeting. Currently the club's members include myself, Cori Ready, and Aviva Palmer - but soon I'm sure we'll be adding other women creatives and b-list celebrities.

I came to the meeting woefully unprepared. They had their notebooks open, and were poised and ready to jot. I showed up 15 minutes late with nothing. But Aviva graciously gave me a piece of paper, and I had a Wet & Wild lip pencil in the bottom of my purse. Perfect.

My meeting induced many biz revelations, but ultimately, it made me realize that I need to get back to the wedding planning advice that I promised all my many, many readers. Here it goes - my first installment of wedding planning advice.

1.) Hire a wedding planner
2.) Hire a wedding planner
3.) Hire Cori and Aviva to be your wedding planners

Seriously... I've already briefly called attention to my wedding planner, Steve Moore, for being the wedding dynamo. But I really need to drive home this point again. You may think, like I did, that you can plan a wedding by yourself -- but ladies, you need a reality check. You are a Bride. I will always hate that word...HOWEVER, unless you are having 35 people in your backyard for fruit punch and Safeway cake, you need to hire an expert. I don't mean to be snobby, but listen to me: you don't have time to plan the details that most guests have come to expect in this day and age.

I didn't even have time to refresh my lipstick, and I hate most of my pictures because of it! It's one day - and it's a pretty important one - so I highly recommend coughing up some cash to hire someone who will ensure your wedding day goes off without a hitch.

Cori and Aviva are my new favorite event planners; they began The Adventure School a little less than a year ago. Their ideas and collective fun-having are out of this world. I went to a party/fundraiser that they organized at the Crawl Space art gallery awhile back. The concepts behind the event, themed 'Winner's Circle', were beyond fresh and unique. In bride language, they weren't no bulbous-brightly colored-tightly arranged-1997-rose arrangements. In fact, it was the complete opposite. I loved the brilliant monochrome theme of white - I LOVE love that horseshoe cake - and could that girl Anne be any hotter in that mini dress?

Stay tuned for more sage advice from a girl who has gone through the wedding fiasco, and also, perhaps an invitation to an end of the summer JUMPSUIT PARTY on my deck. Yeah!