Living the Moment

Trying hard not to wish away the time right now, because there is so much delicious change going on, it's one of those rare, cataclysmic times in my life where I feel like I'm shedding a skin and evolving into the next chapter of my life. And I want to be so fantastically aware of every single second of what is happening (even the scary moments) because through the highs and lows of making such a drastic change - uprooting everything I've come to know over the past 5 years and starting the next phase in Brooklyn with D and my business - there is a deep calm that can only come from moving one's life in a direction that feels as natural as breathing. And I've had that feeling since day one of making the decision to move out there 5 months ago. Gotta live these moments, live every single millisecond if you can remember to - they only come along a few times in life.

So to tie me over (and keep me in the moment) I like to ponder over images like these below - they're all from periods in my life that, when I look back, I wish I'd lived just a little more in the moments that I was in these places or doing these things. A good way of reminding me to Be Here Now:

Red wall from my very first Dallas apartment. There is just something so immensely satisfying about a red wall, it always made me smile when I'd walk in the room.

Birthday cookies I baked for my 30th. That was a magic birthday.

Coffee table I made with leftover pieces of a bed frame and quirky Ikea legs. Before I discovered sewing and handbags, I knew I wanted to make things; doing these types of DIY projects was helping me get closer to the answer...

More red objets d'art. The red ladder that has followed D and me through several apartments, the chest of drawers he spray painted with Rust-Oleum for me as a surprise, since he knows my love of bright colors and shiny objects.

Walking at White Rock with D, he found a...well, not quite sure what it is. Baby tomato? I remember he was leaving again the next day for NY, and I wanted a photo that would remind me of how perfect the day had been...so I took a pic of our little "tomato". And I can still remember the perfect bliss of that day when I see this photo.

Biscotti involves so much labor and time to make. But one of the most immensely pleasing things for me to bake (and I'm good at it!)

My green Passat - we were destined to find each other. According to the manual, it rolled off the assembly line same day as my birthday, and was from Michigan. I miss this car.

New Year's Eve last year - walking with D at White Rock, fluffy hair, 70 degrees out...

...followed 2 days later by this. Texas, I'll miss your violent weather mood swings.

I'm always "in the moment" when figs are involved.

Inspiration for the Week

I came across these images over the weekend - well, "stole" from someone else's collection of inspiring images might be a more accurate way to describe it. My good friend Dee, who I can always count on for inspiration with her own photography, is amassing a "lost and found" of images she came across on the internet by unknown artists. In her words (and I couldn't have said this better myself) they're meant to "reflect my thoughts, inspire me to dream and create Art." Only in my case the last part would say "create handbags." Enjoy, go forth...and create!

Complete and utter lazy contentment on a Sunday morning. What I dream about now and anticipate come January.

Someone once told me that earlier versions of my handbags reminded them of cupcakes because they were like colorful little confections...I still relish in the reference.

What I tell myself at 4am when I'm still sewing with no intent to stop.

Looking forward to having someone to eat breakfast with soon.

Dresses made to be accessorized with a Lolafalk.

Winter Jones

Maybe it's because I spent the first 27 years of my life in the cradle of the rust belt, maybe it's the fact that the holiday season is fast approaching...or maybe it was just the arrival of the November edition of the Anthropologie catalog in my inbox a couple weeks ago...but I have got the the worst jones for winter going on right now. Living in Texas with its 70+ degree temps that carry over well into December doesn't help, although there is that part of me that thinks I should enjoy this last so-called "winter season" down south, since come January I'll be fighting the arctic chill of Brooklyn. I suppose in the meantime to get my fix, I can put together my wishlist from the Anthro catalog and enjoy these pretty winter-centric pics:

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009

Bjork

tawniwold - Etsy.com

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009
These boots are an early xmas present to myself. I was a good girl this year.

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009
And these shoes may be next on my wish list. I was really good.

Central Park in winter. I'll be there next year!

And if you want a real glimpse into what I'm looking forward to come January, check out this video that D made last year of the first snow day in Brooklyn. It always makes me tear up a bit, but that's probably cuz I miss him.

Random Thoughts on the "What If's?"

Stumbled across this blog the other day and fell in love. Missed Connections is a collection of random entries from various "missed connections" websites, curated by the talented artist Sophie Blackall. Her focus is primarily on chance encounters that take place in the NY metropolitan area, and she accompanies each selected entry with one of her own drawings that perfectly captures the longing, hope and humor that go hand in hand with these serendipitous situations - and I know I'm romanticizing the crap out of this, as I'm sure there are plenty of creepy connections out there...but reading Sophie's blog lets me bask in the fantasy of chance encounters with fairy tale endings.

So of course this gets me thinking about all the potential missed connections that could've happened in my life. Nearly 3 years ago D and I met in the last place I'd ever expect to meet the love of my life - a crowded, smokey bar that neither one of us really belonged in - and I like to think for that very reason we locked eyes across a crowded room and eventually (after 30 minutes of I look at you, you look away - and viceversa) made it over to each other to start talking...and haven't stopped since. What would've happened if one of us had lost the nerve and walked away, or figured it was a long shot to meet someone worthwhile in a cheesy bar, or decided to head out to a different bar where people wouldn't be dancing to "Sexy Back" ....these kinds of "what if" thoughts are precisely why I read about other's missed connections and hope like crazy that it's just meant to be.

Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

But neglecting your blog for over a week? Yeah, that's a different story. And I feel pretty guilty about it (a by-product of years spent in Catholic school) but, as usual I have a legit excuse. You see, over the past few weeks I've suddenly morphed into having three full-time gigs: the anonymous "day job" as a marketing account manager, my beloved bag biz, and now...the New York job search (made all the more cumbersome by the fact that I won't actually be living out there until January). Mush all of this together and you can imagine I am one gigantic ball of stress. So please bear with me...and if you know of anyone in the NY metropolitan area hiring an entrepreneurial-minded fashion-centric quirky self-starter with a solid background in marketing account management...give me first dibs.

Everyday is Halloween

Not just a great song by Ministry, but a philosophy to live by. Now, it must be stated up front: I am not one of those live-and-breathe-for-Halloween types; most Halloweens I've spent chilling at home without the least awareness of this alleged holiday (with the exception of this unfortunate Tinkerbell-from-Middle-Earth episode several years ago). That being said...I am amused by the display of complete ingenuity, creativity and (at times) downright tacky inappropriateness of this occasion, at least from a sideline observer standpoint. And so, in homage to the fabulous, wildly original and decidedly distasteful costume depictions that can only be considered acceptable this time of year, I give you a smattering of the best (to me) Halloween costumes seen thus far from an inspired little website called WTF Costumes. And come the night of All Hallows Eve, while most gals are either trick-or-treating with their kids or using this as an opportunity to showcase their inner sexy school girl/kitten/nurse/French maid/nun/sanitation worker/fill-in-the-blank, I'll likely be donning my decidedly less sexy seamstress costume while inhaling copious amounts of Jelly Bellys. My perfect Halloween...and pretty much my perfect everyday.

Everyone's favorite meal on the cheap in college.
Image via WTF Costumes

Oh look...it's another video of a drunk guy on YouTube.
Image via WTF Costumes

Looks like a tense moment during the Showcase Showdown.
Image via WTF Costumes

Just make sure no one tries to shake you or tip you over.
Image via WTF Costumes

Blonde Ambition

How fitting that I came across this posting yesterday, considering that later in the day I would be sitting in my hair stylist's chair and giving my 1+ inches of dark roots a platinum royal treatment that was shamefully months overdue. Although I neglected to take "before" pics, take a look at a previous "after" pic to reference the magic created by hair stylist extraoridnaire Dee. As grungy as dark-roots-gone-wild can sometimes be, there is about a 2 week period between when those pesky dark strands start sprouting up and when you've gone full-fledged Courtney Love - and that 2 week grace period results in the perfect balance of edgy-chic-yet-still-classy-platinum blond loveliness. Which is why, on the spectrum of blondness that is the subject of this post from Refinery 29, I feel I fall somewhere in between the Avant-Blondes and the Guitar Smashers.

If you're a blonde babe - natural or (ahem) not quite - check out the Blonde-O-Sphere and see where you fall. Heck, even if you are non-blonde check it out...chances are there is a little Courtney Love in each of us, be you a blondie, brunie, jet black or bald.