photographer {emily ulmer}

emily and i were destined to meet.  i was first introduced to the utterly amazing work of emily ulmer by a good friend of ours almost two years ago.  she had shot our friend's kids and her photos were stunning.  the images just captured them beautifully in such a suspension of a moment.  i started following her work and noticed she had taken lots of photos of friends' children.  her images are so unique, deep and seem to absolutely capture the essence of the child she's photographing.

recently, bea's godfather posted a photo of himself & bea on instagram and emily commented on the photo saying that she wanted her "camera to meet {her}."  a few days after that, i was at my dear friend elizabeth's house and she mentioned off-hand that she had written a note to her friend emily and told her about bea and that she needed to photograph her...

some things are just meant to be...the connections were bringing us closer.  we managed to meet in person and emily offered to photograph bea.  this month, we had the honor of having emily in our home, we spent a few hours together, with the morning light filtering through the windows, chatting and laughing, while she photographed bea.  she was so easy and comfortable with bea...it was like she just opened up for emily and let her inside her world.

if you are lucky enough to live in the los angeles area, emily is offering a special rate for holiday portraits...1 hour session for 4 prints.  please feel free to contact emily at info@emilyulmer.com to capture the beautiful moments in your little's life.  not only will you get to have some amazing photos, you'll enjoy the time spent with emily as she's truly a treasure.

{photo credit:  emily ulmer}

family photography

a few months back, we were lucky enough to have the super talented jamie street, the blogger behind a desert fete and one half of the wedding photography sensation rad + in love, come and take some gorgeous family photos.

her documentary style is not only gorgeous, but so thoughtful as well.  she seems to capture the perfect moments.

if you are in the southern california area, and want some family photos in time for the holidays...definitely check out her mini sessions coming up.

check out the natural setting...so sweet.  if you're lucky enough to be in san diego, don't miss out.  if you are considering traveling in the socal area, it's worth the drive.

rad + in love

i'm so thrilled to see that my dear friend jamie has launched her new photography business rad + in love.  check out their amazing pics of a recent wedding at korakia pensione in palm springs...breathtakingly beautiful...

these gals are ones to watch...hmmm...can we get married again so they can shoot it??

hot tip for new yorkers: they will be in new york in june 2012...no travel fees...pretty sweet deal.

{photo credit: rad + in love}

ps. i love that they are bringing back the word RAD!  that's hella cool...

kicking off the love stories...

just in time for the overturn of prop 8, and leading up to valentines day,  our little love story kicks off a series over at sometimes sweet! check it out...

{photo credit: brett gurewitz}

vintage weekend...

so excited...my absolute favorite vinage expo is happening this weekend in santa monica. i've been going in both san francisco and santa monica for years...in fact, i bought my amazing vintage wedding dress {circa 1930's} from a great vendor there. it's probably the best spot to find a genuine vintage wedding gown...as there are so many under one roof...

this weekend!  february fourth & fifth in santa monica!

we got the {off}beat...

clearly, beatrice will have music in her life and will be able to keep a beat...but is her family {offbeat} because she has two moms? of course it is...but of course it is perfectly normal too.  we are the new normal...

yes, admittedly, beatrice's beginnings are a little different {offbeat?} than most...and i'm thrilled to have a guest post over at offbeat mama today, where you can read all about it.  thank goodness for offbeat mama, where stories like ours can be heard!  hurrah!

mamas who inspire me {jillian lauren}

i was hoping to feature a mama a week, but mamas are well...busy!  although i've asked several mamas to participate, i knew that this might not be a weekly feature!  so i was thrilled to find a reply from my friend jillian lauren.  i've known jillian for a long time, but it wasn't until motherhood that we really got to know each other...jillian was a mama before i was, so i was able to watch her amazing journey unfold before we took our first steps towards having a child...


ever since i was young, i always thought adoption would be my way to motherhood...and although i gave birth to beatrice, i still feel that adoption is a beautiful and amazing gift and it could definitely be a way for us to continue to grow our family.  so jillian's story is especially inspiring to me as an adoptee and an adoptive mother.  jillian is a ridiculously talented woman and wicked smart.  i love that she is brutally honest about motherhood...the ups and downs...that means so much to me.  i am constantly striving for perfection, but in motherhood that's not possible.  what wonderful gifts jillian is able to give her son: love, honesty, humility and compassion.  and what a wonderful motherhood inspiration she is for us...

have you always wanted to be a mama?

Yes! But I definitely went through some dark times in my life when I doubted that I'd ever be able to pull it off. It took me longer than most people for me to really feel like I could properly care for myself. As soon as I had a basic handle on that, I knew I was ready for my family to grow.

how many kids do you have?  tell me about him?

I have one son named Tariku Moon. He's 3 1/2 and he's already gunning for world domination. This kid is a force of nature. I generally end my days weeping with exhaustion. He loves rock music and airplanes and dance parties and anything fast and dangerous. Come to think of it, I could describe his dad with that same sentence...

tell me about your adoption story.

 Scott and I tried to get pregnant for years and it got to a point where I was at a crossroads. I didn't want to continue down the road of fertility treatments and medical intervention. I just couldn't do it to my body anymore. I was adopted as a newborn and adoption has always been something I was interested in doing, so looking into it seemed like the next logical step. I met a woman who had adopted a child from Ethiopia and as soon as I looked at her photo album I just knew on some metaphysical level that my child was there. 

I did a bunch of research and read everything I could get my hands on and then Scott and I began the adoption process. it took about two years from the time we started to the day we got on a plane to Ethiopia to pick up our son. It was the most frustrating and wonderful and painful and incredible and mind-blowing time of my life. Until now that is. Motherhood blows it out of the water on all those fronts.

how do you balance your work/life load?

That's the million dollar question. I guess I never seem to find a satisfactory balance. There aren't enough hours in the day to be the kind of mom and the kind of artist I want to be. But both parenting and making art are such integral parts of who I am that I'm willing to keep banging my head against the wall trying to find that ever-elusive balance. 

what is your favorite thing about being a mama?  how is your life different?

My favorite thing about being a mama is my son's laugh. I've never had moments of such pure joy as when we're collapsing with laughter together. My other favorite thing about being a mama is how much I surprise myself every day- both in the ways I succeed and in the ways I fail and am forced to try again. 

How is my life different? How is my life not different? Absolutely everything about my life has been transformed by motherhood. Even the things that aren't obvious. The lens through which I look at the world has been profoundly altered. 

 

does "alone time" exist for you?  how do you take care of yourself?

Alone time does exist for me. I insist on it. Scott is a musician, so when he's out of town it's definitely harder. But usually his one-on-one time with Tariku is in the morning, so I'll use those hours to go exercise- to go for a run or a hike and just let the early morning quiet sink in. I also try to get to the occasional yoga or dance class- not as regularly as I'd like, but I take what I can get and it makes such a difference.

tell me about your job?  how does it affect you as a mother?  and how does motherhood affect your work?

I'm a writer and a performer and I think that in some ways it's a great job to have as a parent and in others it feels practically impossible. I often work from home, so I get to see T during the day- have lunch with him or give him a kiss when he takes a nap. I wouldn't trade it, but it can be hard to work with a toddler screaming for you at the bottom of the stairs. But he's used to it by now and so am I!

When I'm performing it's harder because it impinges on our evening hours together and I feel like that's generally the time when we're most connected. But it only ever happens in short bursts. The up side of being in the arts is that when Scott and I are around, we're around more than most parents with normal jobs. And when I have down time, I make sure to spend almost all of it with him. I have very little social life and that's fine with me. 

who/what inspires you as a mother?

I am inspired by my mom friends and other mom bloggers (like you!) every day. I think that our honesty and openness with each other as moms is such an essential component of feeling connected and staving off the loneliness. I'm particularly inspired these days by other moms who are fighting to make good creative work and to get it out there in the world. 

what other projects do you have besides work & family?

I don't really have any other projects! I've been knitting the same dog sweater for three years. I guess I have waves of being into cooking and gardening, but those things fall by the wayside more often than not. 

tell me about a typical day in your life.

I usually wake before the boys and slip out to run or do a quick early-morning yoga class. Then it's back for breakfast and the morning get-ready routine, which can seem like it takes anywhere from 15 minutes to about 12 hours on a bad day. Then I write from 9-4 and take over with Tariku after nap. We go to the park or ride bikes or jump on the trampoline. Anything to try to wear him out and insure a reasonable bedtime (good luck with that). Then it's dinner, bath, books, bed. We've got a real rock and roll lifestyle around here. 

wanna find out more about jillian:
website

twitter

blog

today mom contributor

the nest contributor

mamas who inspire me {jorjee douglass}

i've been wanting to start a little series about mamas who inspire me...inspiration comes in so many forms, from so many places: mamas i know in "real life," mamas from around the blogosphere, straight mamas, queer mamas, single mamas, married mamas, working mamas, stay at home mamas, work from home mamas, ap mamas, crunchy mamas, adoptive mamas, birth mamas, butch mamas, older mamas, younger mamas...i take some inspiration from across the board...i look to those who have joined the mama club before me for guidance and support...so i wanted to find out more about motherhood from them and share some of these women with you...


first up is one of my best friends....i've known jorjee douglass since the early 90's when we both lived in san francisco, rummaging through thrift stores, going to rock shows, and enjoying the pre-dot-com wild, artsy and free frontier that it was.  now that we have both found ourselves in los angeles, i'm not sure how jorjee even found time to respond to me...she wears so many hats: wife, mama, make-up artist to the stars, a founding member of the citizen's band, singer/songwriter, fashion icon, blogger...but i remember when she told me she was pregnant and how excited i was...she was probably one of my first friends to have a baby and somehow that made it seem more real for me...jorjee, being one of the most creative and fun people i know, is one of those mamas that brings love, light, magic and humor to her family and to everyone she meets.


have you always known you wanted to be a mama?
yes!  i have always known i'd be a mama, but coming from an overly large family of eight, i always thought i would adopt a child.  i used to dream of being adopted and treated like a queen. i never had the urge to have my own until it was almost too late--i was 40!

 {jorjee eight months pregnant performing with the citizen's band}

tell me about your kids.

i have one girl.  she just turned four.  her name is maude mary feathers boddie.  i can't just tell you about her without making this 100 pages long!  she is the smartest lady i know!  i love her and respect her so much, and that's just putting it mildly!  i wish i were her...ha ha, i don't really, but i'm just blown away by her awesomeness daily!

{maude, at two years old,  following in her mamas footsteps painting pretty faces}

how did you find out you were pregnant?

while i was at work.  i lived in new york at the time, but i was on a job in los angeles {payless shoes commercial!} and i could just tell!  it went something like this:  "i think i'm preggers i'm gonna go buy a test at cvs on the way to work" and i did.  when i had a break, i walked across the street and took the test in the public bathroom at peet's coffee.  positive!

since you are a working mama, how do you balance your work/life load?

i don't really balance it...i live like a junkie, i fill myself up as much as i can with my daughter and family when i have time off and don't see that much of my friends, that's my trade off.  but i have great quality time with maude.  when i work the days are 12-14 hours so it gets hard!  i try to arrange for her to come to set after school so we can hang out for at least an hour.

what is your favorite thing about being a mama?

i'm not really doing anything that differently...i think i've always been a mama!

does "alone time" exist for you?  how do you take care of yourself?

i go to a korean spa and soak every few months...i stay up late and watch bad tv or i get up before everyone else in the house.

tell me about your job?  how does it affect you as a mother?

i'm a make-up artist, so my daughter looks pretty all the time!  {laughs!}

who/what inspires you as a mama?

maude inspires me and her future well being.  come to think of it, i'm very inspired by my sister-in-law, liz.  she can do everything and does it in an awesome witchy way.  hello glitter play doh!

what other projects do you have besides work & family?

i am a founding member of the citizen's band, a performance troupe in new york...i also write things...and i've just started a hippie band collective with my husband and your wife called canyon people...we're making honest dirty rock'n'roll for all with a rotating cast of guest star characters!

wanna find out more about jorjee:
twitter
make up ghost blog
hello giggles contributor

wanna wear the pants?

check out my guest post at east side bride.

{photo credit: chris strother}

music mondays {the go-go's}

coming of age in the eighties, the go-go's were one of the most influential bands in my youth. and women who rock are amazing...most of my music posts are about rocking women, so...

as the go-go's are about to embark on tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of BEAUTY & THE BEAT, i thought i'd plug a campaign to get the go-go's recognized by the rock and roll hall of fame in their upcoming "women who rock" exhibit. for me, and many others i know, the go-go's DEFINE women who rock...

this post lays it out amazingly well, but let me just sum it up: the go-go's are the only all female band who wrote their own songs & played their own instruments, who had a #1 hit for six weeks. and they are not included in this exhibit of women rockers. a pretty jaw-dropping oversight, no? they should be lauded and recognized for their achievements and deserve a spot in the rock and roll hall of fame "women who rock" exhibit!!

so what can you do...check out the suggestions here! go forth & rock!

music mondays {mumford & sons}

i saw these guys on another blog & for the love of god i can't remember who introduced this band to me...so my apologies...

but ever since i read about this band, i've been listening to them...mumford & sons have a great sound {gotta love a banjo!} and i'm especially enjoying the acoustic bookshop sessions, from which i posted above...nice soundtrack for the rain we've been having here in los angeles...

sweet giveaway...

over at natural mommie, they are doing a great green giveaway. how sweet are these fabric wall stickers from quick brown fox of dulwich? i especially love the twitter for girls...the sweet birds...i would love to have these in little bea's room. i have a bit of a fabric and woodland theme going in there, so they would be perfect! and to top it all of, they are eco-friendly, with eco inks and recycled packaging...right up my alley.

head over and check it out!

natural mommie does all kinds of great green giveaways, i've got my hat in the ring for a few of them!

{photo credit: quick brown fox of dulwich}

same sex couple on us weekly contest

wow...i just found this on two chicks nest. very cool. go vote for them! and re-post. how great would it be if a same sex couple won?!?! from two chicks nest:

We, Matthew Ossenfort and Jeffrey Denke, have been selected as one of the top ten finalists in the US Weekly Dream Wedding contest. We are very excited!! Please help us make our dream wedding a reality!!

This is a great opportunity to further awareness and visibility regarding the need for marriage equality and help a happy gay couple's dream come true!

Voting begins TODAY and ends June 18th . Please take a moment to vote for us online at:

http://www.usmagazine.com/wedding/vote

Check the box next to our picture and then click “submit final vote” at the bottom.

As you know, presently, same sex marriage is not legally recognized in the state of New York. Casting a vote for Matthew and Jeffrey will not only help them achieve their dream wedding, but it will also further awareness regarding how important it is for every loving couple to have the right to get married. They will be featured in an article in this week’s US Magazine and with enough help and support from the community will have the opportunity to have their dream wedding!

“Our biggest obstacle was and remains the fact that it is not yet legal in New York for two people of the same gender to marry. This would in no way hinder us from going ahead with a ceremony. We are currently considering moving to CT where it would be legal. However, a lot of headway is being made to further same sex marriage in NY. In fact we are attending a Marriage Equality rally this weekend to help further the recognition regarding this need for legalization. “

Please pass this email along to help this couple make their dream a reality, and by spreading the word about the need for marriage equality.

Thank you all so much!

we shot a psa...

we just finished shooting a psa for marriage equality.  very surreal experience being in front of the camera...i'm so used to being behind the camera.  the psa was a collaboration between f.a.i.r. (freedom action inclusion rights) and foundation, who produced the psa above.  this psa made it to tv, but we don't know if our psa will see any air time...most likely it will make the rounds on you tube and blogs....but i'll keep you posted when it comes out!

new fiction blog {antonia crane}

my dear friend antonia, member of the bridal brigade, has launched her fiction rant blog.  a talented writer, we asked her to do one of the readings in our ceremony.  her writing is brash, funny, no-holds-barred, sharp and sweet.  for some flights of fantastic fiction, check out her blog here.  she's one to watch out for...

plant in the earth, well, ok some pots...

in honor of earth day, i made a seeds purchase for my burgeoning veggie garden.  i found some great organic seeds through the cosa verde blog, which highlights eco and green merchants on etsy.  {another fave green blog i should have added to my list...}

i got the butter crunch lettuce {my favorite} from etsy seller fluffn flowers and okra {yum} from seven acre woods.  i want to plant these in some more pots on the patio, or maybe some cool recycled wine crates...

{photos from here and here.}

happy earth day!!

i'm not posting anything specifically green, since i try to be 'green' everyday.  but here are some of my favorite green blogs:

fig + sage:  great great deals and products featured daily

homegrown evolution: sustainable living and gardening in the city

green LA girl:  great green tips for los angeles living

ecofabulous: fab green finds & check out their earth day guide

ideal bite: not a blog, but you can sign up for great quick green tips

happy earth day!

{photo from space today}

new family member: {djuna belle}

we had a really great weekend...we welcomed a new family member:  djuna belle.  we named her djuna after my favorite writer, djuna barnes.  we actually rescued her last weekend, but this past weekend we were really able to get to know her and see her personality emerge.  she was very shy and withdrawn the first few days.  i don't blame the poor girl:  she was rescued from the kill list at the downey shelter by a rescue group called hearts for hounds.  hfh cleaned her up, fixed her and brought her to their adoption event, which is where we met her!  we brough our other dog, vinnie with us to the event, and they immediately hit it off, so we thought she was meant to come home with us!  she's really sweet and very calm.  i've already taken her to work with me and she's of course a big hit there.  this photo is of her in her bed at work.   yes, she has a pink nose.  yes, she has pink ears.  yes, she looks more like a little lamb.  yes, she's super cute.

is it a bit soon to get another dog after oona?  sure, but after both ruby and oona died, a good friend of ours told us, "maybe the universe is just making room for more dogs that need you."  of course i still miss oona terribly, but it sure is nice to have another sweet dog around.  

the flowers are from some friends we met on friday...aren't they sweet?  we put them in our bedroom, so this was what we woke up to all weekend.

how was your weekend?

{photos by me}

other folks weddings: {aeleise and joy}

over at so you're engayged, they have a great real weddings feature, which of course thrills me.  i love seeing those "real" same sex weddings out there...see aeleise's description of the beautiful and meaningful day here.

three adjectives she used to describe the day:  surreal, blessed, ordained.  what a lovely description for a really lovely couple...more photos here.

{photos by kelsie kliner via so you're engayged}

happy birthday, danica

today is one of my dear friend's birthdays and i thought what a great opportunity to introduce you to her sweet blog and her work.  aries born on this day are described this way: these individuals draw strength from a rich and creative inner life.

that sums up my friend, danica perfectly.  she is one of the most creative and deep people i know.  her photography is gorgeous, her writing is sweet and insightful and her creatures are amazing.  i often look to danica for inspiration and a smile.  for a glimpse into danica's rich and creative inner life, go see her flickr, her blog and her etsy shop.  

happy birthday, danica...much love.

{photo credit:  danica on etsy}