the doily dress

i'm loving this doily dress from amour sans anguish on etsy. it's a custom-made, one-of-a-kind dress that she creates from vintage doilies!! i bet you could even send her some of your own doily finds and she would create a special dress for you...what a great wedding dress idea...it incorporates all of my favorite things: vintage lace, reducing, upcycling and re-using...

{photo credit here.}

she takes the {cup}cake

this is especially for esb, but i had to share with everyone...we got to meet clare crespo this past week. she is the cupcake maven. not only has she written books about cupcakes {hey there cupcake!} but she is a food fun wizard! she has a cooking show for kids called yummy fun...it's martha meets pee wee herman! most of her cupcake designs are geared towards kids or the whimsical...but i totally fell for her fun and fancy way with food...{patty says i'm stalking her...but i'm stalking her for her cupcakes!}...yeah, it's an obsession.

check out how to make hostess cake sushi here.

make panda cubcakes here.

{photo credit: photo 1; photo 2; photo 3.}

bask in the glow of pablo

it's so easy to get caught up in the blogs and go into a "compare & despair" mode...my wedding wasn't as blank, i don't have as much money as blank and i want blank, if i only had blank, things would be better...blah, blah, blah...{thanks, esb for reminding us we all have what we need.}

this weekend, i was reminded that i really truly have everything i need. i was literally jolted into a change of perspective. as we were walking to a 4th of july barbeque, we walked past dangerbird records and saw the painting on the side of the building dedicated to pablo castelez, a sweet six-year old boy, who days earlier had lost his battle with cancer. i started sobbing...this sweet, innocent little boy had fought so courageously with a terminal disease and i'm worrying about whether or not i should buy this or that...what a way to put things into perspective. i have a rich, beautiful and full life and i'm grateful for each moment of the day.

i'd been following pablo's dad's blog about pablo for a few months. {pablo's dad, jeff, is an old work acquaintance of patty's, and although i've never met pablo or his dad, i felt a very close connection to them.} i've been away from the blogs lately {including pablo's} so i hadn't read that pablo had passed. last night i spent a while reviewing the posts that jeff had written about his passing.

i truly believe that *everything* happens for a reason. and that i'm not necessarily privy to what that reason is...the universe is a much bigger force than i am. i did however, find it very difficult to hold on to this belief after i found out that pablo had died. why do children have to suffer? {yes, the quintessential spiritual conundrum...}

his dad's posts, although incredibly sad, were so inspirational and positive...he and his family truly were grateful for the time they had with pablo and accepting of the greater force of the universe. they have established a foundation to help other young children with cancer, called pablove foundation. through their grief, comes strength, love and compassion for others. from pablo, i can learn to remember find joy every minute of every single day. is that the reason for pablo's passing? i don't know and i'm not going to try to figure it out. but rather i'm going to bask in the glow of pablo and pass along the light and love.

rip pablo thrailkill castelaz june 21, 2003- june 27, 2009

happy friday

by popular demand. twitter pics coming soon, i swear. we'll see how long it takes me to figure it out. i guess i'm old school. and you know about this, right?

enjoy your 4th of july weekend. we'll probably lay low with the dogs. they don't really like fireworks.

happy birthday, romy

it's romy's birthday today! happy birthday to a super-talented photographer and dear friend. romy is a friend from way back and one of those all around talented ladies. if she weren't *in* my wedding {oh yeah, she sings too!}, she would have shot my wedding. she should shoot *your* wedding! if you want a rock'n'roll eye documenting your day, she's your lady. she shot a beautiful portrait of me and patty...love.

check out her awesome photo blog here and website here. not only does she have an amazing visual eye, she can sure whip up a mean breakfast {brunch at romy's is always a treat. if you are lucky, you'll get an invite someday}. for her recipes {mindful munchies}, check out this blog...happy birthday, my friend!

{photo credit: by romy suskin, of course!}

i don't *need* it...

but isn't this bike gorgeous? i'm lamenting the fact that i don't have a usable bike {i have a *super cute* vintage schwinn, but it needs work}. i can walk a lot of places, but if i had a bike i could ditch the car for grocery shopping and some other errands...i'm trying to be very mindful of what i buy, i have everything i need, really...{although sometimes my personal shopper finds things for me!!} is this a want or a need?? ditching the car more often could help the environment {although i do use recycled bidiesel in my car, about as green as it gets!}...

i'm working with this company right now and i just ran across this beauty. cute, right?

tea & vegan chocolate cupcakes

been busy with work and away from the blogs...again. i find that if i "take a break" from work to do a blog post, the next thing i know my entire day is gone {how does that happen? damn you, google reader and flickr!}. so, i am just avoiding them altogether. then, when i get home, the last thing i want to do is sit in front of the computer. i'd rather walk the dogs down to my favorite vegan restaurant, split a vegan wheat-free cupcake with my wife and drink peppermint tea.

ps. how cool is that processing patty did on the photo of me? it's an iphone app called camera bag.