no subject

 

stay centered, be disciplined, do what you love.

my girl doesn't go for sticks anymore.

we think too much. i know this because i was thinking today how much i'd like things to be different from how they are. or at least, how they were today. i was doing some pretty major mid back arch yoga this morning and i think that let the cat out of the bag. it appears i'm storing major stuff in those little vertebrae. by the way, how cool a word is vertebrae? i want to pack this house and leave but it is my home and when i go, where do i go? faith. stay centered and follow that little silvery thread connecting me to the next action, the next only coming after the first. in this transience, this blog is now my only discipline that does not involve sitting cross legged. and it is about what i love; beauty and writing and small delicate things, and having my mind blown by what comes out of the creativity of others, places where words fail. faith says things will get created from what seems like nothing but isn't. nothing is really the great water wheel of dharma, spinning away. i've almost got it unstuck from the mud in my vertebrae! whatever context i saw myself in has been dissolved and that is painfully fabulous. next post will be totally frivolous, i promise. i'll find some pretty FSC certified wood ceilings or an organic, vegetable dyed caftan made of the fine hairs of the baby cashmere goat to knock your socks off with. because this is the story of how i'm getting where i'm going.

sabbatical

the morton salt girl, halloween costume of my dreams

 i debated with myself as to whether to start over with a new blog but instead i've kept most of the postings from the last year and only changed the 'art direction'. although everything is still business related, the definition of business has changed. so hello again, my vixens. i'm so glad to be back. i've put up a new sidebar pertaining to what exactly it is that i do do. i'm the proud owner of a lifestyle design studio addressing ecological and sustainable issues while providing clients with styling, decorating, and landscaping services. there is no home base yet, everything is in limbo since life exploded this summer. but i've realized that, after extended and concentrated time spent healing, that it is better to work, to move forward and open those dreams up from dormancy. open sesame little sturdy dreams!

and moving on.

 

sass brown is a professor at FIT and this is the book i've been waiting for someone to write

i don't think i'm related to jessica but i wouldn't be surprised if i was, just judging by subject matter

 

 on its way to my mailbox now. elyssa is a bright young thing teaching at parsons

what is so delicious right now is the scope and accessibility of sustainable design. ecological and social issues are being addressed more than ever and the collective consciousness that makes that possible is allowing more consumers to drop out of what was and to regroup, to reform possibilities around lifestyle that hold more delicate things.  if we don't need clothing to fill a hole in our spirit then we are free to use it to enhance what is possible for us on a feeling level. we are free to play dress-up.

'all that vastness, all those small symmetries, all the brutality and fragility. nature may be beautiful, but nature is not pretty. Nature is the original punk'.

~linda loudermilk

perfume news you need now

these two fragrances are two of the worst offenders

i have been working on education about the chemical indiscretions of the cosmetic industry with my clients for years now and i wanted to share this important study. Thanks to the great environmental working group for continuing to make the total lack of chemical regulation known to the public. in sharing what i have learned about the actions of these chemicals on the body, it is important for me to stress that in an unregulated industry, even the makers of product don't know what these chemicals do, nevermind what happens when combined with eachother to create new chemicals in reaction (sodium benzoate + vitamin c = formaldyhyde)! there are wonderful perfumers who use none of these chemicals in their formulas (no petrochemical products or synthetic perfumes, and are free of coloring agents and phthalates, among other things). we have a woman here in boulder who creates delicious and sophisticated oils and i'd bet there is a growing demand for these natural scents. also, check out spirit beauty lounge.

one excellent way to help in an oil spill

when I had my salon I donated all my hair to a company called excess access. each one of my clients had a direct impact on cleaning up after the 2600 or so oil spills in the US each year. this current spill is a doozy. go here for more information on how to help by getting a haircut. matter of trust has a huge amount of hair donations that have been made into mats and booms and is mobilized and in action on the gulf coast right now. if your salon doesn't donate, ask them why not!

anndra neen, pretty green!

T

This is Phoebe and Annette Stephens, artists in a line of artists, inspired by their grandmother, Annette Nancarrow, they live part of the year in Mexico City and part in Manhattan, their workshop is in Mexico City, they use metal scraps and low-impact techniques to make this beautiful, beautiful wearable art // amulets //body armor // howl-to-the-moon badass ornament. Anndra Neen.