Joe and I were walking around in the Gaslamp under a crazy orange cloud cover and there was the Hotel St. James sign, glowing like ice on fire in fog.
Hotel St. James in Orange Light
Joe, Last Weekend
Sometimes my weekend date is so dreamy, it’s ridiculous. Joe took me out to shoot photos of the Gaslamp Quarter on Sunday night, but I kept taking photos of him.
Here he is hanging out with Jimi and Janice.
Here he is kissing my face, which is always encouraged.
This is Joe looking especially handsome in Yard House.
And this is us being sort of disgustingly meta with me taking a photo of him taking a photo of me taking a photo of him on his phone. Gross. (Yay!)
Joe n Leah, VDay, 2013
This is what we do when we sneak off to the bathroom at a friend’s home. What do you do?
Episode 2 – 3Way Death Match
Go vote for Lena Dunham’s outfit!!
I Look Like I Look
Sometimes I think I have a really solid idea of what I look like. On the outside. It’s been days. Weeks. Months. I haven’t really looked at myself hard in the mirror, granted, but I’ve lost a number of pounds and gone down a number of clothing sizes and I’m feeling more than adequate. I’m feeling good.
Pretty. More than pretty? Yes, when my husband looks at me a certain way, I feel more than pretty. And I guess I’m looking at myself through his eyes more than my own. Which has severe disadvantages when he’s having an off day. Judging yourself by how someone else sees you is always a trap and completely unfair to both people.
I’m working on gathering how I see myself back under my own purview, being more self-reliant. Really looking at myself. Part of what’s so scary about it, is really seeing myself and being ok with what I see. Letting go of what I think I’m supposed to look like and being fine with what I actually look like. Because let’s face it – I look like I look, whether I’m fine with it or not.
Fussy’s FBA Drawing
You all know of Eden‘s drawings project, yes? Well, much to my delight, and I don’t just throw that word around lightly, I got one of my very own thanks to my husband’s planning and sneakery.
Of all the things Eden could have put in my drawing, she chose The Bear, which is one of my favorite things she draws. And he’s a friendly bear that’s just kind of friendily swatting at the birds helping him hold up the banner. Like they’re old pals. You can practically hear the bird twittering, “Oh, you old so-and-so!”
It makes me smile every day.
Date Day/Night
First, Joe Drawsomethinged me an image of pancakes. And then I yelled, “Let’s go get pancakes!”
Friends, riddle me this: How many times does a girl have to eat the perfect three bites out of the center of a delicious buttermilk pancake to learn that even those three mouth-watering, delectable bites will probably send her on emergent trips to the restroom a scant few hours later while the Target pharmacist is trying to talk to her about getting all her meds to auto-refill on the same day of the month? I eat Paleo for a reason. And yet. Every. Single. Time.
Here’s what I love about this picture:
1. I haven’t yet eaten 3 bites of a pancake that are going to make me ill.
2. Joe’s hair. I mean, really.
Here are our shoes while we wait for a table.
I assure you, Joe does have another shoe attached to another leg just to the right, off frame.
And then, and I know this is really exciting for you all, I changed shoes a few hours later and put on these before we went out with friends:
You guys, I love these shoes. I really, really, do. They are orange. They are cork. My husband says they are sexy. Most importantly, I can walk in them and not fall down.
Also, they match the beautiful orange scarf I received while at Alt Summit from Jeannine Harvey direct from FashionABLE that is so near and dear to my heart. It’s a WinWinWinWinWin. 5 wins. Five.
The evening ended at Top of the Hyatt with friends where we imbibed cocktails and talked for hours and stared at the view. I love being able to see Emerald Plaza from up there (green rings far right in the image below).
3-Way Death Match, Episode 1
We’ve got Beyonce’s thighs in this podcast, people. I don’t know what else you need.
Check it out at the new site.
Paleo Lunch – Tuna Salad
Simple food is one of the great benefits, in my opinion, of Paleo eating. I have a few main go-to meals for breakfast and lunch and I stick to them. It makes my day go smoother. I don’t have to think about it. They are fast and easy to prepare. It’s everything I’m looking for in a meal.
One of these is Tuna Salad. And it goes thusly:
1 sm can of organic chunk white tuna
blob of homemade mayo
fermented pickles
crudites (or potato chips!)
- If I can’t find organic tuna, I get whatever is on sale. I don’t drain it very much.
- I make my own mayo when I can to avoid vinegar. This is a great simple mayo recipe that I like better than all the other more complicated recipes out there. I like it best with Olive oil.
- I make my own pickles (shown above). This is a great recipe. When I run out, I buy Bubbies. Again, to avoid vinegar, because Bubbies are naturally fermented. (They also have divine Sauerkraut.)
- I eat the tuna salad with carrot and celery sticks and sometimes potato chips, the latter being really, most definitely NOT Paleo unless they are homemade and not in vegetable oil and let’s face it, I don’t make time to do that. So, sometimes I open a bag of Lay’s and eat a handful of chips with my Tuna Salad, like today. Just thought you should know. Everyone’s got their little things.
Alt Summit 2013
I went to ALT Summit this year. I’ve wanted to go since it began a few years ago and thankfully, this turned out to be *the* magic year thanks to Heather and Joss & Main, who had a last minute extra ticket and generously invited me to take it.
I reconnected with some friends at the conference (which is always my favorite part of any conference) and had a slumber party every night because Amy Turn Sharp and Anna Beth Chao were also staying with Heather and they know how to have a good time.
The Joss & Main Clue party was a highlight. Here we are getting ready in Helen Jane‘s room. 100% class.
I went to the Clue party as Madam Fuchsia, Miss Scarlet’s older, wiser cousin.
My two main takeaways from this conference were:
1) I still haven’t figured out how to tell people who I am very well. I watched person after person introduce themselves and rock-it with the 10-second spiel and I am just SO BAD at that. I can’t sell my paintings to someone who already wants to buy them and I can’t explain what I do in less than 5 minutes and not without a lot of “ums” and “well, and also, kind of like“s. It’s horrifying. This is a skill I really need and would like to develop.
2) I have yet to figure out how to fit in when a cluster of people gets larger than four. There’s three of us? Awesome. Someone else comes along? Cool, let’s keep talking. This is good. And now someone *else* comes to our little group and makes it five? Hhmm. Ok. But I’m going to have a harder time talking, but I’m still listening and I’ll try and pipe in now and again. Wait, what? Someone else? So, six? Seven? Eight? Dude. I’ll just be over here on the edge of the group and smiling and nodding but feeling totally unable to connect anymore. Like, the group is now “The Group” and I’m “Not Part Of It.” And this is all people that I like and want to talk to. People I’ve been waiting to talk to. I find myself later feeling really disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to pull myself out of whatever that invisible wall was and participate in what appears to be a really great conversation. I used to be good at stuff like that.
Here is me (not shown), taking a photo of a group of people having a great conversation while I watched. On my left are even more really nice people that you can’t see, making our group about 10 or so.
(L-R: Maxwell Ryan, Apartment Therapy, Anna Beth Chao, Heather Armstrong, Dooce.com, Helen Jane, Amy Turn Sharp)
So, yeah, I’m going to work on that.
ALT Summit Accessories
I’m lucky enough to get to attend ALT SLC this week. Everyone knows that accessories are the most important part of one’s outfit and here are some iPhone snaps of the jewelry I made to wear.
For Wednesday night dinner:
Green stone wire-wrapped ring, green jade dangle earrings.
Thursday day:
Ice glass wire-wrapped ring, shell double strand necklace, butterscotch amber eardrops.
Thursday night Clue Party:
I didn’t make them, but fake fur, pearls, sequins and feathers! I did make the Czech glass cocktail ring.
Friday day:
Red Hot Candy wire-wrapped ring, Red Hot Candy and black glass strand, red glass eardrops.
Friday night mini-parties:
Czech glass mini fruit, flower and leaves sterling silver cocktail ring.
And Then There’s These Two…
Devon and Lacey in Gone With the Wind. Or Engagement Photos. Same diff. I love this photo of them. The sky was crazy that day and the air was all kinds of pretty colors. I blew the saturation up and outta there and the contrast is insane. Just the way I like it.
