Marimekko Fabric...and check out their funtabulous umbrellas.

faithsalutes a head wrap made from this material...i can see it now.

rachel zoe featured a DVF hat on her site and email blast today. it was the toned down version of the hat i am truly lusting over.

$200.00 for a giant pom pom head. i know it is ridiculous. katie baker, are you out there? could you create this for me?

i want to wear it for my february birthday party that i just decided to throw myself so i can wear this hat.

faithsalutes cirque flair.

Somali Pirate, easy, comfortable and Faithsalutes appropriate. 1.5 Hour to make and prep.

Cardboard, felt, FCUK jacket from 2 winters prior, VERA Scarf, Gap Scarf, Forever 21 pants, TOMS Wrap boots, American Spirit cigarette, Somali Flag.

Dancing in my boat.

Local Businesses supported by my piracy. New booming Somali coast economy. 

My comrade and husband al-Gaddafi.

African Union pin: foam, fake metals:foam, suit: he got married in that suit, hat: felt, cardboard, and bottle cap from a bottle of something Italian from when I was in Italy this one time, scarf: American Apparel, Transportation: Neighbor's.

faithsalutes an African Halloween and a win for the Big F. 

ps admiring the paint by number costume (not so much the lame arse Coach purse, boo)...markers included. 

I fell down a small flight of stairs last Tuesday. I was sporting my high top tennis shoes from Creative Recreations I scored at Nordstrom Rack last year post knee surgery, knowing full well my high heels would be lonely in my closet during my recovery. Apparently these shoes are not made for DC rain, they are a Los Angeles based shoe company ready for sunshine and Melrose. Wet and dripping and slick, they did not keep me from slipping down one step and then continuing the journey downward. To save my precious knees, I grabbed for the banister. Unfortunately the momentum could not be stopped by my weak arms and shoulders. I hit my shoulder, neck, and head and felt like I was just in a hit and run accident all week. No sleeping, no turning of the head, and no looking down. I have since recovered somewhat, but I am pretty upset that to save my knees I have had to sacrifice the rest of my body this year. I also have to apologize to all those screenwriters, authors, and biographies made up of people falling down a flight of stairs and me not believing it could cause serious harm. I take it all back, I believe you.

On a lighter note, I am crushing on fall. Yes, the season. I have never lived on the East Coast and now I am starting to understand what the obsession with fall is all about. I thought it overrated and well, thought it was all about it getting colder and I am not a big fan of marching straight toward winter. Yet fall is this magical time of beautiful weather, rain and shine, bold colors, warm days, cool nights, and the kind of cold I like to be...which is not really cold at all, but cool. I now can I say I am in the "crush on fall" camp. I think I will have to remember this next year when the humidity is causing suicidal tendencies.

(Next pair I will be purchasing someday)

Faithsalutes her fall crush, but not the fall that crushed her neck.

In my AZ State Fair t-shirt in our apartment in DC.

Faithsalutes the Somalian Flag, its pretty.

Top 10 places I hope to visit in 2010:

Iceland

South Africa for the World Cup

Idaho to see friend Heather and cousin duo Joel and Christine

San Francisco with Meris and Raya

A tropical island, hopefully a remote island near the Bahamas with Marc and Emily

Atlanta to see friend Mary

Las Vegas for cousin's wedding

Amish Country/Pennsylvania

Morocco

Austin to see Chris

This is subject to change and of course, to grow.

PS Mexico City if Iceland doesn't work out or in addition to...

faithsalutes my first pair of earrings.

because mowgli is now shifting gears and i so humbly sacrificed my costume idea for his benefit, i am without a costume and we have a costume party to attend.

now in the last final days i am scrambling to make it all happen, here are some ideas that are being thrown around:

Dia de los Muertos or Posada Catrina: face painted, skeleton, veil, flowers, etc. I would go as the "bride".  Inspired by my cousin Isaac's ink on body.

 

Michael Moore: I hate this guy, but the costume would keep me warm. 

Eddie from Grey Gardens: best costume and easy to do, BUT difficult reference for the crowd.

Somali pirate: I have a box to make a ship and gun out of. Not a regular pirate, a Somali pirate.

A Chola: this is more a Southwest gig, but could be amazing.

faithsalutes your vote or better ideas.

Half the Sky by Kristoff and WuDunn

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Under the Banner of Heaven (this is my second read) by Krackauer

faithsalutes recent good reads. 

NEXT UP: creating our halloween costumes. 

I am a proud member of the just "put butter in a bowl and stick it in the fridge" camp. I think I am about to join the other team. I do not think I have ever owned a butter dish. No, no I haven't. Lately, it has come to my attention or more so it is begun to intensely irk me that the butter looks "bad" in its little white ikea bowl. Did I say bad? I meant, disgusting. For those of you who know about my dodgy eating habits (walking garbage disposal) can attest that I am not using the word "disgusting" lightly. The contents of the assigned chipped butter bowl is nasty. The butter tastes funny and it looks like it has survived four or five rounds of the kid's only table. Time to grow up, time to get a butter dish before I gag.

I would like this one from Jonathan Adler:

That will be $58.00 please. Sigh, Maybe for Christmas. 

faithsalutes butter with ants, the way we rolled in Kenya.

She wanted to look the Vegas part, faithsalutes working some magic. 

faithsalutes: second hand juicy couture dress. 

faithsalutes dancing with sequins on. 

Its not the shoes so much, but the image. i like the image. not so much the shoes. Courtesy of Maria. Fight the fall with tights.

This was our wedding "logo" designed for us three years ago. I still dig.

This is the first year Mowgli and I will be in the same city for our anniversary. I think being in the same city is indicative of how far we have come and where we are headed together. Marriage is tough, but so very worth it.

I love you Mowgli

faithsalutes all those meals you made me, they were delicious.

i am married to someone who loves sports. no, like LOVE sports. as in i have to hear about sports every single day. he eats it, reads it, sleeps it, dreams it, and plays sports. he is going to school so he can live out his dream of working in sports. am i making myself clear? growing up in a house of boys and enjoying athletic competition myself has given me an understanding of the game, rules, various cities and their teams, rudimentary historical references for sports trivia, and the ability to chat about sports. HOWEVER, i am married to the guy who could talk about sports all the live long day. i listen intently and then give the, okay, now i am done listening about sports today comment. i appreciate his passion and ability to memorize statistics, etc, but at some point i cannot listen one more second. i also believe that i am fairly tolerant about game time. if he wants to watch a game, i am not sure even once in our marriage i have stopped him from doing so. once we have children, this will undoubtedly change, but for now it does not disrupt or take precedence over our marriage. additionally, a lot of people have no idea how CRAZY he is about sports because he has the ability to discuss issues and divulge in various topics that do not involve a scoreboard and does have other interests AND he does not have jerseys making up his casual wardrobe. when he wants to finish a long drawn out sports tale, director's cut style, i usually use this friendly reminder: "i don't talk to you about design and clothes and beauty products and girl stuff to you for more than 2 seconds." and until recently, i wouldn't even necessarily talk about my job.

despite that most of his brain is filled with the Jesus, NBA, MLB, NFL, mowgli and i still have a great deal to talk about. i have been doing some pondering about this lately and it turns out we spend a great deal of time talking about people we love, pop culture/politics, goals, and most of that time is spent trying to make each other laugh. we laugh a lot. i am so grateful, coming up on year three of our marriage, that my husband can limit his sports talk as to not kill me, that he still thinks i am funny, and that what has bonded us together so deeply is our love for people. it is a great gift and honor to be on this loving team, even if we spend too much time competing for MVP, it is still a team. its how we flirt. we met in a situation in which we were in competition with each other and i am not sure that will ever change. Like Shaq and Kobe.

here's to my greatest competition and most worthy opponent.

faithsalutes go team, except when i want to talk about pretty things.

courtesy of raya photography (and our "not as good as hers" camera)