My lovely fiance really wanted to get me away from the city for my birthday. There obviously were quite a few options and I knew that whatever I chose, as long as I was with him…I would be happy. But for some reason, the thought of us together in mother nature sounded like the perfect idea. I opted on Big Sur…a place I had heard was more magical than magic itself. The problem was that Big Sur is really…just that..big! The only places to stay are literally a campground or an Inn with no shower!! Well…needless to say…we decided we wanted to give each plenty of cuddles and not smell all weekend and decided to stay in Carmel. Which was just as beautiful and only 10 minutes from Big Sur. And on top of that we also visited the location where we want to have the wedding! So we killed two birds with one stone…or something like that. I fell horrible for just saying that..because the birds were literally singing to us on our hike. But I think you know what I mean.  In the end, we fell more in love and I fell in love with nature all over again. I had so much time to think about so many things and to just clear my head…and the number one thing I realized is…I am truly the most luckiest girl. The End.

The perfect French beauty…she is. Give her a listen and you will understand why she is so addicting. Voyage au bout de la nuit!

I was definitely excited to get my copy of Walton Ford’s prints distributed by the one and only TASCHEN. At first, TASCHEN released only 1,600 of these book and they retailed in the thousands of dollars!! Now they have decided to print the book for consumers like me at a very reasonable price. I wanted to share with you and how amazing this book is! To have all his works in one gorgeous book blows my mind. Talk about INSPIRATION for your eyeballs! Walton Ford (born 1960) is an American artist who paints large scale watercolors in the style of Audubon’s naturalist illustrations. Each painting is a meticulous study in flora and is filled with symbols, clues and jokes referencing a multitude of texts from colonial literature and folktales. Like the paintings from the old, his style is majestic and takes the viewer on a sort of  journey into the African safari. One my favorite things to derive my art on is nature and wild animals. And Walton Ford is a great artist to be inspired from. You will never get tired of looking at his prints…it is like candy to the eye. Enjoy!

After all that has been happening around the world..especially in Haiti..it is impossible not to feel pain and even some sort of discomfort. When I say discomfort, I mean…for example…when I complain about something. I immediately retrace my steps and my thoughts and think about how blessed I am and how there are so many people who are suffering…dying…around the world. It is soooo easy to forget. My pledge at the moment, is to knock off all the silly complaining I do on the daily and try my best to GIVE BACK. It’s actually not that hard to do. And if you don’t have the money…maybe volunteering for your favorite cause its something that might work as well. On that note please check out the post below: If you have $20 you can order a wonderful I GLOVE HAITI T-shirt in support of Numa Perrier and her efforts in buying supplies for her trip to Haiti. She will need your help and it will be greatly appreciated by the people there…I’m sure of it.

for more info to order or donate monies please visit: www.missnuma.com

From Numa: “I GLOVE HAITI is a grass roots organization. including myself and my mom. we travel to haiti next week to find family and help in every way we can.”

do it!

Once upon a time..a very long time ago…I use to make A LOT of jewelry. I was cleaning my jewelry bin up and realized that at the bottom of my bin were these beautiful necklaces stored in plastic that I had once made. I don’t quite remember why I stopped making jewelry…but it was a great hobby to have. I still have bins and bins of beautiful stones and gold chain. Its so crazy to think about all the creative things I have done and still love to do. I always find little traces of  my creative work all around…and it always makes me smile. So I think I might sell all my old jewelry on my new esty coming soon! Maybe they will get some use on someone’s beautiful neck rather than in my jewelry bin…

wooooohoooooo!

More images from my Mini Diana and my trip to Pat’s hometown Ohio….Enjoy!