It's time for me to disappear again

Smack in the middle of wedding season. I realize.

But I've got a big non-blog project looming. This one is rock + music + movie related. (Perhaps you've noted the recent bias?)

Photo by Cary Tijerina

A ribbony sort of cake

From forty-sixth at grace.

Isn't it lovely?

An ode to my stylist

Who totally gets it when I reference Patti Smith and ask for a cut that looks like I did it myself. Except, you know, amazing. (Alexis coined the term "box cutter chic" while I was sitting in her chair.)

Who listens patiently while I obsess about the tiniest hair issues. (Is it too straight across in the back...? This piece is curving under when it should be sticking out... It's not "sleeping on" as well as the haircut you gave me two haircuts ago...)

And who gave me, when I stopped in for a bang trim, what can only be construed as a badass effing HAIRCUT. No charge.

Photo of Patti Smith and her stylist Robert Mapplethorpe found here. When I complained that Patti always looked so good when she cut her own hair, Alexis brought me down to earth, assuring me that Robert would have been the one doing the cutting.

Happy Harvey Milk Day

Today would have been Harvey's 79th birthday.

It's Harvey Milk Day to me, even if our Governor did veto last year's bill that would have made it official, claiming Milk had only local significance.

Arnold has another chance. He can sign the Harvey Milk Day legislation authored by Senator Mark Leno and sponsored by Equality California and make Harvey’s 80th birthday (and every May 22 thereafter) a day of effing significance in the State of California.

If you live in CA, please tell the Governor Harvey Milk matters.

(Pictured L to R: Artie Schiller, Leo Piscopo, Leo's girlfriend, Harvey Milk, John Nirmaier and John's girlfriend Anne Subiondo. Courtesy of towardequality.org)

You saw the movie, right? Seethemovie.

If these are nerds, the cool kids are in trouble.

Just saying.

Photos of Ingmar Bergman (Film International), Suze Rotolo & Bob Dylan (Amoeba Blog), Paul Newman (Fan Pix), Pelé and Teammates (Fan Site) via Nerd Boyfriend. All credit goes to Kathryn for pointing me at this rad blog.

p.s. I love the HOT sign in the corner of the Paul Newman photo. Um, yeah you are.

p.p.s. Yes, Michael, the Dylan pic is for you.

Yoko Ono wedding style

blushless (who has a rad new blog) just pointed out that Yoko got married in knee socks. And are those sneakers?

Yoko Ono has never been a style icon of mine, but you've gotta give her props for doing her own thing.

Images of Y.O. and John Lennon on their wedding day in Gibraltar, 1969, found here and here.

If I were getting married again

I'd wear this dress by Mr. Larkin. Obv.

Even if it wasn't made from 100% environmentally friendly "milk fiber" (whatever that is) and hand-beaded with recycled metal paillettes from the 30's. But that does make it extra special.

Via Bliss

It must be wedding season, people.

I just got another groom style emergency email, from the adorable Amy (of i loved you first...):

i need some help.

ug.

i don't want my fiance wearing a suit or a tux on our wedding day.

it isn't our personality or style i feel like.

is that okay?

we bought a vest instead.

so he'll be wearing a grey vest, grey pants, plaid grey/black Vans (skate shoes), black tie, white pin-striped collared shirt, and green striped socks.

what do you think?

help.

our wedding is in 19 days.

we live in Hawaii.

shopping is pretty difficult out here and we don't get too dressed up out here.

it's been rather stressful looking, and trust me, i've looked a lot.

oh and shipping takes FOREVER.

i'll be wearing a white wedding dress with purple heels.

we aren't doing a super traditional wedding either.

what do you suggest?

i just don't know what to do or what to think.

i'm stuck.

Amy, I say f*ck the tie. This guy:


Doesn't need it.

Of course it's okay if he doesn't wear a suit. Vest, pants, shirt, vans (!!) all sound hot to me. And since purple and green are your favorite colors, go on with the green socks.

Don't bother to weigh in, you guys. I know I nailed this one. Do feel free to say, "ESB, you're a genius!"

Bob Dylan image found here. Yes I plan to continue calling in the rock icons for backup on groom style questions. Got a problem with that?

the sunday wedding (poolside)

Our favorite dj has another event up his sleeve.

Wishing wishing I could be there. I definitely need a road trip.

Woodsy Chic New Brunswick Wedding

I'm thrilled to share these details from the wedding of Stephen Kopp & Monica Adair, a pair of badass architects based in Saint John. As Monica and I wrote back and forth over the past few months, I became convinced that we're kindred spirits.

We got married on the new moon, on August 30, 2008. I think we were on a wedding high for a full month after the wedding.

The theme of the wedding was ‘woods chic’ with our own familial twist. My mother, who was born in Mexico, is the oldest of 18 children and is used to entertaining large crowds. We embraced some of those traditions to really inspire the day. My mother and father were also married in the woods, on a volcano outside of Mexico City. I absolutely adore her photos and was inspired to create something as authentic as they had.





It was a wedding of embodied energy – the energy of friends and family coming together to build the day that we have been thinking about ever since. Everyone got involved. Some learned how to drive tractors to build the dance floor, some helped build altars, while others laid the hundred glow sticks that created the path in the dark woods to and from the dance floor. A local farmer provided the hay bales for the ceremony seating that found their way to insulating the cabins on the site after the wedding. My mother sewed yards of table runners made from two textured tweed fabrics tied together with a red silk ribbon, my father, who owns a furniture company, searched for the richly coloured fuchsia seats for the dinner, my uncle spent weeks splitting wood for the head table and altar.

The papel picado, personalized white streamers hand cut in Mexico, were an amazing gift from the family in Mexico. We just recently spent our honeymoon in Mexico City and connected with our distant family. The wedding really brought us closer together.

And no Mexican wedding is complete without piñatas. Forget coffee as a wake-me up after a long dinner and speeches, piñatas helped set the tone for a long night of dancing. A light rain drizzle set the mood and some blindfolded dangerous swinging was a great lead-in to a long night of dancing and late-night swimming. The piñatas were filled with Mexican treats, carefully chosen from markets around Mexico City by my aunt Margarita and cousin Laura.


Buffalo plaid & a feathered cap >> Over 10 years ago, I fell in love with a photo of a woman in a wooden canoe paddling in a plaid dress. It has stuck with me ever since. I spent a great deal of time in the trenches of the Garment District of NY looking for buffalo plaid in wool – surely one would think that the fabric store for ‘Project Runway’ would have buffalo plaid in red and black – sadly no. After another, literally 50 store visits, I returned to the first fabric store and a man in there suggested I try one more store – sure enough – buffalo plaid – the last 4 yards – my future dress.

Julie Culberson, a local seamstress who happened to have done design for a theatre company’s production of Caesar, seemed like a perfect person to execute my small fantasy. The plaid shawl was cinched together over a taffeta J. Crew dress with a belt I found in a great little store. I was torn between wearing a white dress and the plaid dress from my memory; this was a way to manage the pull in all directions. I also loved wearing cowboy boots on my wedding day – I love boots and dresses.


I spent the rest of the day trying to find the perfect feathers – only in new York would I be so lucky to find a place where they were making the hats for the fall collection of Ralph Lauren and the costumes for carnival – whose hats were absolutely incredible – I was in pheasant heaven as I spent the afternoon handpicking each feather that adorned the centerpieces, table settings and finally the spectacular hat that milliner and designer Frennel Morris from Still Life helped me create.



The food>> My brother and chef, Jose, put together a beautiful menu of local appetizers, and he and my mother, a natural born food lover and maker, put together a meal for 150 that people are still talking about today. The menu consisted of a mix of local and Mexican treats: Mole chicken, achiote pork, plantains, tortillas, and a feast of other Mexican-inspired foods. We had a vegetarian friend that night who couldn’t resist and tried the chicken and hasn’t looked back since.


3am brought scavengers back to the tent in search of those last licks of probably the best cake we have ever had. If you ever come east, head to the Happy Baker where you will find this prized Baker – Holger Mammen. When we told him we wanted to make a 42” cake he talked us down to something that would fit through a door, but he was willing to take on a challenge. He beautifully rendered our family crest in gold icing and it was a slice of heaven.


Flowers>> My bridesmaid Katie's mother Gillian Wallace was our florist, and we knew she hit the theme spot-on when she showed up with a car full of cat tails, pussy willows and wild flowers galore. I do think they were the most inspired arrangements I had ever seen and I loved the trailing bouquet that was put in my arms just hours before the wedding.

The lens>> While many of our friends have showered us with great photographs of the wedding week, we were pretty damn lucky to have friend and photographer Karl Redding as our official 'third wheel' for our wedding – he made it feel easy and kept it all quite real. His thoughtfulness carried past his photographs and into all his help from climbing trees to folding napkins in the wee hours of the morning.

The lodge & cabins >> I spent many a weekend at my aunt and uncle’s lodge and cabins on the Kingston Peninsula in New Brunswick. It was exactly the place that best fit our wedding. Adair’s Lodge & Cabins is a wonderful place for an escape into quiet rustic country along the Saint John River.



Our friends made it happen.

We tried our best to design as many things as we could for the wedding and when we could we wanted to showcase our friends' talents: Our wedding favors were beautiful fishing flies designed by our friend Rich Cassidy. Meghan Barton, a talented artist friend of ours silk-screened our crest for the floating candles. Darren Emineau’s (MNO) pottery housed the flowers and served the head table. The ring-bearing dog's plaid outfit was made by Darren’s partner Alex, and Sam delivered the ring with perfect timing and elegance, heading straight to the pond for a dip upon completion of his task in true dog style. As for ‘les bijoux,' we asked local jewelry designer Jeneca Klausen to design our bridesmaids’ jewelry for the wedding, a commission she was perfect for: asymmetrical antlers, lava rocks and twig-like silver branches are just some of the one-of-a-kind gems that she designed for the ladies. John Wallace cut our serving-trays out of an 18” tree trunk. My maid of honour Charlotte Macdonell was like a full time logistics coordinator for the hundreds of details that were being fabricated up to the last minute of the wedding; she also got stuck making floating lantern bases out of left over tile we ripped up from an old reno.

Our farewell party was at happinez wine bar, where stephen and I had designed the little wine patio ‘hapito’ for our friend and owner of the bar. It was fun to have a party in something we actually designed.


As if I haven’t gone on enough, a few of my favorite moments>>

My brother Manuel wadding in water with a post-ceremony canoe full of Moosehead Beer for our guests>>Stephen’s vows>>Pre-wedding swimming for the boys in the pond >>the skinny dip that ended the dance and the hours of laughing at the camp-fire>>realizing we had nowhere to sleep and ending up in our tent…no better way to end a night of stars and lights.

I absolutely loved, loved our wedding. I can’t thank everyone enough for making it so real.

Sneak Peek: Woodsy Chic Wedding

Gimme a little time. There are so many great photos. And the bride wrote so many beautiful words...

p.s. There will be plaid.

For my mom

Who taught me how to read, spelling out the words with her purple felt tip pen.

Who gave me room to develop my own sense of style, and never forced me to brush my hair.

Who is my favorite film critic. (We will forever disagree on Something's Gotta Give, but either I'm being stubborn or she's being sentimental. Probably both.)

Who dances in the supermarket. And stays up past two reading The New York Times.

Who is more likely to say "Yes!" than "No." Sometimes I have to be reminded to say yes.

I love you, mom.

(Image found here)

So, that happened.

I didn't so much achieve my goal as reach the end of the time allotted... But anyhoo.

It's four o'clock. It's effing hot in here. I'm gonna take a cold bath and drink a whiskey on the rocks. Maybe watch Grey's while I do it. Anybody have a problem with that?

Wishing I smoked cigarettes (though really they just give me a headache),*
East Side

(Image via Life in Lomo)

*This sign off is an homage to bohemian hellhole. I love her sign offs. And I've determined that she's got better taste than Decorno. So there.

omg i miss you guys

I've been cheating. Just a little. Every so often I peek at your comments and it's such a relief to know you miss me too.

I'm terrified to linger in gmail though. Joy busted me via instant message on day one (thx, lady). I don't even know how that works. How do you see me?

(Photo of Alber Elbaz by Tim Walker via scout holiday. New Yorker article here.)

this will hurt me more than it hurts you

I have to unplug. For a whole week. This means:

1. No blogging.
2. No reading the blogs.
3. No commenting on the blogs.

If you catch me lurking, will you kindly yell "BUSTED!" and shame me off the internets? I have a big deadline on May 8 and you guys are too distracting. Srsly.

I also need to stay off gmail. So forgive me in advance if you write and I don't respond.

(Image by emiliebjork via .v)