Me, Dee-Constructed.

What a year it has been.

I can't quite describe what exactly happened,

what prompted me to become somewhat

disillusioned

with my life:

my work,

my relationships,

my SELF.

After a break-up,

a change of heart in my career,

and a serious heart-to-heart

with God,

I discovered that I didn't want what I wanted anymore.

I simply wanted

what my life wanted

from me.

SO:

I committed

to discover

a new version

of my life.

The terms of this commitment

were really just that:

I would only do what I LOVED everyday.

I would only date someone who inspired me to be more,

well,

ME.

and I would only follow my heart.

All the time,

on purpose.

I felt free.

I felt connected, secure,

deep within my soul

that I was really

for the first time

MINE.

For about a month.

And then everything really changed.

The man of my dreams walked into my life.

6 weeks later, we became engaged.

2 weeks after that,

I quit my jobs,

and went to Australia to

meet his parents.

It was like the commitment I made,

to only follow my heart,

and surround it with joy and love,

came true.

There is this amazing old quote that says something like

'When we commit, Providence moves too.'

*It Did.

After a summer of laying in the hammock,

reading books,

taking road trips to Palm Springs and the Giant Forrest,

playing at the beach,

taking long walks,

and EATING,

I got to know not only my new love,

but even more deeply

MYSELF.

Come Autumn,

I tried to go 'back to work'.

A Halloween party in wine country

and

creative directing a catalog shoot

was the perfect chance to get back on my game.

But it turns out,

I just didn't have it.

That same old passion, that same old NEED

to do what I DO.

And so,

I decided to stop.

To not try to force myself BACK

to what I had done before,

to be who I WAS before.

I just let myself BE.

ME.

Now.

And the new me wanted more.

To be of service to the planet in some way.

To affect people in a deeper way.

To make a difference.

Now, I know we all have the desire to

make the world a better place,

but WHO really has the time?

Well, now, ME, it turns out.

I was given the opportunity to

participate in a project that truly inspired me,

to art-direct the cover for a new

Deepak Chopra

meditation album.

And so I did it.

I'd never done anything exactly like it before,

but since it was so obvious that I was no longer

exactly WHO I thought I was,

what better opportunity to

try something NEW.

To bring to life a new view,

a new representation

of an iconic man

in the name of service.

*What do you think?

After the cover shoot in NYC,

walking through Times Square,

on a cold December Sunday morning,

with the Dr. himself,

I realized I was officially no longer

disillusioned.

I was home.

In my life.

And although this past year

at times has felt

like an illusion,

like in so many ways

it is too good to be true,

It IS.

It's actually even better.

And ya know what?

the new ME,

with the

New man,

New job,

New life,

is what I've always wanted.

I just couldn't have come up with it on my own.

My life,

just simply,

had to show me the way.

And if that isn't too good to be true,

I don't know what is.

xx

Shake that Booty, Sister.

So its been another crazy week.

I've had a ton of creative business meetings
to prepare for,
am working on getting a client's house ready
to put on the market,

and have even helped old friends
take care of their kids after
their nanny broke her leg.

Another round of my favorite kind of chaos.

So it goes without saying that my date-night Sunday,
which started with a pizza and some arugula at
Bottega Louie,
and ended with an entirely uncharacteristic,
life-altering experience,
was much needed.

My boy and I were given tickets to see
Angelique Kidjo,

*gorgeous

an AMAZINGLY talented, Grammy-winning
singer from Benin West Africa,
FRONT ROW at my
favorite venue ever,
the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

* Thank you Frank Gehry

She is just lovely,
has the most incredible voice,
(I was most moved by her song 'Petit Fleur')
and her stage-presence is delightful.

This was all well and good,
her beautiful voice,
the amazing architecture,
my man by my side...

When suddenly she invited anyone who wanted to
to come on stage and dance with her.

*this is the stage. note front row.

Then,
A HUGE Nigerian man with
a very large African drum
(forgive me, I don't know the specifics, but WOW)
came to the front of the stage and started playing.

One by one, the people who had collected there
were invited by Angelique to dance.

Alone.

With the man and his drum.

In front of the entire hall.

Again, all well and good.

Until she spotted ME.

In the front row.

Sitting.

The next thing I know, a HUGE spotlight is shining on me,
and I am being beckoned
to CLIMB ON STAGE
(in my 4" Rochas heels no less)
to dance to this man and his drum.

I took one look at my guy,
who gave me a daring smile,
and decided to go for it.

I took off the scarf I was wearing,
climbed on stage,
and danced to that African drum.

Like a white girl, no doubt,
sure with SOME rhythm,
but a white girl just the same.

And ya know what?

It changed me somehow.

Being on that stage,
letting go to the music,
in front of all of those people,
in my favorite musical venue in the world,
somehow
gave me the permission to just
BE ME.

So thank you,
Miss Angelique Kidjo,
for not only reminding me of who I am,
and what I am capable of,
but for allowing me to present that to the world.

4" heels and all.

xx

Bronze with Envy.

Ok.

I have been obsessed with The Sartorialist for some time now.

But now, he's just sent me over the edge.

Um.

Can we just talk about the style of this amazing
Brazilian woman?
(Joana)

It should be noted
that ever since I was a tiny little girl,
I have always wanted
long dark hair,
tan skin,
and deep dark eyes
(essentially, my polar opposite)
and now, here she is.




With AMAZING style.

Chic, casual, comfortable.

My style bible.

Love.

Spring, come soon.
I have some catching up to do.

xx

Happy New Year.

The Holiday Season
flew by in a flash,
and I cant quite believe its nearly March.

These cold rainy winter months have been
nothing short of lovely.

I've
walked in the rain,
hiked to the top of Griffith Park to see the rainbows,
seen every Oscar-nominated movie at the Arclight,
waltzed through museums,
poured over hundreds of shelter magazines,
stayed up late playing Scrabble in bed,
baked many a pizza from scratch,
and fallen in love,
in the recent hibernating months.

I am looking forward to the spring,
to the possibilities it brings,
and if the last 3 months are any indication of how 2010 is
bound to turn out?

Lucky me.

(my favorite piece from the French Landscapes at the Getty)


The Banks of the Marne at Dawn by Albert Dubois-Pillet...

Remarquable.

xx

The Legend of Sleepy... ME.

Happy Halloween!!

I couldn't decide which fete to attend tonight,
and to be really honest,
I wasn't sure what I felt like dressing up as...

(I was thinking of going as a Mad Men era glamourpuss-
my grandmother was a style MAVEN
and has given me the majority of her remarkable dresses)

Upon checking in with myself and realizing that
1) I am tired
and
2) feel too old for the Los Angeles crazy Halloween Party madness
I decided last minute to just stay in,
make some chili,
and knit,

with the dogs and some Halloween movies.

Now I'm not really one to handle scary horror flicks-
(especially alone on a chilly Halloween night.)

So tonight's viewings were

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown


and Sleepy Hollow.


These films make me happy in SO many ways.




The fabulous party...
Linus sitting in the patch, waiting patiently...
I remember watching the special on TV as a kid,
with my mom, all curled up with some popcorn.

I've always thought Charles Schultz was such a brilliant man,
and since he lived, wrote, and cartooned in
one of my FAVORITE places on earth,
Sonoma County,
I cant help but love him.


*It is said the scenery for the infamous Pumpkin Patch
is meant to be in Sonoma

Then on to Sleepy Hollow,
a film I find to be one of the MOST
remarkably art directed/production designed
(not to mention costume designed-
HELLO Colleen Atwood= GENIUS)
films ever made.

*Can you PLEASE look at how GOOD the
deer heads are? GASP.

I love the sets, the cinematography,
even the old world New England accents
(not to MENTION Johnny Depp's every feature)

*He's kinda handsome

It makes me want to pack my bags
and move to New York State,
buy a farm, raise chickens and cows,
and make cheese.

Course, I guess moving alone, with the dogs,
to a place like Sleepy Hollow would
scare me even more than the madness of Los Angeles.

*And I cant imagine the men are anywhere near as delicious as Ichabod Crane...

At the VERY least there are no Headless Horsemen here.
Not that I've seen recently at least.

Guess I'll stay put.

xx

Home again, Home again...

It's good to be back.

I needed a little time to reflect,
take a couple of mini-breaks,
and regroup.

After a long, hard summer,
it was time to turn within,
and get back to nature.

A trip home, to the cottage on Lake Michigan,
was just what the Doctor ordered.



I also made a stop at Sequoia National Forest,
and said 'hello' to General Sherman,
a 2200 year old, 275 ft tall, 36.5 ft round
tree.

*thats him.

He was lovely.

There was of course some work sprinkled in there...

I planned a cocktail party for Claire
using my favorite caterer:
Love Catering.

Jonathon is a DOLL
and they are nothing short of tremendous to work with.

I recommend the mini Niman Ranch burgers,
and the pizzas...


The Lavender Lemonade cocktail was a hit,


and their famous bittersweet chocolate brownies
were just YUM.

I also assisted my friend Katie Fine
with a charity design project for the Skid Row Housing Trust;
we designed an apartment as part of a
design showcase fundraiser
in a record 2 day install.

*It turned out so beautifully, I'd want to live there...

What a blast, but PHEW was I wiped!
Katie, were there cameras, or did it just FEEL like we were
on a reality show? ;)

A few dinner parties,
a couple of great movies,
and one delicious date,
(he took me to buy a watermelon),

have brought me back,
revitalized and ready to focus
once again on my true passion.

Sharing the world of design,
and all the things I find remarkable,
with you.

xx

Summertime... and the livin' is LAZY...

I got this from a friend today...

*Muffin-Man

Look how healthy and happy he was,
sweet little bear.

Things are good.

I have been working quite a bit on random projects,
but am mainly focused on
enjoying some last-days-of-summer fun.

A trip to Disneyland,

*yes, those are PINK ears with a crown...
I had my name embroidered on them and everything

A BBQ or two,

*at a lovely soirée in Laurel Canyon for Labor Day

and the last peaches at the Farmer's Market.

The dogs and I have been going for walks every night,
it's really the only time I can bear the heat.

I have been reading a ton too,
and have so many snippets of magazines
ripped out to share with you...

But I just cant seem to muster the energy to scan them,
and then talk in detail about
the essence of color therapy.

Don't get me wrong,
I love my work.
Love my career, my passions,
all of it.

But its been a long doggy-day summer,
and I'm a tired girl.

I'm gonna soak up these last days of heat,
these last days of being able to laze through,
and will get into the more interesting stuff again soon.

The Interior Designer,
Florist,
Writer,
Event Planner,
TV Host,
Traveller,
will be back.

Soon.

For now, she's calling it in,
from the patio.

Stay tuned.

xx