::::beautiful losers::::

after seeing this beautiful film yesterday afternoon at the Nuart, i cannot recommend enough that you....

and if you find yourself in san francisco.....

my blueprint

i have come to many realizations. It is okay for me to be myself, as I was created to be. I dont live for my career, I value work as worship. I live for heart to heart connections, personal transformation, service to the world of humanity, learning and love. I was designed with love and purpose, import and care. My job is to shine, beam those qualities that I have been given, and shine them in the way I was designed to shine them, whatever that may look like. I was born with a connection to my Creator and I know that we all were. I know that I serve through my heart. Its my job. my noble purpose. my mission. my asignment. and I'm honored to serve, to be, to live, to work, to know this truth.

the blacklist

                                                                                 slash

                                                                        toni morrison

                                                    faye wattleton                                                      

russell simmons

my mom and i watched volume 1 of an incredible film on hbo called the blacklist.  a series of interviews and portraits of african-american leaders, activists, artists and athletes, discussing their personal stories and covering the wiiiide range of experiences of being black in america.  a collaboration of photographer timothy greenfield-sanders (who directed the film) and journalist elvis mitchell.

Love in the Air

while reading one of my favorite blogs, my favorite color is shiny, i learned about a balloon wish release that took place all over the world last week. in honor of two lovely people, Stephanie and Christian, who were injured in a private plane crash and are now in what is expected will be a several month long recovery, their close family and friends and blog readers and inspired ones were invited to release balloons on the same day, with prayers, notes, thoughts of well wishes, healing and love attached.  so moving. my love and thoughts and prayers go out to Stephanie and Christian!   

::::athletes olympians heroes:::::

in the spirit of tournaments, opens, meets, heats, challenges and games.

the poem of my day

God

And I have become

Like two giant fat people living

In a tiny

Boat

We

Keep bumping into

Each other

and

L

A

U

G

H

I

N

G

~ Hafiz

one of the most beautiful films ever, black orpheus

hilarious. uplifting. inspiring.

"doovde," by the fonejacker.

"bodega," by the Internets Celebrities.  

::ooo::

love this clock by thorunn arnadottir! how creative! 

the whole necklace represents one solar day. each bead represents 5 minutes. the red and orange beads are the whole hours. the silver bead is midnight and the gold bead is noon!

AND you can wear it as a necklace!

(thanks for sharing, innumerable goods*)

one to grow on

my great aunt's birthday was monday, she turned 82 years old. every year for my birthday since i can remember, my auntie has sent me a check, she matches every year of mine to the dollar, plus one year to grow on.  she's been doing this for everyone in the family for ages. this year, she asked not to be given any gifts; no clothes, no shoes or hats, scarves, etc. because she already has all of these things and doesn't wear half of them anyway she says. so instead of getting a bunch of "things" this year, each of her children gave her 83 dollars! $82 plus one to grow on. Now she can buy whatever she wants and needs*

so happy birthday auntie!

these pics were taken in one of my favorite places in the world, my great auntie and grandmother's home in chicago, il.

rooms

these are pics of rooms that i pulled from one of my favorites, domino magazine. also a couple of photos from an awesome blog devoted to rooms of all kinds, whether photographs, drawings or paintings of them. 

so i mentioned bernard rudofsky, i had no idea he was so known for his sandals, or that the strappy, lace up, gladiator style sandal was so popular in the 60s and early 70s. here are some of his sandals featured in vintage vogue shoots. and peep the Sandal Dress above, a custom order piece he did; a one piece garment, connected from shoulder to foot...what???!!

there are so many amazing blogs out there. i spent my whole morning researching and exploring and here's what i found. below, a marimekko wall hanging. and below that are two beautiful prints by new zealand artist helen acraman.

    and then.....some work by architect, curator, critic, exhibition designer, and fashion designer bernard rudofsky. "i believe that sensory pleasure should take precedence over intellectual pleasure in art and architecture." - bernard rudofsky

summer came in with a bang this year! it's been about 300 degrees for the last few days and nights, almost unbearable for me and im a summer girl. but ive decided to fully embrace the heat and follow our enormously large and lovely friends the elephants for inspiration. when they overheat, they immerse themselves in mud and spray each other with water to cool off. a wonderful example of how to behave gracefully in the summer heat. when life hands you hot lemons...rub yourselves in mud!

"and the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

~ anais nin