when the fog burns off.

Wow... how lucky am i.  It's these little lucious moments of beauty when i am reminded of the true magnificance of the world i live in.  Able to appreciate this breathtaking organic world as god created it and see it contrasting and yet cohesively melded with the modern luxuries of life that we have built.

I couldn't help but be astounded and taken aback by the sight i saw as i drove over the burnside bridge this morning.  The view out my car window of the city waking for a brand new day.  Alive within but from a distance looking so still and mellow as the fog began to burn away.  This city took my breath away.  It took me to a whole new place...a place i had never experienced before.  I felt like i could be in stolckolm or chicago, anywhere really... but this place just didnt quite feel like home, like portland.  Cozy....yes it looked so very cozy.  Exciting..beautiful..a breath of fresh air.  This looked like a perfect place to be.  And it was my city.. but seen through a new set of eyes.  And now i am ready for a brand new day.. and soon the start of a brand new year.  Amazing things are gonna happen...after the sunrise

a bare tree in love with the winter.

[my little sister gracie at her birthday brunch - cosmopolitangem.blogspot.com]

This morning.   The morning after my little sister's 21st birthday outing.  She had to have been severely hung over.  But somehow at 21 the body bounces back in a way that at 25 i can only dream of.  Wow... i could never imagine how much a difference four years makes.  It's crazy really.  We all pretty much rolled out of bed and prepped ourselves to go in about fifteen minutes.  And look how bloody gorgeous gracie is.  Her hair in the soft tousled waves she has so excellently perfected.  Her make up flawless as ever.  Donning her signature black blazer (nordstroms) and her brand new gaudy pearl ring (3monkeys), a birthday present from momma. Sexy way to start her new year.  

The birthday girl's boss is spectacular.  She hosted this most delicious brunch in the pearl district at gracie's favorite breakfast cafe.  Let me just say how blown away i was with Via Delizia.  The restaurant is an italian street corner.  When i say it is... i mean it looks like a fuckin street corner but inside to protect you from the portlnad rain.  There is a small cafe/gelato cart... brick walls inside that place you on the "outdoors" and there is even a full sized tree smack dab in the center of the shop.  It is delightful.  The meaning of the name says it all via delizia (street of delight) they really nailed it with the ambiance.  The waitstaff was charming. The boy serving us was not only easy on the eyes but the most friendly happy helpful waiter i have had in quite sometime.  He made us feel right at home in this little piece of italy.  And the food... oh the food... i thing the deliciousness will speak for itself when you see what was on our break fast menu.  Take a look.  And if you are ever lucky enough to visit portland you really should make it a point to visit this pearl district street corner.  yum.

minted in 1989.

Happy 21st to my little sista.  After work i picked up my momma and drove to north portland for a little family birthday celebration at a swank little happy hour spot (one of my favorites) Mint is a fabulous option for happy hours all night long wednesday day nights.  Plenty of scrumptious bites... not to mention the most delectable sweet puried fruit drink concotions.  Specilty of the bartender ad owner.  Her drinks are so fab she even has her very own book Hip Sips.  It outlines some of te best drinks from local portland hotspots as well as giving a step by step guide to mixing up your very own elaborate mint drinks yourself at home.  Quite the treat.

After mint we headed to gracie's favorite spot, 50 Plates, for appetizers and drinks and present opening!  And as that place seemed to be a bit of a bust with a snooty server and pretentious wait staff... along came my parents with the saving grace of the night.  A trip back to the candlelight room.  (A definite sketchy lecherous party spot.  Not a place you want to end up alone as a young twentysomething chick.  This place is swarming with would be east coast hustlers who have no place to fit in but this local dive joint.  Surprisingly...this isn't me dissing the place completely.  It actually is quite the time. Get ready for a night you wont forget.  Decked with a live, and practically unsurpassed jazz band with the grit and swagger to make anyone get up and dance, and the company to keep people watching and chatting at its max.  It's never a dull moment at the candlelight) So sorry the birthday girl had to jet early... but that by no means meant the party had to stop.  We definitely kept things swinging til the band shut down.  What a great wednesday night!

Biggest drag of the night.  I colored my hair a few days prior to this night and while at work decided i'd need to dye my bang/hairline extensions to match the rest of my head.  Unfortunately things didn't go as planned and the hair turned out pastel green and then endured a bleached out chemical haircut which sent my extensions to the garbage can.  Can we say tears for days.... so sad.  I am afraid i probably won't have my bangs back for new years either.  What a devastating moment to be me.  Finally find something that works to make my hair and me feel all pretty again... and then i have to go and fry the heck out of the bangs.  So... cheers to night one minus my sexy hair.. hopefully i can bring sexy back real soon.  Night lovers.

lusted.

i remember when i first stumbled upon this series of photos.  My hair was a shade away from being the white hot platinum i craved and i was hanging onto every last strand of length left of my cringy dingy locks. Not a single hairdresser dared take me where i wanted to go..scared of the possibility that their mistake could be the reason i'd end up with a bleach fried chemical haircut.  Was the color i invisioned impossible on my light brunette/dirty blonde mane?  

Then i found it... this.  This is Hannah Glasby photographed by Darren McDonald.  I fell in love with the photography.  fell in love with the vibe. the pure carefree nature of the girl in the pictures.  Her tousled white hair.  She lacked the long silky tresses most models were wearing, the repunzel hair that seemed to eminate sexy.  Hair that made those cursed with thin short hair dissatified and envious.  But hannah and something about the way darren captured her this day, proved beyond expectation, that an innocent boyish edge had infact a place all it's own.  A place only those daring enough would be able to go.  This new found sexiness is one i craved. begged to belong to.  I wanted to be the chick in this shoot.  beautiful. graceful. soft. elegant. wildly unabashed. with a brazen confidence that no one could take.

i want and lust and have just been reminded of the me i was after. the me i am after. striving to be a women of dignity, strength and to expose the raw beauty that comes from self acceptance and authenticity.

[coldam.com]

switching up my mistletoe for moss this year.

I've seen this photo making it's rounds on fashion blogs internationally this december.  Kate Moss could be more of an object of envy then the role she portrays in this photo.  Glamorous model.. exhausted after a late night 2:00am lingerie editorial shoot.  Ready to call it a night and pack it up.  She wraps herself in her oversized fur and throws on her boots.  Only to colapse onto the nightstand purse into tow longing for a few last drags off her cigarette.  The photographer takes one last flash.  This one will remind him of the rare night he spent shooting one of the worlds most revered models of our time.   A legend.  He breaths a sigh of relieve and a smile smirks up on the sides of his lips.  Complete.

Now i ask you how is it miss moss has the ability to look ever so careless and beautifully raw even in this simple shot.  She has the grace of a parisian runway model and the edge of only some off duty LA rocker chick.  Yet she's so chic.  And yes.. in this picture i too wanna embody her.  And so an idea:

This... this picture above... it the inspiration for my christmas card this year.  Kate moss couldn't look more wintery.  The vibe is perfect... i now have the perfect insert for my single girl living in the city holiday card.  (Heck.  I don't have a model family.. or an euro-chic fiance.. or even a fluffy little disheveled yorky to cuddle up next to.  So this year it's gotta be just me and my fur coat in my sexy little apartment.)  

Choosing the one shot to make it into my christmas card this year was the tough part.  Such a challenge.  But here it is...the one frame i feel captures the essence of my year and who i have become.  Careless.  Edgy. Beautiful. Effortless. Chic.  Exactly comfortable embracing the me i want to be.  And i love it.  I hope you all do too.  

rememberance.

brittany murphy.  one year ago she was taken away from us.  her beautiful childlike soul so innocent and bold. it was much too early to see her go.  what a loss.  so sweet and charming.  she will always have a place in my heart.

kisses.

and we're lost in a masquerade.

 [ how random to run into jarek at this party ]

afterparty at the lodge...obvious since the lodge boys are 'Just People'...and they were the band hosting this masquerade party.  boy do these boys no how to throw and afterparty...

quick group photo in the photobooth - soooo hard to round everybody up and away from the dancefloor.

ashes.

late night video call with a boy, a cup of hot decaf passion tea in my gold starbucks mug, feeling so sexy cute in my bedtime loungewear.  ( thrifted silk floral top / brown textured tights )   

check my new triple stone sheild ring... gold with diamond white gems.  picked it up at 3 Monkeys (gift boutique) while christmas shopping up on NW 23rd.  i am addicted to it.  i feel so sexy and badass at the same time when wearing it.  it adds the perfect finishing touch to practically any outfit.

Mid phone call at 2:00 amwe were interupted by the ringing of my apartment building fire alarm.  in a rush i dashed downstairs and into the lobby to find only 4 other apartment tenants up and alert and ready to not die in what could be a disasterous fire!  keys and phone in hand... armed with my white ruffled blanket, no pants, and my black leather lace up combat boots... i was elected the girl to take the lead... call nine-one-one...and deal with the fire fighters outside.   One of those nights where i was so so so so happy i'd put myself together before bedtime.  Never know when you might have an accidental marylin monroe moment with a cutie knockin at your door...or a sexy firefighter coming to your rescue?

on another good note: the fire was a false alarm...the building didn't burn down to ashes.