Mari Agory & Mari Malek for Suited Magazine, Original photo by Paul Jung

BRAINSTORMING on ways to pre-make my Christmas gifts for my family before I arrive into the madness.

THINKING about what to wear to my friends pajama party Christmas/birthday party. So fun!

MISSING Suz a lot these days.

FEELING such a sense of freedom and order after applying the Kondo method to organize and de-clutter all my things.

ATTEMPTING to recreate the most delicious cocoa bean, date, cashew, sunflower seed and banana smoothie I had in Bali.  So far I have not be successful!

ANTICIPATING the arrival of siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins all heading to Cleveland over the next week.

Sonia Delaunay beachwear, 1927

DRINKING Bulletproof Hot Chocolate and it’s hitting the spot.

SPENDING quality time with my friends and realizing how rare that has been lately.

ANTICIPATING an awesome, fun and loving Cleveland Christmas.

SITTING under the picture window at my grandmother’s house while she sleeps in the other room.

WONDERING how it is almost Christmas?!  Time to start focusing on my presents.

LISTENING to this playlist I made for the re: COLLECTION event last weekend.

Lakewood Park

I just got back from spending some time with both of my families – my Colorado family and my Cleveland family. I can’t tell you how nice it is for me to be around so many people that I love. I am truly someone that gets energy from being around others. I am sure that I have mentioned this before, but one thing that my life in Los Angeles lacks is a mutli-generational community of people. I forget how much it means to me to spend time with my grandmother or act like a kid with my cousins. It is the best to take a step out of your peer group and try on a different role in an interaction. We are all so many things – the aunt, the daughter, the friend, the babysitter, the pupil, the teacher, the customer, etc. And I realize time after time that it is so important to me to be able to be those things.

Zora Neale Hurston, 1940

As I’ve been getting ready for my vintage event this coming weekend, I’ve been spending a lot of time perusing vintage photography on Pinterest. That’s where I first came across these photos by “Harlem Renaissance patron,” writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten.  I was immediately taken with the rich tones and texture in his photographs and find these images to be incredibly moving.

Joyce Bryant, 1953

As I was lying in bed last night I remembered the poem Shake the Dust by black poet, Anis Mojgani, and pulled it up to listen on my phone.  I’ve loved this poem and Mojgani’s performance of it since the first time I heard it, yet I’d never explored any of his other work.  As I did, I was led to #BlackPoetsSpeakOut, “a poetic protest which began as a tumblr page hosting a couple dozens of videos of black poets reading poetry, prayers and mantras in response to Michael Brown after his murder in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014, and the grand jury’s decision on November 24 not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who fired the lethal bullets.” (via Poetry Society of America).

Billie Holiday, 1949

As I clicked play and listened to some of the #BlackPoetsSpeakOut poems, I thought about the immensely powerful role that art and creative expression can have in dealing with human suffering and healing.  I thought about the way it offers insight into other’s experiences, and I thought about how important it is for all of us to turn to art as a mechanism to help us through times that leave us feeling helpless.

Thelma Carpenter

Below are just two of the poems posted on #BlackPoetsSpeakOut.  I hope you will click thru to watch.

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(photo via here)

SPENDING a short and unplanned trip in Cleveland to see family. 

PLANNING to watch the Star Wars movies for the first time on the plane back to California.

LOVING my time home with all the babies here!

DOING final prep for the re: COLLECTION vintage shopping event happening this weekend in Cleveland.

WORKING my way thru my email inbox which I’ve let get a bit out of control the last few months.

GETTING ready to move The Disco Emporium operations into a studio space at Canopy Collective in Ohio City!

image Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis, 1989

PREPARING to make my favorite apple pie recipe tomorrow for the Cook family!

PACKING the warmest clothes I can find to head into the cold zones of Colorado.

BRAINSTORMING about what I will be creating for Christmas this year.

LOVING being back on Lake Erie and watching the way the colors and waves change from day to day.

GROWING my hair out and playing around with big curls and a center part.

MAKING this Squash, Chickpea, and Red Lentil Stew in the Crockpot.

Albert has been working tirelessly the past week or so on a new project for VR Playhouse, a virtual reality company. I heard little bits about it here and there but it wasn’t until it was featured on Wired Magazine’s homepage that I was able to see it. The video is the opening song to Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway. When you watch the video, click the arrows and play around with the 360 degree views. It’s pretty cool!

Check out the whole article on WIRED.

(image from Solar Biology by Hiram E. Butler via here)

“aries – you are not a villain
because you couldn’t be their hero
remember that self-preservation
is not the same as cruelty
(do what you need to.)
taurus – you did not need to work so tirelessly
to ensure that people believed
you were worth the effort
they always did. you always were.
(be selfish.)
gemini – you are playing by rules
that nobody else knows
are you winning the game,
or are you the only one playing?
(this is not your defeat.)
cancer – refusal to confront them directly
does not make you a lesser warrior
pick up your pen
unleash upon them your paper monsters
(fight the good fight.)
leo – stop carving out new wounds
in an effort to forget old ones
stop hoping that every goodbye
is a “to be continued”
(lose their number.)
virgo – “everything happens for a reason”
is thought of as true
but it may also be
just another one of your excuses
(take responsibility.)
libra – you cannot shoulder
both a fear of being forgotten
and a fear that everyone remembers
what you did
(forgive yourself.)
scorpio – do not fear your own insignificance
instead take comfort in the fact
that the stars will not think less of you
if you can’t handle this alone
(stop. breathe.)
sagittarius – your kindness may look
like weakness
but you are not weak
you were never weak
(this is as it should be.)
capricorn – all the ugly things you never said
have gathered and lingered like blood under your fingernails
your world has no need of that ugliness now
clean your hands, it’s alright.
(it will never be like before.)
aquarius – perspective is everything
what to you seems like an air of mystery
may seem to everyone else a question
of whether you ever existed at all
(tell them everything.)
pisces – you will not find “happily ever after”
through living one chapter again and again
you’ve learned all you can from this
move forward
(you owe the past nothing.)”

via That Kind of Woman

Photo by Helmut Newton, Vogue Paris, 1971

FEELING so much more at ease this week.

ANTICIPATING a great Thanksgiving in Boulder.

COOKING a lot more than usual and really loving it.

RESETTLING in Cleveland for the week before heading to Florida for Thanksgiving.

SETTING aside some time to refocus on all the odds and ends that get overlooked in all my moving around.

FEELING so loved after an incredible birthday last week!

Bambino! Here are only just a few of my favorite things about you:

You have always been a badass

You always do the right thing

You can move your body in a way no one else can

You are literally down to do almost anything at anytime (except early morning)

You are so damn loyal

You are kind to others

You are never too scared to put yourself out there

You are so rational when it matters most

You call 911 when there might be an emergency

You are so gosh darn creative

You can laugh at yourself

You are so thoughtful

Your style is outta control and only getting better and better

Your point of you is unlike anyone elses

You might have a shopping addiction

I like Van Morrison because of you

You dare me to do something in public and when I do you act like you don’t know me

You can wait longer than anyone I know to feed yourself

You are my best friend

And if that wasn’t enough. The video of you below says it all: