pretty party dress

before + after of one photographer party goer... me.



fez you so sly



stephanie at petalos...you amaze me!




A pretty party dress, tasty toadstools and sweet laughter...this was how I ended my day yesterday.

I met Fez at a first Thursday event last Summer, and was hooked. He is talented, kind, full of knowledge about all things makeup and the owner of fez studio a beauty shop located on Davis and 10th in the Pearl District.

Yesterday he held a tea party to kick off spring + celebrate a new line of Alice in Wonderland inspired makeup from Paul & Joe. Oh hello excuse to wear my 1950's yellow fluffy party dress!

Although I was chagrin that I didn't have dainty gloves or matching handbag, I reveled in the swish and sway of my lacy skirt. It got me thinking...what other daily activities might be enhanced with the donning of crinolines and lace?

recipe for a mad fun tea party:

cupcakes + treats: thai lotus + elizabeth williams
decorations: elizabeth williams
flowers: {amazing top hat!} petalos
location: fez studio
alice + friends wardrobe: - private vintage style consultant
laterns: david bliss

human bits

Today I was all humany.

Today my human bits were showing.

Today I was reminded just how human I am.

Today was spent in fear.

I wasn’t ok with this. I loathed myself for not being able to move. I spun in circles in my room ‘stuck’… which only made me more frustrated.

Meditation was out, it only made me aware that I was still in my room.

Facebook, twitter ..emails.. they distracted, but there it was as soon as I turned away from the computer.. a great big grinning mocking glob of ‘fear’.

Around 2pm I finally let it climb on my back and we left the house. Once we were out of the house I did what I thought I was supposed to do..the things on my to do list. With each stop he just got bigger and heavier.

Real panic was beginning to set in. So I did what the little post-it says on my door, “I made the call” and talked to a friend, then tried work again. HA!

As I wiggled in my seat, trying to focus and avoid 'fear's' steely gaze, I got a phone call, ”you wanna come for dinner? We have an extra roast chicken.” ok, so I had only worked for an hour and a half. So what! I certainly wasn’t productive and I deeply needed to be with friends.

Fear and I walked thru the door and went straight to work…

We talked about how bad it was.. why I should not be feeling this way… old patterns… going to fail… blah blah BLAH!

Now I don’t just have great friends… I have the best friends ever! They reminded me that fear is the emotion associated with winter. That fear is the first emotion an infant feels before birth. It gives the baby the energy to withstand the push thru the birth canal. Fear is the precursor to anger and anger will give way to growth… it is the push needed for life to come to the surface.

I blinked, let out a sigh and tried a new approach…instead of trying to bully it out of the room (which only made it bigger) I gave fear a hug. Thanked it for being with me and asked it what it wanted me to know. I listened and then let it know that I understood. I heard him….

He’s not gone mind you.. he still sitting in the corner of my room, but he has a blankie and a pillow and for the moment is content and I can go about doing what I need to do.

I have no doubt he will leave. I have no doubt that he will be back. I have no doubt that I can handle it. I have no doubt I am human.

p.s. {yes'm that is me in the photo...it seemed to fit with where I ended up at the end of the day...giving fear a knowing glance. photo credit goes out to my dear friend kelly thank you love!}

Blog It Forward

.what inspires me.


A blog mash up by sfgirlbybay, Victoria {blogging goddess}

When I asked her how she could have possibly organized all of this....and stated that my brain would be a puddle of goo…she calmly said, mine is.

I don’t know how she did it, but somehow she has organized some 300 bloggers into one giant mash of bloggid-ness. {click here to see the line up} The idea was to share what inspires us on our blog and then link back to the blog who posted before us and to the one we are passing it on to. On Friday, Good Measure graciously passed the keypad on to me.

So here I am sitting up on a Sunday night (now turned morning-1am) needing to write about what inspires me and being in one of the least inspired times of my life. Could it be the copious amounts of grey has invaded my senses and is now nestled snuggly around my shoulders… or could it be the fact that I am yet again in a ‘transition’ Whatever the reason, I am so grateful to Victoria. This project is giving me the perfect reason to re-connect and refocus my thoughts.

*blink* *blink*

ok, so maybe this shift will take more of an effort than I am used to. Maybe I’ll start with a list.

The ocean. the crest and crash of a wave… the hiss when she pulls herself back unto her.





The sun. oh that glorious gorgeous ball of light + heat, without which we would not exist.




My friends. who live to the edge of what they know and go just one step beyond.

Music. the pulse, the rhythm. the sounds that go so deep within me I feel like I’m in vibration with all life.

Movies. The paring of acting + music + the visual. I am transported. 'Given to fits of delight and anxiety, fear and pain, laughter and joy.

In one moment, an ache to reach out and stroke a tender cheek, a longing to hold the one that is wounded or rage at the one who did the wounding..

A well choreographed movie will take you where you didn’t know you could go. Will make you feel what you didn’t know you could feel. Will open you to a life you didn’t know existed two hours before.' {taken from a post I wrote a while back entitled 'colors'}

Animals. I have always felt more at home in a pile of puppies than with a heap of people. The spirit behind the eyes is what I love.




Summer. Heat. growth. abundance. the smell of a hot day brewing in the sunrise. wakens my spirit and pulls me out to dance in a dew covered park.



There is SO very much more. When I step out of my rut, which thanks to this mash up I have, I remember that life inspires me. The gorgeousness of a lamppost against the shimmer of the hot pavement, a conversation with a friend, the snore of my kitten, a old glass coke bottle. We each have things that inspire us more that others. Whatever it is that inspires you, today pour yourself a little cup and take a sip.
Here are some more random nibbles before I toss this on it's way.



the potential of a spring day




my nephews



Now I hand this over to gwyneth paige|couture letterpress {YUM!} Enjoy her daily feeding of gorgeous images.

Thank you to each and every blogger who is participating...you ALL inspire me.

Here is todays list of blog it forward sites

* swoonette * La Dolce Vita * theyellowhouseintheU * seek and find design * darcy rogers * paper & thread * bread of many * mocking bird * a diary of lovely *

.peace.laughter.merriment.

Portland| Two Tarts..maybe Three

My lovely and dear friend, Miss P, is a foodie through and through. She makes her own cheeses, has a wheel of brie in the 'cooker' as we speak and loves the simple joy of making a meal for her friends.

When I photographed the Leve charity ball this past December Miss P and her husband accompanied me. Leve was raising money for Growing Gardens, a fantastic organization that 'digs at the root of hunger'. An organization I knew she would love to support.

There were many ways to contribute at the event but after a few turns around the floor, Miss P found exactly what she wanted at the silent auction table... "Spend a day of cooking with Two Tarts!"

Two Tarts is a yumm of a bakery located on NW 23, and this would be a day spent cooking with them... learning their ways, mixing the goodness..licking the spoons. Miss P put in her bid and walked away.. but when the bidding came down to the wire, she and her husband were a flurry of hand signals.. she in the corner..he standing next to the clipboard.... higher?...higher! She won of course...don't you always get what you give your utmost attention to?

Anyway, this past weekend she finally had the opportunity to put on the hand crafted apron and get up to her elbows in butter and sugar. A LOT of butter!! In fact the largest block of butter I have EVER seen...15 lbs! I just about fainted from joy.

I couldn't stay very long, but did stay long enough to see those huge hunks of butter make a ultry large vat of lemon curd. *swoon*

A BIG thank you to the fun + friendly folk that work there...you guys are delightful! Thank you for letting me hang and drool.

adoption| portland pets need you

i tilt my head to the left cuz I don't hear so good in one ear...but I know I could hear you say you loved me..




'oh you look nice...I go home with you, yes?"

My love of all things furry (yup even tarantulas) stretches back as far as I can remember.

I learned to walk by helping myself up on our Collie's tummy and then her back, as I grew. When I was 4 year old, I shared my backyard mud-pit + my bathtub with our duck Chipper (the bath was a one time gig. It did not work out well at ALL. Warm water + 1 duck = a whole lotta poo) Chipper was my T.V. watching buddy, he would sit on the arm of my panda rocking chair and we would watch Sesame Street and the Electric Co. together. Still, he was a duck. I kept a roll of toilet paper close at hand to clean up his 'messes'.

Animals have always been my best friends...I simply can not imagine what my life growing up would have been like without them. They gave me so much. I am the woman I am today because of the lessons I learned from them. Compassion, gentleness, kindness, to sit & listen quietly to a purr...

To live a life without a pet is simply unfathomable to me. I will always have at least 2 to 3 helpings of baby furrs running around my home.

I guess that's why pet adoption & rescue is so important to me. I know the joy and richness that a beloved pet can bring to your life... and to your childrens lives. I know that without our voice they have none.

Since I started working with Dogstar and Theresa, I have seen at least 30 cats and 6 or 7 pups find their forever families.

In fact EVERY animal I have posted on here and on my FB account has been adopted. So a big THANK YOU and WHOOO Yah!

With that, I bring you the latest dose of adoptable cuteness.

Please SHARE the link and leave a comment, it helps more than you know!!

{if you want to see more photos of the furry kids...you can go come on by the FB side of life. facebook.com/heaven.mcarthur}

THANK YOU!!