breaks a butterfly upon a wheel

yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of our engagement and in just 3 months (and 5 days) we'll be married. awesome.

how my lineage trace

our saturday date night consisted of:

• golden state (we're trying all the signature burgers in town (well scott is and i'm all over the fries and burger alternatives) fathers office, golden state, with 8 oz up next...
• fairfax browsing
• new coffee table book (of franz west work)
• saying "i-don't-know-the-last-time-i-laughed-that-hard" (especially for 2 hours straight) after seeing "the hangover" (don't watch the trailer. it is so good going in knowing nothing!)
  

the truth lies and lies divide

something i love about google is how it anticipates how your sentence will end and provides you options of what to search.

for instance, as you start to type "los ang", the following items come up: los angeles times, los angeles superior court, los angeles weather, los angeles county, los angeles lakers, los angeles public library...." normal, right?

well, when I started to type, "is it un", it completed the sentence giving me the top 10 search items that start with that phrase. item 2 was, "is it unhealthy to eat boogers?" that showed up TWICE in the top 10 search items starting with, "is it un"

educated americans are googling this? this is one of our TOP FIVE health concerns? seriously?!?!?

bottle-shaped body like mrs buttersworth

been looking for a great black handbag. leather. no logos or obvious branded hardware. small enough for everyday use. not too trendy.

main candidate:


i'm particularly smitten on the size issue since so many bags are humongous these days. gonna check it out in person this week.

keep making that platinum and gold for me

jessica biel, i do not like you and not because i'm jealous of justin timberlake. mostly because you seem really snobby and you often look like a man in drag. however, i'm oddly in severe "like" with this outfit and want to try to make your necklace for myself. thank you, j

p.s. - your makeup looks good. very good.

everything else is just noise

vena cava and alexander wang have collaborated with GAP. after years of designer partnerships, these are two i'm actually interested in. my heart is pitter-pattering over the dress on the right and absolutely will be stalking my GAP's doors at opening on june 16.

it's all about the he said, she said

it's a sad fulkerson-o'brien household tonight due to the ending of the cavs season. *sigh*

things to think of to knock my spirits right back up?

• cool new shoes: ballet flats with ruffles trimmed with zippers on the toes by jeffrey campbell
• thursday off work this week and a super cool event at the green life
• san diego tourism video "happy happens"
  
• a yellow skirt (because how can you not be happy with a yellow skirt for summer?)
• the fact that i was moved into my own office at work. an actual office where i can shut the door and concentrate. and have natural sunlight. and look out a window onto a flowerbed. for having a superior who believed i deserved it and made it happen for me.
  
• Good Earth Herbal Tea (still. it's my addiction)
• fauxlaroids (try poladriod.net)
• the quote: "ever tried. ever failed. no matter. try again. fail again. fail better." fail better. love that.
  

three snaps in z formation

debating:

faceted mirror side table vs. mirror side table, both by west elm. thoughts?

couture house files for bankruptcy

sad week in CA....

your echo comes back out of tune

not just a day off of work. a full day to enjoy with scott, with beautiful weather and an open schedule. our first day like this since february. february!!!!

happy memorial day!

2.3.09 - scott & me at lacma

sometimes known as the leader of the homeless

via indexed

happy for a three-day weekend...

the false memory of what we once had

soon-to-be new last name means new stationary!

for my personal "formal / business" correspondence, i'll be updating the pattern i've been using for years now, the caslon card by embossed graphics (black text on white). for my personal "fun" correspondence, i'm thinking of this "hollywood" design by fabulous stationary:
and for cards for scott & i to share, emblazoned with "Scott & Jessica O'Brien", i'm leaning toward the masculine "zen block" design, also by fabulous stationary:
then i'll mix in some casual, non-personalized cards like these from SusyJack, in the yellow triangle "flags" pattern and black "wheelie" pattern:

(ignore the purple)

i believe it is important to brand yourself and use everything, from what you wear to what you write on, to express the person you want to be seen as. each visual piece of your world should reflect the essence of you.

graphic patterns and a uniform color scheme (black, white, neutral tans and golds, and pops of yellow) hopefully give off the modern and effortlessly glamorous feeling i am going for.

really, really nice to meet ya

new girl crush: fashion stylist, jessica de ruiter. the scoop on her look plus a cool peek into her l.a. home on refinery 29.

what we do to the earth, we do to ourselves

via blog hopping, i stumbled upon "An Experiment in Poverty," jasmine's adorable blog about life in long beach, ca, with her boyfriend and cat during a too-long job search. it was fun, funny and features supa-cute pictures of daily life. so i scrolled through her archives and found this post featuring her boyfriend, levi's, artwork.

a few emails and a trek south later, inside a peet's coffee i fell in love the painting (and with jasmine and levi!) and snatched it up. it is hung adjacent to my front door, greeting me every time i enter and leave the house and making me feel like a proper adult with "big girl" artwork ;)

"white with red no. 2" by W. Levi Myers

the science of selling yourself short

i haven't blogged much (at all!) about the wedding planning and probably won't. we have a date (9.19.09) and probably 1/2 of the plans down. its coming together beautifully and i get more excited by the day. but the "stuff" itself- the less i focus on it, the more i get to focus on what the wedding is really about (the joining of two lives and families) and keep the stress down. plus, there are 1,468 things that excite me more on a daily basis to blog about and there are so many amazing wedding bloggers who can do all that better than me!

however, you'll get one now and then through the summer ;) starting with: flowers!

i didn't even want flowers at the reception - just candlelight. but mom won that one (surprise, surprise). this isn't my florist, but i loved her blog: Ink and Peat. each display is like a work of art. i was especially smitten with her use of texture - mixing in seeds, pods, leaves and berries. even if you aren't a bride-to-be, it's a cool site to dig through! (if you want only the floral design posts, click here!)

their anger hurts my ears

not a yoga chick or even a big work-out person these days, but i do love the lululemon manifesto printed all over their bags. totally cheesy, but it inspires me and realigns my priorities, even if just momentarily, each time I read it:

some highlights:

• Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins from your body and keeps your brain sharp.
• Listen, listen, listen, and then ask strategic questions.
• Write down your short and long-term GOALS four times a year. Two personal, two business and two health goals for the next 1, 5 and 10 years. Goal setting triggers your subconscious computer.
• That which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least.
• The world is changing at such a rapid rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you 2 steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!
• The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.
• Successful people replace the words “wish”, “should” and “try” with “I will”.
• What we do to the earth we do to ourselves.

luck favors the courageous

so my purchase of a brick-red based persian style rug for the living room is not going anywhere as even IKEA's version was $800. what. the. hell.

(the one i liked at IKEA)

so instead, i'm getting my style fix through pillows. not totally the same color or look and a totally different culture (i think?) but definitely that 'ethnic' touch to my modern style. like any of these?

i like you, but not enough to wife you

i love prints and posters as they are a super inexpensive way to bring artwork into the home, and especially to fill up a salon style arrangement wall (which i love!), but something inside me has been craving more substantial art. something less disposable, more permanent... plus, now that scott owns his own business, i'm now even more mindful of supporting local businesses, solo artists, handmade products, etc.

one find via blog-hopping is ugallery.com, a website where college students can sell their art. you can search by size, color, topic, style. the prices range greatly, but many are a few hundred instead of a few thousand and that works for me.

some cool sellers:

diana delgado:

makana hansen:
david nackashi:

jenmarie zeleznak:

a book of fireside poems

what is going down in my house tonight:

beastie boys video anthology. oooooooohhh yeah

i hereby apologize for the damage done

current shopping / wish list:

Alexis Bittar Jewelry: Vermeil Moon Face Earrings and Organic Bubble Ring

Faux-Fur Throw (Mink) - can't find any good ones. got links?

Chivas Goat Milk Soap - these soaps are up there with my pangea obsession. creamy yet fresh and minty.

a dress for my bridal shower (late june) - no clue what i want or where to start looking

an original painting. i love prints and posters, but feel like it is time for "big girl" artwork. i'm looking at this piece in person this weekend. fingers crossed i like it.

mistakes don't make it art

my pick for best look of the week:

sophia bush at the star trek premiere

she always looks sexy, never slutty and i love the chic yet edgy balance here. perfect for the occasion of the star trek premiere, with the futuristic pattern, silver details, etc.

zoe saldana and leighton meester and were close seconds, playing up the futuristic look with silver and black dresses, cage heels, and awesome eye makeup.

this life is more than just a read through

If you are plucking it or bleaching it, may I just suggest ripping the lil fuckers up from their root instead?

Thank you Wax.
You made my day.

readily read my intentions wrong

my favorite feature in lucky magazine is their month's worth of outfits. may's issue had this feature and you can check it out online here!

they show select pieces (head-to-to) then 30 outfits of how to pair them together. i tend to put the same items together again and again and this gets me to rethink my pairings and mix up the items i already have in my closet.

plus, as lucky always does, they throw out a few items i drool over and must have. this month? that marc jacobs tweed pencil skirt plus the reiss tank and dolce vita dress. *sigh*

could not kiss, just regress

to me, spring always signals fresh starts and i manifest that concept in my own life to mean wardrobe updates and interior design reconfigurations. first up = the closet.

my mom gave me a pack of these "closet organizers" that hang from your hanger bars and have words like "jeans," "dress pants," "short skirts," etc. i thought they were ridiculous. like, can't you just *see* where one category ends and a new begins? but i figured they were $2 a pack and i wasn't going to bother with tracking down where to return them, so i used them. holy hell, they work for me.

i do find that sort of embarassing.

i'm a creature of organization and putting things in their place. my keys and sunglasses go on the same tray every day. now that i have a cup for makeup brushes, they are never left on the bathroom counter. if it has a spot, i get things to that spot. its the compulsive need for order i have. so my closet has never looked better. my clothes hang properly with enough "breathing room" for delicate tops.

i googled for these in case you are interested in being as much of a dork and/or freak as myself: closet dividers. enjoy.