Hanging planter from Mociun.

Do you think I could learn this kind of knotting? I need to get back to my ceramics classes.

Um. Yeah. A wedding shoot at the high desert integration* by Francince Ribeau Events, Tangerine Tree Photography, and Britt of Tend Living.

*I told you to get married there. remember?

i love the brooklyn home of photographer mark borthwick. so simple + sparse. wood, sheepskin, plantlife, musical instruments and lots of light. what else does a palette really need?

photographs by christopher sturman + keetja allard via pachadesign.

Hello! I intend to get back into the swing of Monday pictures after I get through this period where every weekend is spent in front of the computer. That will happen soon, right? Right.

For today I love this image. I have been pondering how to bring more green into our house, maybe even a whole wall. This image reinforces the idea that it doesn't have to be all super fancy pretty designer containers and arrangements. Just greenery, you know?

Obviously the whole I will just post pictures as I take them so that film does not have to be processed by monday format was a little to loose. I need the discipline of having you all to report on Monday morning to keep myself taking pictures over the weekend. Unfortunately I did not decide this until Sunday, the day I didn't leave the house.









We finally tended to our over grown garden, and Ben's mom who is visiting cooked up dinner with some of our harvest. Our baby niece is also here. Which is obviously too. much. cuteness. (Especially her + ben.)

Britt will be writing a new monthly column (all things leafy green!) for Design Milk that you must check out, the last Tuesday of each month. But more importantly (for now) you should help her choose a name for the column, cause if she selects your idea you will win one of these bad boys;

Get more info here.

All right already! After your comments, posts like this in my google reader, and chatting with a gardening coworker (who assured me that kale, radishes, lettuce, zucchini and tomatoes would all be happily planted right now) I'm gonna do it. Today after work we are headed to City Farmers (thanks Shelly!) then Saturday it's plantin time!

I will let you know how it goes.

Image by CS Neal via mint, which also popped up in the reader today.

The way he said hobbit house you would think he thought it a bad thing.

Christian Muller Architects via wind sand and stars

Thanks guys, for all of your support & suggestions. I will let you know what happens.

Thankfully, yesterday was not a *complete* loss. Britt brought me this tiny baby dresser top orbie. Isn't it the cutest? (it is only allowed to stay here if it gets enough sun.)

How it is that I asked Britt over to help me as I favor and I ended up receiving a gift I still don't understand, but I'll take it!

i really liked this one. (even though it is the one that ben laughed at me for taking.) and i keep wanting to be able to see it bigger, (so i can pretend like i am back there...?) so i am posting it bigger. the blanket that ben says has "been around as long as (he) can remember." a piece of wood i found. wildflowers. and rocks of all sizes. sun going down enough for the temperature to start cooling....

Weekend was utterly unexciting, but just what I needed. I woke up feeling under the weather on Saturday, so I mostly took it easy, but I did manage to get the shed a little more cleaned out. (I have been neglecting the list big time.) Miraculously I felt better on Sunday, (miraculous because we went over to a friend's Saturday night to watch Zach Galifianakis stand up and I drank too much wine and ate too much cheese) allowing me to be insanely productive, including clearing out a plot in our backyard for a garden! (Hello, item #29!)

Remember that wedding I went to last fall? In Joshua Tree? With the special owl story? Thought so. Well, the bride and groom (or, husband and wife) were kind enough to let me post a little bit about it here.

Ben and I feel so lucky to have Britt & Scott as friends, they are an insanely inspiring and loving couple, who light up our lives not only by their presence, but by their never ending creative contribution. Britt's botanical designs are slowly taking over our house (yay! more!), and Scott is a rad photographer, who was kind enough to take pictures at my graduation. We knew their wedding was going to be epic.



Here are some words from Britt;

advice: keep it simple and meaningful. practice learning how to be fully present and in the moment long before the wedding so you can be sure to take in as much as possible. it wizzes by at breakneck speed! have someone video as much of it as possible for those who can't make it and of course, your own future tear-spillings. awwww.


my own memories: group meditation & energy work the morning of, deep & beautiful breathing during the ceremony, my hubs break dancing with my nephews, endless laughter, being amazed my heart didn't burst from so much love, our feather blessing, realizing we'd never have all these people together in one place again, the owl imprint, the magic of the desert enveloping us and never letting go.




what i learned: enjoy the process. every crazy second of it, even the stressful planning. also, even though you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD (like trying to create your own bouquet at 2am the night before). delegate delegate! responsibility cards are a must...especially for the morning of. consider hiring a day-of-coordinator no matter how tight your budget. you are worth it!




what made it special: our community: the center of our union. acknowledging and celebrating the heart tribe. forcing people out to the high desert and watching them connect with the magic around them. a gift for all.



-The wedding was held at one of my favorite places on Earth, Jim Austin's Rimrock Ranch in Pioneertown, California.
-Christopher Wilson was behind the lens. *
-Francine Ribeau kept everyone sane as day of coordinator (first hand, I came to her with a few near crisisisisis that day and she was always cool as a cucumber).
-Set designed collaboratively between Tend (aka the bride, she was not joking about 2am arrangements) and Bells & Whistles.

And countless other friends & family members came together to make everything happen. From the videographer, the bartender, the hairstylist, the officiant, the paper goods (yours truly!), to the tunes being spun (Scott- the groom- is also a dj, and his many DJ friends took turns behind the table. It was good, people) to the entire stock of beer & wine being home made…. the list goes on & on. A community indeed!

This is also a perfect time to mention that Britt has finally started a blog! tending to it (notes from a garden hoe) here you can moniter all her advantures in modern botanical design, which are many. And she has been doing a ton of weddings lately. (Lucky. Lucky. Lucky brides and grooms.) Check it out! (Scott is also finally starting a photography blog, but it isn't ready yet, s0 I can't link to it yet. Pout.)

Congratulations again you two!

*all images courtesy of Christopher Wilson (Thank you!) except #1 (Scott Neubacher Caligure) and #3, 7-9, 12 (Me!)

Because what's better than cacti on Thursday? Cacti on Thursday and Friday. *

I scrolled through every cactus image on this set to find out where the nursury was (pleaseletitbeinsoutherncaliforniapleaseletitbeinsoutherncalifornia). Melbourne. Sad face.

picture by Elly Yap Via

*Unless of course you don't like cacti. Like my best friend used to not. (She was forced to dig up cacti while in boarding school in tucson as a teenager. YIKES. She like the desert now though.)