The Freedom Of A Place

I love this shoot because it reminds me why I love fashion as art. (Not that I'd really forgotten.) The dresses, the styling, the makeup, the model, the photograph, the desert, the sky, the pile of skulls...I love the many layers to this. The best is art that isn't restricted by its form but rather freed by it. I am just as likely to run into this scene a mile out into the Black Rock Desert as I am to catch it in the glossiest fashion book release (Ten Times Rosie) and London photography exhibit this week. This collaboration features Thomas Wylde dresses, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and photographer Rankin, founder of Londan-based Dazed and Confused magazine.

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There is a moment during nighttime when the energy shifts just barely, and the dark sky subtly clicks into place--a slight softening of the harsh black we'd grown used throughout the night. In the great expanse of a desert salt flat, your eye can take in the entire sky. Especially set against the harsh land dry...really everything the sky does out there is dramatic. When the sun starts its slow incline before dawn, you may catch some of the expressive skies you've ever seen. In an interview with style.com, Rankin said of the cold desert dawns: "When the sun comes up over the salt flats, you really think you're in another world!" Sometimes if you're lucky, for a moment you really are.

Wow Look At The Rock On Her Finger!

Speaking of Sahlia, check out her beautiful website, if you haven't already. Not sure, but she may even have a few of these one-of-a-kind raw crystal rings left! You might want to go into her studio and try them on so you can fully grasp how precious and powerful they are. I am lucky enough to be the proud mama of one of these lovely little amethyst flower babies. Sahlia said the only condition was that I could never lose it. All summer I wore it as my trusty little love nugget to all my festivals (yup even made the journey there and back from Burning Man) and on all my outdoor hikes and adventures. I always imagined that I'd need to be a blushing bride-to-be before I wore major bling (hah), but I turns out I am granted the pleasure of bling without the obligation of lifelong vows. Amethyst key words: Protection, purification, Divine connection, release of addictions. Sign me up!

Why Wine Is Forbidden

When Sahlia texted me about coming by her studio Friday to help her name the jewels in her new bridal collection, I was reminded that I had never posted the finished photos from our shoot! The models were so fun to make up and I love Sahlia's breezy natural but accentuated style. She's a great director. She knew exactly what she wanted: "Nothing green in the shots! I want those plants out of there!" I'm always a fan of meticulous attention to detail.
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For full credits from the shoot, shot by Ben Pigao and assisted by Shaun Mendiola, go here. Above, Sahlia giving an extra touch up to Hannah's lip gloss.

For a wedding collection naming gift (and oh yes--engagement gift!!), I stopped by Powells and picked up my favorite edition of The Essential Rumi, edited and translated by Coleman Barks. We're going to drink some red wine, get some Rumi inspiration and name those sweet jewels.

Because I Love This, I Am Never Bored.

Now, I want you to understand something before I go on and on. And yes, I AM about to go on and on. Some time around summer solstice, I melted into a giant wet puddle and would have stayed like that for the rest of my life (going on like a wet blanket) if the summer (with all these loving friends and the 9 glorious days that reached shockingly high temperatures in the low 90's) hadn't come along, mopped me up and finally put me to good use. So allow me this. I want to tell you about the 10 special days I spent on the 8 at the Oregon Country Fair in the sacred woods outside Eugene. And yes, I really do want to tell you about getting grounded in the woods at Tenmile, as well as the 10-mile hike through old growth (in coastal woods that would be just perfect for geocaching). I want to go on and on about frolicking with real-life fairies during a very real mid-summer night's dream and witnessing those talented musicians onstage at the top of Cougar Mountain.

I really will tell you about the gutted, converted school bus my friends painted and filled with couches and all the trappings to ferry us to the Burning Man. I could write a thousand blog posts about our week on the playa in Black Rock City--the sunrises and sunsets, that epic neon double rainbow...the fairies and bunnies and all the beautiful, intelligent freak flags that were flying high. I've got to tell you about the art...and the music...and how incredible it was to be on United States soil (or alkaline dust more like it) but meet just as many people from all over the world as I did Americans. Oh, and how we almost literally weren't even on planet Earth for this entire time.

I have to take it slow though, because this summer was a summer of healing, and that healing is precious. My REI lightweight camping gear got packed and unpacked constantly, and I swear more nights than not this summer I had use for my headlamp. I had the pleasure of loving Oregon in a way I'd never given myself time to before. All that time spent at the coast, on Mt Hood, in the desert rafting on the Deschutes, and cozy time in Eugene and Portland really did me right. Summer was like one giant decompression. And trust me, I needed it! I'll get to some of it. But for now, I must bask in a summer well lived.

At top, my dusty gypsies basking in the sunrise outside the temple at dawn (me in the gold turban and puffy pink Missoni coat). Also from the playa, biking from a wine tasting (no doubt) to a roller rink (obviously) with Taran midday, and last... my favorite art car. Reminds me of my Grandma Louise and the butterflies I used to draw for her. These wings really flapped.