Sneak Peek! K+P engagement shoot!

I have it on good authority that we will be getting a bunch of our Steep Street Portland Engagement photos this week!!!! Yeah!!! Potsch and I have been super patient but are definitely chomping on the bit now. Though Potsch and I are both *lookers we definitely wanted the amazing Kelty to do her magic. From what I have seen so far it is way worth the wait!
enjoy!

Tasteful Kitch

"Tasteful kitsch or tongue-in-cheek elegance are two ways of describing Ida Sjöstedts design philosophy. Her aim is to create beautiful, sexy clothes for women who don’t take dressing up too seriously –and who see fashion as something fun rather than as a must."
I thought some of these dresses could make some seriously dynamite wedding gowns. Definitely unforgettable. But are they too far from traditional? Do you think a brides dress could ruin the mood of the event?

Happy Holiday gift ideas - Photography Books

This may seem like a random gift idea but think about it. How smart do you look when you have fantastic coffee table books displayed as if you were just perusing them before your company came over? I am kidding...kinda. I love photography books. I am not always a big reader but you better believe I can take in some images with the best of them.
Here are a few books I have found recently that I would love to get and love to give.

Leisurama Now: The Beach House For Everyone by Paul Sahre $40.00 - "This amazing book documents the fascinating Leisurama craze of the early 1960s. Fascinating for anyone interested in mid-century modernism, architecture, interior design, urban planning, "readymades", suburbia, social anthropology, great photography, fantastic graphic design."


Contact Sheet by Steve Crist $39.95- "For every iconic photograph, many images taken before and after this are left unseen to anyone but the photographer. Examining the contact sheets from these original photographic sessions allows insight into the subject matter, the photographic process, and often reveals a deeper story that has never been told."
Variety: Photographs by Nan Goldin by James Crump $33.75 (with free shipping) - "compiles the still photographs Goldin created for director Bette Gordon’s now-infamous 1983 independent film, Variety, and offers a rare glimpse into this artist’s symbiotic working process. Hallmarks of Goldin’s early work and the influence of filmmaking on Goldin’s prolific career are on display in this project. Hovering unsettlingly between fiction and reality, "documentary style" and art photography, Variety: Photographs by Nan Goldin reveals a curious and previously unexamined aspect of Goldin’s iconic career, and provides a window into the collision of music, club life, and art production that colored the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This is an important addition to Nan Goldin’s oeuvre."
Leisure Photos by Bill Owens $29.95 - "Leisure is part of Bill Owen’s famous photographic series “Suburbia” and features dozens of classic portraits of people engaged in the most American of pursuits—from barbequeing, to bike riding, to lounging by the pool."


All super yummy choices! Let me know what you get!

Frysmith Manifested!!

I am a big believer in the Law of Attraction. Sometimes, though, I can lose faith and I need a little proof reminder. Well, today I got one and it is going to change my life and yours!
I have been craving sweet potato fries for days now. Crispy, yummy, pretend healthy, sometimes soggy delicious sweet potatoes. Today i found out about Frysmith!
Frysmith is a new mobile gourmet (running on veggie oil!) launching officially next week but I am determined to hunt them down now. What is their specialty? Well, Fries of course! Amazing, mind blowing concoctions of fries.


Chili Cheese Fries:
Angus all-beef chili made with beer and chocolate. Topped with cheddar cheese. Try it on top of sweet potatoes!

Rajas Fries:
Fire-roasted poblano chiles, caramelized onions and shawarma-marinated steak with Jack cheese

Kimchi Fries:
Kimchi with Kurobuta pork belly, onions and cheddar cheese.

Chicken Sweet Potato:
Free-range chicken in tomatillo-tamarind sauce over sweet potato fries topped with cashews.

PS- they have vegan chilli too.


It does not stop there!!!! Frysmith is going to have specials like poutine with braised short rib and cheddar, to fries with albacore, corn, and Japanese pickled ginger, to sweet potato fries with chorizo, orange and Parmigiano. Holy Holiness!!!!

And if the fries aren't gettin ya maybe the fresh baked home made cookies will. Traditional flavors like chocolate chunk as well as more unique temptations including apricot, white chocolate, and curry. Something about the idea of a curry cookies make my life feel complete.

Check out their site and follow them on Twitter. Twitter makes stalking so much easier.

Les Yeux Sans Visage

This is very creepy and a bit beautiful. May have been more appropriate for Halloween but I don't stick to the calendar of event so well.
1960's Horror film "Les Yeux Sans Visage" with a Portishead song. Already the making of brilliance.

Happy Holiday gift ideas - Bumpit!

I am so freaking OBSESSED with Bumpits! I think it kind of a "have to look at a car crash" kind of obsessed but it is bleeding over to Full unbridled LOVE!!!! Everytime I watch the 2 minute commercial my heart throbs and my pupils dilate. Bump It UP!!!! These things look so lame and faulty and yet I need one. I don't even think it would work with my short hair but I have to have one. I am hoping Potsch picks up on my hints. Yes, I am laughing and poking fun but come on, we all know there is truth in comedy. Who's with me? BUMP IT UP!!!!! The perfect gift for any woman who has ever pretended to be a princess.




on the Bumpit website you can get a great deal for $9.99 and if you scroll down you can find another deal for $9.99 buy one get one free. WHAT A STEAL!!!!

Faces of Old Dogs

This made me laugh. I love taking photos of the TV, especially with a crappy digital camera that has an obnoxious delay. That delay only seems to come in handy when you want to capture awkwardness. Thanks to Jason Woliner and his bright idea I have been laughing for the past 20 minutes. Granted, being an actor myself, I am shitting my pants a bit at the thought of someone posting awkward images of me and then making a book of them and selling it on Amazon. But we are talking about John Travolta and Robin Williams, I think they can handle it.
Please enjoy a few of The Faces of Old Dogs.

Diary of a Vintage Girl

My new blog obsession has to be Diary of a Vintage Girl by Fleur De Guerre. She is absolutely stunning in all her 40's brilliance. I love staring at all her images of modern day takes on 1940's style. I find something so romantically fascinating about people who love an era that is not the present so much that they make it their reality and everyday. To love something that much just moves me. Life really is all how you look at it. It can be whatever you make it. Fleur De Guerre is my daily reminder of that.

photo by Tobias Key

Another reason why I have fallen head over boot heels for her are her YouTube instructional videos. I have always been perplexed by the pin-up girl rolled bangs. Thanks to Fleur and her lovely British accent I now know exactly how to do them for myself. I also know what a hair rat is. Thank you Fleur.
If you love vintage, Diary of a Vintage Girl, is definitely a place you need to stop by.

Happy Holiday gift ideas - AffordableAdorable Jonathan Adler

I am super excited to start throwing gift ideas your way. I love gift giving. i love wrapping gifts and a I LOVE recycling wrapping/bags and ribbon. but that was really a side note I will spend more time on later.

Jonathan Adler. For those of you who have been reading Boots & Cateyes for a bit you know my love for Jonathan. His ceramics make me beam! So, it only makes sense to shine a light on some of his completely affordable and adorable gifty items. I also love them cause they come in pretty sturdy boxes. (another side note - When Potsch proposed to me he used one of my Jonathan Adler boxes as part of the ruse)

Cat Figurine $24
Banana $24

Utopia Boy/Girl Mug $24 How freaking cute! Who would not LOVE drinking their morning coffee out of one of these? Also, I am pretty keen on the idea of getting two and usinging them as wedding cups for the Bride and Groom!!!!
Lion Figurine $24 for those leos out there

Giraffe $28 I totally dig this design and the colors. Something about giraffes are alwys cute. Maybe it's the brilliance of Toy'R'Us branding.

Playing Card set $68 Now you can lose money at poker but do it with style.

Poodle $24 This one just makes me laugh. Kinda on the Jeff Koons feel.

Acapulco Red Currant Diffuser $68 Stunning to look at and to smell. If this was in my bathroom I bet I would clean it more. I mean the standards have been raised.


Let me know what you get! and give me a heads up on any great gift ideas you have. P.S. there are always some pretty sweet deals in the SALE section of Jonathan Adler. No reason you can't get yourself a little something while you're at it. xoxox

Pretend Kids from Gap kids

Stella McCartney has taken on Gap Kids. Is it wrong to go and buy kids clothes before you have any kids to put in them? I say not when Stella McCartney is designing them. But to be honest I havent really seen the clothes because I could not get past the UBER cuteness of the kids. I am going to give Stella credit for that too even though I know Gap always has stunning kids.
I mean seriously. How gorgeous is she? I must have a thing for red heads right now. beautiful!

Aruka

I know we are comming in to winter , more places than others, but when I saw this adorable and sexy model showing off these fun vintage-y bikinis from Aruka I just had to share. She make freckles look soooo sexy.

I need this

I love this song. I had forgotten how lovely it is. So nice to hear. I thought you might like hearing it after the weekend.

An education

I want to see this so very badly. And then I want to grow my hair, cut bangs and dye it dark. Call myself Jenny and run off to Paris in gorgeous skinny 60's dresses. Who's with me?

This Ilk

Ooooo so pretty. Look at these lovely delicate and wearable beauties from This Ilk.
P.S. totally affordable

Learning how to sell a product and yourself

I am starting a three class commercial workshop with the famous Jill Alexander. You might not know the name but I bet you know the face. Jill has been in over 50 national commercial in the past 9 years and that is not including all the other TV and Print appearances she has had. I am super excited to learn from the best. So excited that I have started doing research just so I have some of the basics down when I get to class. I have been out of the commercial world for a bit so a refresher is needed. Thank god for youtube!

PoP PoP - it is that easy.

I found this in my email the other day from MW. Thank you for sharing this!
In someways I want one and in others I just stare with my mouth open. If entertainment and pure enjoyment are really this easy then why are we working so hard for it all the time? Thank you MW and Mugen Pop Pop.

Rent a Crowd

These made me laugh. Rent a Crowd by Elly Nelly. I would love to have these on my wall. But what room? what do you think?

This one is called Get a Grip. Also made me laugh.

Look how Big our Bag is!!!!

Potsch and I have been hard at work designing some new Holiday items for Honey B and filling orders for Flock Shop and our online store. It has been super fun and a ton of work. We are grateful!
We did find a sliver of time to make this video to show you just how awesomely huge and handy our Market Totes really are. Enjoy!

High Glitz

So beyond Amazing! I am posting a lot of these photos cause they just mesmerize me. What an strange life these little girls have. I was never in beauty pageants and I really don't know much about them other than what I see on "Tot's and Tiaras". Have you been in them? Do you know people who were? What is your adulthood like after that?
The photographer is Susan Anderson. I love when an artist can be conceptual and technically sound. She executes these images with the crispness off the subject. Glorious!

"Susan Anderson’s documentary portrait series, High Glitz, is shot on location at several of America’s child beauty pageants. Setting up her studio amidst the colorful spectacle, she captures the young girls at the height of their performance. Hours of preparation are spent on each child's appearance, and her camera records it all in graphic detail. Children’s pageants are a fascinating subculture, but more than anything they represent a strange microcosm of America itself. Our own values of beauty, success and glamour reflected in the dreams of thousands of young girls…"

Crucial Conversations

I found this book on Amazon tonight- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. Have you heard of it or read it? I am highly intrigued. Potsch and I were talking the other day about passions. Seems I am always on the search for what it is I just can not live without. I came up with an answer - Talking/Arguing/Debating/Heated Discussion - I find those are one and the same. I love really "getting into it". I recently found out that it is a trait of the Capricorn as well. Makes sense. I would love to get this book and build my skills but it could be dangerous for everyone else in my life.

Rocky Votolato

My brother, Tom, is a big fan of Rocky Votolato's. I had never heard of him. Well, that is not true. When Tom would talk about him I would act all cool cause I thought I totally knew who it was and I am older and so cool so of course I would know more. Turns out I am not and did not know. I will give myself credit for this though - I took a step back and decided to learn from my brother cause he knows a lot of cool shit. So, I finally looked into Rocky and guess what - awesome!

His music brings me back to my super early twenties - when struggling was romantic and smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee were apart of my every hour. Sometimes I miss that time so much. When life was so full of passion and yet still so careless. I miss smoking cigarettes in the cold and not worrying about anyone else but myself. I would not trade my life now but it would be nice to have those moments every now and then.


White Daisy Passing

allen [mjji.] | MySpace Video

Pretend Kids from CrewCuts

How foolish of me to not know that J. Crew had a kids section, CrewCuts. A-Door-A-Bowl! look at these boys. I don't fins tons of pretend kid boys so I was quite please to fall in love with these fine young gentlemen. Who wouldn't?

Declaration of Dependence - out now!

It has been a long lonely 5 years since we heard from the brilliant Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience but the sun is shinning and the gods have blessed us with a new Album!!!! Declaration of Dependence! You can get it here.

Makin' pretty prettier

I am compiling my xmas list now. Not of the things I want to give to others but of the things I want to get. Yes I am still a 6 year old who can't sleep as she waits to hear Santa and his reindeer on the roof. I love giving gifts and is it bad to also love getting them? I think not.
So, I am adding "The Original Totally Rad Photoshop Actions" and "TRA II (The revenge)". Now that I have found these life changers I don't know how I will be able to go on working with out them. Totally Rad is a collection of photoshop plug-ins and filters. By overlapping and combining them you can achieve endless gorgeous possibilities. Totally Rad's website also offers tutorials, free samples and user submitted recipes. The images below are all user submits. The price ain't bad and considering how much stuff you can do, I am thinking it is worth it. Yeah presents!!!

It's on - Ayn Rand style

I just finished my new favorite book "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It was amazing. It is a big read and a mind blowing read. Definitely a must. I am even thinking about naming my children after characters in that book. I told my brother about that (he is the reason I read the book. He loves it to death) He was not thrilled with me. I may have to save that kid name or else figure out some deal with him. Anyway, like always after i finish a great book I feel lost. What am I supposed to read next? How can I take a chance on anything else when I know what what true love and happiness is? Sometimes it is a chance I am just not willing to take. But thank god for prolific tendencies. I went to my beautiful huge old Pasadena Library (if you have not been there - you must! It is like the big old ones in movies) and check out a stunning ginormous first print edition of "Atlas Shrugged" by the lovely and brilliant Ayn Rand. I am giddy with joy and anticipation!!!! I love that books still give me a happiness unmatched by anything else. Let my obsession continue.
How stunning is this vintage cover? I love the colors and the graphic. Definitely scanning this in before I return it.

This is a very interesting 3part interview with Mike Wallace and Ayn Rand. She gets a bit bullied but always keeps her cool. if you have the time it is definitely interesting.

Pretend Kid - Catnica Untaru

I fell in total love with Catinca Untaru after seeing her brilliant performance in "The Fall". If you have not seen it I highly recommend it. It is a lovely story and very well done. Catinca steals most of scenes with her improvisation. I was told that she barely speaks English thus leaving her to act on pure instinct. Whatever it is it is captivating. I mean look at that sweet face.



These next shoots are more recent. Catinca has grown up a bit and is still just gorgeous.

Xmas for all

If I could and there is really no reason I couldn't I would get one if
these for each family member. Then I could have a family of big
babies. Oh dreams really can come true.
At Target for $25.

Live Young

This makes me giggle out loud! I can not stop smiling at this commercial. Too freakin' cute. I would say all these babies are my pretend kids with skills like that.

Come Laugh in LA this thursday!!!

I am doing The Cookin' With Gas Show at The Groundlings Theatre tomorrow night. Show starts at 8pm. I promise you will laugh A LOT!!!!!
if you are in town come see the show. If you have never been to The Groundlings this is a great show to start off with. It is all improv! Celebrity guests! And ME!!!!

Snapper in a snap

Yesterday I got a little overwhelmed with all the things I needed to do so instead of doing them i started wandering around online. I checked my usual go tos and caught up on all the pretty weddings going on and then I went to ShowFoodChef. If you haven't been there you need to! The only down side to that blog is when you finish reading you're starving.
ShowFoodChef is a blog by Chef Cathy Shambley. She is the brilliant Chef who made the lemoncello marshmallows I gave away earlier this year. ShowFoodChef is Cathy's blog of challenge, causes and creativity. Almost everyday she is posting a new recipe with great photos for an internet luncheon, a cyber potluck for charity, a nutella rework or just something she wanted to try and thought you would want to try it too. One of my favorte things about her food posts is that she always gives you a little history lesson about where and why this food came about. I wish high school history class would have been so yummy. I might have actually passed.

After reading "Diner? It's a SNAP-PER" I headed out the door straight to my Wholefoods. I have never bought a whole fish but luckily there was a very cute and flirty Fish Munger named Clint to help me. He was very excited to help me and made me want to buy fresh fish everyday. They did not have whole Red Snapper so i figured the Whole Thai Snapper would be the same thing. Yes, I am ignorant. Cue Clint - " There are over 300 types of Snapper. The Thai will do just fine but it is less meaty than the Red. So, you will have to cut your cooking time by 5min." Oh, ok. then I say, thinking I am so on top of it, "I need to have that fish with bones in. Scaled and gutted." He smiles at me in a way that tells me to lower my voice with a hint of "oh, you're so cute in your fish ignorance". Clint then informs me that what I want is called "Dressed." Clint then teaches me how to choose a good fish and what to do to make sure it is good - eyes should
be clear and bright if they are a cloudy ask them to open the gills. Gills should be red if they are a bit brown ask to smell the fish. If the fish smells bad then it is no good. Clint said it is my right to ask the fish guy to do this otherwise I could get sick. Clint taught me a lot . He will be teaching a class on Nov 11th at the pasadena Wholefoods where he could teach you a lot too.

Now for my dinner. This only took 20 min. to cook and then 5 min to sit before it was devoured.


My first time at the olive bar. So many to choose from. I went with the Pick Olives with Corriander Sauce. I think I would go for the olives with fennel next time.

Cathy calls for squash veggies. I used a sugar pie pumpkin. Another thing I have never made. It was very good!


Served over some brown rice. Healthy, fast and delicious!!!
This was so yummy. Potsch basically ate the entire thing himself. Now I know where to go for good recipes that will please my man. ShowFoodChef!!