one year.

monday marked one year since our big ol celebration of love

so we got fancy + hit the town

grange for cocktails

ella for dinner

both places we happened to know people working

and they happened to know we were celebrating

so we got a champagne toast on the house

people are so kind + generous + love to celebrate love

omg - the menu was amazing and incredibly veg friendly

in years past, i used to just ask them to create something special for me because there really weren't many veggie options... so that was a pleasant surprise

it's just silly - how handsome my man is.

whoa

i love my new job

but since I started (8 months ago?!) I stopped blogging + going to yoga

i am bringing these back

last weekend eli and i visited z + dom in reno

they live in a darling neighborhood

walking distance to the river

sunday was reno gay pride

we ate an amazing dinner at campo

   

checked out the new location of chapel tavern

celebrated love with an amazing brunch at old granite street eatery

mad fall

every fall 

i fall

in love

with this town

all over again.

bear to make a difference

Spent the weekend in Denver attending the Bear to Make a Difference gala. It has been amazing to watch the event grow over the years. Here is last year's blog post after the event. This year the attendance was so high they had to add on an extra tent space outside. It was, as usual, a lovely evening filled with love, remembrance, hope, community, and powerful energy. Everyone there wanting to make a difference. And, just like last year, I have come home more INSPIRED than ever, and ready to work on making a difference in my community. Luckily, I am in a better position this year than last, as I have recently accepted to be a board member of the local non-profit Equality Action Now. An amazing group of hard working individuals with so much energy, love, and commitment. This is all very new for me, so I am enjoying learning the ins and outs of a non-profit and the role of 'board member.'

This year's "make a difference award" went to

Jennifer Beals

She was really cute up there - and her speech was great!

zeina + dom + my hot date for the evening... ernie!

On my way home, I flew into the new SMF terminal, which is pretty amazing...

I loved this hanging piece

+ this mosaic 

and below... Equality Action Now's board of directors:

♥

lazy bloggin

holy hell

life has been busy

....

lots of crafting

creating. making. 

cutting. pasting.

writing. 

mom and zeina have been cooking 

and in a week from tomorrow, eli and i still stand right here

exchange vows

toast

dance

i.cannot.wait!!

one year ago. six years ago

one year ago 

eli proposed

in magical big sur

six years ago

we went on our first date

here's us in that first year of dating 

this is at the raven 

where i think we spent the majority of that first year

damn.  we were that couple with the big glasses..

six years.  

crazy

love

matt shepard is a friend of mine

hi friends.  i'm excited to share this film teaser for a documentary that my sister, zeina, has taken part in regarding matt's life, who he was, and his story.  the film is being created by michele josue, who also went to school with matt + zeina, and her husband liam mcniff.

they have started a kickstarter account to try to generate more funds for their efforts.  i know money is tight these days, and there are SO many things out there to give to, but perhaps you might find yourself in a position to donate a little something to this documentary so we can get this story out.  it's an important story to tell, and one that is near and dear to my heart.

please take a moment to watch this video, which includes the film teaser, and then visit this kickstarter page to learn more.

thank you,

♥ sb

chronic bitchface syndrome

found here

delayed valentine's post

"this is your valentine's text"

that's the text i got from eli this past valentine's day
it made me laugh out loud

 eli is not a fan of valentine's day at all

i know not to expect flowers, or gifts, or dinner reservations

it's not that he isn't romantic - he is incredibly romantic

i think he just prefers to do sweet things on his own time 

not on the day every other dude is out scrambling for flowers or something

i'm cool with it

it makes me like him even more

plus - years back i was involved in a miserable relationship 

he was a bad boyfriend all around - but always sent me red roses on valentine's day
looking back at that particular situation - it was such an empty gesture

my mom, on the other hand, takes care of business on valentine's day

i can always count on her to give us a sweet valentine's card and treats

 and i like the idea of celebrating the one's you love

so, happy love day

every day should be love day

love.

speaking of love... have you seen this supercool project:

Photographer Irina Werning's project "Back to the Future"
recreating scenes of our youth - to the t.

so amazing!
i've been wanting to do something similar - but recreate pictures of my mama
from back in the day - but with me or my sisters as the subject.
like his one right here in particular.
i love everything about this photo
and i want to be just like her in it
the dress. the hair. the shoes. the expression. the way she is sitting.
i wonder what she was saying.
perhaps it was "i'm the cutest mama ever"

bon weekend

oh, sir elton john ♥

winter in new york

In one short week from today, we will be waking up at Chesen + Matt's apartment in Manhattan.  I absolutely cannot wait.  It will be a week filled with friends + family + love + art + good food + new york city things.

It's a tricky thing when your best friend lives so far away, and in such a grande city.  I always make these gigantic lists of things I want to check out, but the truth is, we are perfectly happy in her apartment with good food and drink... catching up the entire time.  

Eli found this place in brooklyn that he wants to check out.  And there are some great exhibits at the Whitney that I want to see and I have never been there so I'm looking forward to that.  We are staying in Chelsea for part of the trip- so I am excited to be surrounded by an abundance of independent galleries.  Maybe we'll head back to WhiteStar for a topnotch cocktail. What are your favorite NYC musts?

We are attending Chesen and Matt's engagement party at PJClark's next Saturday.  They took us there for dinner last time we visited.  It's their favorite spot.  It's also featured in Madmen as the occasional afterwork drink spot.

Last night I dug up some old photos from our last trip out there.  It was in January - and so freezing... two trips in a row in the cold months!  My next trip out there must be in the spring or early summer months.  New York City is magic in the winter time, but I'm ready for a trip in warmer weather...

this is the view from chesen + matt's place in the LES

columbia university

pjclark's

art at l'orangebleu

happy birthday matt

I started this post early this morning.  I typed and typed and typed away - clearly, I just need to unload a lot of thoughts. Just as I was about to post it, I found myself selecting all, and deleted the entire thing... Now, some 10 hours later + a glass of wine or two, I'm back here wanting to try again.

Today's is Matt's birthday.  I miss him.  The whole world misses him.

Zeina recently gave me a card she found while visiting his parents that I wrote to him when I was in the 8th grade.  It's kind of a crazy thing, reading a letter your own little teenage self wrote.

Anyhow, here's the cover of the card I sent to Matt years ago...

I've never been good at talking about knowing matt and losing him.  

I really want to get better at it.

continued birthday magic.

Birthday celebrations continued all weekend - and kept getting better and better.

After breakfast in bed on Saturday- Lacadia invited us over for some midday hot totties, then we did a bit of thrifting. Later we had dinner at Magpie, followed by a birthday party for myself and fellow libra friend Siobhan hosted by Olivia and Rafter.  It was such a fun night.   

Check out this rad cake - totally suitable for cakewrecks.

And I got some pretty amazing goodies...

like this hand drawn radness from trisha

And a bottle of Pimm's (which is perfect because the Pimm's Cup has been my current cocktail obsession)

And those beautiful flowers delivered on the morning of my birthday from my sweet friend Maya!

2 tickets to the B Street Theatre !

Nothing makes me happier than handwriting - 

this book from Olivia - sexy babes smoking cigarettes

super.awesome mix cd from corine, richard, and orson

and... 

this hand drawn number from eli depicting his gift to me - tickets to NYC !

Then dinner with my folks on Sunday, and dinner with Eli's folks last night.

Feeling like the luckiest girl in the world with the most amazing friends, family and boyfriend.

lovelovelove