[purrr]MEOW

baby obsession with my new shoes. [thank you graduation gift cards] i knew i went to college for something

[steve madden]

[trouvé]

FALL in [<3 in] california 

missROSE

My newest craft venture came from an idea I got during a shopping excursion through a place I frequent to A) torture myself  B) scavenge the sale room  C) seek inspiration/ideas. AKA- Anthropologie. I took the idea and ran with it! I am now making headbands out of fabric strips I took from my aunts sewing box (thanks auntie!). Mostly fabric scraps from Halloween costumes she has made for me and my cousins over the years.... but there are a few other projects mixed in...curtains, pillows, dresses... etc. RECYCLE! 

the anthro original:

 my take on the recycled rose:

for a rose of your own

haileefleming@gmail.com 

<3

the space in-BETWEEN

I cannot come to grips with the fact that summer is officially over! Where did the time go!? The fact that we had one of the strangest summers in (my) history as a so-californian probably played a large factor in the oh-so fast version of my favorite time of year. Luckily I was able to send off summer and kick off fall in a near perfect fashion. 

My last night of summer was spent with my fabulous father at the Green Day show. They played at Verizon Amphitheater (formerly known as Irvine Meadows) on a glorious summer night. The weather and company could not have been more perfect. I would have to say that this show made my top 3 list of live performances hands down-- and I've been to many many many shows. AFI opened and re-inspired my fascination with studs and sequins. And Green Day played (for a solid three hours) and re-inspired my Billy Joe Armstrong love affair. He had the crowd on their feet from the first to last note played. I danced, laughed, sang, jumped, clapped and shook my punk rock head all over the place. Frreaking fan-tastic! When the show was coming to a close I looked at my dad and told him I didn't think that an encore was even possible. Honestly that's how good their set was. But Green Day continued to far exceed my expecations and came on to play my absolute favorite song "Jesus of Suburbia"-- and finally closed the show with an acoustic set of "Time of Your Life" and "Wake me UP when September Ends". This may become a new tradition for me and pops... along with hockey games that is! 

:: WE ARE THE WAITING::

"you are the only one holding yourself back"-bja

muses/unicorns/gypsy princesses

The past month I have been creatively, mentally and emotionally put to the test. I could use this as an excuse of why I haven't been writing on here. Or the fact that my days are spent cooped up inside writing pop-culture entertainment blogs-- which I'm convinced nobody reads besides my mom.  Or maybe it's because I completely avoid the computer in my free time and instead spend it playing in the summer sun. You decide- but I'm pretty sure it might be a C) all of the above.  


My hours a day spent at the computer writing about the thrilling happenings of popular music and celeb culture has left me filled with such useless knowledge! That is unless you're intellectually stimulated by my ability to spew off copious amounts of celeb trivia or you happen to jump into a SF cab who's driver is blasting old Elvis songs and can talk to him about the festivities happening that weekend at Graceland celebrating "Elvis week."(Yes this is a real holiday and Yes this actually happened and Yes LOVED our conversation) 

But overall August has been a fabulous month... filled with muses, unicorns and gypsy princesses! Some of my August muses: 

Arts- (mixed media artist) Jennifer Gordon. 

I LOVE these prints! I have always been drawn to the women of this era-- the spirit of the flapper is within me. 

Music- Alela Diane- The Pirates Gospel 

Ive found myself drawn to the alluring sounds of folk artists this month. Alela Diane has a haunting voice and her "Pirate's Gospel"is amazing... cant get enough. 

Fashion- J. Crew Fall Line

I cant wait for FALL... fashion that is! I'm currently working on getting over my obsession with the J-Crew lookbook- can you say out of my price-range! Layer me up! I love love it all... Too bad its 103 degrees in Orange County right now!

Love- WEISEL

                                                         

My heart... so happy to have this light in my life. It's amazing to have someone know your heart so well that they can challenge your spirit. 

"Life is tough, but you're tougher"

<3

h-ealth, h-appiness and h-erbs

The sun has finally decided to come out of hiding this summer!! And for us spoiled socal folk... its absence was becoming a pretty big issue. We only have (approximately) two seasons in socal... spring and summer! A cold rainy July is NOT what I expected when I returned from Europe. Relaxing beach days were one of the only pluses about my departure. A few of my summer goals were to maintain a healthy non-meat eating diet, to master my father's grill and become an expert fish/veggie BBQ'er. I felt that having an abundance of fresh herbs and veggies would be a necessity to achieve such a goal. And despite the fact that I visit Trader Joe's about 4 times a week- a local favorite for fresh fruit, veggies, wine, cheese, ice-cream... I decided that I wanted to grow a herb garden. I'm hoping to cultivate a sense of patience that I sadly lack, in addition to caring for and growing my own produce! I planted Rosemary, Jalapenos, Sweet Basil, English Lavender, Eggplant, Cilantro, Spearmint and Tamatoes. 

I feel like patience is something that I desperately need at this exact moment in my life. We can't always know what comes next, or how life's situations will work themselves out. Deep breathes, a little TLC and water to watch them grow! Most of my plants call for direct sunlight- so thanks sun for your perfect timing. I bought all pre-planted pots, because let's be honest... patience takes time... and I'm impatient! I did buy one seed packet of brussel sprouts, which are my favorite vegetable hands down. So sticking with my garden's intention- I decided to plant seeds for my favorite green veggie... reminding myself that the best things in life are worth the wait!! 

a rocky start

miracle grow soil 

anxious to grow

a dash of color in my glorious green garden 

<3

all the SMALL things

Sometimes it’s the smallest thing that puts the biggest smile on your face—or at least my face.  This week the small fact that I used my degree in the real world for the first time has made me feel pretty happy. I am working for free, but none the less- I now have stories circulating in the real world. That is a big small thing this week that I feel happy/proud/relieved about—and definitely worth a smile!

While I was traveling this past month in NY, London and Portugal I made a conscious effort to take in all the small things. I tried to soak up and experience every aspect of the cities; sounds, smells, accents, language, mannerisms, textures… foliage, colors… etc. I carried a small notebook and wrote down as much as I could.                                       

One small thing that I loved about London were the sounds of the tube… MIND THE GAP! I would usually plug my ears with sounds from my ipod, but I refused to listen to music while I walked around the city. To my surprise... music found me! The UNDERGROUND musical performers were surprisingly really good. I was treated to a variety of musical mediums from guitar, opera, whistling, island steel drums, saxophone... (My dear friend later filled me in on the fact that the performers must audition before they are allowed to play for the mass rushes of commuters.) How funny… I wonder where auditions take place? Hmmm maybe ill investigate so I can make a few suggestions to the fine people of the MUNI system in San Francisco. My favorite tube ride also included music. We were treated to a private performance on one of our rides after (luckily) stumbling upon a train filled with a men's music group. They came prepared with bongos, guitar and a tambourine... singing their version of "The Love Boat"... (sigh) what a fabulous moment in time. Here is a look at a few of my favorite small things from my trip.  LONDON

how green the plants/trees are

night lighting in the rain

the colored doors on my walk to the tube

views from the red buses

holding hands

<3

newYork minute

Despite the fact that I recently relocated to my parents house and am writing this from my childhood bedroom-- and the fact that I do still plan to use my SFSU, CSULB... OCC... (take your pick) Student ID card to enjoy student discounts; I am currently in the stage of life where I am sadly coming to the realization that I will no longer be able to check the "student" box on forms from here on out. The real world is knocking at my door. And don't let the "aloha"sticker that has hung on my door since sixth grade fool you... Im not ready for it to come in! The term "In a New York Minute" has really hit home (no pun intended) in the past few months. Not that this term couldn't be applied to most peoples lives... because as cliche as it really is... time goes by so fast! 

This is the first post of many. A recap of my explorations... and a look into what Im doing to fill the time. Summer is a wonderful time in OC and I hope to fill the summer with more than work work work. 

      I just returned from an amazing month long trip that began in the wonderful city of New York and ended (in tears) in London. A first visit to all cities I encountered... and hopefully not the last!! The sights were breathtaking and the people unforgettable. Some of the highlights of New York were... everything! But it was probably a good thing that I was only in town for six days because the pastries were unreal... I could have easily weighed 180 lbs in a month at the rate I was consuming them.                                                                                       
      During my trip I began reading/finished the book "Eat Pray Love"... I know I finally jumped on the bandwagon... but this book was given to me by my very best friend for my 22 birthday aka during a not-so-wonderful time in my life. I am now so grateful that I waited a year and a half to finally read it, because there is a great possibility I would have moved to Italy and never finished school or hopped on plane to India to meditate for a year. In a way the book ironically mirrored small and large parts of my life over the past two years... though my title would probably be something like "Drink Drink Sleep" or "Drink Dance Sleep" and with my last trip maybe "Eat Eat Love" or "Eat Drink Love". But moral of the story is that life has a funny way of working itself out- Love can be found after times of sadness and where even the thought of it seems impossible. Not just for a man/woman, but LOVE for yourself, your family, friends and the blessed life you lead. Amazing book! If you're one of the few left who haven't read the book... do yourself a favor (before the Julia Roberts movie comes out) and read it. 
      The first week in London I was again faced with the cold reality of how quickly time passes. I had to slap myself because I found that I was already depressed about leaving on the second day of my trip.  I tend to do silly things like this. It was my first trip abroad and my eyes were wide open... I honestly couldn't get enough. I found myself fighting the time- begging for the power to freeze time... or at least slow it down. For more reasons than scenery, but that is another story for another time. 

-cultivate gratitude-

-enjoy YOUR life- 

 -be present-

<3