rite of spring

in the spirit of my favorite season, i have been hitting the elliptical like it's my job!!! at this point, i would be entirely too embarrassed to expose myself in my shower, much less on a public beach. but nevertheless, i have already been bikini shopping in the hopes that, come june, i will be premiering my new hott bod!... perhaps i'm jumping the gun a little, but i like to think of it as good (th)inspiration. nothing gets me in the mood to workout like a skinny girl in a bikini! i've found some seriously adorable swimsuits (Target has great ones on the cheap & as always Roberto Cavalli has developed some seriously gorgeous floral prints)! here are 2 great ones that i found on net-a-porter:

bandeau bikini by Milly

La Perla's peacock feather bikini

searching through websites for the perfect bikini has gotten me SO EXCITED about summer!!! no school, beach vacations & sunshineeeee... my faves. since i'm not really in a writing mood, here are a few snapshots from last summer's adventures:

hello, South Beach! you're lookin' fine...

just out with my bests

i went to the wheelchair basketball games at the Lakeshore Foundation! SO fun!

jenn & i at christy's pool party

well warm weather wishes, bloggerverse! i'm going to the gym.

love.sb

.b e l u g a . h e i g h t s.

i've always been fascinated by people who enjoy camping. as a southern suburbanite, i have to say i don't see the appeal of dwelling inside of what is basically just a tarp for days on end- no bathroom, no kitchen, & (my least favorite part) no where to plug in my HAIR STRAIGHTENER!!! die...

but mostly, the idea of camping freaks me out because i am deathly afraid of the woods. & apparently i'm not the only one! the forest has been a subject wrought with mystery for all of recorded history. it is land dense with vegetation, naturally designed with plenty of places to hide. you will be hard-pressed to find two people who agree on the symbolic implications of the woods, but there is definitely an aura of spirituality attached (another thing i've never been very comfortable with). in Alabama, where i'm from, the woods are commonly referred to as "God's Country;" however, while Thoreau went into the woods to find himself, Nathaniel Hawthorne sent his Young Goodman Brown into the woods to lose his soul. perhaps the mystery within the forest lies in the fact that it is ungovernable territory. there can be no law in nature; riotous chaos flourishes amongst the trees that shadow our earth.

when i was about 8 years old, i decided to go exploring in the woods beside my family's house. & well, it wasn't REALLY what you would call a "forest," just a section of trees separating my neighborhood from the adjacent apartment complex, but it was as close to the great outdoors as you could get in Vestavia Hills. anyway, i set out on my journey at around 3 in the afternoon & must have just lost track of time, because before i knew it the sun was setting! i had probably ventured a little over a mile into the trees & i was completely lost- everything looked the same, no landmarks, no people. as a child, i was fearless & being stuck in the woods for a few hours didn't scare me at all; however, after a long while of walking around, i heard people calling my name. apparently my parents freaked out when i didn't come home after an hour or so & sent a search party (made up of our neighbors & my father's assistant) to find me. when i got home, i was harshly reprimanded for scaring the crap out of everyone & warned to never step foot into the woods again. they didn't have to tell me twice! after being in the woods for what seemed like an eternity, i was more than willing to forego any further relations with Mother Nature.

i didn't have a spiritual experience through my encounter in the woods that day, more an unbridled curiosity about the power that lies within the growth, the place that lends me breath & shade & room to run. i feel connected to the woods, as i'm sure is a distinctly human condition. & although i probably will not be seen rustlin' up some grub at the camp site, or whatever it is you do when you're out there, i feel quite sure of the fact that my respect for that space will not diminish...

& who knows! i did buy myself a hammock the other day! anything's possible.

love.sb

m u s e d

i was recently studying the designer label Marchesa for a project about NY Fashion Week. it fascinated me that this entire line was inspired by a turn of the century European fashion icon. apparently Marchesa Luisa Casati was the most eccentric, luxurious woman of her time. she wore snakes as jewelry & paraded around town late at night, nude under her furs, with a jaguar on a diamond leash. i'm amazed that this woman is not more renown, because not only did she coin the "smoky eye" (my favorite make-up palette), but she was also the muse to famous writers such as Tennessee Williams, Jack Kerouac, & Ezra Pound. film stars, artists, & wealthy businessmen became enamored with Ms. Casati, who also happened to be the wealthiest heiress in italy.

the point of this entry, i guess, is to spread the word: Marchesa Luisa Casati was the early 19th century's answer to Lady Gaga & she has shaped our culture far beyond what we know...

Marchesa Luisa Casati in one of her elaborate outfits

a close-up of Casati's eye makeup... taken c. 1930

dress from Marchesa's fall 2010 collection as presented at New York's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

just something to muse on...

love.sb

wedding hells

unlike most devastatingly beautiful, young southern women of my age, i have no intention of getting hitched anytime soon. i mean, i'm only 22 & practically a child! but regardless it seems as though everyday, with the pressure of college graduation looming overhead, at least one of my friends sells their soul in order to wed their beau... i know that it's none of my business. & these things CAN work out. but all i can think is that by the time i'm 30+ & actually beginning to consider marriage, everyone else my age will already be divorced! According to a Barna Group study, the southeast has the largest percentage of divorced couples in the nation, with 27% of marriages coming to an abrupt halt in 2009. & Alabama made the top 5 list of most divorces per state!
on the otherhand, i can totally see the appeal in PLANNING a wedding... you can keep your husband, but i'd take an obscenely overdone party any day! obviously the biggest deal is the dress, but i want to focus on the reception for today.

my top 5 MUST HAVES for a wedding reception:

The "Sara Cake" from Carrie's Cakes out of Sandy, Utah! Isn't it just precious?! & it's named after yours truly. But she really does some beautiful cakes, yall!

purple dendrobium orchids really are the most beautiful flower...

these are really cute unisex wedding favors. "a slice of love" pizza cutters from www.myweddingfavors.com

the Historic Rucker Place is, in my opinion, the best place to have a reception in Birmingham, AL. it's a lot bigger than it looks in this picture

& finally, call me cliche, but a wedding is simply not a wedding until the Rolls Royce has pulled up to whisk you away... *sigh*

but enough about all of that. i've got plenty of time to plan the wedding of my dreams. the sun is beginning to peak through my alabama sky... & i think i'll go enjoy it!

love.sb

novice posting

I have to admit that I've never been a huge fan of the tv show "Project Runway"... that is, until Alabama graduate, Anthony Williams, made the cut this season. Anthony came to speak to my fashion retail class about his experiences on "Runway" & he is just as adorable & energetic as he appears on camera. Above are some of his creations that rocked the runway during NY Fashion Week. It makes me so proud to see people from Alabama succeed in such a public arena- it gives the state the great publicity that it deserves. There is no doubt in my mind that Anthony is going to be a big deal!

On a completely different note, I have found myself perplexed & slightly startled by the vividness of my dreams lately. At least twice a week for the past month, I have had a dream that my teeth fell out/shrunk/started crumbling into bits/what have you. They are so intense & my fear is so real that I have woken up crying on several occasions! So I did some research (aka I googled it) & found that not only is this dream common, it is the MOST searched dream on the internet. This site, www.dreammoods.com, was able to give me all sorts of information about dream interpretations. Even if you don't believe that there's any merit to it, it's still really fun! Here is what the site told me about my dream:

Teeth are used to bite, tear, chew and gnaw. In this regard, teeth represent power. And the loss of teeth in your dream may be from a sense of powerlessness. Are you lacking power in some current situation? Perhaps you are having difficulties expressing yourself or getting your point across. You feel frustrated when your voice is not being heard. You may be experiencing feelings of inferiority and a lack of self-confidence in some situation or relationship in your life. This dream is an indication that you need to be more assertive and believe in the value of your own opinion.

The top five most common dream themes (teeth dreams excluded) include naked dreams, chase dreams, flying dreams, falling dreams, & test dreams.

Pretty interesting stuff... you should check it out.

love.sb