on PRETTY MUCH OBSESSED

I stumbled onto some work by Ashok Sinha the other day and holymy am I obsessed. Go check out some more of her stuff here and tell me if you fall in love with them, too.
For the record, that's LA up top, and NYC underneath. My favorite places, natch.

ON Dollars For Doggies LAST DAY TO ENTER!

UPDATE: I am now officially OVER my $1,000 goal!!! Which only proves to me that you all are insane, and insanely generous. My heart is so full, and you've made my birthday amazing.

If you donated already and haven't entered the giveaway, please do so! You've got through the end of today, May 20th. If you don't know how to use rafflecopter, email me or comment and I'll help!

Donations are able to be accepted through midnight tonight and a winner will be announced tomorrow! THANK YOU!! xo

Last year, for my birthday, I asked friends & family to donate to an animal rescue instead of buying me any presents. The result? $600 and my best birthday yet. This year, I'm sweetening the deal with an amazing GIVEAWAY and by reaching out to the incredibly supportive blog community to see if we can beat last year's total for two amazing dog rescues. Without further ado, I present to you...

With these kindhearted bloggers...

Ten Feet Off Beale / Katilda / Head Over Heels 

Let Me See You Sparkle / Of Corgis & Cocktails / Bubby & Bean

Heather Hearts / Walking In Memphis In High Heels

And these generous businesses...

Ziva Mind / Viesso

All to benefit two incredible rescues:

Second Chance Rescue NYC / Dogs Without Borders

Here's what you'll be entered to WIN:

a dog print from Bubby & Bean // gorgeous teal triangle earrings from Katilda

beautiful lavender earrings from Walkin' In Memphis In High Heels // custom hoop art from Ten Feet Off Beale

$25 Sephora gift card from Heather Hearts // $25 Starbucks gift card from KerryingOn (that's me!)

custom blog header and social media icons designed by Of Corgis & Cocktails

$25 Etsy shop credit from Let Me See You Sparkle

$20 Etsy shop credit from Head Over Heels

the stunning Muuto Flow Jug, generously donated by Viesso

and.. a FULL Scholarship to ZivaMind, generously offered by Ziva Meditation!

To Enter, please make sure you complete your donation here.

The minimum donation requirement is $1 but if you can give more,

the dogs and rescue folks would surely appreciate it :)

The giveaway will run through the end of the day (11:59 pm EST) of May 20th, 2013.

THANK YOU so much to the generous bloggers and companies for their support,

and Thank YOU for donating & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ON Mornings With Lady & Afternoons With Henry

Lady is soft and gentle, like the morning. She rises slowly, the way the sun pours into the world, eases into the day, takes her time coming into focus. She can linger in bed for hours, wants to be held, and snuggle, moves delicately, walks with a dainty attitude, and is so very much a girl.

Henry is a burst of energy, like an inviting afternoon. He is tugging, moving toward something, running, playing, chasing down whatever catches his eye. He finds every possible patch of mud and jumps in it. He wants to explore, have his own space, while checking that I'm nearby, testing limits, and is so very much a boy.

My furry babies still can't be in the same room yet. Well, they can, but it's tough times. But I have faith that it will happen soon. A mother always knows. Until then, it's time with each of them, and loving them for their own unique ways. My morning girl, and my afternoon boy, and my heart bursting with love.

ON Getting To Know You, Getting To Know All About You (OR; Hello!)

Recently, I've noticed a lot of brand new followers that have come my way due to the incredible giveaway (that you totally should enter before Friday) I'm a part of. To you newbies, I say hello! Hola! Holler! Yes, that's right, holler with an e and an r.

Figure it's only right to catch you up to speed since you're new round these parts. So here's some info about me I think you may want to know:

First and foremost, I have the world's cutest dogs. What's that? YOU have the world's cutest dog(s)?! Okay, it's totally a tie and SEND ME PICTURES! J/k about the tie, not j/k about the pictures. Please & thank you.

Henry Elliot Raleigh Alexander is my munchkin man, my little bear, my tiny baby, my HensElliot, my first born. To say I'm obsessed with him is an understatement. Hen came to me through a rescue group and was originally born in a puppy mill. Due to the mill, he is fearful, anxious and distrusting. But his momma is on the case and he's doing a whole lot better now than he was when we became mother and child back in 2010.

Ladybugs is my boo, my bug, my LaLa, my LaLaLopolis, my baby girl. She is my foster dog with Dogs Without Borders and we fell in love in Los Angeles this past January. She came back to NYC with me and we are looking forward to getting back to LA very soon.

Speaking of, I live in three different states. Try that on for size. I divide my time between NYC, LA, and the grand state of NJ. No, you may not mock it. Yes, we all may mock snooki. No, I have never watched Jersey Shore (swear). Yes, I can pack for a long trip in under a half hour. Yes, I love traveling.

I'm an actress by profession. There's a good chance that I've toured through your city or at least several that you've heard of. I do musical theatre, voice over, commercials and am planning to take over ABCFamily shows any day now. The day I'm on Pretty Little Liars is the day I pass out in excitement.

When I'm not acting, singing, writing music, or doing voiceovers.. I'm a social media strategist, blogger for an interior design brand, and I run my own doggy nannying service in NYC. So mostly I am running from one thing to the next, laughing about how ridiculous it is, and enjoying the chaos.

I'm obsessed with design. Interior, graphic, typography, clothing, textiles, you name it and I love it. I want to learn printmaking something wicked.

I'm on a mission to get every single shelter and abandoned dog into a loving and forever home. To this end, I post dogs non-stop on my Facebook feed, work with an extensive amount of rescue groups, educate friends (and strangers) on the importance of spaying, neutering, and adopting dogs as opposed to buying from a breeder or (god forbid) a puppy store. If you ever want to add a dog into your life, email me and I'll help you find your perfect rescue pup.

 

I'm vegan. Except when it comes to pancakes because I cannot resist the cake that pans. I have a problem.

I'm a meditator, practice the Paradox Process, and have seen my entire life change from these two things (and a strong conviction to change). I'm also a trained life coach and odds are, I want to life coach you or talk to you about meditation or the Process.

I have a firm life rule: always buy yourself flowers. Even if other people are! This is symbolic of knowing how to treat yourself kindly, put yourself un-selfishly first, appreciate the little things, and choose to do what makes you happy. Kind of hard to explain but try it.

If I wasn't an actress, I'd be an interior designer and yes, I would like to design your home and organize your closet, please.

I believe in living my very best life. Firmly. Not in an Oprah type of way, but in a Kerry type of way. I feel the only limits we have are the ones we create for ourselves and that we can overcome anything by identifying it and working like hell to change it.

I turn my cell phone off a lot. Like, a lot. At least twice a day but usually more at night. Or it's on silent.

I'm currently having a little love affair with the show Hart of Dixie, but my all time favorite is Gilmore Girls. Both are/were filmed on the same set which just makes it all even more spectacular.

I keep a tiara next to my bed and wear it when I'm cleaning, writing, or just need to remind myself of my own greatness. I highly suggest this along with the flowers.

Happy to have you here, feel free to email me or leave me a comment and I'll write you back :)

ON that time I saw myself in a dog & other life lessons

[EDIT: I wrote this several weeks ago but just found it saved in my drafts folder. It still felt important enough to post, but I like to keep you in the loop, time-wise, here on le blog.]

//

"Last night, I picked a fight with him for literally no reason", I said, recounting the evening before when I had been acting completely ridiculous for no reason, throwing a fit, causing a commotion.

He laughed in the kind of way that told me he's been there before,"What? That poor guy. Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know! I guess, and I literally hate when girls say this, but he's just so nice. It's confusing, like I can't handle someone being so sweet to me. I've felt terrible all day, like a guilt hangover."

"Seriously? I hate when girls do that, too. I've had girls do that to me, saying I'm too nice. What the fuck is that about? You want us to be mean to you? I don't think so. And it's crazy that you know you did it, too, owning up to it."

"Yep. I don't know, hopefully he'll forgive me."
__

When I got back to the apartment, I saw she had done it again, this time tearing down the entire curtain rod. A massive feat for such a little thing, but I know it to be true that it's the little ones who can get the angriest. Most people would yell, push her face in it. But all I can see is a terrified pup, who thinks that every time she's left alone, no one will come back for her. I see a little girl who digs her nails into my legs while she sleeps, or pushes her back up against mine, for fear of me sneaking away while her eyes are shut, leaving her. I see all the time she spent as a stray, and the sheer terror on her face every time I place her into the pen at the adoption events:

"Don't leave me, don't leave me."

It's all I can do not to just pick her up and hold her. I do my best to ignore her as I clean everything up, writing a note to explain it to him, telling him I've already talked to the super, I'll handle it. Too chicken to call.
__

"I'm so proud of you, I don't think I've heard you this happy in... ever. I don't think I've ever heard you this happy." Her voice comes through the line, a mere 3,000 miles in between us.

"That's because I've never been this happy."

The other one, right after her, my sitting-in-traffic phone call go-to's, says similar things but brings him up, too.

"It's so nice to hear you this happy in your life. You deserve someone who says you look beautiful. You deserve someone who gets in touch all the time, someone who listens to you and remembers everything you say. You deserve someone bringing you flowers. These are good things. It's just been so long since it's been like that, you forgot."

"It's not that I forgot, I just never had it. I never let myself."
__

She's running in circles from one side of the bed to the other, her eyes bugging out, howling and whimpering and acting completely ridiculously for no reason. She is throwing a fit, causing a commotion just to be noticed, to be heard.

She's acting out just to be reassured that she's wanted here.

It's too early, and we still want to be asleep, it's annoying. Confusing, too. Everything was totally peaceful, why are you being like this? You tell her to lay down, stop, she's fine. But he doesn't yell. He reaches down with one hand and gently scoops her up on the bed and into his arms. She settles immediately as he soothes her, she just needed to be held for a little bit. Recognizing the fact that she's safe here, that she's wanted here, a smile appears on her face. You look over to him just as a smile spreads across his lips, eyes fixed on the little pup laying on his stomach. You ask him if he sees her smile, and his eyes light up, his smile grows bigger as he confirms it. Sort of like a kid who was convinced Santa couldn't exist except he just heard reindeer on his roof - except, that's impossible, isn't it? There's no way a dog could be smiling.. except that there she is, in his arms, smiling. He changes your life so much that you're happy to have given him this little gift, introducing something new to him for once.

You don't understand your own behavior yet so you can't explain it now. It'll hit you later on as you're driving, a giant revelation, some clarity finally entering in. It's the same reason why all of the four-legged ones take to you so quickly and why you love them so; you recognize this piece of each other, this fear. Oh, you too? Okay, I got your back, don't worry.

It's almost worse, now that you're happy, actually happy, when this last little demon pops up. Before, when you were so sad, it felt normal. Now it's shocking, startling that you can still get this insecure, this fearful, this mean to yourself and the people you care most about. It's nice that you can recognize what happened afterward, but you're excited to get to the day when you see it coming and cut it off before it rears it's ugly head. She's acting out just to be reassured she's wanted here.

He puts his other arm around you and you settle immediately as he soothes you, you just needed to be held a little bit. Recognizing the fact that you're safe here, that you're wanted here, a smile appears on your face.

ON when you really need shorts right that minute

this is important information, as you never know when you'll find yourself in need of shorts right away.

for example, you may find yourself in 80+ degree weather and just not want to wear another dress.

but you haven't any short skirts. and you haven't any shorts. WHAT DO YOU DO?

Step 1: dig through your clothes until you find jeans

Step 2: make sure you're okay with never having those jeans again

Step 3: find scissors and cut off a large portion of the jeans

Step 4: voila, you have shorts

i completed this purple on purple look with a multicolored plaid shirt. it was flannel.

let's all process that: i cut up jeans to make shorts bc it was so hot, then added flannel.

i still got it, folks. i. still. got. it.

here is my favorite thing about this: i wanted shorts, i cut up my jeans. bam. that's it.

i didn't sit there and analyze and hem and haw over if i should or shouldn't.

i just did it. which is exactly how i make all of my best decisions.

watch out clothing items, none of you are safe from getting chopped up now!

ON melrose trading post

Two Sunday's ago, Lady & I made our way to the Melrose Trading Post for some rummaging.
We love to rummage. Well, okay, I do, but she had no choice in it since I was driving. Her day to drive is never on Sunday. Also, she is a puppy. The trading post is a giant flea market full of other people's crap, hand made things, painted furniture, artwork, and so on. Your general parking lot filled with awesome.

We didn't buy anything but we spotted some old school puffy sports team jackets like the one I used to have circa 1995 (mine was the Raiders, which I believe was a football team? still not totally sure) and a giant painting version of a print my mom has in our living room. We found lots of posters and signs and we especially liked the vendor who had everything teal and pink. We're girls, hello. One of us imagined how we would do an entire apartment solely furnished from this market, and the other one imagined all of the things she could potentially chew and pee on. No hints as to which one of us had which thoughts.

Places like these are exactly what weekend adventuring is for. And weekend adventuring is very important. We took a vote and it's been decided :)

Have you ever been? What's your favorite flea market? Tell me please&thankyou!

p.s. there's a really fun game in LA where it's so sunny that you can't see what pictures you're taking or really the objects in them. it's extra fun to play on your iphone and oh man i am so happy to have my camera back in my life.