ON Birthday Celebrating (& a Giveaway winner!)

This birthday was delicious. I wore my favorite new dress and my tiara, because birthdays are for tiara wearing. I celebrated all day with people I love, and met up with my twin for some twin-birthdaying at night. We went to Peacefood and Anfora to celebrate, and I recommend both if you're ever celebrating in the city. And after years (years!) of not seeing each other on my birthday, I got to end the day with my most favorite fella. He may or may not have made me a mix cd, and that, as we all know, is true love.

Over the weekend, I spent time with my family, and furry babies. Note the photo of Henry & I sharing a moment, and then please note Layla's reaction to that ;) We hang a Birthday windmill in my family's kitchen - no idea why, but we always have. My sister demanded one when she moved out, and she just hung it for her cat's first birthday yesterday. Yes, her cat. You may also note that a case of water is included in the gift pile, for that is the best gift ever for the rising temperatures of new york city. Additional gifts included beans and allergy medicine, and I could not make that up if I tried. After eight years of getting silverware as a birthday present, beans and allergy meds are like solid gold.

A giant THANK YOU to everyone who donated to Dollars For Doggies!

We raised $1087!!!

And the winner of the giveaway is.. Annie W! Congratulations girl!

You all truly made my birthday the best one yet, and I can't thank you enough.

Dogs Without Borders & Second Chance Rescue NYC will be getting the donations asap :)

xoxo

ON Birthdays & Happiness

The past several birthdays have been kind of strange.

Four years ago, I celebrated my birthday in Dallas, sharing it with two other people after having it all to myself for my whole life.

Three years ago, was celebrated with a tea party in Denver, and cards for St. Judes kids.

Two years ago, my twin and I reunited for a party in New York City on a rooftop bar with the strangest mix of industry, friends, and strangers from a second party that had been accidentally planned for the same time.

Last year, I celebrated by doing my first birthday fundraiser, and meeting the disabled dog that inspired my collection, and missing my birthday dinner due to illness.

This year, I just feel content. I don't know how else to explain it. When twin and I started talking about what we wanted to do, I didn't have any feelings one way or the other. A party would be fun, staying home would be fun, too. Strangely enough, I think this is one of my favorite birthdays yet despite being super low key. I've had a birthday breakfast with my momma and my aunt, my best friend & I hit the outlets to shop, my sister took me to meet Lauren Graham, had Birthday dinner with my dad, my puppies decided to gift me with their decision to get along (!!), I have plans with several of my most favorite people throughout today, and you beautiful strangers (and friends and family!) gave me the best gift by generously donating to my fundraiser for the dog rescues. I feel so happy and blessed.

This style of celebrating comes with a lesson I plan to take with me into my new year of life: when I just roll with whatever, I tend to be really joyful and much more appreciate of whatever comes to be. When I try to control and plan (whether that be a party, or my entire life), I tend to be disappointed, frustrated, and anxious. Sure, schedules have to be made and planning in advance needs to happen sometime, but mostly, for me anyway, going with the flow gets me to where I want to be much faster, with a smile on my face. Perhaps that's the best gift of all this year. Being quiet and still enough to hear a great lesson to inspire my upcoming year. Here's to birthdays and happiness :)

p.s. yes, I am wearing my tiara today. Can't suggest it enough.

Tell me your favorite birthday memory or way to celebrate by leaving a comment below!!

ON my film debut in China (sort of) & major link love

Oh, internet. WHY do I post these things? Why? But I must. I cannot keep this from you.

Click :55 seconds into the video and you may perhaps see a familiar face..

FOR THE RECORD.. the reason that I only appear once in this is because I killed it on every other name. Just owned those names! Those Rosetta Stone lessons are no joke and apparently must actually work because I can look at strange words and pronounce them correctly (I can also say 'cat' in multiple languages. Don't be jealous.)

These are the types of things that happen on a day to day basis in my world. One minute you're leaving an audition and realize your phone is dead so you hightail it to the Apple store across town and on your way, some random people ask you to say the names of Fashion brands on camera for a video in China. And if you're me, you're all "OKAY SURE! And yes I will certainly sign that release form!" Might as well live, you know?

In unrelated news, here are some other internet gems I'm (honestly) loving this week:

Katilda wrote about being a single 26 year old Mormon and her words are really universal.

Melissa wrote about why it's so important to surround yourself with people who are in Love.

Bri reminded us why it's sometimes best to avoid the internet when brainstorming/creating.

And I wrote two pieces here: one about Chez Sucre Chez & one on Home Theatre Inspiration.

Lastly, for the love of potatoes, please make sure to enter the amazing giveaway that I have going until Monday. I'm only $99 shy of my goal for these two amazing dog rescues! Every dollar counts and you could win a boatload of awesome prizes for your generosity. Happy Weekend! xo

ON Dollars For Doggies (A Birthday Fundraiser & GIVEAWAY!)

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 sister dearest

happy birthday to my sissy!

she thinks getting older is a bummer, but i think it's a privilege.

she also thinks i'm pretty crazy, but seems to love me anyway.

and i'm slowly turning her into me (don't tell her, okay?)

by teaching her about bad food things to avoid

& turning her into a rescue pet mama (hi marlon brando!)

she hasn't noticed yet, but this may tip her off.. hm.

i'll have to re-think my plan, i suppose.

happy birthday, sister dear.

you're pretty weird, too, but i love you anyway.

ON happy birthday baby

i know i just did a whole post on le bear yesterday.. but today is his 4th birthday!

my little man! four years old. oh my, i could not love this guy more. 

it's totally breaking my heart into a million pieces that i'm not with him today

but.. hopefully, very soon, he will be with me at all times. (yes, i would like to be that person.)

plus, he gets to celebrate with his gram and she sure does spoil him rotten.

he's doing this adorable thing as of late where he wakes me up with this slow attack move.

sort of creeps toward me, slowly, presses his nose onto my face to see if i'm up, then a light paw tap..

and then bam! he sits on me or jumps around or uses his paws to wake me. it's the sweetest.

i always think back to how hen was when we first rescued each other.

and then i think about this little furball of love and cuddles now.

and i am astounded by what Love can do. it's strength and it's ability to heal us.

happy birthday, bear. mommy loves you so.

p.s. for those keeping track, that's two days in a row of third-person-talking to hen on the blog :)

p.p.s. you know what's coming next, right? adopt your pets! save a life, change yours.

FULLlife: Birthday Baby

A lovely birthday weekend!

My birthday was May 20th and I've been celebrating for the past few days...

with family & my baby pup:

with beautiful flowers:

with delicious vegan food (even the non-vegans loved it!):

by visiting BARC shelter & raising $620 for them:

with my best friends (& kale juice, naturally):

with mani/pedi's with my mom & wine:

I love my birthday!

my favorite part of the celebrating was definitely visiting BARC

& being surrounded by people that I love!

looking forward to a few more celebrations this week :)

what do you do for your birthday?

GrateFULL: visiting BARC!

For my birthday this year, I asked friends and family to not buy me any gifts and instead, to donate to the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition - better known as BARC!

Yesterday, I visited BARC for the very first time! I got to walk this beautiful girl, Colleen!

Colleen, who is available for adoption, was so good on our walk!

She is a total sweetheart and has so much Love to give to her future lucky family.

She also put up with our mini-photo shoot & dealt with me leaning down to talk to her nonstop :)

While I was there, I also got to visit with the other dogs including Yankee, who is the main reason I fell in love with BARC. Pre-shelter, Yankee had both sets of paws tied up so long that he can't use the front ones. He has a rad wheelchair and can pick his head up pretty well. While I don't have any pictures (I was way too absorbed in loving him) I can tell you that little guy is the coolest. 

He let me pet him, wagged his tail and looked up every time I moved away from him, making little noises that I took to mean 'come back, come back!'. Pups like this (& every animal) deserve the best care in the world and I'm so proud to have raised some money for them this year. 

To those who've donated: thank you, thank you, thank you.

You have made this birthday the best one I've ever had.

My birthday is on Sunday, May 20th and I'm currently at 93% to my goal.

If you want to donate to my birthday wish, you can join in here.

You can learn more about BARC or donate directly to them here.

If you're a New Yorker, you can volunteer to walk a dog almost any day of the week!

(check the website for exact days and times)

Please, please, please: when it comes to pets, ADOPT and don't shop.

There are thousands of shelter animals waiting for their forever home.

Get educated, get informed & get active to help animals in need in your community.

It would be the best birthday gift in the world.

Big love & thanks to Rop, who runs BARC, for his gigantic heart,

for the tour of the facility and for answering my endless questions.

Many thanks also to Kaitlin for coming with me.