Tuesday, August 21

How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog


How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog
by Taylor Mali
First of all, it’s a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you’re walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain’t no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?
On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.
Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Somethimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don’t you ever do that again!
Sometimes love just wants to go out for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise. It will run you around the block
and leave you panting, breathless. Pull you in different directions
at once, or wind itself around and around you
until you’re all wound up and you cannot move.
But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.
Taylor Mali

Friday, August 17

More Casual




I bought this dress a few months ago, and wear it frequently.  My problem with it is that I often want it to look more casual, and it's a little on the fancy side with the beautiful detailed pattern.  So to make it look a bit more relaxed, I added this neon yellow belt, and I love the strange color combo!


Dress: Talbots
Belt: Loft
Wedges: Gap
Watch: Michael Kors

Thursday, August 16

Wedding Planning: 9 Days to Go

Life hasn't been well-documented lately, unless you consider all of my wedding-related iphone photos.  Here's what I've been up to...





Guestbook from Etsy vendor Totally Salinda

Friday, August 10

Wedding Planning: 2 Weeks to Go

The past few months have been a total whirlwind for me.  I have been on vacation from work since June 30th, but somehow I've done very little "vacationing."  How do people seriously put together a wedding and work full time?   I can't even manage to photograph an outfit for this blog!

The truth is, I brought this upon myself.  I took on the responsibility of planning this wedding allllmost entirely on my own.  But before I complain too much, I should first give credit where credit is due.  Erik has been the wedding contracts attorney and chief negotiator among vendors...and basically the best assistant to me that I could possibly ask for.  My mother and sister have dealt with far too many phone calls and text messages about ridiculously insignifant details, and they along with my aunt have become the cooks/bakers for this event.  My mom and sister have spent countless hours canning jars of jam, and my sister and aunt will be baking not one wedding cake, but 6 cakes, a few dozen cupcakes, and dozens upon dozens of cookies.  (Someone please tell them that only 120 people are coming!)  Other than those major pieces of the puzzle, I have taken on the role of researching and purchasing items, planning every over-analyzed part of the decor, and organizing all of the details with our vendors.

Am I finished yet?  A lot of people continuously ask me this question.  And the truth is, NO.  No, and I'm not going to be until the day is here.  My to-do list is slowly but surely shrinking, but never fast enough.  Can I even begin to go into any details yet?  No.  Simply put, I can't interrupt the chaos that is going on in my brain right now.

Excited?  Absolutely.  Nervous?  Not at all.


Some family photos we'll be sharing at the reception:
My parents' wedding day, 1976

My grandparents' wedding day, 1930-something

My aunt and me, holding my sister, 1987

My grandparents' anniversary, 1940

Wednesday, August 1

Once a Week, Probably


I've only photographed this this dress once before, but I've worn it many times this summer.  It's a perfect all-season find that I can't wait to carry into the fall and winter.  Basically, I'll probably wear this dress at least once a week for the rest of my life.  Would that be weird?

Dress & Belt: Gap
Necklace: Banana Republic
Sandals: Steve Madden