Vans Shoe Art

I love art! Every now and then I will "Sharpie" a pair of shoes for my friends. My latest pair was requested by Ryan, the photographer of our engagement pictures. Ryan Longnecker runs a company called Equals D Photography. He wanted "photography themed" vans with earthy colors. Here I am coffee staining the background to achieve a vintage photography look.

Here are some other shoes that I have created.

Codes For Longevity

I am so proud to announce that my Great Uncle Phillip Schaeffer along with my Great Aunt Gita Labrentz, Ph.D finished the revised edition of:

Codes for Longevity

Living well beyond 80, 90, and 100 years.

I am simply fascinated with Phillip’s healthy lifestyle and warm personality. He is one of the kindest people I know – always smiling and happy; he gives the best hugs and always has something genuine to say! I've re-read this book many times and I love all the advice he gives about taking care of your body, mind and soul; it’s my go-to-book for tips on living a healthy, natural life. Phillip Schaeffer is a truly remarkable man with wonderful recommendations on how to promote longevity.

And as they say… “Behind every great man, there is a great woman” (love you too Aunt Gita)! You both did a fabulous job on Codes for Longevity.

Here are a few of Phillip's sworn-by health tips that he has implemented into his daily life. Pick up a copy of your own HERE and read about many more lifestyle routines that will help improve the quality and length of your life.

-Take time to practice deep breathing exercises daily.

-Eating foods rich in anti-oxidant will counteract free radical damage.

-Embrace life with joy and enthusiasm. Positivity will help lengthen your life. Let go of stress (meditation, prayer, yoga)

[On a side note… I learned in a few bio-psych classes that your body will produce stress related hormones such as Cortisol and Catecholamine’s when you are worried, angry or frightened. A build up of stress hormones can lead to heart and cell damage in the body. You can literally make yourself sick from constant stress.]

-Get 8 hours of sleep

-Always stay connected to younger generations. Do not surround yourself with negativity or lazy spirits

-Keep up-to-date in everything you do…reading, technology, events, entertainment.

-Get involved in community activities; take up hobbies or college classes. Learning new things and helping others will ward-off depression.

-Laugh more and forgive freely, don’t hold grudges. You can alter your life by altering your attitude

-Use it or lose it! Increase your flexibility and mental activities (exercise, stretch, puzzles, math and music…)

-Multivitamins A 10,000IU, B complex 400mg, B6, C and E, pantothenic, zinc 50mg and selenium 400mg, D (1,000 IU) and multivitamins daily.

-Avoid refined foods and artificial sweeteners

-Eat Garlic = antibiotic cleansing agents

-Smile as much as possible

-Massage lymph nods often (neck, armpit etc.) they filter toxins and are sometimes concentrated and need to be massaged

-Avoid using household cleaners. Use natural products such as vodka or alcohol to clean.

- Drink 2 spoonfuls of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water 3 times daily (to alkalize the body). A body that is too acidic will lead to illness and disease.

-detoxify your liver and practice eye exercises to eliminate glasses.

********************************

"You are responsible for the kind of energy that you put out into the world. Whatever you give, you will get back"-B

Congrats Uncle Phillip and Aunt Gita!

DIY: Flying Lantern

 

1) Pin four sheets of tissue paper to a clothesline and spray with fireproofing product, avoiding the corners where the pins are. Allow the paper to dry.

 

4) Using the craft pattern as a guide, cut the tissue paper, making four slightly curved pieces with one straight edge. Glue the lantern pieces together, leaving the straight edge open, creating the bottom of the lantern. You will want to make sure that your glue has dried before moving onto the next step.

5) Make a bamboo hoop. Split the bamboo into thin strips, carefully moving a knife slowly down the length of the pole. Once you find a pliable piece, sand it until it is smooth. Form a hoop with the bamboo strip and secure the ends with glue. * If you don't have bamboo strips handy, you can use any light weight, bio-degradable hoop you can find.

6) Install a wire "X" onto the frame; secure in place with staples. Cover the cardboard square with foil and secure it to the center of the "X" with tape, staples or glue.

7) Make a foil cup, large enough to hold your fuel (step 9). Tape this to the center of the pad.

8) Attach the tissue paper to the hoop at the open bottom with tape, staples or glue--remember, it works like a hot-air balloon, so the foil cup should face the inside.

9) Making Lantern Burner

Buy some blue industrial paper-towels (the thick kind), and saturate the towel in melted canning-wax.

Warning: Canning (paraffin) wax is very flammable, and should only be melted over low heat in a double boiler. It should never be exposed to open flames or high heat.

10) When your balloon is dry and ready to fly (fix all tears and cracks), place your treated paper towel into the foil cup and light it on fire. You may need a friend to help level the balloon while it fills up with hot air. When the sides are hot and you can feel the lantern pulling away, release it.

 Don't forget to make a wish!

Instructions on how to make a flying lantern were adapted from eHow and Skylighter.



Tights...Do You Wear Them?

Do you wear tights? What do you prefer -- solid, sheer, patterned, colored?

I've been trying to wear them more, but I never feel 100% comfortable in them...I was the kid that came home with holes and snags in my tights at the end of picture day.

I'm gonna try them out this year. We'll see how it goes.

Pictures: Pinterest

My Week With Marilyn

I'm so excited for this one! My Week With Marilyn is scheduled to come out sometime in November. Michelle William's does a wonderful portrayal of Monroe. Take a look at these fun pictures!

And Emma Watson is in it too!

In the early summer of 1956, 23-year-old Colin Clark, just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, the film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe, who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller.

Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing, and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn. This is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life: an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.

Gypsy Den

Shanny, Dan and I had a fun Saturday night. Shannon seriously kicked my booty during our run in the Back Bay (she has volunteered herself to be my bridal boot camp Sergeant). After we got back home we decided to get a creme brulee from the Gypsy Den (smart right...running and creme brulee). While we were there, we noticed a new shop across the way. Shanny and I snagged 2 cute dresses and sipped complimentary mimosas while Danny read a magazine at the lounge near by.

Life is good...
running, creme brulee, mimosas and a new dress.

The dress I got looks very similar to this one by nightcap.

Fun Day!

Travel: Move, Eat, Learn

So I was getting my daily Cup of Jo the other day when I found a post on these inspiring clips from STA Travel. 3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage. Australia’s STA Travel commissioned director Rick Mereki to capture the essence of moving, eating and learning throughout their journey.

After watching these clips, I want to drop everything and get on a plane with Danny!

Actually... I wanted to do that before, but seriously these clips kill me!

You will love them.

P.S. How do I get a job like Rick Mereki's?

MOVE

EAT

LEARN

Happenin Hair Do's

Pictures: Pinterest

It's A Tomboy Tuesday

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails

What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and everything nice

Think again...

Here's to all the fearless females who break the boundaries of stereotypical femininity.

These pictures come from TomboyStyle.

 Photo of a pilot of the U.S. Women’s Air Force Service by Peter Stackpole, 1943

 Carving the Mountains of Madrid

The Longboard Girls Crew is an international group of rad girls that love skating.

Photo of model Kelsie Macray in Queens by Eric Ryan Anderson, an outtake from a shoot for Isabella Fiore's Fall 2011 line

 Photo of the sisters at BuenoBueno by Lonnie Webb 

Super Basic Sunglasses ($134); Woven Feather earrings ($16 for a pair); Honey Pintail 40 longboard skateboard ($195); Vans Authentic Lo Pros ($55); Built By Wendy "Dudes Gone Wild" tee ($45).

Photo of Vassar students playing touch football in October of 1962 in front of Chicago Hall

Chance boatneck ($60); J.Crew striped skivvies (currently out of stock); Tai bracelet with gold bar ($115); Kiehl's vital sun protection lotion ($20); Fujifilm X100 ($1,563)—drooling over this camera thanks to ACL.

Saloon trousers ($98); Dolman V-neck sweater ($250); Gucci driving gloves ($316), or similar BMW driving gloves ($37); Bass Oxfords ($69).

Photo of model Erin Heatherton wearing Cutler and Gross sunglasses from their S/S 2011 line by Enrique Badulescu for Elle Russia, July 2011. Found via C'est Vogue.

 Photo of WASP pilots carrying the flag at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, TX., scanned from Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II.

 

Photo of French sailor Florence Arthaud, winner of the 1990 Route du Rhum (transatlantic single-handed yacht race), by Jean Guichard, 1982.

      

             

Photo of Chapman College students participating in four-month educational cruise to Greece and Italy by Loomis Dean, 1968.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Rounded Retros ($110); Chance boatneck ($60); Keds Champion canvas originals ($35).

Photo of cameleer Robyn Davidson leading her caravan of Bub, Zeleika, Dookie and Diggity the dog by Rick Smolan, 1978, scanned from National Geographic Photographs: The Milestones.

Photo of Beverly Johnson, the first woman to climb the face of Yosemite's 3,000-foot El Capitan, by Sibylle Hetchel, 1978

"Rocks make no compromise one's sex. Rock climbing is not like some sports, where it is made easier for women; or sports like, say, softball, which is only baseball for soft people. On a rock, everything is equal." -Beverly Johnson

 Photo of model Alexia Rasmussen by Baron Wells.

 

 Photo of Goodall by Hugo Van Lawick/National Geographic, 1974.

"I was never, ever told I couldn't do something because I was a girl." —Jane Goodall

 Photos of William and Brenda Holden on vacation in Canada by Allan Grant, 1949.

Photos of Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to swim the Channel

"Women never look so well as when one comes in wet and dirty from hunting." -Robert Smith Surtees

photo of Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, 1967

photo of singer Eartha Kitt playing stick ball in Central Park by Gordon Parks, 1952

"I love games, especially baseball. Ice cream cones convinced these boys I could play with them in the park, and now we meet twice a week."—Eartha Kitt

 Photos by Allan Grant, 1957

"Some people have Alcoholics Anonymous, Starbucks, church...I had Malibu."—Kathy Kohner (the real-life inspiration for Gidget who started surfing at the age of 15, sometimes trading her peanut butter and radish sandwiches for chances to ride)

Photos of Steve McQueen and Neile Adams by LIFE, 1963

"We went on a weekend drive, after a show I was in at the time. We were on a motorcycle, and there was a carload of friends behind us. It was freezing ass cold. We stopped for a bite to eat, and one of the guys said, ‘Steve, why don’t you let Neile ride with us? I can ride with you. It’s too cold.’ And I said, ‘No, I think I’m just gonna stay on the bike.’ Steve told me later, ‘That’s the moment I fell in love with you.' "—Neile Adams