New Invitation Design | Milan

Here's our third new design for the 2010 season. I love the imagery. It's vintage, it's lace ... it's got little feathers in it. If only I could find this in wallpaper form.

New Invitation Design | Twilight

While on safari in September, I decided I really wanted to create an invitation for next season which reflected the night sky. It took me a little while to figure out how best to do this, but I'm really happy with the results. I think this invitation is a little more whimsical than most of our collection, and I can't wait to see the final version printed with litle silver and gold stars.

New Invitation Design | Los Angeles

I'll be rolling out the new designs for 2010 over the next few weeks. The first was added to the website today. We named her Los Angeles since she's covered with bling. Actually the imagery is all vintage jewelry pieces. I kind of want to wear this...

I'm Inside My Email

So, slightly random but my face turned up in my email today. When I was a lot younger, I was a model (a.k.a. I was going through that whole... "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up even though I just left college" phase.) I still have my mother agency in Boston, and recently booked a job for Rue La La. Was I the last person to hear about them? I'm pretty sure...

When I showed up there were racks of designer clothing and accessories scattered all over the studio, and I started drooling over the Valentino gowns. It's a giant sample sale! If you've never been to their website, it's "invitation only" but what that really means is that you get an email from a friend, click on the link and join. It's free, and your friend gets $10 credit if you buy something, thus encouraging everyone to spread the word. I tell you, I'm not in this for the $10. I was just really impressed by the bling and the beauty of some of the items they carry and thought you all might find something perfect for your wedding. The catch is that much like a sample sale, there are limited quantities on these items and limited time to buy. A "boutique" is only open for a few days, so you have to snatch things up quick.

How about this Erickson Beamon diamond ring? Was $25,000 marked down to $7,000.

or this Vera Wang bracelet? Retails for $1550, marked down to $400.

The sales aren't limited to clothing and accessories. They also sell discount vacation and spa packages. How about manicures and pedicures for 3 people at Spa Chakra in NYC? Usually $360, on sale for $239...

They have new designer shops opening every weekday online. Feel free to use my email to join up, or ask your friends if they have an account so that you can share the wealth.

Lace and Beads and Sparkle, Oh My...

You know how I love anything vintage inspired that sparkles, so how could I not fall in love with our newest jewelry designer? All of these new pieces are hand made in Israel and have just been added to the website...

Kaja + Dan | Washington, D.C.

Where to being with this wedding... Kaja first contacted us last June about doing invitations for her wedding which would be held at The Swedish Embassy, Washington D.C. in September. She was really open to ideas, but had a great sense of style. After seeing the photos from the event, it all makes sense! How incredible are these?

photography: Stephen Bobb of Love Life Images
wedding coordinator: Leslie Weekes of Leslie-Manning Events

Just call me "Muto"

Posting has been pretty light lately. Sorry about that (again.) It's been another round of medical madness these last few weeks. So, what's the story? I had my last scans prior to leaving for Africa and basically nothing had changed. Same results... a couple of things were smaller, a couple slightly larger, most were unchanged. To be honest, I was pretty disappointed. I really felt like the IL-2 had been working and then just slowed to a crawl. I had been under the impression that with IL-2 it was an all or nothing deal, and when I saw a few tumors go away, I'd always figured the rest would follow... right?

Three days into our vacation I found a new lump in my breast. A week after that, I found a new one on my left hip. A week after that, something tiny in my right breast. The writing was on the wall. We came back from the trip and I had scans a few days later. Luckily everything new seems to be in soft tissue (aka not in my organs,) but because anything new is developing it's time for a new plan.

There is a new drug that is currently in Phase 1 of clinical trials called Plexxikon. About half of all melanoma patients have a certain mutation in their cancer cells. This drug is supposed to stop your body from producing that cell. So far they've seen a response in about 70% of patients. That is a huge number! So... we had my tissue tested, and I'm a match for the mutation. I'll be heading back into the hospital Wednesday for more scans, blood work .... running the whole obstacle course, but in the end I'll be starting a trial where ... wait for it .... I TAKE A PILL! That's right, no shots in different states, no inpatient week long visits .... pills twice a day which I can take at home. Can you image being able to manage cancer with a pill? As long as I don't show disease progression, they'll keep me on it. It's not a cure, but it has the potential to keep things in check until a cure is found. I just have to make it to that finish line.

Along with the new drug plan, I've also taken on a new diet. No, it's not for weight loss. While in Africa I met with a traditional healer and she really emphasized nutrition in terms of getting myself cancer-free again. It's something that I can do for myself and feel like I have a bit of control over this situation. So, Dade and I have gone granola. I've given up as many processed foods as I can. I've not had a coke in weeks (the horror.) I'm juicing. Carrots have become my new cookie, and beets are my new potato chips. We're buying from local farms. I thought it would be harder than it is. To be honest, other than having a coke a day I've never been a huge junk food eater, but I've never gone organic either. It's a little bit of a mission thinking about everything I eat rather than just eating without thinking, but I'm starting to get it... Hopefully, combined with my normal work out routine this new diet supports my immune system to be able to fight harder, and encourages cancer cells to die.

So... that's my body in a nut shell. I have photos from 4 weddings I'm in love with sitting on my desktop ready to post, as well as fun new items, info on our upcoming sale and on and on... I'm on a mission. I'm going to get these posts up! Thanks for hanging in there with me.