...And It's Friday

Perfect way to end the week.

Charmed, I'm Sure

I go through fashion phases and one involves wearing a plain black T-shirt or tank with a cardigan or jacket—complimented by a bold necklace. Perfect for this: some fun charms given to me by my mom, which I wear on roped chains or leather cords. Here's a typewriter charm from mom I recently found at the bottom of my jewelry box. A friend told me that her son saw a typewriter in a shop window and asked about what it was. Before computers, kiddo. I'm sure he's asked her about record players, too. To add to my collection, I'm searching on eBay for an old record player charm and found some adorable boom box ones. I see a boom box and I think of sitting on the front stoop at my friend Lisa's house, blasting "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett until Lisa's mother shouted from inside the house that we needed to turn down the volume. Oh, the good old days. I'm bidding on boom box and jukebox charms now...

"I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts:

Wilco Rocks: A Good Release

There are numerous public service announcements and other initiatives to remind Americans of our right to vote. But I particularly like Wilco's effort: Simply promise to vote on their website and they'll let you download a free MP3 of their cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." I'd promise much more for Wilco tunes; this was a no-brainer and totally worth the effort.

Wedding Tables

Tables from recent weddings of friends.

Morning Walk

Morning walk to get coffee.

The Brides Wore Green (Makeup)

Here is my beautiful friend Rebecca on her wedding day, applying her makeup. And that's her looking picture-perfect with our friend Kristine, a photographer who shot the wedding in sunny Mexico this summer. My friend Dara was married the following month and both she and Rebecca came to me for advice as they looked for greener alternatives to the not-so-good-for you (or the environment) makeup found in most drugstore and department stores.

In the last few years, I went green with my own beauty routine. I gave up products that contain artificial colors, fragrances and preservatives—and petroleum byproducts. For me, this meant emptying my makeup bag and starting from scratch, along the way spending a lot of time on the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and Skin Deep websites to look up specific products (check it out, but be warned that it's frightening to find out about all the chemical toxins in most products). To replace the products I had used, I sought out mineral and other more natural makeup options that are free of the toxins—and I was surprised to find so many choices.

At the time I was working for a green lifestyle website and I wrote about my quest to find healthier and more eco-friendly beauty products. I also shared news of my discoveries with anyone who would listen, which brings me back to the lovely brides looking for advice. I directed both to try the eco-friendly selection at Vert, a shop in Venice that bills itself as an "eco-chic beauty boutique." They chose a combination of mineral makeup from Jane Iredale, who's been providing truly natural makeup for years and Josie Maran, the model who recently launched her own line. I accompanied Rebecca to Vert to survey the selection and make her choices and we went with Kristine (she shot the photo of Rebecca applying her makeup). Rebecca's the kind of girl who can go out without a spot of makeup and look gorgeous but she wanted some basic coverage for her big day, especially for the photos. She chose wisely. While there, I also picked up the Josie Maran gloss Rebecca found, named "Happiness." Perfect for happily ever after, right?

Organic Spam

Even spam senders are jumping on the green bandwagon. A fully organic enlargement? Talk about green-washing.