yesterday was rad.  we went to cherokee street's cinco de mayo celebration.

seeing such a diverse group in one place in st. louis happily interacting gave me hope for our city.  st. louis is racially divided, no question.  if you haven't seen or experienced it, you just haven't spent enough time here.  tension is often palpable, and that's sadly unfortunate.  not yesterday.

yesterday attracted a good cross section of st. louis city society and it was awesome.

the people's joy parade was the coolest, nuttiest parade i have ever witnessed.

cherokee is one of my favorite streets in the entire city.  

i spent a year freelancing for the post-dispatch, but since then, i've not often gone out to shoot for myself in a documentary setting.  it felt super duper.  hehe.

click the floating arrow at the bottom to play the slideshow.

who's this guy?  he looks familiar.

adam and i are working on it.  we are always looking to the next whatever in our lives.  i have been that way for as long as i can remember.  when i was in high school, it was i can't wait until i'm in college because...
in college, i can't wait until i transfer schools because...
i can't wait until i move to colorado...
i can't wait until the peace corps...

you get the picture.  it is a psychological reaction that i have to work hard to ignore.  we have a pretty great life right now and there's no reason for us to always look to greener pastures.  ambitions and goals, absolutely.  but the idea of only being happy if _____________ happens is a waste of a thought.

adam has started a blog about how to be happy in the present.  his latest post had some especially insightful advice (adam is the most insightful person i've ever known.  EVER.)

"Every minute I spend looking backward at moments past, is a lost now." 

introducing ihappy.me. 

are you good at living in the present?    how do you do it?

i've got yummy details now!  and here's the official gushy write up.  carrie and brent (and friends and family), it was such a pleasure to be a part of your big day.  everybody knows i'm a big fan of handmade,  indy goodness and there was just so much of it.  i'm still basking in its glory. 

i had a giant smile on my face as i edited this wedding because there were just so many smiles in so many of the images.  it was clear that everyone loves to be around you both.  your happiness was clearly contagious.

i love love love that carrie and brent both wore killer hats.  carrie's was from batcakes! couture on etsy.  carrie's friend, jenny boggio, made her necklace.

brent's cufflinks were also from etsy- quercus silver, to be exact.

carrie and brent searched local antiques shops for salt and pepper shakers that suited each of their guests.  this was one of my favorite details.  how thoughtful!

the cake was by carondelet bakery.  other yummies by hollyberry catering.  flowers by elegant celebrations.  lovely music by farshid etniko.

this amazing place is the magic chef mansion, sans website for now.  it's on russell between grand and jefferson.  chances are you've seen and wondered who lives there.  it's gorgeous.  kudos to leslie of destination st. louis for helping things to run smoothly.

i feel guilty every time i get an email saying so-and-so is now following you on twitter because i don't do anything with it.  i signed up long ago and tried it for a day.  i love technology, but i also despise being connected 24-7, so i have mixed feelings about twitter.  should i suck it up and send out tweets?  part of me feels ridiculous even typing the word tweet.

on a completely unrelated note, carrie and brent's celebration last night was so beautifully them.  so many amazing details i can't wait to share, so come back later.

are you doing your part?  a great place to gain insight about little things you can do is at the st. louis earth day festival on sunday in forest park near the muny.  and it looks like we will have a fabulous weekend for it!

stay tuned for carrie and brent's fabulous day!