M.I.A.

Wow it's been a long while since I've posted anything- It's not fair, I check up on all my cyber friends stalking their sites and knowing what's going on with their lives as I neglect my own. Updates:
I spent from April to June back in Los Angeles doing a show. It pretty much kicked my butt since I worked and stayed there with my now 2 year old daughter. The Hubby had to stay back in SF while he did his show. It was nice to be finally working again on a project that was pretty much my own.


It was a hard couple of months because as soon as I came back to LA, I found out that I was expecting again!
So here we are the end of July and the beginning of December, we will be expecting a new member of the family - a little BOY!
I believe my little nuclear family is complete now and after he's born, the shop will be officially closed.


Living back in LA was great- It was so nice to get away from the grossness and craziness of SF. Ainslie and I spent the start of our summer there- Swimming , hanging out with friends and enjoying the Southern California weather. The Mod Baby ( now toddler) also celebrated her 2nd birthday there too- Complete with a birthday party at Farrell's , Yo Gabba Gabba cake and her first trip to Disneyland!


Our time in SF is now coming to an end and we are moving back to LA in 5 weeks! It's gonna be so sweet to come back to our house and all my treasures I've put into storage for the year and change we spent here. You have no idea the hell we've been through living in the PAP house but you can imagine the happiness we are feeling knowing that we're coming back to our own place and in a couple months of us getting settled in, with a new baby boy!

Dedicated to the Pizzie

Last week we went on our family vacation to Hawaii. It was fantastic till Thursday when we got back from Kona and the P et Hotel called to tell us that one of our beloved babies had passed away. Skylar, ( who also goes by several alias) was one of the Pugs we adopted . I fell in love with her immediately. She was smaller than most puggies, more wrinkly, and the closest thing I could imagine a bulldog and a pug would possibly look like if it were the perfect mix. We adopted her along with her daughter, Penelope on Valentines Day 2004. When we got her, the given name for her was" Cutie Pie" and Penelope's original name was Peanut Butter. I had to change those names right away because I believe that if your dog has a dumb name, then they would live up to it - So, I decided to name her Skylar and her daughter, Penelope. The first week of having them was a little tough. We already had our original two, Diva and Bijoux and then we brought home 2 more to join our clan. I'm sure it stressed out the other girls and it didn't help that when I brought Skylar and Penelope home, that Skylar would mark everything! She was female and she would mark! Peed on the bed, on the washer, the, curtains, and on the other girls too. She was quite the handful. We never knew how old both her and Penni were when we got them. We just knew that Skylar had to be older than Diva and Penni was the baby. I even recall a time when my husband said, " Maybe we should give them back to pug rescue-" and I remember crying and telling him, " Someone already gave up on them- I don't want to be the second people to do that to them". So long story short, they both became a HUGE part of our family. My husband and I will forever be known as those "crazy people with 4 dogs". It's been this way since we adopted them.

Skylar's life included the move into our very own home, a cross country drive and living a year in Chicago, the birth of our first baby and a move to San Francisco. She lived in 7 different homes with us, and had a great second life being one of our girls.
Since we moved to San Francisco, we had to put her in diapers. She was getting old and she and Ainslie had the diaper thing in common. We noticed that she started having mini seizures when she would sleep but then two seconds later she'd lick the air and look at us like everything thing was fine. She was our little Princess and the best cuddler.
When the Pet Hotel called us last week to tell us the news I was pretty devastated. They did a doggie autopsy and they said that she died of natural causes which made me feel a little better. They also said that they guessed she was 13 or 14 years old - And that's a pretty long life for a pug! The manager at the Pet Hotel also mentioned that when she passed in her sleep she was surrounded by all of her sisters. That was also comforting to know.
I remember saying goodbye to our girls right before we left them at camp and I wanted to give her one last kiss before she went off - but she was already out the door and off to play.
I'd like to think she's in a better place but when I look at our girls and see there's one less, it still hurts my heart terribly. Ainslie is now at the age where she's aware that one is missing and she calls out for her which doesn't make things easier. She was also able to pick them all out by name which is a big accomplishment for a 1 1/2 year old. Even some of the people we know can tell all our girls a part. Skylar went by many names.. here's some
-Pie Pie
-Nizzie
-Pee Pie
-SS Pizzer Kanizzer
-Nizzle
-Pizzie
- The Pizzer

When Jesse sent me the award for the list of 10 things that made me happy, I wanted to add this:

Why Skylar made me happy for the 6 years we had her.

-Her little face,
-her wrinkles
-her kimodo dragon breath,
-the two white nails she had and the black ones on her little meaty paws
-The grump bump she showed when she was mad
-Her loud snores
- her funny "Mif, Mif" bark
- her uber soft fur
- her cuddles
- the spirit fingers I had to use when I called out for her

We will miss you Nizzie and we were so happy that you were a part of our family. You were our baby before we had a human one to call our own and you'll always be our girl!

10 things that make me happy

Mod Diva's "10 things that make her Happy" list-

1) Being Ainslie's Mommy
2) Finding the "One" and being married to my best friend
3) All my girls ( my pugs)
4) Singing loud
5) My MCM in the valley and all my treasures in it
6) Laughing and hearing my friends laugh
7)Going to the flea market and looking and finding treasures
8)Hearing my baby girl's laugh
9)Pug snores
10) Hawaii and my Ohana there

Thanks Jesse!

I miss you LA and I love my new MACs

Last week the little Miss and I were back home in LA for the week. While we were there we had to take a few pics and of course I had to tweak them with my new MAC. I love how you can go to the I-photo and instantly change the pics to look more retro. Here's a couple of my faves from the LA -our latest discovery is the Monster Park in San Gabriel. Funny thing is that I discovered this park while watching Yo Gabba Gabba with Ainslie and I thought.. WOW, that place has PHOTO SHOOT written all over it! So I promised that when we got back to LA, we'd get the time to go over there with her very best pal, Dylan and his Mommy and Daddy. The Monster park was built in 1964 and is so awesome... I will most def be coming back with her when she's in a better mood!


Ainslie with the red Dolphin

Me and my girl...

The Little Miss in all her glory

OMG Shoes!

Well hello Gorgeous!
It's been a long while since I've posted anything. Life has been BANANAS since my daughter discovered that she can walk and now she can RUN! So you can imagine I have my hands full with taking care of the little Miss. I haven't been able to tackle a whole lot of BIG projects lately. As much as I'd like to paint this and that... My toddler has other plans for her Mommy.
Well, my latest obsession is my DIY shoes. The first pair I made was inspired by The Jeffrey Campbell Tick that I was desperately looking for since October but were sold out everywhere( trust, I looked and called EVERYWHERE). My obsession got so deep that I went and stalked their representative when he brought out the newest styles to the San Francisco Nordstrom. I even got Ty's # so I could keep tabs on when the shoe would come out . Well, I couldn't wait any longer for the shoe and I decided to make my own. It took me about 3 weeks to finishn( I would have been done earlier but you know.. I have a toddler now), about 400 upholstery tacks and a couple of hours of frustration but the end result was so worth it. The Jeffrey Campbell Tick retails for $170. I made mine for a fraction of the cost. Checkity Check it out..
Here's the real deal. My inspiration, the Jeffrey Campbell Tick


Here's my version... Very Rocker Chic, Very KISS! Gene Simmons would think you raided his closet!

Breakdowns:
The Tick Boot I made:
Boot was $38.00 from Amiclubwear.com
I painted the wedge black with acrylic paint since it was natural rubber color when I got it
I bought about $20 worth of upholstery nails from Lowes
You need a long nose pliers to cut some of the tacks to make them fit unto the wedge heel
Most of the tacks needed some Gorilla Glue or Hot glue to keep them onto the wedge. Most of them just get pushed into the rubber of the wedge.
I believe I spent about $60 total for this project. You might want to keep some of the extra tacks just in case you have some "casualties" Then you just rock'em out! Trust you'll get a LOT of looks with these boots!


I also was stalking a pair of kicks on Ebay for my husband but they were made in Korea and they didn't have his size. I loved the design. I ended up NOT getting him the shoes but I was still obsessed on the design and I decided to make a pair for myself. This one was pretty easy and it only took me a day to finish.
Here's the inspiration:HOMME New Mens Stud High Top retails for $115.00 from Korea

Here's my version :

Breakdown of the rocker kick:
The Hi-top was from Forever21 $21.00
You'll need 2 yards of belting from Jo-Annes
Some studs from studsandspikes.com
I got a a snap kit and a grommet kit from Jo-annes
The hardest part of the project was adding the heavy duty snaps but lucky for me I have my Husband to help me.
Make sure you singe the ends of the belting so the ends don't frey.
See those square studs.. they are actually mini binder clips i got in the scrap booking section.
Now these are some MAJOR kicks! Trust, if you rock these out.. You'll get some major attention and best of all you can say, " Yeah, I made these myself!" Jammmmmmmmm!!
Happy New Year Lovelies!
Mod Diva

I HEART Phillip Spaeth!

I'm a sucker for great photos. I love the works of David La Chapelle and Pierre et Gilles. I'm always up for a photo shoot- Especially if it's retro and themed and I get to play dress-up. Our go to man is our friend Phillip. He's been taking our family photos now since I was 8 weeks pregnant and we've done a total of 4 different shoots with him. We plan our shoots like this: I play the part of the art director/ makeup artist- I tell him the location, I plan the outfits The Hubby thinks up the poses we all share our vision and we have at it. Phillip is going back to NYC so this was our last photo shoot with him until he comes back for some one's vacation or until I'm pregnant again ( he promised that he'd be back to take our photos again when that happens)I will miss him terribly especially when inspiration comes to me in an outfit or perfect location. Here's some of his best stuff with my family.

This picture was the announcement that we were expecting our baby. We added a little surprise in the blank part of the sign that read, "Baby in JUNE".
In the same shoot he added this photoshop effect that makes the picture look totally vintage. I loved it so much that I had this blown up poster size and it hangs in my living room.

Two weeks before I gave birth I wanted to take some baby body pics but of course they couldn't be just the normal black and white look at my belly pics- We did these and I love that I finally could wear this particular outfit. ( I won it on Ebay and had it in my closet in hopes to get my six pack back-) I think this turned out way better.
. I'm so glad we took these pictures when we did because we were pushing the time to do it further and further. She arrived at 38 weeks!

We can't forget the pictures to remind us when the girls were our only babies and when they were still allowed on the bed :(


I think my only regret was not taking any photos of Ainslie when she was a newborn. I mean, how retro looking could I make a newborn?
When we moved to San Francisco I wanted to do a photo shoot that was not so typical (like standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge) so we went to see the famous Painted Ladies. Can you hear the beginning of the "Full House" theme starting?


We didn't go totally retro but I did manage to keep my Mod Diva-ness to it by sporting the retro earrings and my Mod shades. Ainslie pays tribute to Mary Quant.


On Thursday we took our last shoot with Uncle Philly. I think it catches the essence of our family. Fun, a little funky and most definitely, one of a kind. I fell in love with the location months before we did the shoot.The place is an old record store. The outfit was another score from Ebay. A vintage Velvet Illusion of London dress I won for 29 bucks. Daddy is sporting a vintage Mod/ Ska look and Ainslie- well, she's rocking out to what she thinks is "retro"- an 80's throw back to Cyndi Lauper.

This was such a fun shoot. Too bad Ainslie was not in the mood for any of it. I wish we had all the girls in the family pic too but a baby and 4 pugs would be a little much- doncha think?


We had so much fun with Phillip and were so happy that he was there to capture some of the best moments of our lives as a new family. We wish him nothing but the best in his move back to NYC. If you're out in NYC and need someone FABU to take your shots. Give this boy a holla because he's the pooh- Oh did I mention... quite the HOTTIE as well!

We will miss you so very much Phillip. I'm sure you'll be working it out on the Great White Way as soon as you land there! Come back soon! We love you!

Black and White inspiration

Lately I've really been into black and white. There's just something so simple and striking about a black pattern on a stark white canvas. The other day I found this picture in my folder of "inspiration" on my computer. I didn't know who the artist was but I felt that the work was so striking behind that red wall I just had to take a crack at it and make one myself.


I mean, how hard could it be?? Um, it was REALLY hard- Not the actual making of the painting part but having to chase a 15 month old toddler around the house while painting... Yeah, it took me longer than I expected.

I made this for the blank wall space in the kitchen. Looks pretty awesome in there too I might say :)

Funny, the other day I was watching " House Husbands of Hollywood" and I noticed that this couple had a similar triptych in their living room I totally dig it too. I swear, black on white. BIG impact. Bonus was I got the canvas for 9 bucks and it's pretty huge. Can't beat that and Bye, bye bare wall!
Cheers!