A New York wedding

Photography by New York-based photographer extraordinaire Monica L. Shulman...
Check out Monica's blog Ciao, Chessa!.

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The Bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act Needs Our Support!

I just received the following email (written by a surgeon) which I want to share with my readers:

I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it really quick! The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill is important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the website below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.

My Lifetime's Breast Cancer Petition

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to 20 friends. Thank you.

Weekly links

Happy May Day and happy weekend! Things you may wish to do...

learn how to work the bed on the floor look at Apartment Therapy

make fruity quinoa stuffed peppers at Food Blogga (Though not specified as gluten free, this recipe naturally is.)

change a piece of furniture for less than $30 at Kotori

learn how to pick out throw pillows at Apartment Therapy

make your own reusable makeup remover pads at Sproutz via Craft Stylish

tie-dye your couch's slipcover at Amethistle via Craftzine

make a bird mobile at Spool via Aiyana Laughed

(Photo by Annabel Mehran via Lolita)

"I fell off my pink cloud with a thud." (Elizabeth Taylor)

It took me longer than usual to come up with a post title for this one. A pop of pink. Think pink. Tickled pink. In the pink. Pretty in pink. Can you think of any others?

(Photos via Apartment Therapy)

My blog. would suck. without. you.

(Just in case the reference to Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" slips by some readers.)

Answers to yesterday's Map That Outfit!:

1. Stockholm
2. Moscow
3. Berlin
4. Paris
5. Melbourne
6. New York
7. Milan

(Image via weheartit)

Let's play: Map That Outfit!

The cities are - New York, Paris, Melbourne, Stockholm, Berlin, Moscow and Milan. Answers will be posted tomorrow.

(Photos via The Sartorialist)

Did you know Vanilla Spoon is the name of a flower?

I just found out that the Soprano Vanilla Spoon is a type of African daisy which blooms from spring through fall. Notice the spoon-shaped petals?

(Of course there's this Vanilla Spoons.)

Weekly links

Weekend--at last. Have a glorious one! Links as always...

repurpose tree branches for hanging clothes and curtains at Apartment Therapy

make a Post-it notes notebook at Greeting Arts

make gluten free lemon scones with a kumquat glaze at The Gluten-Free Gourmand (There's a fun word to say. Kumquat.)

build an entry table from stair parts at This Old House via Apartment Therapy

make mirrors from thrifted plates at Craftynest

incorporate an ironing board into your home's decor at Apartment Therapy

make a butterfly thumbtack holder at LollyChops via Craftzine

(Photo via Flickr)

I love when dining chairs don't match.

In fact, in my home we have taken this design concept one step further. Not only do our chairs not match, but some are now broken (due to their vintage state) and subsequently have been removed from the dining area for safety reasons. So currently we have two mismatched chairs plus one ottoman which adorn our custom-built dining table. For a party of five no less.
Don't get me wrong. This works too.
(Photos via .v photo's photostream except last one via weheartit)

For Earth Day

Latter image is not necessarily in honor of Earth Day, but it's from the same magnificent portfolio of Annabel Mehran.

Adorable girl

There's something Snow White-esque about Emma, don't you think?

(Photo via Copenhagen Street Style)

Gluten free makes star appearance on Celebrity Apprentice. Wooooo-hoooooo!

Did anybody watch The Celebrity Apprentice last night? The task was to create a new dish and marketing campaign for the Schwan's frozen food LiveSmart line. Team KOTU, led by Herschel Walker, made Asian orange chicken. Team Athena, led by Jesse James, made turkey and spinach meatballs with GLUTEN FREE pasta. Guess which team won? I personally want to thank Annie Duke for coming up with the idea of having a gluten free dish. And for mentioning the words celiac disease and gluten free like eighty-seven times. Well maybe not that many.

(Photo via Google Images)

Food With A Face

There was an article last week in The New York Times about Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson - author, former psychoanalyst, animal lover and vegan. He was in New York recently to promote his new book advocating veganism, “The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food." Masson's other books include “When Elephants Weep” and “Dogs Never Lie About Love,” both best sellers.

Of course I was immediately drawn to this photo.
Then I read this...

“And the thing is, I can’t bring home delicious, wonderful French bread and just eat it in front of him while he has to eat that gluten-free bread that tastes like paper or something.” (Mr. Masson is referring here to his 12-year-old son's gluten sensitivity.)

So I continued reading. Things like...

“Cats don’t appreciate it when you give them vegetables."

“The chickens were very sociable. They would come inside the house and watch me writing at the computer. And I would be picking up after them with a box of Kleenex."

As a Harvard undergraduate, Mr. Masson saw his own demons in a can of tuna.

Call it feeling loopy at one in the morning. But I then had face with a smile.

Weekly links

School vacation starts today and I'm thinking about taking kids to New York for a day or two. If we go - BabyCakes, here we come! Do you have plans for the weekend? Here are some things to keep you busy...

make chalkboard canisters at Heart of Light

make gluten free and vegetarian Mandarin orange lo mein at Flour Arrangements

recycle junk mail into paper beads at The NewNew via WhipUp

discover eight projects to use up your wallpaper scraps at Better Homes and Gardens via Apartment Therapy (This one alone will keep you busy the whole weekend.)

discover yet another project to use up your wallpaper scraps at Design Sponge

make a tufted ottoman from a coffee table at Little Green Notebook

camouflage electrical wires as vines at Curbly

make baby pants from dish towel at Dollar Store Crafts via Craftzine

achieve a Pottery Barn office look by almost half the cost by shopping J.C. Penney at Decor Pad

make a yogurt lamp at 2Modern Design Talk

(I got somewhat carried away with links this week.)

(Photo via Le Love)

A Brooklyn loft

My first loft experience was during high school when my best friend and I went to New York to visit her mom who lived in a loft in Soho. Very cool indeed. Have you ever lived in a loft? If not, do you think you would love loft living?

(Photos via Design Sponge)

Daily design fix

Years ago I used to get my daily fix of good design while working for one of the top graphic designers in New York. Now, thank you internet, I'm able to get it by the minute.

[Just to clarify, it wasn't Mr. Bass with whom I worked.]

(Saul Bass design via weheartit)

It's not EXACTLY one of those blog posts about wedding things.

A few days ago my son and younger daughter (not prom girl) were playing an online game of Family Feud. This is what I overheard...

Question: Name something you're afraid which might show up late to a wedding.

Son's Answer: Groom.

Daughter's Answer: The cake.

(Gorgeous photography by Mel Barlow)

Do you think you could have celiac disease?

A friend of mine whom I've known for fifteen years was diagnosed recently with iron-deficiency anemia. After experimenting with various treatments and doing some of her own research, she decided to go on a gluten free diet. Since going gluten free, her lab test results are showing significant improvement. In fact, E. acknowledges having had digestive issues since childhood. While she doesn't yet have an official diagnosis of celiac disease, it's pretty clear that she is doing better with the GF diet.

While I'm not recommending that you self-diagnose and put yourself on a gluten free diet, my goal IS to spread celiac awareness. And to have you check out Shirley's fantastically informative post about the 20+ Reasons To Get Tested For Gluten Issues. Go there now.

If you're new here, you may also want to read this.

(Photo via weheartit)

Weekly links

Have a beautiful weekend! Here are the links...

make a chalkboard wine rack at Apartment Therapy

re-purpose skirt hangers as poster frame at The Window Ledge via Apartment Therapy

make gluten free Mediterranean chocolate cake at Gluten Free Easily

give your home a makeover using no money at Real Simple

make a business card catapult at Instructables via Craftzine

learn how to love Brussels sprouts at Instructables via Craftzine

reuse your Altoid tins to make tin travel candle at Design Sponge

(Photo via weheartit)

Even French FLOWERS seem more stylish.

By the way, if you blog about my gluten free gift basket shop Vanilla Spoons, let me know and I will mention your blog in a thank you post.

(Photos via Design Sponge)

three settees + three settings

Title's a tongue-twister, huh? Anyway, which one describes your style best?

(Photos via Made By Girl, The City Sage and Things That Inspire)

You've got to watch this.

I must think I'm her PR person or something: I wrote about Erin McKenna's BabyCakes back in February, and now here's this new music video of hers that I'm posting.

I just think it's really fun. (Wait a couple seconds for it to start.)


BabyCakes, the Book of Recipes: It's Here! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

Attention fashionistas! I need your help finding prom dress for my girl.

Heeeeeelp! Please. My sixteen year-old daughter just got asked to prom by a senior. Now because it's not her prom (she's a junior), she's thinking shorter-length dress. I associate prom with full-length gown--but she does have a point. (Not to mention more sense of fashion than I do.)

So. I welcome any thoughts you have on this. And if you really wanna get involved in our PROM DRESS PROCESS--email me (jackie at VanillaSpoons dot com) links to fabulous dresses. If I receive at least a couple submissions, I'll probably do a post similar to the ugliest fashion finds exhibit.

[By the way. It might be helpful to know that the girl we must dress is 5'6, with lovely figure and medium-length dark brown hair.]

(Photos via here and here)

Weekly links

Have a great weekend. You know the drill on Friday. Here are some activities in which you may wish to engage...

refashion old flip-flops and towel into spa slippers at Craftynest via Craftzine

make gluten free santa fe huevos on polenta aka eggs ranchero at Karina's Kitchen (I wouldn't recommend employing #5 here though.)

use coffee filters (not used coffee filters) to create a flowing wall decoration at Daily Danny via Apartment Therapy

make a paperback picture frame at CraftyPod via WhipUp

learn how to cook eggs in the microwave at The Kitchn

learn four inspiring ways to decorate a hallway at Apartment Therapy

make a soda tab chainmail laptop bag at Instructables via Curbly (There are instructions for a soda top bracelet if the bag seems too ambitious.)

(Photo via weheartit)

Don't you love when somebody tells you this?

Well. Somebody's telling you this.