All my birds in a row...

I have always been a fan of finishing up a project by cleaning up my workspace and putting everything back where it belongs, and I tend to finish up the year in the same manner. I used to make a list of goals and resolutions, but I no longer feel the need to make a list of my lackings and instead I just continue on the path of my short term and long term goals as usual. I am a big planner, very goal oriented and a hard core workaholic...and as I am trying to not die young of a heart attack, I try to not pile on more then I have too. So I will save the goals for my own mind and instead take a moment to thank all of you...my friends, my family, my coworkers, my elves, my customers, my fans, my followers, my blog readers, my publicist (she seriously rocks!), those I have loved, those I have lost and those people that play a part in my day to life, no matter how small. This year has been one of enormous ups and downs, failures and successes and general craziness. It will be six years this January since Manic Trout was officially born and a mere three years since I started the online shop and focused on jewelry and painting...I had a slight breakdown in the shower today (I tend to reserve crying for in the shower) about the insane amount of hard work I have put into Manic Trout in these past three years and how amazing it is to start seeing what that hard work can achieve! Thank you all for believing in Manic Trout and in me and I hope to amaze you all in 2009!!!

Photo by the ultra talented Ella Moss.

My current obsession with brown...

I have never been into wearing brown...which is odd as I have brown eyes, brown hair and a complexion made for it...perhaps it was the years of dying my hair blond or a variety of other colors that made me stay away, but that has now changed! I recently had to buy a new wardrobe for my day job...for those of you not in the know I manage the restaurant of a private club and have to be considerably more dressed up then I have to when I am in my studio. In the past few years I have not shopped all that much for clothes anyway, as I have been building Manic Trout and living lean to do so, so I found myself with a bunch of date clothes and studio gear...not helpful...well after I finished shopping I was surprised to see the amount of brown I gathered, and you know what, I really like it! It goes great with all of my brass jewelry too...I wonder how much this will affect my designing?

Photo from Vogue, October 1948

Its no secret that I am tulle obsessed...

So the other day I received a case of the hot pink tulle that I use to both wrap orders and make jewelry with and was so delighted to find that he shipper used massive wads of tulle as packing material...I promptly wrapped myself up in it and jumped around in glee...which made my sister Thea who was helping me out, grab my camera...


So when I saw these from the November Latin america Vogue, I thought...oh look I am not the only one who enjoys holding wads of tulle...


...and she is jumping aroung in glee!



I think being so busy is making me nuttier than normal recently...eh...at least I'm having fun!

Milla is so cool...

I am in awe of Milla Jovovich...she succeeded as both an actress and a model and then developed her own awesome clothing line...and she looks so hot in this Paolo Roversi photo that its almost painful to look at her...ah...late night musings after hours and hours of working are always so random...

This is what happens to my brain when I create stuff...

I have had a wonderfully productive evening in my studio and did an our of aggressive exercise and now I feel like this:



Instead of the roaring Lion going on earlier today...much better state of mind now...

A Mood of All Moods...

Something about today has me rather riled up...no one thing in particular...maybe it's being pulled in too many directions again...I have once again put myself in a situation where I am spreading myself too thin. I have no time to do anything right, no time for friends, no time for family, not enough time to devote as much as I'd like to either job...I have done nothing but work 12-16 hour days for the past few weeks and I think I need a break...but I will not have one until January...I think I'll go do the only thing I allow myself time for...exercise...and then I'll then I'll eat some candy...hopefully this will help as I have a mountain of work to do tonight...please pardon the vent...I'll check back later after my mood improves...

A day of tasks...

There is so much to do today, but all enjoyable...orders have to made and sent out, the daily computer and internet work has to be done, I have to Vote and get my hair cut. I am hoping that Shanley and I can go for a long walk through the leaves with Faye. I need to do cardio and weights today. There is someone coming to my studio to shop later...oh and new jewelry HAS TO GET MADE today! So as I do all of that, you can enjoy some stunning photography...




I have no idea why, but I have become smitten with soft girly clothes...I think I actually always have been, but they are being created a great deal right now...which would make me happier if I ever could stop working and go shopping...I love the bottom photo the most...

I am a bibliophile...and this is my dream

I have a lot of books, thousands and thousands in fact. So many that when my ex husband and I split up amicably, he mentioned how glad he was to never have to move all of my books again, and in the past three years since then, I have only increased my collection. I do try to donate any books I no longer want, and I try to resist book gluttony...I also buy almost all of them used...(these little tidbits make me feel a little better about the bulging book shelves around my apartment)...although I am really lucky to have beautiful built in shelves in the living room, I still have 4 free standing ones taking up room.


While most people dream of gorgeous views, square footage and claw foot tubs, I have simple house dreams...a cottage by the ocean with built in book shelves in every room and a huge studio in a building of some sort a few feet from the cottage...which I would prefer to be covered in weathered shingles, but I can give on that, I also always loved old churches turned into homes, but I would really rather live in a cottage...ahhhh, one day it will be mine.



I also think I'll have to stay in the northeast, as much as I adore San Diego, I don't think I am able to deal with living any where other then the northeast, and I do love those seasons...ok I'm done daydreaming of waves and shelving, now back to work...

Weekend Plans...

Weekends are work days for me, and very busy ones at that, so I usually don't have much fun stuff planned for them, but I am really excited about this Sunday! Gilly is coming home and we (this could be a large collective) are going to the awesome Haunted House in Stanfordville, Frankensteins Fortress which is created by the talented Peter Wing...I am so excited for this, I look forward to it all year...and would be even more excited if a certain someone would be able to join me this year, as I usually have the most fun in the years that they have gone with me...anyway...I'll let you know how it goes!

On a side note, I really need to go clothes shopping, I am getting ready to head back to work and this is how I feel at the moment:


...but I cannot go to work like this, so I have to go scrounge up something to wear...

photo by Jonathan Leber

Getting all my eggs in a row...

I am really enjoying fall this year, I cleaned my home from top to bottom, including defrosting my freezer and flipping my mattress and therefore I am enjoying being in it when I get the chance. I am loving my new "day" job and although its the busy season there as well as with Manic Trout, I am so into both of them that I am pretty excited to be overwhelmed with work right now. The leaves are falling everywhere and as I live in New Yorks Hudson Valley, its gorgeous outside! I am even getting used to my new schedule and therefore able to exercise again...and one more thing...for the first time in YEARS I am cooking meals for myself again...crazy I know, but so good at the same time...tonight I had grilled chicken (the George Forman is the single gals best friend) with a Cajun rub, couscous and a tomato salad with balsamic...so yummy! Hmmm, I think I dare say that I am really happy right now.

Photo Courtesy of Mark Roper and shows some of my favorite simple pleasures right now...a clean house with a pristine white bed full of lots of layers and wellies to leaf kick in...

Halloween is so close and no costume ideas yet...

I will be working on Halloween this year, and I will be dressing up...I do every year anyway...I do love Halloween...however I have no idea what so ever I should be...

I did at one point go to a school dance in a green thing similar to the one above, with my face and hands pained green and antenna in my hair...I was an alien of coarse, albeit with out the Louboutin heels...and in the 8th grade with an amazing amount of courage when I think back on it...I'll need to be a bit more conservative this year...any ideas?

If I could jump into a photo...

I would leap right into this one...


I am suddenly incredibly busy on a daily basis, and I love it...being busy also makes me cherish the snippets of down time and moments spent with my near and dears...and makes me want to hang out in this room with a good book for an hour to reward myself...and as it has been so long since I've tossed out a random fact...Reading (non work related) during the day is my guilty pleasure...and its basically what a good vacation consists of as well....

Flowers & Sunshine

I think I'm getting sick, ick. I am going to remain in denial of this however and focus on the fact that its gorgeous outside and its going to be almost 70 out today and as its October, that's especially awesome...hmm, it may be allergies...whatever.

ps...loving her eyebrows!

I am lusting for girlie shoes

Something about fall makes me want to wear stockings and really girly shoes...I rocked the perfect LBD last night out with the girls topped off with stockings, purple suede very high heels, my go to buttery soft cream colored leather coat and a long striped scarf...it felt like the perfect outfit...except now I want these shoes...


How great would it be to open your fridge to all of these pretties?!?



However, Carrie I am not, so for now I'll keep the shoes to the closet...

This is what it looks like here...

Fall is here in the Hudson Valley and this week I have been lucky enough to spend some time outside in it. I took a wonderful long walk with a great friend yesterday down a dirt road surrounded by leaves in bright bursting colors...it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. I am trying to keep the balance of a life and work as my schedule gets fuller everyday now that I have returned to the restaurant world and am getting Manic Trout ready for the holidays, so far, life is good.

Autumn Sweet Light by Wendy Sisson

Amen to that sistah...

OK, this is one of the funniest cards I've read in a while...you can get your own copy over at Blue Barn House...I have been enjoying not being married much more then I enjoyed being married...although that may have been due more to who I was married to then the actual marriage part...

Why can't I be this type of gal?

I had five months of time on my hands...and during the warmest of the year...did I travel, no...well at the very end, but I was only there for 14 hours...did I catch up on all the stuff I never have time for...like paint and read excessively and relaxing...not really. I spent most of the time freaking out that I had too much time on my hands. I wish I was the type of gal who could take long walks without the need to go as fast as I can...or lie on the beach, in a bathing suit or tench and just be still...


...or even be in my house without working and not feel really guilty about it. I can't seem to stand still unless its to stop and think about what I should be doing, but forgot because I am doing 18 things at once. Ah, to be able to just stop...that would be nice...but then I guess that I would no longer be me...

Photos: Will Sanders

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Its been so long since I've rambled on and shared whats been happening...and mainly because after I left my "day job" as a bar manager on April 1st, I have been a bit out of sorts you could call it. I have always been a busy person...keeping myself fully booked with little room for life...so I thought I would give not working full time and Manic Trout a whirl for a few months and allow myself to have a social life and time to relax. I wished for more time. What did I discover? ...That I do not like to be idle and my friends and family do not take up that much of my day...the vast amount of time on my hands became wasted in my mind, I no longer was able to be productive and I basically lost all drive and ambition. I was not enjoying my life at this pace. So I changed all that.

I have started a new "day job"...this time with one that is much better suited to my life...it fits well with Manic Trout as its almost entirely on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and have time to be social still. I have benefits and a steady income and those both ease my mind as well. I of coarse could not stay out of the insanity of the restaurant world...and I am now the restaurant manager at a private club and busy, busy, busy...right back where I like to be.

Its tough adjusting back to juggling everything, I'll admit that I am exhausted from this past week...but I am really excited with where this all will head...mainly that my head will be in a better state now...and all will return to where I like to be...living life at full speed and loving every minute of it!

Hello, My name is Sierra and I am a Candyholic...

I have a problem with sugar...I fiend for it...it all goes back to not being allowed to have sugar of ANY form until I was six...we are talking no cakes, cookies, candies...nada. So when I was six and met my first marshmallow I came home and was extremely upset at my mother. I would sneak boxes of cake mix out of the pantry and sit in a closet while I ate it...I can actually vividly remember one day running through three horse fields to beat my mom home so I could eat a box of sugar before she arrived home.

The 25 years since that first marshmallow have been filled with as much sugar as I can lay my hands on without becoming a diabetic and this week is no exception...except I have finally realized that if I combat stress with candy AND exercise, I feel a tad bit better about it...I bring you my latest poison...as it happens every holiday, a seasonal tempting treat hits the shelves and as it has a limited time frame, I feel justified in my sugar induced comas...I give you Brach's Autumn Mix...



So good, so sickly sweet, so filled with delicious dyes and syrups...

Tina Fey & Amy Poehler are Brilliant!

It doesn't matter who you support, if you have a shred of a sense of humor you will find this skit from Saturday Night Live last night hilarious!