Tara and Kent's wedding

Tara and Kent actually got married on July 21 of 2005, so this is a look back.

Tara is my oldest sister. We look like sisters, we sound like sisters. We are incredibly similar in so many ways and completely opposite in many others. When she and Kent married, they actually were trying to elope.

I got a call from Tara, she was in line at customs in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. She and Kent had just returned from 3 weeks in Africa. I hadn't spoken to her for the entirety of this trip and it was awful to go that long without hearing from her. So you can imagine I was really excited when the phone rang and it was her.

What she said was, "Sis, I'm gonna need you in Colorado in a few weeks." and I said, "You're dress is gonna be SO simple."

"You're not mad?"

"Of course I'm not mad!"

and then she had to go, it was her turn to see the customs agent. That was it.

Later, we had a conversation about what she wanted this dress to be like. And I said, I think we're talking about the same dress.

Without taking her measurements and without sending her sketches, I made her this dress and got it in the mail in about 7 days. I don't think there is another person in the world that would trust me so completely to design and make the right thing, on such short notice and then get married in it. And it really was the right thing.

Today, Tara let me be a guest blogger on her writer blog, it was really exciting to be apart of her world for a day and write an essay for her audience.

Now I'm extending the invitation to her, so you all can hear this story from her side or maybe she'll just want to indulge in her own love of design and fashion. What do you say Tara? Are you game? It'll be fun! :)

xoxsis

It was a great day for a Derby!

I love the Kentucky Derby. The first time I saw the race was a couple years ago and I was totally hooked. For such a fast race, it's so worth seeing. I had no idea how beautiful the horses were when they raced until I actually saw them. I love all the festivities, the mint juleps and of course I love the hats!

(please forgive the silly look I have.)

My favorite place to be for the race and the party is at the Bell House in Brooklyn. There is always a lot of people, most of them dressed up. This year there were more hats by far then the last couple of years. (People were inspired by the Royal Wedding, maybe?) It's been a crazy week for me in the studio, so many fun projects that I'm finishing up and starting, but late the other night I made sure to make up something for my head. Because honestly, when else can you wear a big messy nest of tulle on your head and call it a hat? Not nearly often enough I say.

There were all kinds of hats in attendance, formal hats, traditional hats, men in hats, hats shaped like horses. After the race, most of us stayed around to see the live band Karaoke band, Bunny England and the New Originals play. What could be more fun then horse races and playing rock stars on a beautiful spring day?!

All the photos above and more can be found here.