Long overdue.
We scattered Denny’s ashes at his requested location on our drive back from Arizona a few weeks ago.
Dennis was my foster father and he took me in when I was 15. That’s a long story and not for today, but he is and was very important to me and I want you to know about him.
Since Dennis never wanted a funeral and his wakes were all held in bars (3 of them between Iowa and Minnesota, including one who had a brass nameplate engraved in his honor and attached at his favorite bar perch) it never felt real.
I mean, Dennis wasn’t one to let a little thing like death get between him and a good time.
When I posted his obituary online (it’s posted below if you care to read it) I received messages from people saying things like, “I didn’t know the man, but I sure wish I had.” Truly, Dennis is the only person to have continued making friends even after he died.
It took us 3 years to get to it, but we followed his wishes, and it finally felt real.
He requested to be scattered in the Colorado River at Red Stone Castle in CO. He said it was the most beautiful place he had ever been, and that’s what he wanted for his final resting place.
Red Stone is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and as we raced to beat the sunset (we were really trying to avoid having to drink a scotch toast at 8am the next morning) I said to Dik-San, “This is Denny’s last gift to us…this beauty. We would have never seen this if he hadn’t told us to scatter him here.”
We had stopped at several gas stations along the drive, somehow they were all sold out of shot glasses. At the last stop I opted for little egg shaped toothpick holders with little feet on them as our makeshift shot glasses.
We found the perfect spot and Dik-San had downloaded Denny’s favorite song which he played as we video’d our little ceremony.
Obituary
Dennis J. Kelly
Dennis Joseph Patrick Kelly of St. Paul, most recently resided inWaukee,Iowa.
His boyish grin was a clue to his mischievous nature, and belied a deep, generous heart.
Dennis loved a good scotch, a good cigar, a good time, and a good debate.
Dennis had a gift for deeply connecting with people, and whether you were a janitor, a stripper, a nun, or a senator;
he treated all the same and made all feel uniquely special.
Dennis lived his life by a strict, principled belief of right and wrong and human decency.
He helped countless people. Without reservation or judgment, he would simply help.
Dennis will be loved and remembered by many loyal friends, his daughter and son in law, Laine andRichard Weinberg, and his grandkids, Sam and Tess.
Dennis will be remembered as a one of a kind, charismatic soul.
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Not like on Glee with fun songs mashed together, just random stuff from the past few weeks.
Like our last hike of the season on Pinnacle Peak.
I’ve been trying to get familiar with my new iphone…which means instagram…and I don’t really have the hang of it, so all my photos are inconsistent. sorry. I also can’t seem to retrieve my phone messages.
My birth Mom came to visit and we spent a whole day making eggrolls. And when I say WE, I mean SHE.
I did as I was told and helped with little things, but man, she makes a mean eggroll…amongst other specialties I might add, like Korean vegetable pancakes and noodle stir fry salad. I swear I gained 10 pounds when she was here.
We had a little eggroll party, which was like a going away for our dear neighbors, the Fressiniere’s.
Good bye, our treasured friends, you will spread love and light all over NYC!
The good news I was hoping for on Monday didn’t happen.
We were hoping the HOA would approve our request to add a second floor master suite to the new house. But, no one has ever put a second story on a home in our community, even though they are supposedly allowed. The decision is Denied, but only because the board needed more time to discuss it. And they loved the plan for our home, what they’re hesitant about is the impact it would have on the neighborhood, future requests that might block neighbors’ sight lines, blah, blah, blah.
One resident actually said, “it would change who would buy here; now you’re talking about families with kids moving into the neighborhood.” As if it were a bad thing!
So, we still aren’t completely defeated…but at a total standstill with construction plans until the final ruling comes down.
I’ll keep you posted.
Right before we left AZ for the season we were invited to our friends Tammy and Dave’s house for a night of mexican food and ping pong…our favorite! But the best part was we convinced Tammy to bust out a old edition of Italian Vogue…in which she is in a full page editorial with Cindy Crawford…as the crowned 1989 Miss Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Italian Vogue, Tammy and Cindy Crawford
Complete with 7 scrunchies and big hair bow and 2 hours sleep from partying the night before, Tammy says she looked awful, but I think she gave Cindy a run for her money! Tammy, you’re a good sport!
Adios, Amigos!
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It’s a garage sale fact: the crappier the sign, the better the sale.
Case in point…Dik-San and I ran across a few of these crappy signs on our way home from a lovely Saturday morning breakfast and said, ‘we HAVE to stop!’.
Good thing we did!! The yard sale was at the home of a contractor and was chock full of remodeling remnants.
We scored a Toto toilet in perfect shape for $60!!! Read it and weep!!! (I never thought I would buy a used toilet, but turns out I’m too much of a name brand snob…I got over it in 2 seconds flat!)
We also scored about 190 square feet of Travertine stone tile for $1.10/per sq. ft. It’s going to be perfect for our new front patio.
And, a big square butcher block for $10.
AND, this 8′ tall door for $150 which is massively heavy and we need to go back with help to move it.
That sucker is going to get stripped, sanded, and sprayed black and will be a perfect front door for the new house.
It has a very mid-century modern feel to it and we think it will be perfect!
So, what’s going on with the new house?
Well, I’ve got bad news and good news.
The bad news is that when we demo’d the ceiling we discovered that every roof joist had been cut into by the previous owner who had obsessively cut up the house into strange spaces.
There’s not a single supporting beam intact in the entire house. Our contractor was actually worried the house might cave in so he put up a bunch of 2×4 supports to hold up the ceiling.
The good news is…well, there might not actually be any good news…I mean, I’ll find something good, but I can’t talk to you about it ’till Monday night.
I don’t want to jinx it.
Anyway, remember ~ always take a moment to peek in at a sale with a hastily made sign…those sellers don’t have time to waste on pretty marketing, usually they have lots to unload, and generally know pride and pricing are two different things.
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So, the other thing I’ve been dying to share with you is our latest Excellent Adventure…and this time I want you to join us. It involves lots of gutting, planning, designing, choosing elements and the like of a modest but (soon to be) delightfully perfect home in our little tucked away neighborhood in AZ.
Since becoming snow birds 3 winters ago, we have fallen in love with Arizona in general, but our little community in particular. So, when a ‘lakefront’ property became available unexpectedly, we jumped at the chance. **disclaimer** I use the term ‘Lakefront’ loosely. Coming from Minnesota where a Lake is a Lake, this is more like a water feature, but nonetheless, it IS a body of water with real wildlife and stuff and a gorgeous view.
I’m not going to sugarcoat the situation. This house is truly in NEED of…everything.
Had we actually seen the inside of this property I’m not sure we would have bought it. I have to keep reminding myself it doesn’t matter…we had expected to completely gut it no matter what.
After going through the entire house, we sold or gave away everything at a garage sale. For ourselves we salvaged a brass foot rail for a bar (kinda cool) and 2 cast cement Indian busts.
I don’t know what possessed me. We used to walk past this house and see these busts on the patio, and when we ended up buying, I was like, “OMG, those thing are so outta here!” But when someone inquired their price at the sale, I blurted, “fifty dollars. EACH.” Dik San said, “you mean $50 for both.” The shopper said, “you mean $15 for both.”
No. Fifty Dollah. Each.
I’m sure someone proudly painted these at a community art class. Or occupational therapy. I decided they will be our mascots through the reno. After that we’ll see. But the more I see them, the more I like them.
Will it be our Dream Home? Honestly, I don’t know.
What I do know is that it will be a really interesting and fun project, and I’ll try to document the process as we go.
Join me as I agonize over every little decision.
How fun!
Luv and asbestos,
Laine Sou
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First up, I’ve been dying to share the behind the scenes of our last photo shoot. We have the MOST talented photographer ever, Melissa Johnson of Melissa Louise Photography. She’s based in the Twin Cities and we fell in love with her when she photographed Tess for her senior photos. We were soooo blown away. Dik immediately said to me, ‘you have to hire her for KOKOON.’ Brilliant idea. 
We’ve been collaborating together for 3 years now, and it just keeps getting better and better. I told her I wish this spring could last forever because I’m so in love with her photos. When I see what she’s captured I’m amazed that its just Melissa, the models, me, and Tammy…who was KEY in this process because she recruited three of her friends to let us shoot in their homes…one of them in and around their new luxury horse stable.
melissa and kelly at sunrise
at sunrise
Melissa is more than just a crazy talented photographer, she’s also a natural light specialist, which you’ll be able to see throughout the images of this day, shot from sunup to sundown.
melissa on our patio
outtake by melissa louise photography
Look at the crazy amazing lighting in the photo-gallery hallway of this ultra-modern home…
melissa louise photography
melissa louise photography
melissa and kelly
The first half of the day was spent with our amazing model, Kelly, who was such a delight and we were all thrilled to learn was a stunning 41 year old!! I know she wouldn’t mind me telling you that, because she has taken amazing care of herself and will tell you herself her granny always told her to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I went home and slathered moisturizer all over my face.
Since shooting day is always a marathon, we hired a second model for the second half of the day.
We didn’t know if we would be working with our requested model, Amber, since she was on jury duty. So, when she walked in wearing our KOKOON tee shirt, we were ecstatic! It turns out she grew up riding horses in Michigan, so she was super excited our first stop was a ranch.
melissa louise photography
tammy was our horse whisperer
melissa louise photography
Oh yeah, and that photo below? That’s the entrance to the stable. The Stable. The stable with 3 enormous chandeliers.
outtake melissa louise photography
melissa louise photography
wine and cigars melissa louise photography
melissa louise photography
I want to sit outside a horse stable everyday and enjoy a glass of wine. I would even smoke a cigar. Not really, I hate smoke but I do enjoy the smell of a cigar (reminds me of my foster dad), and I loved the cigar ashtrays and the hand carved side tables!
For the last stop of the day,Tammy had arranged a home in the mountains with a southwest facing towards the sunset.
melissa louise photography
melissa louise photography
Look at the height of that fireplace! Gah! The ceilings were (I’m not kidding) about 18 feet high.
outtake melissa louise photography
This was one of the many balconies in the home. This one overlooked the…no, not the pool…the parking and garage area.
sunset, melissa louise photography
And it is always nice to enjoy your sunsets with a toe dip in your infinity pool.
Adios!
It was an exhilarating day. I’m mesmerized every time I look at Melissa’s photos. You can see more throughout the season on our website and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Luv,
Laine Sou
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KOKOON
This is how I feel about my Dik-San. He gave up everything to let me follow my dream, and did so gladly. Never made me feel bad when things weren’t going well (that’s the polite way of saying when I completely was failing). He lights up my world, every minute, every day.
Us
Happy Valentimes Day.
Luv,
Laine Sou
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An insight into the creative brain juice of 99 fashion designers,
sharing their Fall 2012 inspiration in One Word, One Shot.
(via New York Magazine’s piece of the same name)
It made my day.
Take a look see.
Alice and Olivia
Jen Kao
Kelly Wearstler
J Crew
Kate Spade
FOTINI
Geoffrey Mac
View the other 92 designer’s one word and shot here.
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This year we decided on Scottsdale as our destination, and the Hotel Valley Ho played host to our guests and events.
What a fun hotel!
They have an unconventional, very cool retro/modern vibe, and I must say the service we experienced from every staff member was above and beyond. Loved the lobby bar, the pool, and the 2 level Tower Loft suite we reserved for Friday night’s cocktail party was beyond expectation.
Tower Loft level
Tower Suite lower level
Friday night is always a cocktail party and everyone has a chance to meet for the first time or re-connect with friends.
This year the girls decided to do a vintage KOKOON swap, each of them bringing 3 items to trade. That was a blast, not to mention a time warp seeing so many old KOKOON designs. Only a few made me cringe…most still looked really good!
Spring and summer usually come a little easier for me, but this year I just struggled.
I had the hardest time getting things to translate properly from my head to pattern to fabric.
Wednesday was my last chance to have new styles tested before the meeting.
Fear and adrenaline kicked in and by 4pm I cranked out 5 new dress patterns.
By the time Friday night rolled around, my brain had reached a peace treaty with my ego.
Nothing more I can do before the sales meeting the next day.
No chance of whipping up any more patterns or samples.
I have to just let it go, relax, and enjoy some cocktails with these fabulous women.
Saturday was full up with breakout discussion groups, the spring fashion presentation, product information, try-on session, and a champagne reception and recognition ceremony.
getting ready
getting ready
All the models were so beautiful and SWEET!!!
But can I just say…how fabulous is she???
Not only was this gal 41 years young (!!!) and had killer legs and a smile to die for (and man, she could WORK those clothes!!), she was so darling to everyone. Before the show started she got the other models in a circle (they did not know each other) holding hands and led them in a little blessing for the show. She said, “…we are so blessed to be here today and for this opportunity, and to help these nice women enjoy this show and these beautiful clothes…”
What more can I say. That calmed me right down.
After the show I go over product information for the new items. We run through it in a bout an hour, but we really need about 4 hours to do this properly.
We always reserve time to try on all the clothes.
My favorite part of the day is our awards ceremony and recognizing our representatives for their outstanding achievements!
Muuuaaahhhh.
Thank you for a wonderful weekend. I love you guys.
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nothing but work lately.
deadlines and testing new styles for spring…
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I’ll show you mine if you show me yours…
