anemone, you're the one for me!

leap year

i am feeling especially ponderous on this rare calendar day. after passing it twice daily on my walk to and from work for the past year, i finally snapped some shots of this beautiful magnolia tree that stands in a church garden at franklin & california.

who knew these existed?

kickin' it next to leeks like it aint no thang.... multi colored carrots. now, i've seen rainbow chard and easter egg radishes, so i'm no novice, but this was a first for me. thank you whole foods for enlightening me!

greenery

i'm so happy friday is here, and a leap year friday no less! look at the beautiful flowers i brought home from work! tres springy. they remind me of all the fun easter bouquets jill made last year.

was lucky enough to pillage a pile of branches at work; making a batch of slingshots for an upcoming project and this one still had some sweet little plum blossoms on it.

i love plants, but you might already know that i don't have much of a green thumb. imagine my surprise when i planted some italian parsley seeds and they actually started to grow! if i can't have pets or children, at least i can have happy house plants and mini herb gardens, non?

monster drawing rally

i have been off my game lately and neglected to post about the monster drawing rally at southern exposure last friday. held at the swanky verdi club in potrero hill, many many people gathered to idle around a bunch of folding tables and watch artists work madly on 10, 20 and 30-minute masterpieces. upon completion, each piece is whisked off and taped to the wall where people can admire and purchase.

it is always fun seeing who turns up at these events. my old college chum aiyana udesen (author/illustrator of "drawing nelly and emperor penguin") was there with matt furie, marvelous talents both. that's them up top working out of the same caboodle! aiyana rocks the bolo tie!! marty is pictured second, and he was actually sitting next to bert bergen who did all of the amazing wallpaper for little otsu (i'll see if i can get a more detailed pic of the wp). i like how i captured marty looking meditative yet childlike; totally belies the rampant performance anxiety most mdr artists probably feel.

also in attendance was the wonderful deth phirum sun, an old old work buddy of mine from whom i have many drawings salvaged long ago from the trash at utrecht art supplies. he isn't pictured, but since he has some cool cache i thought i should namedrop a bit! he introduced me to marci who was as sweet as anything.


above: see, there were lots of people there!


above: wanna buy some art? willing to mosh for it?


and lastly: the verdi club turned out to be quite a classy joint! the ladies room had a formal lounge area-- complete with set of hot curlers.

heads will roll

last night, i went to tommy's for club book and had had had to take some snaps of his little wooden bead collection. tommy says he found them all in a free box in the mission!!

pepperwood

back to the hustle 'n' bustle of the city (extra hustley 'n bustley today with the rain), i find myself pining for the stillness of the redwood forest we explored in pepperwood, population 50. redwoods as far as the eye could see, the entire forest floor is covered in a bright green blanket of clover.

o trinidad

years ago when i was studying to become a certified artist here in san francisco, me and a carload of classmates headed up to trinidad state beach and hiked down to the rocks on the water's edge and got doused by monster waves.

i've always wanted to return, and when nathan judas and i made our visit to the northern reaches of our great state this weekend, trinidad was high on my list of stops. the weather was crisp and cool and the sky was overcast reflecting silvery blue all along the ocean's roiling surface.


walking along the cliffs, several paths wind away into the woods. amidst a scene like this, you can't help but wonder "where are the hobbits?"

eureka!

nathan loves barbeque as much as i love cupcakes! we had lunch sunday at porter street barbeque in eureka. each table has a fistful of trivial pursuit q&a cards to keep you entertained while you wait for your food. as you would guess, they're all marked with dark red finger prints.

away

early saturday morning, while i'm sure many of you were still sleeping, nathan & i stole away in our rental car and headed north for the weekend. i said goodbye to my sweet pink anemones who will probably not survive in my absence.

whenever we cross the golden gate bridge for an early morning adventure we stop by fred's place in sausalito for breakfast. as you would guess, my favorite dish at fred's is the french toast. they actually deep fry them so they taste just like beignets! i've been eating rich foods all week (upwards of 8 cupcakes from citizen cake over a period of three days!!) so i skipped the syrup-- but the french toast was still delicious!

riding up the 101, we spotted some hunting dogs that were loving the wind blowing in their muzzles.

we spent the night in fortuna, just south of eureka. today, we're going to check out trinidad state beach and hunt down a target to buy a new hooded sweatshirt for mein herr. the above photo is of the early morning view across the road from where we're staying.

a moment of respite

after a long day hustling flowers on valentine's eve, it is a miracle that i am able to string more than a few words together. i would happily fall asleep right now fully clothed sitting on the sofa with my laptop, but i swore to myself that i would take the time to post every day this week no matter what.

all of the photos included in this post were taken as i was heading out the door a short while ago (9.30pm pst!!) and although some are a bit dark and out of focus, i have to say they look darn good considering the time of day they were snapped. as stressful as valentine's day can be at a flower shop, it's kind of buoying to be surrounded by so many flowers. the colors are especially striking and i thought some of you might agree so i uploaded quite a few images for collective enjoyment and perusal.

what is your favorite flower?

sweet tooths

i thought it would be fun to post photos of all the yummy things i've been glutting myself with lately!



up top are cupcakes made by small stump wunderkind jill. she brought them in to work today and the plastic roses were a big hit. very mexican bakesale!

i found the milk 'n honees at cost plus this weekend. they are honey flavored hard candies with actual honey filling and come in packs of 10 or so for under a dollar!! looking for online sources, i was surprised to find lots of health food stores that carry them--- honey is supposed to be very good for you after all!

lastly is a photo i styled for valentine's day using a lovely piece of red limoges porcelain, a modest assortment of bling, and a bar of pink pepper laced chocolate from dolfin in belgium. i love photographing food; i always know the shoot will end with some delectable snacking! (find the mirror here and the chocolate and/or similar goodies here.)

lots of dirt under my fingernails now

i don't know how i mustered the energy, but i managed to do beaucoup repotting before bed last night. here are some pictures i got just before leaving the shoebox for work this morning. i am especially excited about the heather i bought over the weekend. scott (my plant expert xoxo) says heather can never get enough water, so we'll see how it fares under my not-so-green thumb. the little chimney sweep and his pig friend are good luck in germany, so i thought they would best serve standing watch over my lovely heather.

the egg planter is a piece i coveted for months at anthro (of course! where else?) and the last portrait is of my newest nerve plant who has been growing rapidly since i brought him home last summer. i love how bushy he is.

breakfast at brenda's (again!)

last week's delicious meal at brenda's seemed so long ago, i was compelled to return for breakfast this morning. i chose to treat myself to these pineapple upside down pancakes with ginger butter and vanilla créme. with valentine's day fast approaching and things at work (flower shop!) getting pretty hectic, i decided to start the week with some preparatory comfort food. lord give me strength!

rite of passage

nathan was kind enough to make pancakes for me. "don't eat 'em too fast!" they actually were pretty good.


there comes a time when all of us must bid farewell to our college futon, and thank the lord that day has finally come for us! our new sofa arrived this weekend and i am already getting crumbs on it.

promise of a new day

woke up this morning to the sun for a change-- no alarm clock, no thank you. it has been a while since i've been this excited on a saturday morning. i snapped these photos while i still had sleep in my eyes!

i have so much planned for my shoebox today, and hopefully i will be posting some very exciting news by the end of this evening!

what are you going to do today?

the weekend is so close i can taste it

is friday over yet? please, can the week be over already? how crazy has it been?

i took some well-deserved solace during lunch today with a tidy plate of delicious macarons from the boulange. i love how brightly colored and moist the cake is compared its firm & muted shell.

this 'n' that

i got a break from my regular work routine today, spending the first half at boss lady's house in noe valley. we gathered lots of flowers to photograph on location vignettes for a series of flower subscriptions we are launching just in time for valentine's day. here is a sneak peak:



trying to work on a lovely bedroom shot but oliver the kittyman was very assertive with his diversionary tactics.



at the end of the shoot, i found out that a button i printed for little otsu was featured on one of my favorite blogs, design*sponge. it is an honor just to be nominated!

times are hard

maybe it's just the recession, but something really bit me this morning and i got the boohoos at work. annabelle, my dear sweet coworker, brought my a little present once the blushing subsided and i can't say how much it means to me! i didn't even remember telling her i love david shrigley!! presents are wonderful, especially when you're feeling sad, and especially when the present is as funny as anything from mr. shrigley.

southern comfort

today is lundi gras, one of my favorite days of the year as long as i am in new orleans to celebrate. i serendipitously ended up having breakfast with jen at brenda's french soul food on polk street near civic center. brenda hails from new orleans herself, and bless her heart for bringing poboys and beignet combo platters to san francisco! if i couldn't be stomping around the french quarter dressed like a tramp laden with bulk plastic beads, i'm glad i could pass the morning here.

these shoes aren't made for walking

today i completed my shoe inventory project from last weekend. i am thoroughly consumed with reassessing every inch of cotton jersey, weathered denim and shoe leather in my wardrobe and i have a burgeoning collection of how-to-not-dress-like-the-catlady books to prove it. in the words of my style guru tim gunn, i'm gonna "make it work." i lined up all my pretty girls earlier for their class photo. color coding is tops!

lastly, it grieves me to announce that i will be parting with my sapphire suede marc jacobs (not marc by marc jacobs, marc jacobs!) t-strapped & peep toe heels. they are a half size too small and high as hell.

clever french people

boss lady brought back a nice stack of design and home decor magazines from her trip to paris which i immediately pilfered. i found these images in the février-mars issue of elle decoration and mon dieu, i just about died they are so cute. it seems that i respond most favorably to children's decor when it comes to foreign design. it must be all that color after pages of chrome and glass.