30 time, tommy style

last week's club book meeting was also a preliminary party-like get together to celebrate ringleader tommy's 30th birthday. he is currently enjoying time off from work and looking very mr. mom. never feed beans to a baby! i'm sure he probably already knows that; he's so well read!


suzanne brought a cake she decorated. she works at an erotic cake shop and she sure can wield an icing tube!

trashy!

my fanback skirt finally arrived today from trashy diva. the print is called hurricane and was inspired by, yeah, katrina. i had to have it! fashionable lasses in new orleans insist upon local label trashy diva, and having tried on several hourglass flattering dresses, i can see why.


most designs are available in a selection of fun prints, and they just added new cotton voile designs for summer! day dresses l to r: cotton voile ava dress in sketchy cherries $93, silk alexa dress (uh-huh!) in navy floral $249, silk obi dress in magenta floral $319, silk alexa dress in dragons $249.

more! more! more! evening to night theme. l to r: silk georgette carrie dress in black $400, silk charmeuse obi dress dress in forest green $253, silk charmeuse pin up robe in forest green $115, silk obi blouse in black $125, silk hepburn robe in blue dots $138.

defend new orleans

i decided this visit to finally pick up some defend new orleans tshirts. they were originally designed by jac currie as a protest against gentrification, but took on an entirely new meaning after the storm. you can order tshirts at the above dno link, but if you're ever in town, stop by funky monkey on magazine. a vintage clothing shop, they also have a range of american apparel shirts in different colors available so you can pick your fave and a nice lady will slap a heat transfer on it for you for under $20. see...

biker babe

those who know me well know that i am a hardcore pedestrian. i don't own a car and i hate riding the bus. you might suggest that i opt to get a bicycle, but i just don't have the nerve; just the thought of it plagues me with all sorts of terrible accident scenarios.

this in mind, i surprised even myself when i proposed to nathan that we rent bikes to get around new orleans. a quick search online yielded bicycle michael's on frenchmen (one of our favorite streets!) where we got identical schwinn frontiers nicknamed milkshake and bender. i held the high esteem of riding the bike named after my favorite futurama character.

after the first day riding feeling as if i might be launched from a cannon at any moment, i started to warm up and get comfortable. by the time we had to return the bikes, i was sad to bid farewell to bender.


here is the pavement in front of the bike shop. it has a bunch of weird plastic crap lodged in it.

the fly

the weather in new orleans was the best we'd ever had on a visit there, and we enjoyed it muchly biking around town. we rode down magazine street to audubon park by the river where i immediately collapsed in the grass to nap.


nathan picked up a stowaway.


the mississippi river laps up against the pathway 12 yards away from where we rest.


when partaking in a bottled beverage, i favor throwing my empties over my shoulder providing there is clearance.

napoleon house

we are back in san francisco after a long and lovely week in new orleans. i have many photos i am still sifting through, so i will continue to post about our trip for the next week or so...


one of my new favorite spots is napoleon house in the quarter on chartres. the building dates back to 1797 and during his tenure as mayor from 1812-15, nicholas girod hoped that it would be napoleon's refuge following his exile. i've heard the tower in the above photo was supposed to serve as a lookout point once napoleon arrived. he died before he could bask in any southern hospitality.


the walls look like they haven't been wiped down in two hundred years. i love it!


while most guidebooks direct you to central grocery for a muffuletta, i think napoleon house does just as well. you could order a whole, half, or quarter sandwich, the ladder of which is the perfect serving size. i tried their red beans and rice, which were okay.

i can't stop by napoleon house without partaking in one of their two special cocktails, the pimm's cup. refreshing and light, it comes in a tall frosted glass with a cucumber garnish. the other popular beverage they hustle is the sazerac, a mixture of whiskey, bitters, and absinthe or pernod.


sit inside or out on the patio near their lush fountain. either spot, you'll be within earshot of beethoven, puccini or whatever. want another slice of napoleon house? visit their website-- it has music!!

no, thanks

after our lovely day with bunchy, we wandered the quarter by ourselves looking for a late dinner. we usually avoid bourbon street, but we ended up checking out pat o'brien's, the place that the hurricane cocktail built. this place is like disneyland for grownups; if there is any way they can rip you for more dough, they'll do it. their motto is "have fun," but i think their definition of fun is getting plastered and not caring that they slapped you with a bunch of add-on charges for souvenir glasses and a roaming portrait photographer (like riding splash mountain). it didn't look like nathan had much fun when he was disputing our bill, nor did the manager look like he was having fun or trying to encourage nathan to have fun when he was assisting him.

nathan and i favor the smaller, funkier places, the more off the beaten path the better. i am not one to snark at new orleans tradition, either; i remember my parents brought back a pouch of pat o'rien's hurricane mix from our trip years ago, and it languished in our pantry for many moons. every time i saw it, i was awash with nostalgia for new orleans.

if you ever come to visit the quarter and you're new to the city, i would recommend strolling through the restaurant to see their wild fountains (they spew water and fire) and picking up a hurricane to go-- remember, you can do that here!

algiers point with britten

algier's point is a short trip over the river from new orleans proper, and never throughout all my visiting to the city have i been afforded the chance to go to the west bank before, so i was happy to take up britten on her invitation to show us around. the above shot looks very rural, but there are actually pubs and cafes around, and even mardi gras world is located over here. all of the floats are built and housed in this space year round and every mardi gras it hosts mom's ball, an event i would imagine puts the folsom street fair in san francisco to shame.


we walked up along the levy and found this little playground next to the river. the massive puddle is probably from last week's heavy rain.


did you know that old algiers is the brooklyn of the south?



we stopped by a british pub called the crown & anchor where i drowned myself in my new favorite beer, strawberry abita, and we asked each other questions from 90s trivial pursuit for a good hour or so. i had to include this terribly dark photo so you could see the little kurt cobain game piece that i immediately claimed as my mascot. britten was a cappuccino and nathan was a pda. not surprisingly, no one went for the dot com stock certificate. some 90s stuff you just can't really get nostalgic about.


we took the ferry back to new orleans just as the sun was setting. i love being out on the water! we'll hopefully be boarding the natchez some time this week for a jazz cruise. tourists!

sliver by the river

britten took us out to a part of town i don't often get to, the riverbend section of uptown. hugging the mississippi and positioned on higher ground than some surrounding neighborhoods, this area is called the sliver by the river and it happens to be where britten's grandmother first planted stakes some fifty years ago.

after a fine dining experience at cooter brown's we walked around the corner to visit marie, a woman i've heard so much about over the years. she lives in a lovely house with many many rooms the likes of which i will never possess in california (see grand detail above). marie was in the middle of her french studies when we called on her; she is preparing for her annual trip to france this summer.


strolling back to the car from marie's, we let the railroad guide us.


with our backs to the railroad tracks, the mississippi lies just over this hill. britten wanted to take us berry picking by the water, but the river is mighty high these days preventing us from reaching the bushes that grow wild nearby.

i have no idea what's going on

yep, like san francisco, new orleans boasts many random street performers.

i can't say i don't miss the robo-dancing tin men, the tree man of fisherman's wharf , or naked yoga man back home, but it was nice seeing the ladies bring something to the table.

french quarter fest

our first two days in new orleans have been blessed with amazing weather. the night before our arrival, there was a huge thunder storm that just drenched the city and tempered the heat of last week.

we had no idea until after we booked our room that the french quarter fest is happening this weekend, and we managed to hustle down to the quarter (on foot!) to partake in live music and luscious dripping food at jackson square. i was particularly pleased with my new best friend, abita beer (a local brew), and delighted to dine in the grass on oyster and artichoke florentine (pictured above) from the bywater barbeque booth. while most of the food we tried was pretty tasty, i was happy to find an alternative to po'boys and bbq'd what have you.


we met up with our new orleans friends on this balcony overlooking royal street. view left...


and view right. lovely!

crawfish season

not in town an hour and we had to get some crawfish after we heard about a great place just blocks from where we are staying in the garden district. big fisherman seafood serves up all the classic components to a crawfish boil separately so you can pick and choose exactly how many soft, slippery heads of garlic or half cobs of corn you want. nathan was apprehensive about eating garlic gloves whole, but he changed his mind real quick. he even seemed to favor them over the boiled potatoes he usually likes.

one of my favorite parts about eating crawfish is how informal it can be. you don't need plates and you don't need utensils. you're pretty much eating out of a plastic bag or off a length of newspaper. paper towels are helpful, but there isn't much point in using them until you're done eating.

we just got up (about noon in new orleans, 10am in san francisco) and nathan is tying his shoes to hoof it back to big fisherman for some more sausage and garlic for breakfast!


our little apartment has a private porch that opens on to a patio. these boids were having at their early supper the same time we were settin' to have some crawdads.

we're here!

new orleans beckons

all week i've been getting excited about my upcoming holiday in new orleans and special little things keep happening to assure me that the time for me to return to the city i adore is right.

after reading the new orleans design guide on design*sponge earlier this week, i was gifted this wonderful snow globe from my wonderful work associate jill. it doubles as a calendar which i love love love. i teared up during a staff meeting because i couldn't go to mardi gras this year, so everyone i work with knows how much i love new orleans.

more buttons!

i have been very busy trying to get lots of stuff done before leaving for new orleans, including making sure that little otsu has more than ample stock of my embroidered buttons.

here is the second spring batch that i will be dropping off today after work. i'll be in the neighborhood to watch fast times at ridgemont high at dolores park later this evening. hopefully the beautiful weather we're having today won't abandon us completely once night falls.

parlez-vous français? do you wanna?

when i was in art school, my friends and i would bring each other gifts that we found on the street (ask rick about his vintage sewing desk!) like this briefcase filled with vintage instructional français tapes and booklets. bob brought it for me, and i've always liked it, but it is time for it to leave the shoebox. if you like to have it, leave a comment, otherwise i'll be dropping it off at out of the closet when we get back from new orleans in a week or so.

unfortunately the verb wheel won't be included as pictured. that one went fast!


merci!

organized

with our departure for new orleans fast approaching (saturday!), i decided to get all my ducks in a row so i could efficiently shoot 'em down this week before vacation.

while out at little otsu delivering buttons, i picked up one of their cool new planners. you can see that my week is already filling up!

i've been using little otsu planners for the past few years, and i especially love them because you fill in the dates yourself, so you can start using one whenever you like. the little otsu annual weekly planner vol. 2 is illustrated by one of my favorite LO artists, martine workman. it comes with lots of neat line drawings of houses and a fun little question about yourself to answer every week. you can get it here for $16.

oma!

nathan and i made our long awaited visit to san bruno to see my lovely oma this weekend. here she is, successfully masking her disdain for being photographed. she has the sweetest little bee broach peeking out there by her collar bone.

i get my quirky sense of humor from her, which is a viennese trait apparently, or so she insists. this was the first time i was able to see her on my own without my parents in almost 20 years, and it was nice having her almost completely to myself. she is a marvelous women and a wonderful storyteller. we got to hear a few about my dad when he first moved out of the house and another one about my grandfather's narcolepsy.


viennese pride!!


i make it a point not to weigh down my blog with apologies for sparse entries or blurry photographs. oma's flowery wallpapered bathroom with matching scale is too amazing not to document. i refuse to use flash. sue me.

little otsu delivery

after a long bout of procrastination, i delivered the first portion of a huge batch of embroidered buttons i've been working on for little otsu. i had fun selecting fabrics that are spring and summer appropriate-- was ready to move on from all the burgundy and brown i was using before xmas. i used some new fabrics, including some from carol lintner and jenny rinzler's quilting stashes. such kind and generous ladies, those two!

flea market, solo

sunday was long and productive for me, and it started early with a trip to the alameda flea market, the crown jewel of northern california flea markets.

content to just stroll about, i quickly concluded that flea markets provide the absolute best people watching. i love seeing what items people are clutching to their chests or pushing around in carts. i even got to eavesdrop on a couple conferring over potential purchases via walky-talkies!!

it is certainly true here, sometimes one man's junk is another man's treasure.


i initially thought i wouldn't buy anything, but the shape of this little 4 pleased me so. $6, not much of a haggler.


my favorite purchase is this little cast iron trivet. $5, also no haggling. it's worth more than that to me!

p.s. laura normandin hand cut these felt trivets that are on view at rose and radish. one of my favorites is the lower left one which you might find familiar...

not at work for a change

heck, this past week was pretty busy at the store (worked six days in a row... booo!). once monday rolled around, i was content to sleep in (till 9) and then watch live w/ regis & kelly. when my tummy started growling for lunch time, i walked a block over to whole foods and got a delicious sandwich to eat in the park. one of my favorite parts about walking everywhere in this city is spying little bits of green determined to grow out of the most inhospitable looking nooks and crannies.


i finally splurged on some saint benoit yogurt from sonoma county. i love that it comes packaged in a ceramic jar that you can return to the market to be recycled for a future batch. they offer redemption coinage for such returns, but i bet most people keep them for other uses at home. how did it taste? light, tangy, and honey sweet. and it has a layer of cream on top!