kansas city sky

hours later, it was pouring down rain and thundering and lightninging!

hammertime

as soon as i knew we were coming back to the midwest this 4th, i started to dream about visiting hammerpress in kansas city. design*sponge published photos of their studio just a few days before we left san francisco, so i was very grateful that brady had any time at all for us what with all the attention he got to bask in post-blog. brady vest is the hammerking: he lead us on a tour of the shop and let me take all the photos i wanted.

i dearly miss my college days spent in funky old print shops, so believe me, standing in the middle of a room chock full of random bits of vintage print ephemera, i was in Heaven.


for all my printmaking experience, i've actually never worked with a letterpress, hammerpress's method of choice. ironically, letterpress is my favorite of all printmaking methods even though it is the one i know the least about, besides litho. i think it is so very beautiful.



nathan and stephan were all about this vintage plate of andre the giant.



everything in the shop is old old old. i love it.


i'm pretty familiar with hammerpress cards and the like, but not so much with their concert posters. we had a good time perusing their collection and picked out a whole bunch to take home. close relations take note: there will be a hammerpress item in our gift exchange this xmas!

at the farm

on wednesday, we drove from atchison to kansas city and saw a random sign on the way for fresh corn & peaches. we pulled off the road and drove down a dirt drive that lead us to the red barn farm. every farm amenity a native californian could imagine was there; wagons, tractors, chicken coop, angry geese, horsies, pigs, sheep... oh, and of course, fresh peaches!








twin calves!!

almost there

we flew to kansas city last tuesday to celebrate the birth of our nation in our nation's heartland.

plant family

i've been sick with a cold the past couple days and, to cheer me up, nathan repotted a bunch of our plants and let me pick out two new ones from the plant warehouse. pictured above is a euphorbia.


i couldn't resist getting another fern. plant shopping is not unlike adopting a cat or dog. each plant seems to have it's own personality, and i get very choosy.


and in case you were wondering, here is a shot of my happy cyclamen, italian parsley, and brand new (and thriving!) kentucky colonel mint.

today is my sweet pal jill's birthday! happy birthday, small stump craft machine!

graduation day

in a little over an hour from now, i am jetting down to los angeles for my brother ian's high school graduation. i finally have an occasion to use my favorite snow & graham card, and nathan was kind enough to make sure it had some money inside.

all dogs go to heaven

zeke went to sleep last night. he was very special.

because sometimes, you deserve a little treat

so far, i am having the best blueberry season!

growing

lately i've been feeling heavily burdened by the outside world, so i took some time this morning to admire the simple pleasures i live with every day. my cyclamen and iceland poppy are back in bloom!

idle times

up until recently, my aunt & uncle had a sweet cottage in a santa cruz surf ghetto just a hop, skip, and a jump (2 blocks, really) away from the sea. whenever i am in town, i like to park near 41st avenue and walk down to the cliffs to watch the surfers hanging out in the water. it is always really calm and meditative for me, even with people around.


living it up at the mobile manor, auntie kim's makeshift mosaic studio is on the back patio. the entire staircase displays her works in progress. the second piece from the right has some broken bits of these french dinner plates that i got from work.


ever since i was a wee niece, my aunt has had this painting hanging in her house. my grandmother painted it from a photograph of a bonneted kim walking on the beach as a child. i love it so.


new photos of morgan were conveniently laid out all over the place for me to fawn over. it is so amazing to see her grow from a cute toddler to a beautiful little person. she's also the first baby of the next generation and ak &us's first grandchild, so that is doubly exciting.


festiva peonies waiting for grandpa.

we're so outta here

we packed up a rental car for the weekend and drove down to santa cruz. auntie kim & uncle steve were travelling and didn't want to leave jack in jack jail (a kennel) while they were gone. i love santa cruz and i love cats, so i was more than happy to take on the task of jacksitting.


jack has a big saggy belly and a snarfly nose that always sounds boogery when he breaths. he loves lying in the sun and occasionally casting a coy sideways glance.

hats off!

when we got back to san francisco from new orleans, i was so excited to stumble upon a show at sfo of vintage stewardess caps.

i had just forgot my cute little otsu planner (yeah, this one) on the plane, so seeing this display helped lift my spirits.





Hats Off! Women's Airline Uniform Caps, a new exhibition at San Francisco International Airport, presents a unique look at the design history of the crowning touch in the fashions of flight--the airline uniform hat for women.

The approximately thirty-five uniform caps included in the exhibition illustrate the cap's role as a practical accessory and an extension of an airline's company image. Caps on display range from haute couture-inspired looks from the 1940s, and modern designs from the 1960s to retro-influenced styles from the 1980s and 1990s. Among the designers represented in the exhibition are Adolfo, Howard Greer, Oleg Cassini, Stan Herman, Eric Javits, Raymond Loewy, Jean Louis, Hanae Mori, Mary McFadden and Frank Olive.

a tentative audience

while in new orleans, we spent a few evenings at megan & shana & billy & danny's house, and one night danny got busy with the grill.

hippo, tippy, and rogue are shameless beggers when it comes to people food and they quickly zeroed in on nathan once he sat down with his plate of chicken. half way through the video, you can see hippo high five him as she has been diligently taught by her mom, shana.

fun, and apparently people food, was had by all.

cafe du monde

no trip to new orleans is complete without half a dozen visits to cafe du monde for beignets and cafe au lait w/ chickory. this place is old old old and open 24 hours. you can sit inside or outside; my favorite spot is on the outside corner nearest the river facing jackson square.


the tables are always sticky! your clothes are always dusty!


people watching rarely disappoints. case in point: casting call for witness.

if you take a stroll through the alley behind cafe du monde, you'll find a window into their kitchen. having made beignets at home several times (with the cafe du monde mix!) i was really jazzed to see how they work it. how cool is this rolling press?! they roll a lump of dough through the press on the left and then run the niched roller along the flattened dough to get a bunch of rectangles, then they fry 'em up in the vats in the background. within minutes, you're served the pillowy doughnuts mounded with powdered sugar. amen.

lucky's

one of my favorite things about being in new orleans is getting to experience it like a local. late one night, we were riding back from a friend's house in mid city to our b&b in the garden district when britten called to invite us out for karaoke at lucky's which we a had literally just rode past on st. charles. when i'm in town, i try to see my friends as much as possible so we had to oblige!

i was pretty tired, but had fun playing with my camera and listening to various vocal stylings. britten belted out let's give them something to talk about, then joked about how the hostess, linda, always always sings nothing compares 2 u, which she did eventually croon.


i left my beloved coat in a cab and have been in mourning ever since. thinking it was the lord's intention to provide me with funds for a replacement, we went to harrah's and immediately lost $25. relaxing at lucky's next to the poker machines, i relapsed and gambled $1. i won 75¢ and got out when the gettin' was good!