obsession

I have a confession to make. Like any good old American girl, I grew up playing (& liking) Scrabble in moderation. I'm not even good at the game, but as of late, I am head-over-heels infatuated.

A week or two ago, I joined a game of Wordscraper on facebook (it's the non-copyright violating generic version of Scrabble...99% the same) and that's when I became irreversibly hopelessly insanely hooked. I even made Jeff start a game with me. And we played it together on our computer in real time, with our own separate facebook pages open. Yeah, it's a sick sad addiction.

So last week Jeff surprised me by bringing home the deluxe turntable edition of Scrabble. We played it for 2 days straight. It hasn't left my coffee table. And anyone who's entered our house in the last 4 days has been obliged to play.

And today, I've run out of warm bodies for Scrabble buddies. I'm withdrawing; going cold turkey. And my current Wordscraper games on facebook just aren't going fast enough. So I'm begging:

Will you play Wordscraper with me?

photo by nellee100 via flickr

this. weekend. was. incredible!

It was the splurge and spectacle of the summer: the SF Outside Lands 3-day outdoor music festival in Golden Gate Park. We were there for every minute of it and had the most awesome time!! I'd brave the filthy port-o-potties and second hand marijuana smoke all over again just to scream like a 13-year old girl for Jack Johnson and be mesmerized by the sounds Radiohead. We were so lucky to live just 6 blocks away from the action. There we were, at a venue with 100,000 other people without the headache of parking or becoming just another sardine on a bus without oxygen. Not us--we were home in 10 minutes every night after the shows! With 6 different stages to run back and forth to, it was impossible to hear it all. But what we did hear was amazing. We caught some of our ultimate favorite bands and discovered some awesome new tunes.Music to my ears:
Beck
Cold War Kids
Radiohead
Wilco
Cake
Regina Spektor
Bon Iver
Andrew Bird
Broken Social Scene
M.Ward
Kaki King
Jack Johnson

cottage gem

I never know what treasures might befall me at the laundromat. In between washing and drying, I always rummage through the stacks of periodicals that litter the laudromat's windows. Sometimes I find coupons, other days I catch up on the neighborhood gossip, and sometimes I'm lucky enough to find a magazine worth reading. This week, I happened upon the clean cottage home spread across the pages of May's Your Good House {Good Housekeeping} mag. Every single room in Agnes Rethy's Connecticut colonial has me hypnotized. She makes the most of small spaces and blends each room with light, simple bright whites. I've already clipped and filed all of these pics in my decorating inspiration binder.

These chair slipcovers are from Ikea--after bringing them home, she had them monogrammed. They look like a million bucks! I especially love the whimsy of this outdoor room. {Sigh} I need a backyard garden+patio someday.

shop update!

At last! This busy summer has taken its toll on my etsy shopkeeping. Today I managed a bit of an update--and there's some fun new stuff in store! I've been trying my hand at embroidery with some bright summery dishtowels. Enjoy & thanks for looking!

to a crafty friend

Not only is my friend Erin a crafting genius, she's also got an eye for finding adorable little gifts on etsy. We babysat for her 2 cute kids overnight a few weeks ago and of course she put together an over-the-top and unnecessary thank you gift. The gift basket included these adorable ceramic magnets from MudHutt. Even more impressive were these beaded wine charms that she made with her own two hands. I'm in love with the colors. Raise your hand if you think Erin needs to open her own etsy shop!

recap: family visits

This week was so fun! My parents and 2 youngest brothers (Michael & Daniel) came to visit and we enjoyed a family vacation from the comfort of our home. We packed a lot into just 5 days and had a blast!
Monday 8.11 :
*After an unsurprising airline delay, the fam pulled into SF around 7pm. We had the grill ready for making dinner.
*Afterward, a quick walk to China beach in hopes of seeing the GG Bridge. No such luck. In fact, poor Mikey, who hasn't been here before, went 0-5 with the fog and never saw more than just the bottom of the bridge the whole week!
*Back home for dessert, Olympics, and the air mattress inflation ceremony.Tuesday 8.12 :
*We started the day right with Jeff's infamous waffles+berries for breakfast
*Hopped in our rental mini-van by 10am and began our journey down Hwy 1
*In Monterey, we had lunch at the wharf and enjoyed the splendid jellies on parade at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Such an awesome place to visit!
*After our underwater adventure we headed to Carmel to divide & conquer: girls went shopping {found these at anthropologie in silver} and guys hit the amazing car show. They were dazzled by the endless vintage Lamborghinis & Ferraris.
*The fam helped us celebrate our anniversary (2 years, already!?) by treating at the Grill on Ocean Ave. Such a yummy meal!
*Then back to Monterey to check in at our quaint little cottage for the night.

Wednesday 8.13 :
*Up early so we could hit the tide just right: The boys went surfing! This was definitely the highlight of the trip! I completely chickened out--wet suit or not, the Pacific is waay too cold! My feet were numb enough after 2 seconds of wading while hunting for sea shells & glass on shore.
*Lunch under the sun on the patio at Chipotle
*A quick stop at See's Candies for a box of the sweetest truffles {yeah, my sweet tooth is genetic!}
*Back in the mini van to tour 17-mile drive: gorgeous coastline, ridiculous mansions, and the greens of Pebble Beach + other high end golf courses.
*A stop at Point Lobos to climb rocks and check out tide pools full of urchins, crabs, sea stars, & mussels
*Along our journey back north to the city we hit the Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz to ride a coaster or two.
*Dinner at In-n-Out Burger, my brothers' new favorite food. For them, no trip to the West Coast is complete without a Double Double and a milkshake!!
*Back at our apartment in SF, we literally fell into bed. What a day!
Thursday 8.14 :
*Another early morning! We sped down to Pier 33 to catch our boat to tour Alcatraz & Angel Islands. Both are so historically rich--I highly recommend visiting both! We purchased our tickets a week in advance and literally found the last few available. Lesson learned: August is a crazy time around here, so plan ahead!
*Spent the morning on Angel Island. It's 5 miles around and nearly uninhabited. It's a gorgeous place for camping, biking, or hiking. And if you're lucky enough to find a day without fog--it has some incredible, sweeping views of the Bay area. We opted out of the Segues and took a tram tour around the island. Afterward, we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the grassy lawn.
*Off to Alcatraz to tour the rock & cell house in the afternoon. Visit #3 for me, soon I'll be giving the tours!
*Back to SF, where we packed in all of the standard must-see & dos: a quick walk through Fisherman's Wharf, hopped a cable car to Union Square for dinner, then back up and down the hills to Ghiradelli Square for dessert.

Friday 8.15:
*After an action-packed week, we did some major sleeping in.
*Took a driving tour across the GG bridge, to the affluent island of Belevedere (to see how the other 0.1% live), then cruised the hills of Tiburon, at which point I got car sick. :(
*Lunch on the sunny deck at Sam's Cafe in Tiburon was the perfect way to wrap up their visit! (P.S. I'm feeling better at this point.)
*Back to SF to bid farewells and to pack up the fam for their late afternoon flight. Why must all good things come to an end? Someday {soon} we need to live closer again.

And today, here I am, alone in my eerily silent apartment and am marveling at this list. We definitely maximized our time together! Wish I'd snapped a few more pictures...My mom took about 1 million, so am waiting to see how hers turn out.

Happy weekend!

mahi mahi tacos

I was so intrigued by the mahi mahi taco dinner in my Domino mag this month that I had to give it a whirl while my friend Kayt was in town. {Check out the recipes here.} Everything was pretty delish and very fun to make. But just a word to the wise--our watermelon margaritas turned out a bit frothy. The recipe doesn't specify, but if I were to make them again, I'd separate the watermelon juice from the pulpy fruit fibers before blending it with the other ingredients.

recap: kayt visits

Goodness gracious, am I ever behind! Tourist season is in full swing and I can officially say that this summer has been insane, but in a really great way. Last weekend Kayt, my friend from babyhood came out to visit. A little extra estrogen is good medicine, and no--I'm not talking about birth control. Twenty buck manis+pedis, eating delicious meals out, some retail therapy, wine tasting, and lots of chocolate indulgences were exactly what I needed!Thursday 8.7 :
Picked Kayt up from SFO at 1pm
Lunch at Specialtys, one of my absolute favorite San Francisco cafes
A walk through the Ferry Building, but not without a stop at Miette
Back to the apartment to regroup
Happy hour at California Wine Merchant with Jeff's coworkers (before their big softball game!)
A little shopping + cheap manis/pedis on Chestnut Street. Discovering the allure of Sweet dish, the candy store dreams are made of (above), was just the icing on the cake!
Then home again for Mahi Mahi tacos, watermelon margaritas, and watch Into the Wild.

Friday 8.8 :
Woke up early to drag Kayt along to VBS at church. (I'd tried to help out with crafts a few of the days last week). Friday's story was David & Goliath, and so during craft time we asked the kids to create a life-size Goliath out of paper & tin foil. I promised Kayt it would be worth her while at the end of the morning--we lined up the kids in the parking lot to get a chance to "play David." Each kid got to launch water balloons from a slingshot at a giant Goliath! The kids loved it and amazingly, everyone stayed dry!
In the afternoon we headed to the Great Mall in San Jose for lunch and more shopping. I'd never been there, so I was curious to check it out. Let's just say I'm not in a hurry to go back.
Back in the city, we headed to Houston's for supper to visit Jeff--he was working. Everything is so so yummy! I always love an excuse to eat there. Since we wanted to sit in Jeff's section, we braved the cold and sat out on the patio (gotta love San Francisco summers). On the bright side, Kayt had a great excuse to wear her adorable new yellow coat.
Back home to warm up, curl up on the couch, and tune into the Olympics' Opening Ceremony.
Saturday 8.9:
I was a lucky girl and got the day off of work! And good thing: we had a gorgeous, gorgeous day in Napa visiting these wineries:

Cakebread: I love this winery's name, its elegant labels, and oh yeah, its wines. :) We had to make an appointment for their tour/tasting, but they were very accomodating and got us in right away when we arrived 30 minutes early. For $10 we tasted 6 of their wines and got to keep the glasses. Our guide was very conversational and knowledgable. We had an awesome time.

Silver Oak: Complete disappointment for such famous Cabernets. We were turned off by the flooded port-o-potties and crowded tasting room that was temporarily moved to a trailer during their estate's major construction project. The wines were great, but came with a bit of a price tag: $10 to taste just 2. All is not lost, I'm willing to give it another shot in a year or two once their main building is open again.

V. Sattui: We definitely saved the best for last! Their wines are sold exclusively at the winery, and it's just $5 to taste 6 of their wines. That's just the beginning: They also have a deli, gorgeous picnic area, and a gourmet barbeque outside on weekends. So you do your tasting, get a bottle of your favorite, and enjoy a beautiful picnic lunch hot off their grill of from their mozzarella bar. It's completely unpretentious and family friendly. We had such a great time--the only thing missing was live music!

After our splendid afternoon of wine tasting, we headed to Sausalito to meet our friends Stephanie & Meghan for supper. We ate at a little cafe and sat outside by the harbor. It was the perfect ending to a much-needed girls' weekend!

light love

My PB Kids obsession continues. I've got my eye on this charming, understated little chandie...But first it needs to go on sale.

steph + dale

Jeff and his buddy Eric had the privilege of shooting the photos at our mutual friends' wedding in June. I've been itching, well, more like dying, to share some of my favorite pics since then--but it's only fair that the bride gets to see them first. ;) They got married in Nebraska on a perfect summer day. So simple and beautiful. And I am forever in love with the vibrant grassy field where we shot these photos:
Congrats and God Bless, Steph + Dale. We are so happy for you!

a little bit o' luck

Surprise! It's not even my birthday, but this weekend I had the serendipitous surprise of winning this darling birthday garland from one of Marta's generous giveaways. (Banner by Nsquare design + print.) Am sensing a great birthday bash for someone, sometime in the near future.