improvements

mother nature.  spring rains.  flowers, flowers, flowers.  these photos make me want to put on my rain boots and take a long walk down wet sidewalks to admire spring flowers.  southern california just doesn't get lush greens of springtime that look like this.  something tells me i'll be looking for flowering branches at the farmer's market this week...  sigh.

tea party

recently, i hosted a tea party for a couple of friends, which i had been wanting to do for a while.  i made three types of tea sandwiches: curried chicken salad, cucumber and cream cheese, and turkey.  for dessert, i made gingerbread tea cakes, lime shortbread cookies, and an almost-flourless chocolate cake with white chocolate cream.  it was all quite refined, if i do say so myself...except for that cake.  the cake was pure decadence.  i used this recipe.  i've made it before and it is seriously rich and delicious and i love it in a way that only a true chocolate lover can (obsessively).  it also happens to be delightfully boozy -- bourbon-soaked -- a quality that only intensifies after a day or two.  i highly recommend it.

i miss you, saturday

for no particular reason, i wish i'd stayed here the last two mornings:

i suppose i'd get out of bed eventually.  for some coffee.  and maybe a pastry of some sort...

i might even venture out of the house, if only that coffee/pastry combo could be found in this form...

alas, my neighborhood (city, county, state?) does not run on dunkin'. 

and so, off i go each morning, as i should.  patiently waiting for saturday.

braids

this is all i seem to be able to do with my hair lately.

 

so i am trying to be a little more creative with the lazy braid.

last weekend

 

   

  

quintessential san francisco fog
+ an afternoon at Discovery Park
(the bridge had emerged by the time we headed home)
+ a pretty view
+ a visit to the Aquarium of the Bay
+ warming my tootsies in the sun...
on a sunny day at the pier

= a perfect weekend visiting friends! 

be mine

earlier this week i worked on a few diy valentine greetings for my family.  i mailed them off today.

by the way, see those conversation hearts?  valentine's day classics, right?  well, i've eaten more than my fair share of them this week and, let me tell you, times have changed...  

i actually got one that read 'tweet me'.

i gave tweeting some consideration (ha!), but i ultimately decided to send my greetings via regular mail.  i guess i'm just old fashioned that way.

 

happy valentine's day!  xoxoxo

feeling blue

 

image here, via decor8

i love everything about this image: the bright white walls, the photos tacked to the wall, the weathered wooden box (full of cute sticky notes and stamps, i bet), the jar of flowers, the ampersand.  and that blue lamp.  i want that blue lamp.

the weekend

friday night, this little corner of home felt especially cozy, given the rain pouring down outside.  those tulips just say 'spring' to me.

here they are the day i bought them; they have really opened up in the last few days.  the postcard of a blue penguin feather arrived recently from a friend visiting new zealand.  and i took the photo of the carousel at hôtel de ville, paris last april.

on saturday, i perused this sweet, mouthwatering little book...

while drinking my coffee and finishing off a bar of delicious ecuadoran chocolate.

and finally, on sunday i dropped this fabric off at the upholsterer to have a cushion made for a little iron bench i use every day.  i thought it was about time i dressed it up a bit.  i can't wait to see how it turns out!

blue skies

...because it's a new week and a new month, and a clear blue sky seems a nice way to start.  here are some of my favorites from last year.

1. museé picasso, paris

2. boston

3. hollywood

4. beverly hills (9021...oh!, such dirty birds)
5. phoenix

happy february!  i hope yours is lovely.

what did you have for dinner?

there are plenty of days when i'm perfectly content having a bowl of oatmeal for dinner.  maybe yogurt with fruit.  cookies even.  (the truth is, i'm delighted by cookies for dinner.)  but i'm not always that lazy and uninspired in the kitchen.  sometimes i make a proper meal, like stir fried shrimp and asparagus with lemon.  that's what i did a couple of nights ago and here's the proof.

it was delicious.  if only i'd had cookies for dessert, then it would have been perfect.

rained out

It's been raining here for the last two days.  Pouring, actually.  Cats and dogs.  Tomorrow I will definitely be wearing these: