New year, new table (Pictured: Noritake’s Blue Hammock collection)
Blazer | Dress | Vintage necklace (similar)
Let’s talk about meal delivery services.
New year, new table (Pictured: Noritake’s Blue Hammock collection)
Blazer | Dress | Vintage necklace (similar)
Let’s talk about meal delivery services.
OK, we need to talk about a few things. They have nothing whatsoever to do with each other, but all are, I think, pretty crucial.
“A Persian Cat living in the sky” is an equally plausible explanation.
Every so often, when trying to explain something to my children, I am struck by the degree to which the world of technology has outpaced my ability to sound like an adult who knows things. Even TV is beyond me. "See, people stand in front of a camera, and then their pictures and voices go onto a...sort of like a piece of tape? And then that goes into a...like, a TV station, and they...tell the picture to go into...space. And then it comes onto your TV. Get it?"
A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my friend Stephen, and complaining about the fact that every time I have to do anything on my phone I have to first delete everything I possibly can (apps, any and all photos that I'm at least relatively unemotional about, etc). And he said, "Have you put them on the Cloud?"
My angel. (IG @ramshackleglam)
I spent a few days last week visiting my in-laws in Ohio so they could spend some time with the kids, and do you know what I got to do while I was there? See a movie. By myself. And then take a casual stroll around Old Navy. BY MYSELF. (I picked up the floral henley pictured on my daughter above and a collared shirt that my son might actually deign to wear.)
One more thing I found on that Old Navy trip (and the only reason I haven't mentioned this perfection yet is that it deserves its own post, but I have been extremely unphotogenic for the past four days so...eh, let's just do it): this absolutely must-have long-sleeved top. It is entirely unexciting, but is also now the only thing in my closet that I want to wear. It is 100% cotton, and soft, and the perfect shape, and cozy, and goes with everything, and you need to own it. Especially since it's like ten bucks. (Really.)
Mix-and-match dishes from Noritake China
Apparently it is fall. Well, not technically - not until the 22nd - but to me, once Labor Day Weekend is over and school has begun: it's fall.
The weather here would like me to know that I am wrong on this point. Yesterday was without a doubt the hottest day I have experienced since I moved to California. (I'm not entirely sure that it technically was, but it definitely felt that way; I was practically fainting by the time I got home from school pickup, and ended up stealing my son's second apple juice from his backpack so that I didn't actually pass out. Granted, my assessment mayyyy have been influenced by the fact that I spent a couple of hours prior to that wandering around in the open sun collecting petition signatures - which is another story; the salient point for the purposes of this particular post is that 95 degrees feels like approximately 1,000 degrees when you are standing in a parking lot explaining student-to-teacher ratios and getting all fired up about what constitutes a "fair wage.")
{ New Orleans Burlesque Dancer Bella Blue | Image by Stephen LaMarche }
Kendrick has a huge, huge thing for New Orleans, and looked like he was going to cry when I explained to him that adding a stop in the city to our cross-country road trip last summer was going to mean many, many extra hours in the car with our children. Like, too many. But in exchange for his flexibility on this point, I promised him that we'll make a trip there in the near future - which is a promise I'm fully okay with making, because last time I went (years and years ago, with my dad), there were oyster shooters and lots and lots of those romantic hanging trees that you see everywhere in the south, and both of those things are things that I enjoy very much.
So in preparation for this trip that we will one day go on - and because some of you might also be interested in some tips on what to do in the area - I thought I'd ask a friend who's something of an expert on the area, Cait Weiss, about her five local must-dos. Cait is a former burlesque "stage kitten" (who wrote a hell of an article on the subject) and present-day poet (you can find recent examples of her work here and here), and her suggestions have me wanting to hop a plane and go drink Sazeracs while sitting on a carousel. Like, today. (I also asked her to give me five burlesque-related must-haves, and her suggestions include the most amazing lightbulbs ever and boob tape. Love.)
When my parents visited over the weekend we drove over to one of my favorite local spots, a little used bookstore in Campbell with a great kids' section. I got all excited about a bunch of books and started to buy a whole stack of them "to read over the holidays," and then remembered that I have two children and put back all but one (the Stephen King, obvs). There's always the chance that Goldie will fall asleep on the flight to Ohio and let me get through a few chapters (ha hahahahahahah).
But MAN am I excited about the books that are out right now. So I thought I'd put up a list of some recent favorites and a few I'm looking forward to reading...someday. And if you have any suggestions, I'd love love love to hear them!
Recent Favorites:
Everyone has those friends who make you want to just follow them around all day to see how, exactly, it is that they do life so damn well. For me, that's Stephen and Dave. You've been hearing about them for years now, ever since I started blogging - they're Kendrick's best friends from college, so we've known them forever, but we also lived in the same building for a few years and had some epic rooftop adventures. And then they moved to the West Coast and we thought, cool, let's do that too. (Kidding, but only sort of.)
Every time I go to their apartment - an industrial-style loft in San Francisco - I need to photograph it; it's just that well-done. The most interesting thing about it, though, is that every time I visit, I notice that it looks even better than the last time, but not because they've added stuff...it's usually, rather, that they've taken stuff away. Pared it all down.
Oh.
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Blue jean babies. (My favorites for little girls are these and these; favorites for little boys are these.)
I just discovered this pillows-and-throws brand - I stumbled across it at a store in Burlingame - and aaaaaaaaaahhhh I love it. And the prices are really good, especially for pieces that feel this luxe. (This blanket and this pillow are my personal faves.)
The weather here is funny. It'll be all 90 degrees and clear blue skies in our back yard, and then we get in the car and drive twenty minutes away, and all of a sudden it's 50 and overcast. Last summer, I remember the first time we drove from the South Bay into San Francisco, our son looked out the window and said, "Mom, look! The clouds are falling down." Which is an incredibly creepy and Stephen King-story-ish thing to hear a three-year-old say, but it was true: the clouds were literally rolling down the sides of the hills. If you've never seen it, you wouldn't believe how dramatic the climate here is: you can actually see a wall of fog coming at you. Like, an actual wall. That you will hit.
Weird.