Month: September 2018

get some color.

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I’m on a project at work that sends me quarterly to the Coachella Valley. I stay at different hotels depending on where my meeting will be and this time I was able to book a night at the famous Saguaro ~ where Instagram dreams come true. 🤗 I wasn’t really sure what to expect on my visit, but I knew I wanted to see the colorful doors for myself. It was definitely off season during my stay, which is much more to my liking – it was quiet and not crowded. Look, no people in my photo! 🙃 The vibe was like 70s motel (on purpose) and desert mod; my room was orange and yellow with purple carpets. Color everywhere! The old school camera was a nice accent, but I felt like I was being watched. 😝  The black and white photography – nice contrast. With all this color, you know I brought some Feed the Fish co goodies to photograph! (And yes, also specially made for the occasion.) The lobby had neon signs, ping pong, …

tea for seven.

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It’s my Mommy’s birthday today! Yay, Mommy! We celebrated over the weekend with a  tea party. On the menu… Tea sandwich 1: Peach and bourbon jam + tiny green apples from the garden. My nephew said it tasted like apple pie. Tea sandwich 2: Smoked salmon + dill cream cheese + chives. Allowing the dill to sit in the cream cheese for at least an hour adds so much more flavor. Tea sandwich 3: Cucumber + dill cream cheese. A classic pairing. I cut each sandwich flavor into a different shape. Also, crusts off always! We also made open faced smoked salmon + cucumber + dill cream cheese + chives sandwiches because why not. It added some nice color to the plate. Also on the menu: Steamed hericots vert with salt + pepper. Bell pepper crudités, a daikon vinegar slaw, and bread delights from 85 Degrees – (clockwise from top) coffee roll with red bean paste and mochi, walnut roll with black sesame seed paste, green tea roll with red beans and cream. …and of …

did you get the memo?

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I taught another felt succulent workshop at Rare Bird, but this time we designed memo boards. I had leftover wire pieces from some shelving and was thinking about how I could use them for an art project. And then it dawned on me – put a felt succulent on it! And a memo board workshop was born. It had been a few months since my last workshop at Rare Bird, and since then, they’ve consolidated their space. It’s half as big as before but still packed with lots of creative magic. My set up for class — For my succulent workshops I usually bring a set color palette, but this time I brought a rainbow of felt and let workshop goers pick their favorite colors. It’s so fun to watch people create and see them get excited when they complete a project. I had three people sign up for memo boards, but we had a no-show, so I ended up teaching a private class to a mom and daughter duo. They created such beautiful work. …

bouquet.

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Hubby and I headed to 4th Street in Berkeley for Bouquet Market. It was our “wherever we want to go” date day and I picked an outdoor market for obvious reasons, but also because it would let us enjoy the fresh air and walk a bit after lunch. Bouquet was held in the north parking lot, which is usually where I park when visiting 4th Street so I was only a little upset I actually had to look for street parking. Ha! In any case, the market had a mix of handmade and vintage finds. There was mostly clothing, jewelry, and home goods. I enjoyed seeing all the textile prints and colorful displays. I saw my friend Roxanne of Roxanne Roxanne Designs, but everyone else was a new-to-me vendor. There was music and a food truck, and we went home with a pumpkin & almond candle by Tule Fog. Yay, shopping small!

galaxy cupcakes.

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My friend (Laura!) and I made cupcakes and they turned out not bad! 🙂 Which was good because we were sharing these at the Galaxy Grandma shower we threw. We made a batch of chocolate and a batch of vanilla. To make the cupcakes galaxy themed we made purply-blue buttercream and topped them off with a sprinkle assortment. We painted our makeshift piping bags with food gel, filled with buttercream, and piped on. It was our first time using food gels, but we followed tips from Sweet and Savory Meals which made it super easy and less stressful. The gels were relatively simple to use, just a bit messy. It helped to cover our work area with parchment before opening any of the food gels. Our test cupcake above. 🙂 We got sprinkles from Fancy Sprinkles. OMG they are so fancy. I’m obsessed and excited to make more sparkly treats after the way these cupcakes turned out! After our taste test, we decided on adding less buttercream for the ‘real’ cupcakes. We ended up smoothing …

stroll.

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I strolled along Solano Avenue last weekend for the Solano Stroll! This annual festival is held every September and this year was it’s 44th year! It’s part street fair, part handmade craft fair, and part community block party. There are food vendors, local bands and dance troupes, raffles, and carnival rides all along one mile of street. Hubby and I started on the West end with breakfast at La Crema, then made our way East. It was a perfect day for a stroll. We stopped every time we saw or heard something that sparked our attention, like these tennis ball gumballs and photo op at Flowerland. Or this 50th High School Reunion booth. Adorbs. We visited with some maker friends, too – An Li of Slow Moon Rise, Min of Bottle of Clouds, and Amanda of Shimmer Jewels. There was Balinese dance, jazz bands… Bubbles, rides and games, food… So much! And we only walked maybe halfway in. So imagine all of this times two! Give a shoutout to your favorite neighborhood festival below. 🙂

galaxy grandma.

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My friends and I threw a grandma shower for our soon-to-be-grandma friend Sahskkia! The theme: Galaxy Grandma (because her grandson’s name was inspired by a constellation). We reserved a table at Riggers Loft in Richmond. They have a large space next to the water. The table we reserved was already beautiful (solid wood!) so we only decorated with a few additions – golden faux candles and twinkle lights, some fun signs that my friend printed out, gold star table scatter, and a plate of cupcakes for the centerpiece (more on the cupcakes in a later post!). We had wine for the table, but some also tried other beverages. Plus, there was a taco truck. Instead of typical party games, we had our own watercolor paint night. The idea was to create galaxy cacti, inspired by Aima Kessy of Dainty Rebel, to continue with the galaxy grandma theme. Clearly, I was most excited for the crafty portion of the evening (so many photos!). Beautiful! What a fun place to host a celebration! In addition to awesome staff, …

disney glam.

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I went to a Mickey Mouse themed baby shower and it was all the cute. Sharing all the Disney magic…er, crafty magic! As soon as we walked in the sea of red, black, and gold decorations caught your eye. The tables were covered in red tablecloths, place settings set with black plates and gold-ware. The centerpieces were Mickey heads made of red and black roses, and bedazzled table signs. Gold Mickey heads adorned each chair (I made the template 🙃) and Mickey head confetti adorned the tables. Handpainted letters by the mom-to-be spelled out the baby’s name and served as the foreground for the ‘parent table.’ The background: a glam-loveseat, perfect for photo-taking. The food was a mix of catered and homemade goodies, and included cream-filled churros (reminded me of Disneyland)! And the creme de la creme: a dessert table filled with gum balls, chocolate-dipped pretzels, Mickey rice treats, assorted candies…I ate so many sweets that day. Kudos to the party planning and decorating committee aka baby’s paternal grandma, cousins, and aunties! 🙂 Super profesh!

will stop for farmer’s markets.

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While we were in Alameda over the weekend, a farmer’s market caught my eye. So we swung by and drooled over all the fresh fruits and veggies. This market is relatively small, with maybe 20-ish booths, including some pre-made food booths, but was filled with lots of fresh produce. September meant lots of kale, peppers, cucumbers, peaches, plums, and berries…and so much more. We snagged some Indian and Thai eggplants and Thai basil. Mmm, the basil made the car smell so good. Generally speaking, if I see a place that catches my eye while driving I will stop if there’s an easy parking space near by. Who else stops for farmer’s markets (side-of-the-road markets count!), too? Share below.

shop feature: apricot.

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On my last work trip we stopped at a cafe en route to the airport and I stumbled upon a yarn store across the way. 🙌🏼 What a fun stumble! Apricot Yarn & Supply is tucked away in Loma Portal at Liberty Station. They carry lots of colorful yarns in different weights and textures, a handful of reference books, and knitting and crochet accessories. Look, so pretty! I found some Loome goodies, too! I chose three hanks of yarn to take home – I loved the textures and colors. The multicolored one is a locally hand-dyed yarn. Yay! These are going to be so perfect for some weavings I have planned. We didn’t get to see other parts of Liberty Station since we had to head to the airport, but I did get to snack on a cinnamon bun from Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe before heading out. Mmm. Looking forward to coming back to the area some time to explore more! Yarn update: I totes tangled two of the three hanks while trying …