Month: November 2018

etsy come to life!

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The 6th annual SF Etsy Indie Holiday Emporium marks my 4th year as a vendor. This year it felt like a total reunion ~ I loved it! I shared a booth with my friend Joy of Lighten Up Shoppe. Twas the perfect balance of party, party, party and zen, calming scents and tones. 🙂 On the first day, there was a line out the door and Etsy came to interview me. That was terrible, but at least I looked supah fly in my felt flower crown. And speaking of flower crowns, my felt flower crown bar was a hit! It’s my new favorite thing BTW. On the second day, Joy and I discovered the photobooth station. Commence cheese! The weekend’s top seller: boba-related goodies! Also, this pup’s name is Boba. There were lots of Shop Small freebie bags for the first few visitors, a VIP shopping hour (super exclusive and came with a bag of goodies!), and free coffee. Plus, all the makers got an exclusive SF Etsy show pin – it’s tradition now! Twas …

coffee and toast.

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Featuring San Diego trip inspo seems appropriate this week because my nephew and I scored Comic Con SD 2019 tickets this weekend! We’ve got to get some touristing in there, too, so we’ll be planning some stops. In the meantime, here’s a coffee shop and avocado toast round up from my last visit. How many avocado toasts can I eat in one weekend? The answer is “at least three”! Our first stop after landing in San Diego was Achilles Coffee Roasters. Though I wasn’t crazy for their avocado toast, Achilles has one of the best chai lattes I’ve ever had. They make their own masala chai blend and top it with cinnamon. Also, they serve oat milk! This is definite ‘must come back again’ spot. Later that day whilst Hubby was reporting for groomsman duties, I headed to Better Buzz Coffee for a snack and some caffeine. I tried the 3 Seed Avocado toast which was packed with flavor, and tons of chia seeds. It was super filling; I saved half for a midnight snack. …

pigment.

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Next up in my San Diego tour guide is Pigment, a shop located in North Park – really close to Artelxia (OMG, go to both!). Everything at Pigment is beautifully made and merchandised; you could say there was too much too look at, but the tones were inviting and organized by color palette (You know how much I love when things are organized by color!) so it was easy on the eyes. Look around and spot housewares, accessories, shoes… …candles, so many plants and pots, … …cards, pillows, clothes and toys for baby and kid, and party goods. They have a succulent wall where you can build your own terrarium. Genius. And a living wall backdrop / in-house photo booth. Hi! I love, love, love the modern boho vibes with quirky colorful feels. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see everything because there was so much in the shop. It really felt more like an experience than a store; I could hang out in this corner and people watch on their cool chairs all day (until I …

liberty station.

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I’m sharing some San Diego trip inspo this week. First up, Liberty Station in the Point Loma neighborhood. I had been here once before (remember my yarn store stumble?), and I wanted to come back and visit the Public Market. The Public Market is mostly food, and all fun! There are specialty food shops and handmade vendor stalls. Plus, it was October when we visited so it was decked out in pumpkins! Since we arrived closer to closing all the handmade vendors were already gone for the evening (womp womp), but the food choices abound. We tried chowder fries, and picked up empanadas and baked goods for late night snackage and breakfast the next day. So good. Liberty Station is quiet large, and to a newbie like me, a little hard to navigate, especially at night. But that just led us to stumble upon more fun places, like Moniker General! OMG, I want to live here. Moniker General is a coffee shop, a bar, and a retail store all in one space. On a Monday night the …

ho’ike: behind the seams.

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Aloha! Earlier, I shared some behind the scenes Ho’ike memories; now it’s time to share some behind the seams Ho’ike costume prep funs! 😛 Leading up to Ho’ike, my Kumu hosted a few costume workshops at the studio where all the dancers could come learn how to make each of the costumes (that we weren’t buying). Veteran dance moms and grandmoms came with sewing machines and snacks. Once I learned some basics I was able to help others with their costumes, too. I learned how to make hula tops, a wood and bamboo beaded skirt, and a headband. My friend Cat and I traded costume crafts, too. She worked on the rest of my beaded skirt and I sewed some of her pieces. Teamwork! I have so many new dance pieces now. If I keep this up I will need a dedicated costume closet. Also, a sewing machine. Maybe I should get one anyway. Seams like something I should have… 😉 See me in all my costume glory – Ho’ike.

sad animals.

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I met Brooke Barker of Sad Animal Facts during her book tour stop at Pegasus Books in Downtown Berkeley. She was on tour for her new book: Sad Animal Babies. If you don’t know her work already, OMG check it out! At the meet & greet Brooke shared stories – three stories to be exact. In the first, she compared human babies to animal babies, the next story was about her whale watching trip in Washington, and the last was about her fanny pack discovery in Japan (spot it on the chair)…. All were a little silly, and all were true! After story time (Brooke is a great story teller by the way!), she answered audience Qs. I enjoyed hearing about her creative process and animal encounter stories. My favorite question from the audience though was “Would you ever write a book about happy animal babies?” Answer: neverrrrr. And then she signed books and drew an animal for each of us. I asked for a hummingbird; Hubby asked for a panda. I asked her if she gets self …