Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mission Blogger Meetup Accomplished!

Blogger Meetup!

Clover and I had the pleasure of spending Sunday afternoon hanging out in San Francisco’s Mission district with the ever lovely and stylish Anne, fellow blogger, mama, and thriftophile, of A Cup Full of Sunshine and her adorable youngest son Shane. I guess you could say she brought more than a cupful of sunshine up from Southern California too, because it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful San Francisco day!

When Anne emailed me regarding a giveaway I won on her blog a few weeks ago, and mentioned a pending trip to San Francisco and the possibility of a meetup, I was totally excited to get the chance to meet her in person and I’m so glad I did. She was gorgeous, of course, laid back and mellow, very down-to-earth, based on first impressions, I got the feeling she was a lot like me, which put me at ease pretty quickly and I felt like I was maybe even more chatty than I usually am when I first meet someone (yes Anne, that was me being chatty ;)

Of course, blogger meetups (this being my second) are interesting because you do already know quite a bit about one another and are meeting in the first place based on the fact that you share common interests. It’s surreal in the sense that it feels like you’re first meeting someone that you already know fairly well, which is weird, in a good way.

As for the outfits… first off, if we look a little awkward standing next to each other in the above pic, that’s because we weren’t (standing next to each other, that is)… with just the two of us and the kids, we didn’t get any pictures together so I photoshopped (pretty obviously so) pictures that we took of each other against the same backdrop, ha! I wanted to show our outfits side by side though, because I love how they sort of compliment each other and look as though they could have been styled by the same person.


Mama and Clover and Guitar Playing Pigs

Our little stroll down Clarion Alley made for some fun photo-ops amongst the murals. How cute are Shane and Clover together? They were such good sports about it too!




Kangaroos or Llamas?

My skirt, which I’m pretty sure is a Gunne (the tag was cut out), and Clover’s sweet little dress were both finds from half-off day at the Salvation Army on Friday. As for those creatures behind us, Clover insists they are kangaroos, though I‘m gonna have to go with llamas.




Local color abounds in the Mission, and I love how Anne’s vintage Mexican dress fit right in with the cultural flavor!

Speaking of cultural flavor, we stopped for burritos and a beer at a little Taqueria, and chatted about our natural childbirth experiences among other things.


Diversionary tactics are key when thrifting with toddlers!

Knowing Anne’s love of music and vinyl, especially the good ol' classic 70’s stuff, I like the way this picture of her browsing the record section at Community Thrift kind of captures her in her element :)

Sadly, there were no thrift scores for either of us, probably in part due to the fact that thrifting in the city can be pretty hit or miss especially in an area like the Mission where things get picked over pretty quick, and in part due to the fact that it can be really distracting to try to thrift with small children, especially in a new place.

Not to mention when mom’s blogger meetup just happens to cut into naptime… poor Shane had a bit of a rough time. Lucky for me Clover slept most of the drive down and was in pretty good spirits, otherwise I could have just as easily been in Anne’s shoes, I’m very sympathetic when it comes to that sort of thing!


Both kids were having a blast when we hit the bin full of nasty old sunglasses though!




Other shopping excursions included stopping in at Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids, which was full of super neat stuff for young and old alike. I got a set of these cool vintage reproduction hand shadow cards to use for décor in Clover‘s room.


Then we walked down the street, to the magical store that is the original Paxton Gate. If you’ve got yourself an empty curiosity cabinet and want to fill it fast with amazing "treasures and oddities inspired by the garden and the natural sciences," then this is the place for you! It was definitely the place for me, I especially loved the plants… sea creature-esque bromeliads, succulent terrariums, and a little hothouse full of the most amazing array of carnivorous botanical wonders!


Unfortunately, a store filled with interesting little things to grab and touch and potentially break, as it turns out, is not ideal for browsing with toddlers, ha! go figure, especially when said toddlers aren’t at all stoked on the idea of staying in their strollers… luckily they had this lovely little zen garden area out back so we were able to release the kids into an enclosed area where minimal damage could be done :)

Jeez, based on the size of this post, you’d think we spent three weeks together, not three hours! I go overboard sometimes, I know. Well, this was the point anyhow where naptime for young Shane could really be put off no longer, so Clover and I bid our new friends a fond farewell and headed off for one final destination…


… which involved walking past this amazing building (were you wondering where I was going with that?)…
… and ended with one of these, yum! Overall, a Sunday afternoon well spent I’d say! Anne, it was so lovely to finally meet you in person, I wish you lived closer so we could do it again sometime soon... maybe just not at naptime ;)

P.S. If you don't already know Anne, I highly recommend checking out her blog and her Etsy shop full of vintage lovelies, she's got a shop with adorable vintage for kid's too!

15 comments:

Milla said...

You girls look beautiful together! (Nice photoshopping muscles girlfriend.) I'm glad to see Anne's blurry dress in focus and you of course look lovely in you Gunne, but you're both famously beaten by the mighty tiny giant of cute: Clover! Sorry ladies better luck next time ;D

Shey said...

Your outfit is so gorgeous,looks like you all had a busy fun day, your daughter is the prettiest little girl =D

Ginela Gonzalez said...

Oh dear a lengthly post with reason! There was so much majesticness to cover of that day! My goodness I almost drooled at them wall murals, I wish I lived in a place where people were that festive with walls. Clover is adorable as always and your skirt is devine. A cup full of sunshine is a wonderful blogger, I follow her blog myself, and she is so very sweet. I'm so happy for you for meeting her! That's so cool, I'd love to meet a fellow blogger someday.

- love Ginela

Teeny said...

Wow, Clarion Alley, and Paxton Gate! I would love to be amongst all that colour and carnival. I empathise re: shopping with toddlers...
Thanks for posting all of those wonderful pics. And you guys are cute as ever.
Tx

moonshinejunkyard said...

YEEEAAHHH! two of my favorite bloggers together in one post! such a joy to behold, i swear it's like i'm in heaven and it also gives me hope that i will get to meet BOTH of you at some point hopefully SOON! this afternoon looks too perfect, next time you just need a nanny (ME) along to hold the littluns or distract them. you ladies are stunning and i love how your romantic juney outfits compliment each other. i was hoping to get a good glimpse of anne's dress but didn't expect to be getting it HERE...small world. so you didn't get to make it to the show though huh? i was alllmost thinking i could head down to that but it's kinda far for me. anyway i love this and don't worry...a post from you could never be too long.

SuzieM said...

you both look great. want her dress, want your skirt!!

Manja said...

It looks like you two had such a blast! I would love to meet up with another blogger some day, that would be so wonderful!

The two of you look great and I am loving all that street art!

What we four say said...

AWWW, my stomping grounds! I just moved from 18th and Dolores to downtown. Next time if you feel up to it I would love to tag along! Looks like a great time!! P.S-thats my fave taco place in the mission, so far! :)

Violet Folklore said...

Oh, I miss SF so very much! I haven't been there since I found out I was pregnant 4.5 years ago! Graham and I plan on going there for our five year anniversary in November though.

How fun! Makes me look so forward to meeting you and Milla and Andrea and others someday. Perfect that you have children around the same age. Oh- I just thrifted that same dress for Mycelia!

You look so good in pretty, flowy clothing Missa. I always feel like it looks overdone, silly, on me. You just look like a goddess.

Astral Boutique said...

I have been lost in your blog for an hour here.... thanks for sharing all the adventures, the sillyness, and the beauty of life. You are a ray of sunshine! What great images you have been capturing... heart heart super heart your good eye. Big love from the foothills!!!!!!! xoxox (-: Sasha

Lisa said...

Your outfits complement each other so well and what a jam packed 3 hours! I adore Clover's dress..she is getting so big! That is great that you can take her thrifting. I take Bea all the time but a few of my friends with toddlers are quite surprised.
We should totally do a meet-up sometime. I think Bea would get along fabulously with Clover.

April said...

Lucky girls! Adorable post.

Andrea said...

sounds like you had a great day out. The botanic gardens and record shop look like particular highlights - I adore music.

and great outfits. It would be quite cool to meet another blogger - pity you are so far away!

Caroline said...

So fun! You two pretty bloggers definitely look like you go together...it's that pretty hippy vibe.

Nicky said...

That's so rad, you guys got to hang out!!! Clover and Shane are quite adorable running around together :D