Thrift Candy

An Outfit and a Haircut

2012-02-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

Big news around here: I finally got that looong overdue haircut I'd been needing. The ends of my mermaid hair were in pretty sad shape.

I haven't been taking pictures lately, which is probably why it's been so quiet over here. Though I did bust out the camera to document my newly trimmed hair.

This smooth, straight, and shiny business is not its natural state and my natural state rarely involves a willingness to put forth the effort required to recreate the look. It looks like this approximately once every six months to a year. Just after I get it cut.

This awesome 70's sweater was a gift from Brigit (pssst, today's her birthday!) when we did our swap last year and I really love it so it's about time I worked it in to an outfit post. It's one of those items that I get complimented on pretty much every time I wear it out.

This was the first time I'd thought to pair it with my beaded necklace of jingly amazingness from Nicole. I think they make quite the pair.

I picked up this blue rayon top with floral cutout detailing on a recent thrift outing. I've been thrifting a lot lately trying to gather goodies for several packages I've got in the works.

Gosh, I hope you guys aren't getting sick of these boots yet, because clearly I'm not, haha, they're still my favorites :)

Later that evening I wore this to a super fun clothing swap with a bunch of lovely vintage loving ladies. I wish I had taken pics! I was able to find new homes for lots of clothing items of mine and took home some lovely pieces as well. I'll try to get better about the picture taking folks!

Happy Birthdays to all my lovely Aquarian sisters, there are lots of them going around right now! Mine's coming up in exactly one week and it's a biggie. I'll be wishing my 30's a very fond farewell, yikes!!!

Glass Beach

2012-01-18T22:39:00.000-08:00

Following a nice visit with Lucas’ dad (aka Grandpa Bill) and his wife up in Fort Bragg last weekend, we went down to Glass Beach for some fresh sea air before embarking on the two hour drive home.

Back in the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents referred to this stretch of beach as “The Dumps” and threw household garbage down from the cliffs above. I know, can you imagine? The area was closed in 1967 and eventually cleanup programs ensued.

Over the decades, pounding wave action has worn the discarded glass of yesteryear into smooth bits of gleaming treasure along the beach so named for its plentiful sea glass.

It was windy and freezing cold but the rock formations were perfect for climbing around on and Clover (I mean Clara, yes, the tiara is under her hood) had a total blast doing just that.

Over the years, in spite of signs forbidding it, the beach has been totally picked over (we saw several beachcombers filling small pails while we were there), to the point where the remaining sea glass is mostly made up of tiny pieces. Though I imagine there were once some amazing treasures to be found.

Speaking of found treasures, this coat is my most favorite recent thrift find. It's like wearing a cozy wool blanket with pockets, I love it. Perfect now that the winter chill has finally found its way to us.

I scored it for six bucks at one of the two new Goodwill stores in town (the cutoff overalls are from the other). I love that there are still new thrift stores popping up here. We already have at least 15, that I can think of, I'm probably forgetting a few. Not to mention others in towns nearby. Whenever I travel anywhere, I always return feeling very thrift fortunate to live where I do.

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind sharing, how's the thrifting in your town?

Day Trippin'

2012-01-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

We made the most of this weekend's bizarrely beautiful weather (what is going on January?!) by heading off on a little family outing yesterday. Any guesses where we went?

Nope, it was not The Shire. Guess again...

Following a gorgeous drive out to Point Reyes, we parked at the main visitor center and from there embarked on a short hike to a recreated Coast Miwok village called Kule Loklo.

As I said, the hike was short and when we reached our destination there were all sorts of neat dwellings and structures to explore, perfect for a kid Clover's age, and a fun way to learn a little bit about how these local indigenous people lived.

We followed up our hike with super yummy wood-fired pizza in the quaint and quirky town of Point Reyes Station perfectly paired with a refreshing wheat beer for the parentals. To top it off, they brought us the most delicious Florentine cookies! You-know-who was pretty excited about the free chocolaty goodness, yeah, and of course Clover was stoked too ;)

It was an all around lovely day and ended up being a perfect lil' Sunday family adventure, just what we needed. I mentioned before how I wanted to do more of this type of local exploring, so I'm thinking a good goal for 2012 will be to make it the year of fun day trips! Hopefully a few longer ones too :)

"Clara" fell asleep on the ride home. Yes, it's been awhile, but we officially have ourselves a new character. Remember that Nutcracker movie I told you about? Yup.

We rigged up this tiara thingy out of pipe cleaners and beads because she wanted to emulate this look. She wears the thing EVERYWHERE. I forget sometimes and we'll be walking down the street (or trail) and I'll notice people looking at her with these big smiles on their faces. Then it dawns on me, oh right, she's wearing a crown. Ha, never a dull moment with this one.

See, I'm actually guessing that her new interest in ballet is just the latest manifestation of her love for inhabiting new characters, in this case that of a ballerina, or now more specifically, Clara.

At this age the dance classes we sign her up for are really play based and more for fun than anything else. While there were some valid points brought up in the comments section of my last post regarding the possible pitfalls of girls becoming serious about ballet at a young age, I wouldn't be surprised if something new took its place right quick. We'll see though, I agree, it's definitely important to be aware of that stuff.

Anyway, welcome welcome to 2012! The year of fun day trips! Wishing many a lovely outing upon you this year :)

Tiny Dancer

2012-01-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

Clover took her first ballet class recently and she loved it.

The session ended the week before Christmas and on the final day of class, the parents were allowed in to observe (and in some cases take a ton of pictures ;)

The whole thing was incredibly adorable.

Getting to see this little girl shine in brand new ways is one of the great joys of being her mama :)

A little back story on the ballet class: Clover has a tendency to stick to her mama like glue. For example, even though she goes on to be fine and have wonderfully independent days shortly after I leave, every morning that I drop her off at pre-school involves a whole song and dance with me often having to literally pry her from whatever body part of mine she has attached herself to in hopes of me not leaving.

Usually all it takes is an "uppie" from one of her wonderful teachers as they skillfully direct her focus elsewhere allowing me to quietly slip away. Though every once in awhile there are tears involved.

She had been wanting to take ballet for awhile and I had hesitated, knowing that it was going to be a drop your kid off at the door kind of thing. I was pretty nervous about how it would all go down. We had discussed it and she had assured me that she could do it. I was still nervous.

It was such a relief when we showed up that first day and she just darted off, never looking back, lining up outside the door with a group of little girls she'd never met, to follow a brand new teacher into class. Watching her sheer excitement over the class propel her little body forward, effortlessly away from me, made me feel just as proud as watching her do those sweet little dance moves for the first time in front of all the parents.

Little did we know that following the performance, there would be even more excitement awaiting us at home...

A lovely surprise package from Nicole!

Which included a special little bundle of goodness for Clover and some wearable treasures for Mama, as well as an awesome little book from the 70's that will be perfect for helping me with my goal of creating a more homespun Christmas next year. Thank you for being so thoughtful Nicole!

A couple of days later, we took Clover to see a local production of The Nutcracker put on by our friend Lily's mom's ballet studio in Sebastopol. The sets and costumes were so beautiful and fantastical and the music and dancing inspired even more of this around the house than we were already seeing:

I took these videos on Christmas morning as Clover danced around our living room in her new ballet gear. She looks so sweet and innocent in that first one, doesn't she?

Do not be fooled...

It starts off innocent enough, until her mischievous side takes hold. Our poor kitty, he is not a willing dance partner. If you listen closely, you can hear his little cries. I had to rescue him. It's amazing what the little guy puts up with from her, no biting, no scratching.

Yesterday we watched this 80's film version of The Nutcracker (costumes and sets by Maurice Sendak!) and when it was over, she immediately wanted to dress up as one of the dancers in the waltz of the flowers, her favorite part. So we pulled out the insane tutu that my friend Abby got her for her birthday.

As you can see, she was completely in the zone.

We just got her a pair of wee tap shoes too. Next week she starts a new class. This time it's ballet/tap. She's excited. Should be fun :)

Oh Christmas Dress, Oh Christmas Dress...

2011-12-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

...In forest green crushed velvet :)

The wee potted tree at my sister-in-law Isolde's house as seen bright and early Christmas morning. We wandered across the street to their house in our PJs at approximately 7:45am for Clover to open presents and do stockings with her cousins. We were greeted with delicious homemade lattes.

This backless beauty of a dress was bestowed upon me by the lovely Brigit. We did a swap, in Spring I think it was, and I had been saving it for the perfect occasion. It made for a wonderful Christmas dress, thanks Brigit! I got many a Christmas compliment on it. I think I will be busting it out when St. Patty's day rolls around too.

More lovely decorations in Isolde's Christmas corner.

Hey, guess what? If you happen to love this dress too, you are in luck, because it has a sister dress in deep purple, and she's available over at Violet Folklore for a steal! Wanna be dress twins? DEEP PURPLE.

Speaking of deep, Clover has inherited my love of chocolate :)

I fittingly trimmed my Christmas dress with past presents: green shell necklace from Milla, crystal bullet from Sadie, and red suede belt lined with teensy brass studs from Oosa.

Her new ballerina bun holder, fairy wings, and dance leotard went on as soon as they were unwrapped.

Mis-sa in her dre-ess, with sun flares. I can always seem to count on this corner of the backyard for interesting light effects. As you can see, on Christmas it was pink pentagons!

Ready to try out her new watercolor paints, while not letting that chocolate bar out of her sight.

Yeah, Santa totally came through with the unicorn. The bandaids too for that matter. He's good, that Santa. Almost as good as Isolde, who HAND MADE these adorable Clover fairy dolls completely from scratch! She even hand sewed their little felt outfits and painted the faces herself. Jonas, my brother-in-law, made their little box too.

Their family was awesome with the homemade gifts this year and really inspired me to be better about getting it together in that department for next year. I did ok with buying handmade and shopping local, but I'd like to get an earlier start next year and do more making myself.

All gussied up for the next family gathering, Christmas brunch at my sister-in-law Kelcey's.

First, a peak at the Christmas morning aftermath in our living room.

The Christmas tree at Kelcey's house. Wild and gangly and covered in lovely ornaments. Jonas and his mom Linda have started making the coolest bags out of repurposed feed sacks. You can spot a couple of chicken feed ones under the tree and I got an awesome one made from a pigeon feed sack.

Ah, the many faces of Christmas... just keepin' it real folks. Not sure what this was about. Most likely I just told her she couldn't eat her chocolate bar yet. Hey, what's Christmas without a few good meltdowns though, right?

See, she's over it, not loosening her grip on the chocolate bar though.

After a delicious brunch at Kelcey's and a lovely afternoon with Lucas' family, we went home for a few hours then off to a gathering of friends at Ben and Julia's house where we enjoyed a super yummy Christmas dinner and a rollicking fun evening with friends that ended up going until the wee hours of the morn.

By the way, we had a wonderful Christmas gathering with my family the weekend before at our house, no pics unfortunately, as I find it impossible to simultaneously host and document an event but I assure you a fun time was had by all. Ok, apparently, I find it impossible to simultaneously attend and document an event as well, since I only managed to get a few shots of everyone's Christmas trees here, ugh.

On that note though, who knew empty Coors Light cans made for such festive tree ornamentation? Way to think outside the box (of beer) Ben. You can see Wain back there working on his "ornament" ;)

We had a really fun, albeit busy, Christmas. I hope yours too was full of family and friends and Christmas dresses, not to mention a chocolate bar or two ;)

Wishing you all a Happy Happy New Year!

Don we now our gay apparel...

2011-12-22T23:04:00.000-08:00

This was last Friday. There was a little Christmas party at Clover's pre-school. I wore the red corduroy jumper that arrived in Anne's package along with the cozy cowl she made and Clover looked adorable in her festive layers.

Her outfit also included several gifts from packages of yore, the felt flower hair clip (another of Anne's crafty creations), the little girl on a swing necklace from Milla, and her green "Gretel" skirt from Nicole.

All the kiddos were given jingly bells to carry as we went off caroling up and down the street. We went to about 5 or 6 houses, mostly elderly neighbors, whose faces lit up and broke into smiles at the sight of the wee carolers :)

The final house belonged to the most adorable older husband and wife who invited us all into their living room to gather 'round the piano and sing along as she played Christmas tunes!

You'll never guess who we found up on the housetop as we made our way back!

Indeed, Santa himself paid an early visit to The Farm, much to the little ones' delight, with gifts of homemade playdough and tiny stuffed bear ornaments too boot.

The brand new baby sister of one of Clover's classmates had her first encounter with Santa and peacefully slept right through it.

Dixie cups full of warm cocoa and whipped cream, red and green playdough everywhere, these kid's know how to party.

Paper stockings were hung by the overflowing bookshelf with care, each kid's account of what Santa would bring them for Christmas this year. Apparently, Clover is getting a unicorn and some bandaids. Fanciful, yet practical, that's my girl ;)

Clover's teachers rigged this up on the fly (harhar) early on in the week and the kids played Santa's sleigh for days! Her teachers are so awesome like that, they come up with the best stuff. We are so thankful that Clover gets to experience the magic that they create here at The Farm. It's a pretty special place.

Now for something else pretty special...

Look who I got to hang out with! A couple of weeks ago I met up with my birthday twin, Amber, fellow blogstress and the brilliance behind the beautiful vintage Etsy shop Violet Folklore, for a couple of hours of girl time in the town of Napa. We did a little thrifting and chatted over beers.

It was fun to spend some one on one time with her, a chance to get to know her a little better, with no wee ones to distract us. Of course, not only do we share a birthday, we also each have a little girl, both of whom appear to have inherited their mama's love of clothing and style in spades!

Amber, super cute outfit and all, struck a pose in the bathroom (something she's been know to do before ;) with her brand new camera, complete with gorgeous leather case. Thank goodness for this camera, because after a long absence, she has recently been blogging up a storm! You can even read what she had to say about our little meet-up here.

I had such a lovely time with Amber, and I'm so glad she'll be giving us glimpses into her world again :)

As for my own bloggy absence of late, as usual it seems, the more there is to document, the worse I get about documenting it! It's frustrating, and one of blogging's great conundrums. For me anyway. I'm just not speedy when it comes to blogging. It takes time to compose posts as well as trying to maintain a commenting presence on all of the blogs that I love, there are too many of you!

When I start to get overwhelmed I tend to shut down. So whenever I disappear, that is usually what the deal is. Not to worry, I always come back. I can never stand to be away from my bloggy sisters for too long ;)

Lately, with holiday happenings and Clover now on Winter break from pre-school, time is even more limited than usual. Therefore, I may continue to be a less than efficient blogger/commenter in the days ahead. Just know that you are in my thoughts dear friends and I wish you all wonderful holidays full of laughter and magical moments!

Lovely Bits

2011-12-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

Lately the weather 'round here has been a mix of rather intense windstorms (sweeping away the last of the remaining leaves from the trees and even toppling some altogether) and quite a few rather lovely days as well.

The Saturday before last was one such lovely day and we decided to take advantage of the sunshine by heading out for a little family hike up at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

While the park is only a short half hour drive east of where we live, and in the county where both Lucas and I grew up, shockingly, neither of us had ever been up there, which made it feel a little bit like an adventure.

I want to start making an effort to do more local adventuring! We live in such a wonderful area for it and amazingly, even though we both feel like we know the area so well, it's easy to forget that there is still so much to see and discover.

The meandering creek we walked along and some bits of my 100% thrifted outfit. New fave cardi (the wee quail!), scored along with these beat up old Wranglers on a recent trip to "the digs".

As you can only hike so far with a four year old in tow, most of Sugarloaf's beauty still remains to be explored. Unfortunately, and unbeknown to us at the time, that turned out to be the final weekend before the park's closure!

The massive toll that California's budget crisis is taking on our State park system is such a depressing state of affairs right now, with so many wonderful parks in our area, not to mention all over the state, slated for closure by July. Boo! :(

But hey, let's move on to happier news, shall we?...

My lovely day got even lovelier when I arrived home to find my bioregional swap package from Anne of A Cup Full of Sunshine waiting for me! As you can see, it was packed to the brim with Southern California goodness. I was pretty blown away by all the amazing goodies and how thoughtfully put together it all was :)

Back when I first read Mary's post on terrallectualism about putting together a bioregional swap and what that would entail, I was excited to join in the fun. Even more excited when I found that my swap partner would be Anne!

Anne and I were already longtime followers of eachother's blogs and we'd even met in person once before. I had already hoped to one day do a swap with her, so what a perfect opportunity this turned out to be!

Of course, Clover was right there to help me with the opening. She's seen me open enough of these packages to know, that more often than not, there's a little somethin' special tucked in there for her too. Once again, she was not disappointed!

Her eyes lit up when she saw the amazing embroidered Sleeping Beauty fairytale cardi. WOW, it even has little princess dolls sewn onto it! Anne definitely knows the way to my little one's heart.

The vintage children's book Leaf Magic, a lovely 1970's story of a boy who is followed around by a big orange wind swept leaf that is apparently trying to play with him, was so perfectly timed with her recent comment about the leaves!

The book is full of wonderful illustrations and whimsical descriptions like the one above. Love Ol' man Fish and Chips and his ramshackle cottage by the sea!

Anne herself lives by the sea and included some treasures gathered on a morning beachcombing excursion. She's also a big fan of succulents (as am I!) and included a few cuttings from her own garden.

I planted them along with a few wee specimens from our own garden in this cool hanging ceramic planter that I recently thrifted. Don't they look lovely?

Beautiful hand-written (and painted!) recipes cards, both of which sound so yummy. I'm excited to try them out.

A bag of tea made by a friend of Anne's and a gorgeous ceramic cup to drink it from. The cup was made by a local artist who also made the incense holder.

The painted driftwood and feather necklace!!! Made by Anne herself. SO AWESOME! I tell ya, this girl is craftier than she lets on ;)

A cool eco-friendly bag made of newspaper and a card by another local artist.

There was also a bundle of sage, a jar of orange marmalade made at her sister's convent, some lovely thrifted vintage (red corduroy jumper perfect for Christmas, a delicate floral blouse, and an adorable calico sundress), not to mention a truly gorgeous cowl that Anne knit herself!

A huge thank you to Anne for putting together such a fantastic package. You obviously know what I like! So much cozy autumnal goodness packed into one box... I loved all the textures, colors, flavors, scents... a package to delight the senses for sure, and thank you to Mary for setting up this wonderful swap!

It was so fun to participate, both receiving my package from Anne and putting one together for her. Speaking of which, you can take a peek at what was in the package that I made for Anne over at her post about the swap, here.

Clover put on her new cardigan right away and said "Let's go take a picture!" So I put on my new necklace and swapped out the scarf I was wearing for my cozy new cowl, and that's just what we did.

It had been awhile since I'd done outfit pics, so I spent some extra time trying to capture Anne's lovely handiwork and playing around with the light a bit.

I love the painted driftwood combined with the feathers. I told Anne she should make some of these for her Etsy shop.

Also, if you took a peek at her post on the package I sent, you may have noticed that I too was inspired to get crafty with driftwood and feathers. Our packages actually turned out to have quite a few similarities, as usual in these matters, synchronicity abounds!

I enjoy a good girlie outfit as much as the next gal, but I've always had a tomboy side to my style as well, and I think I've been embracing it a bit more lately. I like checking out this blog gem for inspiration, and this one's good too.

Fall color in the backyard pre-windstorms. So many of the leaves have since blown away.

The colors in my new cowl seem to have been plucked straight from the Autumn smoke tree :)

Well friends, I wish I could update you on the final kitty name verdict, but even with the help of all your wonderful suggestions on my last post and a wee pocket-sized booklet called the Incomplete Book of Cat Names (thanks Martha!) we still have yet to agree on one!

Yesterday, Clover and I started toying around with the name Marble, which I like, but then she changed it to Mumble and that's what she's calling him now. Her teachers already think our cat's name is Mambo. It's the Guinness/Dennis thing all over again (see comment section of kitty post if you're wondering what I'm talking about).

I think we should just name him Charmin because he's soft and white and we are constantly having to tell Clover not to squeeze him!

♥

2011-11-28T10:59:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's true! A furry little ball of kitty love has joined our family!

The pitter patter of little paws, the sweet sound of purring around the house again... music to my ears :)

He is the sweetest little guy. So so soft, almost bunnylike with those pink ears, and he's got such a mellow and loving personality.

He was one of three kittens brought to Clover's pre-school in search of a home. He spent a couple of weeks at the farm before I successfully convinced Lucas that it was time to bring another kitty friend into our world.

During this time he got used to being manhandled by two to four year-olds (great conditioning for his new life with Clover, not as sweet as she looks, people!) and constantly licked by their family dog who took quite a liking to this kitten in particular. Probably because he was the only one who would sit back and allow the dog to lick him until his fur was wet and matted. He's just that easy going.

So yeah, this is our new kitten and we're pretty darn smitten. His tiny warm presence is making cuddling up on the couch that much cozier these days. In fact, he's curled up asleep in my lap as I type this :)

Oh yes, and did I mention that the gray patch on top of his head turns into a heart when his ears relax. Yeah, how freakin' cute is that?

One thing though, he's been with us for a week and a half now and still doesn't have a name. We're having a heck of a time coming up with one that feels like it fits. Suggestions??? We could use some help :)

Autumn Amazement

2011-11-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

My dad took these photos of us (my sister Val and me) playing among the fallen leaves on a crisp November day back in 1976.

I was four years old, the same age Clover is now. While I'm able to conjure vague bits of memory from days like it, I don't necessarily remember this day in particular.

Nowadays I treasure having these images to look back on, with their power to bring focus to a faded recollection. A little version of me running wild in the woods.

As we were driving away from Clover's pre-school the other day, the breeze lifted a pile of leaves on the side of the road, sending their bright colors up into a whirling spiral.

Mama, did you see the leaves?!

I did honey, wasn’t that cool?

Her voice filled with astonishment:
Mama, I didn’t know leaves could play!

I'm guessing one day she may not recall having made this wonderful discovery, but I'm willing to bet she'll appreciate that I felt compelled to write it down :)

Swiss Missa

2011-11-14T23:41:00.000-08:00

Yodel Le Hee Ho!

Man, am I the worst at timely posting, or what? I know, I know, Halloween is such old news. I did say I'd post costume pics though, and while I'm not the most together of bloggers, I am still a woman of my word!

Can you believe I found this vintage dirndl with accompanying undergarments at the thrift store for a mere $3.50! I love when they put out the Halloween racks each year, they are always a treasure trove for unique vintage pieces on the cheap.

How cute are those mother/son matching red Converse? And, how cute is my friend Angelina as Joan Jett? She's pretty convincing, no?

Uh, Joan, did you spike my hot chocolate again?

As evening approached, friends began stopping by and neighbors were out milling about in preparation for the night's festivities. The grown-ups enjoyed a beer on the front porch as the kids ran around in there costumes.

Yup, that's my old man. Kinda creepy, eh? Lucas has actually become pretty good at pulling together last minute costumes from things found around the house. It's his thing, he does it every year.

Later in the night the kids dubbed him the boogie man. He would shake his cane at them and they would run squealing with delight, over and over.

Several of you commented on my last post about how grown-up Clover is looking, and it's so true, she's such a little kid now! Where did my toddler go?

I got a call from my friend Dana explaining that her daughter, Neko, wanted to be a castle for Halloween. She was, however, in need of a princess. Of course Clover was happy to oblige. Don't they make an adorable pair?

We pieced together Clover's costume from thrift store halloween rack finds, but our friend Lily's mom handmade Neko's amazing castle dress from scratch!

Trick or Treat!

The pitter patter of wee spirits could be heard up and down the street. I had to keep a close eye on my little princess with her preferred eat-as-you-go method of trick of treating.

These last few pics were taken by Angelina with her camera's awesome night portrait setting (wish my camera had that). I love the flailing glowstick effect.

Another super fun and family friendly Halloween on our street. It's now been tradition for a few years running to go across the street to my sister in law's house where we have a little block party of sorts with friends, family, and neighbors in their driveway.

Costumes and decorations, gathering round the fire pit, a big pot of homemade chili (this year yummy roast pork sliders on wee homemade buns too!), drinks, baskets of candy for the trick-or-treaters who happen by, an eerie gray mist periodically wafting over from the fog machine, and lots of small children running wild in the night.

The kids are still young enough that a quick trip up and down the block provides sufficient trick-or-treat excitement, just wait until it dawns on them that their are whole neighborhoods to be covered!

Tiger Cub

2011-11-02T09:49:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful sunshiny morn as I dropped my lil' tigress off at The Farm for the big Halloween party. I must say, not many things are cuter than pre-schoolers on Halloween. Fuzzy creatures and royalty were popular costume choices and the tray of spaghetti worms was a huge hit.

Pictures from Halloween night soon to follow. Including Clover's second costume of the day (so long fuzzy creature, hello royalty) and me as a yodeling slinger of hot chocolate and pudding products...

Anyone remember this?

Costuuuuuuumes!

2011-10-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've already got one for tonight, but I'll be keeping these amazing 1920's masquerade costumes (via carbonated's flickr) in the files for future dress up inspiration. A wonderful Halloween to you all!

Tolay Fall Festival

2011-10-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

There's something about the Fall season and little 60's dresses that just seems right to me. Especially when peter pan collars and autumnal hued plaids are involved.

I've been hitting up the Goodwill Bins here in town (affectionately refered to as "the digs") with my digger buddy Angelina. That's where I dug up this gem a few weeks ago.

Clover and I wore our little plaid dresses to the Tolay Fall Festival in Petaluma last weekend and hers couldn't have been more perfect for the occasion.

As you can see from the wacky sign, there was plenty for a four-year-old in a cute little vintage dress to do and see and photo ops a'plenty for a camera toting mama.

It may look like Fall in the pictures but it sure felt like Summer. It ended up being hot, like unfortunately hot. A snowcone and a patch of shade helped.

Papa to the rescue!

So many creatures to pet, so little time.

The tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch would have been more enjoyable had we been prepared with hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, things of that nature... the person with the big black umbrella had the right idea.

As it were, our time spent wandering the "pumpkin patch" (this is obviously not where the pumpkins grow) involved getting scorched and impatient before grabbing a pumpkin and hightailing it onto the next departing tractor. Shade please!

There was a big barn filled with wild animal exhibits, both live and of the taxidermied variety, lots of creepy crawlies on display too, and a resident barn owl watching over the scene from up in the rafters. Can you spot him?

I loved how Clover's dress picked up the colors of all the different squash varieties. We made a little cornhusk doll at one of the craft booths. Carding and spinning wool into yarn by hand to make the hair was pretty neat.

How tall this Fall?

My petite pumpkin is just barely taller than her best pal Finn who is a full year younger than her. People often assume they're brother and sister. Easy to see why :)

Ok friends, there you have it, my contribution to this years pumpkin patch posting madness. Happy carving!

Check out this beautiful video just released by local Sonoma County darlings, Odd Bird. It was filmed at this year's Handcar Regatta and I must say, it's pretty dang dreamy...

Poems Strung Like Beads

2011-10-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

The sky.

The outfit.

Backyard grapes on the vine.

My beaded trimmings.

Beadlike trimmings. Sweet and round and purple among thrifty kitchen bits.

I have Sally to thank for the wonderful earrings and belt among other wonderful treasures delivered to my door and Laura Jane for the white dress with perfect netted cutout details :)

I have my husband to thank for turning backyard beads of sweet goodness into jars of the brightest purple grape jelly. His first attempt at canning of any sort was a smashing ;) success. Can't wait to try my hand at it too. Any good fig jam recipes out there?

AND, I have this amazing woman to thank for making my Friday night a truly beautiful experience. Her poetry is perhaps magic in it's simplest form. Wise, elegant, adorable (she wore all black with crazy multicolored socks peeking out from below her pant hem and above her shoe), endearingly scattered between poems and gently centered within them, and so funny she was. Within the hour and a half in which she spoke, a big roomful of hearts were captured, mine included.

One of many poems she read:

Mornings at Blackwater

by Mary Oliver

For years, every morning, I drank
from Blackwater Pond.
It was flavored with oak leaves and also, no doubt,
the feet of ducks.

And always it assuaged me
from the dry bowl of the very far past.

What I want to say is
that the past is the past,
and the present is what your life is,
and you are capable
of choosing what that will be,
darling citizen.

So come to the pond,
or the river of your imagination,
or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.
And live
your life.

Mary Oliver looks out at her beloved Blackwater Pond, 2006. [source]

During the question and answer session after her reading, she told of walking out into the woods near her home at Blackwater to write. She would hide pencils in the trees should she find herself with an idea and in need of one to write it down. Apparently, at one of her readings a guy once showed up with a pencil that he'd found in a tree. She said they broke it in half and now he has one half and she the other.

When I Am Among the Trees

by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."

This one's for Milla. I have her to thank for introducing me to Ms. Oliver's poetry in the first place :)

Happiness

By Mary Oliver

In the afternoon I watched
the she-bear; she was looking
for the secret bin of sweetness -
honey, that the bees store
in the trees’ soft caves.
Black block of gloom, she climbed down
tree after tree and shuffled on
through the woods. And then
she found it! The honey-house deep
as heartwood, and dipped into it
among the swarming bees - honey and comb
she lipped and tongued and scooped out
in her black nails, until

maybe she grew full, or sleepy, or maybe
a little drunk, and sticky
down the rugs of her arms,
and began to hum and sway.
I saw her let go of the branches,
I saw her lift her honeyed muzzle
into the leaves, and her thick arms,
as though she would fly -
an enormous bee
all sweetness and wings -
down into the meadows, the perfections
of honeysuckle and roses and clover -
to float and sleep in the sheer nets
swaying from flower to flower
day after shining day.

Regatta Mama

2011-09-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

Clover and I dressed up all old timey for Sunday's big event, The Handcar Regatta. There's been so much going on around here lately that I've had to check out of blogland completely. Dang, just when I was getting back into the swing of things too!

Last weekend was non-stop, bachelorette sleepover party at a house on the river, my neices' birthday party (3 and 6 years old) followed by our friend's 40th birthday party, and then the Regatta. Next weekend is shaping up to be just as crazy busy, with more birthdays (including Clover's!) AND the wedding of some dear friends.

I just wanted to pop in and quickly share some images snapped while wandering around during all of the hullabaloo yesterday. People really stepped it up with the costumes this year!

We spent a good portion of the day hanging out by the Whiskeydrome watching our Whiskeydrunk Cycles friends get soaked in their latest contraption, the WhiskeyDunk Dunk-A-Drunk dunk tank. Highly entertaining!

Yup, that's my girl.

She's quite a handful ;)

We're having fun, but I tell ya, now that Fall has officially begun, I'm definitely feeling ready to slow down and mellow out. I miss connecting with all my beautiful blogstresses and I'm looking forward to having time to catch up! In the meantime, I hope all is well with everyone and I'll "see" ya in another week or so :)

Moonrise Sunset

2011-09-12T01:31:00.001-07:00

Well, here I am again… back with another outfit post. Already?? I know. I’m not sure what’s come over me. I can barely keep up with myself! I suppose we should just go with it though ;)

I received this wonderful little bundle awhile back from my longtime reader and lovely bloggy friend, Alexa of Pop Elegantarium. As you can see, it was a bundle too pretty to open without taking a picture first.

Tucked inside, among an assortment of thoughtful goodies for both Clover and myself, I found this little quilted vest! I must say Alexa, I quite adore it.

I’ve been really drawn to this shade of blue lately too. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but the skirt, a gift from Heather last spring, has tiny blue and white vertical stripes and buttons up the front.

I think the skirt has found a friend in this sweet little vest :)

I’d heard about an art opening that sounded interesting, and on Friday evening, convinced my little family to join me on a wee adventure to go check it out. The adventure took us up toward the hills not far from where we live. The rising moon looked pretty spectacular.

The opening was held in a little gallery at Sonoma Academy, the fancy new prep school that we see up on the hill when we take the back route to Trader Joe’s. It was kind of fun to go up there and explore for the first time. Clover got a kick out of the odd art installations scattered about the campus. This giant asparagus for example.

The artist was Laine Justice and her paintings “worldscapes in oil” did not disappoint. Each canvas containing a magical realm, otherworldly and fantastical, strange and beautiful. I was really taken with her work when I checked out her website, so it was a treat to view it up close in all its intricate detail.

That’s the artist herself in the cute little dress and boots ensemble, discussing images from her story book collaboration with Rusty Klassen. The images along with this beautifully lyrical excerpt off her website leave me very intrigued:

"Bunny feels it. Warmth and stillness, quiet and clutter, objects avalanche upon one another. It would be litter, the room where she stands, if it weren't for the order Pine somehow commands. This space inhales wonder, exhales the fantastic. Stardust fills jars, mache mobiles meander galactic roulette. Miniature shoes, pigs and ponies, shelved with dolls, books and stones. Elephant whiskers, mendicant oils, portraits on pinheads, rare earths and soils. Pine floats across a lake of fine carpets plumping quill down atop a plush settle. Beside him lie templates of galaxies yet to be formed, sere tintypes, and lithographs, an occasional horn. Bunny's at home here. She knows this room, grew up in this space; where all things have purpose, a reason, their place."

Sounds like someplace I'd like to visit!

Speaking of inhaling wonder and exhaling the fantastic, as we headed back to the car to go home, just beyond the giant asparagus was a dazzling sunset beneath pink clouds. I’m thinking if it's clear tonight this could be the perfect spot to view the full moon rising up over the hills to the east with the sun setting over Santa Rosa to the west.

I'm hoping there might even be some mooncakes involved :)

River Babies

2011-09-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the Russian River. Clover and I spent a lovely afternoon with Angelina and Finnegan. The spot was aptly named "Mom's Beach." Still clinging to summer as best we can.

Well, halo there.

2011-09-06T23:57:00.001-07:00

Hey, remember when I used to show y'all what I was wearin'? How 'bout a lil' outfit for ol' times sake?

vintage embroidered smock: new gift from Milla!
necklace: swap gift from Lauren
tee: clothing swap
jeans: thrifted
boots: thrifted

I recently received a package filled with loveliness from my girl Milla. This adorable smock was among the many treasures tucked inside. It felt like the perfect thing to wear berry pickin' with Clover on Labor Day :)

At the fountain downtown before our berry picking excursion. My little girl is growing up you guys. She's one of the "big kids" now at her pre-school and I was informed today that she is blossoming into quite the little ring leader. Apparently, she's got herself a pack of two-year olds following her around doing whatever she says!

The fruits of our Labor Day. Just enough blackberries for a pie, and a super yummy pie it was. We ate half for dessert tonight still warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream.

Hey, remember when I used to show y'all my thrift finds? How 'bout a few of those too? You know, for ol' times sake...

new favorite ankle boots (VNA & Hospice Thrift, $3.50)

new favorite belt (flea market, $4)

new favorite cowboy boots (flea market, $8)

I guess you could say I've been lucky with leather this summer. Perfectly worn, honey-hued leather. Those cowboy boots... simple, flat-heeled, round-toed... I have been dreaming of those very boots for YEARS!

A certain pair of vintage brown corduroy overalls should really be included among this line-up of favorites too, but we'll save those for another outfit post.

Don't I look saintly with my halo? I swear, I did not photoshop that in. Just call me Our Lady of the Thrifty Heart ;) Blessings of magical thrifting mojo to all!

Darkness and Light

2011-08-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

“I saw the linear flashes, gleaming silver, like stars being born at random down a rolling scroll of time.

Something broke and something opened. I filled up like a new wineskin.

I breathed an air like light; I saw a light like water.

I was the lip of a fountain the creek filled forever; I was ether, the leaf in the zephyr; I was flesh flake, feather, bone.”

"Light be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff."

"Here is the word from a subatomic physicist: 'Everything that has already happened is particles, everything in the future is waves.'...The particles are broken; the waves are translucent, laving, roiling with beauty like sharks. The present is the wave that explodes over my head, flinging the air with particles at the height of its breathless unroll; it is the live water and light that bears from undisclosed sources the freshest news, renewed and renewing, world without end."

- Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

After starting Pilgrim at Tinker Creek awhile back, then putting it down for whatever reason about a third of the way in, I felt inspired to pick it back up again after finishing Canyon.

The timing worked out such that on Saturday morning, I read the above paragraph, the last in a chapter called The Present, with images of phosphorescent waves crashing down on Salmon Creek Beach the night before still fresh in my mind. This synchronicity making Ms. Dillard's words all the more powerful. The message, to treasure the present moment in all of its glory, has not gone lost on me.

Thanks to my neighbor Jeremy for sharing that wonderful image he captured of the glowing green waves as he and his family and Clover and I, sat in the foggy darkness, bundled in blankets on the sand, mesmerized by the otherworldly beauty of the ocean's light.

[All other images via various talented Flickr folk, each photo links to its source]

We Live Among the Trees

2011-08-25T10:43:00.001-07:00

“Originally published in 1972, Canyon recounts the struggle for survival, against powerful and determined opposition, of a counter-cultural community tucked in a redwood canyon less than a mile from the city of Oakland, California. A community of individuals united by the idea of living complimentary to nature rather than subduing it…” - Grizzly Peak Press

I just finished reading a vintage copy of this book that I picked up at a thrift store recently. I had no idea this community even existed, let alone so close by.

Canyon's colorful history made for an interesting read, from pristine old-growth redwood forest to raucous logging community to secluded counter-cultural haven. The book follows the resistance movement as Canyon’s residents battle public utility controllers and county officials to preserve both their homes and way of life.

However, my favorite parts were definitely the descriptive vignettes sprinkled throughout the book, illuminating the strange and wonderful handmade forest dwellings that sprouted up in the woods of Canyon along with the influx of homesteading hippies during the late sixties.

“His house, a hyperbolic paraboloid form (peaked roof of eucalyptus poles complete with leaves, conical-shaped sides with the side facing west left open to the trees, sky, and rain), allows the sounds and odors of Canyon- arguing voices, music, bird cries, burning grass, chants, patchouli oil, a trumpet scale, a revving motorcycle engine- to flow through it like air. There are no locks windows or doors.”

“Anyone walking by on the road above can eavesdrop on his life, observe him tinkering at the large workbench beside his entrance, or call down to him for a drink of water, which he’ll let you draw from the strange, convoluted faucet- pipe joint added upon pipe joint- above his sink.”

While reading about Canyon, images from another book published in the early seventies began floating through my mind. A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to thrift a copy of the book Handmade Houses A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art. Maybe you remember Heather’s post on this amazing book.

Though it wasn’t until the description of that “strange, convoluted faucet” pictured above that I realized at least one of Canyon's forest dwellings was not only reminiscent of the images in Handmade Houses, it was the very house pictured in the book. Further internet sleuthing confirmed that homes in Canyon were indeed photographed in the making of Handmade Houses.

"His house is a one room cabin made almost entirely of old window glass. Glass in the shape of shutters, leaded windows, sections of skylight. Above the cabin is a long, narrow tree house in the crotch of a large oak."

"Inside the house, the thick trunk of the oak tree forms part of one wall, and shoes are left on the dirt floor, next to its roots. There are sleeping bags on the floor. There is a simple table, phonograph, speaker and tuner, a battered telescope, and a wood-burning stove."

Images of kitchens, rustic and enchanted from the book Handmade Houses.

"A girl, blonde, wearing one of the gownlike print dresses common to young Canyon, has materialized out of the dusk and is preparing dinner on the wood stove as he bathes with cold spring water in the dark outside.”

“As he talks it grows dark outside, the trees across the canyon and the houses on the hillside below slipping into gloom, leaving only sounds behind: voices, sitar music, a dog’s bark."

I enjoyed how the author would often described the sounds floating through Canyon as a way of conjuring its atmosphere. It brought me right back to the late 90's, when Lucas and I were living nestled amongst the redwoods up on Joy Ridge in Occidental, California.

I managed to dig up some old film photos of the place...

On the deck at the top of the stairs we had a hammock strung between two redwood trees. A favorite place to be was swaying lazily in that hammock, dangling my barefeet on a warm summer day, feeling the dappled sunlight make its way through the trees.

Also, in the cool evenings with slippered feet, a cozy blanket, and a warm cup of tea catching glimpses of stars between the tree tops. I would just sway and listen...

Up on the ridge, the silence was thick and peaceful, a medium through which far off sounds would find there way to me. Winding through trees and echoing off hillsides. The roar of a chainsaw, a squirrel's shrill chatter, the guitar strumming of an unseen neighbor.

The periodic moan of the fog horn was always my favorite. Sometimes barely audible. Pulling me closer to the ocean (about 6 miles away as the crow flies) with each low hum.

Even small sounds took on an air of amplification, insects buzzing, clicking, chirping, the crunch of a leaf or twig beneath a deer hoof, birdsong... birdsong... birdsong...

All rough hewn wood and wonky angles, the rustic little cabin we rented would have fit right in among the pages of Handmade Houses. It sat just up the hill from the property’s main house, where the land lords, a quiet older couple, lived.

The house had a sleeping loft with a raised platform just big enough for our mattress. Those upper windows looking out into the forest were right at the level of our bed. It was very much like sleeping in a tree house. In fact, one of my favorite memories of that house involves those windows.

One stormy night, when Lucas happened to be away, I was reading up in the dimly lit sleeping loft. Listening to the sounds of heavy rain against the steep A-framed roof just above me. Suddenly, everything lit up with a flash, quickly followed by some of the most earth-shaking thunder I'd ever heard.

As the lightning and thunder continued to happen in what seemed like pretty rapid succession, I set my book down, turned out the light and enjoyed the show as each flash of thunder lit up the trees beyond those windows bright as day, for a split second, then black, and… CRASH!!!! Magical.

I know, it probably sounds scary, and I’ll admit I was slightly worried that one of the nearby trees might get struck by lightning and come crashing down on me, but I’ve always loved a good thunderstorm, and the way the whole forest lit up just outside my window, appearing out of blackness, was like nothing I’d ever seen.

I think our cat Guinness was at his huskiest and happiest when we lived out here. Like a wildcat ruling over his territory. Apart from the occasional raccoon scuffle, he was in heaven.

Speaking of raccoons, we used to leave one of the little windows in the sleeping loft slightly open as the cat door, until the day I came home to find the kitchen shelves ransacked and a raccoon racing back up the stairs. Among other things, it had eaten an entire box of cookies. My cookies. Not cool raccoon.

One of the paths leading up to the house.

The deck wrapped around a few redwood trees growing in a ring just outside the front door. At one point we had a raccoon family living under the house. There were two babies that would come right up to the glass door some nights.

They would be up on their hind legs peering in with their wee paws pressed against the glass. They were so cute. Like fuzzy little masked bears. Or would-be cookie stealing bandits ;)

The house was made up of four tiny spaces all at different levels that sort of wound around the spiral staircase which wound up an old burned out tree trunk running up through the center of the house. We were told the man who built the place was a ship builder by trade, and being inside the house did offer a vague sense of being within the hull of ship strangely enough.

There was an old overgrown logging road which ran along the lower edge of the property and made for a wonderful hiking trail out into the forested land beyond. Sometimes I would go exploring and guess who would love to come along on these adventures…

Guinness was a wonderful hiking partner. He would run up ahead, sniff at things, climb around on the old moss-covered stumps and fallen trees, always managing not to stray too far ahead or behind me. He was a little bit like a dog in that way.

Well, thanks for joining me on this little hike down memory lane, here's a fitting song to end with. We're going to another free concert tonight to see these guys play!

Sorry I've been such a neglectful blogger lately. Hopefully it won't be quite so long again before my next post.

As for Canyon, after finishing the book, I was interested in finding out what became of the community over the years and stumbled upon a series of youtube clips from a local Bay Area news program.

The clips look at the history of Canyon up through recent times and there's even some cool video footage from the 60's. If you can get past the cheesy news program moments, it's pretty interesting to watch. If you'd like to check it out, you can find it here: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.

Much love to you friends and sweet folk of the internets!

smitten

2011-08-05T08:14:00.001-07:00

Clover and I saw Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers play last night at a local radio station's free outdoor concert. I was too busy cuddling with my girl and being spellbound by Nicki's beautiful voice to take pictures, but I found these gorgeous photos by feather love photography for your viewing pleasure :)

We'll be off to Guerneville soon for a peaceful stroll under the towering redwoods at Armstrong, followed by the opening of our niece Chiara's first solo art show tonight.

Tomorrow some friends of ours (remember the whiskeydrunk cycles guys?) are putting on a free community event to celebrate mustaches and bicycles (love this town) with bicycle-themed art, food & drink, the whiskeydrome, great live music, and a mustache competition, all on top of a downtown Santa Rosa parking garage with free valet bike parking. Should be fun!

Hope you all have some fun stuff planned for the weekend too :)

Bounty

2011-08-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

Our bean teepee one month ago. I'm lucky to have a husband who does cool things like plant bean teepees in the backyard :)

Fast forward to today... harvest time! I picked four large colanders full :)

Be it Spiritual or Spectacle

2011-08-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Vintage 70's tank: thrifted
Vintage 70's deadstock skirt: thrifted
Beaded necklace: gift from Nicole
Woven sandals: gift from Milla

This sunny day outfit was worn to frolic around with my little family at the Harmony Festival back in mid-June... jeez, this summer is flying by!

The capturing of a moment, when energy sparkles and light feels laced with magic. That's what feeds this girl's spirit amidst the spectacle. A little hula hooping never hurts either ;)

Portrait of a Weekend

2011-07-27T13:04:00.001-07:00

Listening to our friends Matt and Joey play music at Aubergine in Sebastopol on a Saturday afternoon. A functioning disco ball and wall of hearts in the bathroom, blocks at the bar... my kind of establishment! Not to mention, this bar/cafe/music venue, also happens to be a vintage emporium. Seriously. I'm not making this up.

Followed by a jaunt out to our friends, Jeff and Lily's, property for a fun-filled BBQ. We got to enjoy some gorgeous west county views before that big wall of coastal fog enveloped us completely.

Their beautiful property came with a funky little A-frame house in need of much TLC. With the help of skilled friends, it's now gutted and on its way to becoming a magical little home for them and their sweet baby girl. So excited to see how it all turns out!

Sunday lovely Sunday, in a little white dress I thrifted some time back. I think a simple white dress with just enough subtle detail can make for the perfect summer uniform.

With Clover and her buddy Finn packed in their strollers, my friend Angelina (who is also conveniently my next door neighbor) and I set off on a short walk to a lovely little backyard concert around the way.

With festive cloth buntings overhead, fresh straw underfoot, and cold beer in our cups, some of Santa Rosa's finest local musicians wove sweet melodies through the sun-dappled garden. Heavenly.

♥♥♥

The kiddos had a blast too :)

Loved these ladies and Clover's little happy dance about 25 seconds in.

Later that evening at our friend Erin's going away party. Soon to be off gallivanting through Europe for 9 months or something crazy like that. Lucky girl, we wish you many happy adventures!

Luis, Joey, and Mike supplied the tunes and, as you can see, there were some tiny dancers, as well.

Shiny happy people laughing :)

As the sun descended, I took a walk out into the field beyond the gate.

Where I paid a visit to some very friendly goat neighbors.

Field of feathery grasses and delicate wildflowers + golden hour = photoshoot time! Julia is just one of those people. It's pretty much impossible to take a bad picture of her.

I got so many wonderful shots of Lily and her daughter Mesa too. The one above where Mesa is looking into the camera is my favorite, so precious!

I really love the hemline of this dress, and my Violet Folklore moccs too!

Swooning over my new Lost Boys and Lovers crystal bullet necklace from the beautiful and talented Miss Sadie Rose!

Sadie and I did a package swap and I was so excited to find this gorgeous piece tucked inside... needless to say, since its arrival, this necklace has been spending some serious time around my neck.

This particular weekend was the weekend before last. Last weekend was pretty mellow, giving us time to chill out around the homestead and recharge, for there lies another crazy weekend ahead!

A friend playing music Friday night, the Petaluma Rivertown Revival on Saturday (you may recall last year's event), possibly more live art and music Saturday night, and then the Sonoma County fair with friends on Sunday... oh man, I'm getting tired just thinking about it...

Luckily, I'll have my crystal bullet to keep me feeling calm and grounded through it all ;)

Scenes from San Pancho (Mexico Trip, Part 1)

2011-07-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ok people, we’re gonna take a little trip. Finally!

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Would you believe our plane pulled up looking like this. Ha! Much to the delight of a certain three-year old awaiting her very first flight :D

Appropriate reading material… check. The reason for the trip? Our good friends Luis and Julianne's wedding, yay!

We happened to leave on the very morning the weather at home took a major turn for the worse. While waiting for take-off, the first raindrops began to fall. This was the beginning of what us Californians would come to call the June gloom. So the timing of our departure was perfect.

We escaped just in time, to the beautiful warm sandy beaches of San Pancho, Mexico!

Enjoying the first of a week's worth of spectacular sunsets.

The view of our outdoor kitchen from the pool. The bride and groom so generously provided the compound where we stayed with a group of friends for the wedding. We were all pretty blown away by how awesome it was!

There were 8 bedrooms and each set of bedrooms had a palapa-covered kitchen/lounge area and a bathroom in the middle.

All the units surrounded a lovely grassy courtyard, perfect for Clover to run around in and a swimming pool! With all our friends inhabiting the rooms, the set-up totally made me think of Melrose Place, haha. Not so much drama though ;)

Being the only kid in our group, first time in a foreign country, still adjusting to the not always comfortable heat and humidity, and three years old, Clover was pretty whiney and pouty for the first couple of days. Once she figured out how much fun that yellow floaty could be in that sparkling swimming pool though things started to turn around, thank goodness!

Shall we take a peak over that wall behind the pool?…

Not bad, eh?

My camera and I soaked up some local color while wandering the dusty cobblestone streets of this quiet beach town.

This scruffy little lady had a bunch of scraggly kittens which promptly scattered and hid as I approached.

Speaking of scruffy little ladies… as you can see, Clover warmed up to the place :D

Most of the gang at Maria’s, our favorite breakfast spot.

Home of the most amazing chocolate chocolate chip pancakes I have ever experienced! Maria must work some kind of crazy pancake magic on these things to make them surprisingly light and fluffy and not at all too sweet despite the way they appear. SO GOOOOOD.

Now on to the BIG DAY! We took this group photo before heading off down the beach to the wedding. Poor Lucas was off on a last minute emergency Desitin run for Clover, ugh, don't ask.

Not a bad spot to tie the knot, eh?

Luis and Julianne’s friends and family milling about in their finery before the ceremony.

Clover’s finery consisted of this sweet little white dress we found at Skirt Chaser Vintage in Santa Rosa just before the trip. It has flowers and little birdies sitting atop musical notes embroidered on the bib!

There was a gentle breeze and the sweet sounds of a local man and his guitar as we all gathered for the ceremony to begin.

Luis was beaming as he and his dear friend Scott, who performed the ceremony, began the procession.

Followed by the moms, how adorable are they?!

And then came the lovely sisters and best friend of the bride.

Finally… Julianne, the beautiful bride herself, accompanied by her adorable nieces. She looked so radiant and quite frankly, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS in her dress. Not to mention, how amazing is that veil?!

The ceremony was beautiful. So much joy. So much love for and between these two people. Luis and Julianne are a perfect pair. I’m so happy they found each other and so happy that we were able to take part in their special day :)

Family picture time! Apparently I was the only one who got the memo about the smiling.

Lucas took this shot of me and Clover walking over to the reception. It’s one of my favorites. This was also my first time wearing the dress Nicole gifted to me last winter as the sundress it was truly meant to be, no layers required, yay!

Photo ops before heading up to the restaurant.

Our friends Ben and Julia,

and Mike and Lisa. Haha, as you can see, Mike totally rocks.

The décor inside the restaurant was so lovely! For Juilanne’s hen party, a couple weeks before the trip, some of us girls got together and spent an afternoon chatting, drinking wine, eating yummy food, and crafting paper tea light luminaries for the tables.

We did this at her friend’s beautiful home overlooking the picturesque valleys and rolling hills of the Healdsburg wine country, not a bad way to spend and afternoon!

The luminaries looked so pretty all set out on the rustic wooden tables. I loved all the mismatched chairs too. Not to mention those hanging lights which looked so cool later in the evening, just wait, you’ll see.

How sweet is this little kiddo table?!

More beautiful friends… Erin and Wayne :)

And my beautiful husband. I’m especially proud of this shot, because photos of Lucas are often more likely to result in one of these scenarios…

At least you get to see one of the luminaries in action.

Our friends Nicole and Billy (aka The Dude) on the far side of the table.

On the outdoor patio looking out at the beach. Ready to grab Clover should she try to climb through the bars, it was a long way down!

Erin, Julia, and Ben looking tres chic while sipping margaritas.

The bride and groom show up to join the party, hooray!

Sister love!

Hi Julianne!

Clover took a special shine to Julia on this trip :)

See what I mean about the lights?

The happy couple during their first dance... they looked so in love.

After which the band started up and it was time to dance the night away in celebration of our two wonderful friends and their future together!

Oh, and did I mention the fireworks?!?! So magical.

Synchronici-Tee

2011-07-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

As I continue to procrastinate on my Mexico post (the big ones always intimidate me so!) I thought I'd share some pics I took last week of an easy-peasy tee shirt rework I did on this early 80's Police concert tee. It had been sitting unworn since I thrifted it like a year ago.

It was pretty grimey when I found it on the dollar rack at Community Thrift in San Francisco, but I love The Police and it's almost impossible to find old concert tees that have been worn to that perfect level of softness in the thrift stores anymore (let alone one from a band you actually like), so I took it home and gave it a good oxiclean soaking. This took care of all but the still faintly remaining pit stains, I know, ew right?

So I tossed it into the Bermuda Triangle of my closet (aka the box of clothes to be altered one day, but probably never). You may have one of these too. I know that some of you actually do alter these clothes though, and in my attempts to be more like you, I finally took out the scissors and turned my somewhat boxy, slightly pit-stained yet otherwise rad 80's relic into a pleasantly swingy summertime tank. Tadaa!

Anyway, I was happy with how it turned out and I got several compliments on it throughout the day :)

You can click on the picture below for a better look at how I sliced it up. I used the very ends of the sleeves for the ties at the shoulders.

Just a super simple, no sewing required, way to make a boxy thrift store tee a bit more wearable and summery!

Summer...

2011-07-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

So far so good!

Photos from a little jaunt we took up north with the teardrop in tow. Joined by Lucas' sister Isolde and family, we stopped in for a visit with their dad in Fort Bragg. Then spent a night trailer camping at Russian Gulch State Park followed by a short pit stop in Mendocino before moving on to our second night of camping at Hendy Woods.

An evening stroll out to the ocean, a morning stroll through ancient redwood groves, a dip in the Navarro River in between, and plenty of s'mores around the campfire to boot. It was a super fun little trip and now we're excited to get our little trailer out on the road for more! If only all the camping reservations in California weren't booked :( Will have to plan better for next season it seems, and see what we can manage in the meantime.

Yesterday was our first day back and we spent the afternoon in my mom's pool with my sisters and their families. It's been HOT around here and I'm quite enjoying it. Tonight will be all about family and friends, BBQ and fireworks, more summertime fun at Joey's annual 4th of July party.

We're on the final stretch of Clover's three week break from pre-school. Between all the summery excitement and having her home all the time, not to mention a nasty flu virus that swept through our neighborhood (incapacitating our little family for about four day straight), I've not been finding the time to make my presence known as I quickly sneak peeks here and there through the windows to all my lovely bloggy friends' worlds.

Once Clover starts up with pre-school again next week I'm looking forward to having more time to reconnect with you all and to pick up the posting pace myself. I still have a million Mexico pics to show you!

Until then, take care friends, and Happy Fireworks Day!

A Simple Message of Love

2011-06-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

One night when I was four years old, my dad and I went for a walk to the local market. It was just the two of us. I rode on his shoulders. We looked up at the night sky together and had a conversation about the stars and the universe.

Though I don’t remember the specifics of what was said, I do remember the sense of connection and bonding that occurred over the course of our walk. He later told me that was when he first saw me becoming my own little person.

It was a special walk for both of us and we ended it with a little phrase that I do remember and that we would continue to say to each other for years to come. Just a few sweet words that would always remind us of that night. The phrase was, in essence, a message of love.

Messages of love were never in short supply with my dad. My mom and my sisters and I never had to question this man’s boundless love for us.

I love you dad. I miss you.

Hola!

2011-06-07T15:36:00.001-07:00

Hey, so nice to “see” you again. Where have I been? Well, we jetted off to Mexico for a fun-filled week of sun-kissed days, surrounded by good friends and warm sandy beaches. The Pacifico with lime flowed freely and each night began with a glorious sunset… of course I took a million pictures, so more on that to come. In the meantime, here's an outfit from just before our trip…

Dress: Recent thrift gift, thanks Laura Jane!
Leather Leaf Hairclip: Made by Milla
Beaded Necklace: Gift from Nicole
Denim Jacket: Thrifted
Moccs: Violet Folklore

This cute little white dress, rescued from the dredges of the Goodwill bins by our thrift savvy friend Laura Jane, made for a perfect backdrop to show off this gorgeous and amazing beaded necklace that was given to me by the equally gorgeous and amazing Nicole back when we did our swap… the beading, the colors, the little bells that jingle cheerfully wherever I go… I adore this necklace!

So, we came home to some awfully dreary weather. Chilly, cloudy, rainy… a bit of a shock to the system after a straight week of tropical paradise conditions. Not to mention a week spent internet-free.

I’m slowly finding my way back to blogland (so behind... hoping to soon be commenting on a blog near you ;) and other business-as-usual. The good news is that the sun finally poked out from behind the clouds today and according to the powers that forecast, she’s supposedly gonna hang out for awhile, woohoo!

Now, in the spirit of catching up, before I start bombarding you with vacation photos, I have something fun to share...

I’m sure plenty of you recognize the bright smiling face with me here! Yup, I finally got to meet up with the gorgeous, hilarious, and super stylish to boot, Brigit!

If, during your internet travels, you haven’t come across her wonderful blog, Bonfire of My Vanity, I highly recommend dropping by… especially if you enjoy laughing out loud while being sartorially and otherwise inspired. Brigit is one of the most entertaining blog writers I know and most definitely the funniest!

We met up for coffee in the Old Railroad Square historic section of downtown. Even though I’ve now had the pleasure of meeting several of my blog friends in person, and each and every time it ends up being a fun and relaxed experience, I still never fail to get all nervous beforehand.

Of course Brigit’s warm smile and totally down-to-earth personality put me at ease immediately and we proceeded to enjoy a lovely chat over coffee followed by me giving Brigit the grand tour of the nearby vintage, thrift, and antiques establishments.

Whistlestop Antiques, or “The Olden Days Store” as Clover refers to it, is housed in an old brick warehouse-sized building where 35 individual antiques dealers sell their wares. It’s the sort of place in which anyone who is a lover of old things can get lost wandering through the maze-like array of old-timey treasures for hours on end. Needless to say, Brigit was an instant fan of this place as were Milla and Charlie back when I gave them the tour.

We ogled antique silver and turquoise jewelry and sifted through boxes full of random old photos. If you look closely at the framed photo above, you can see the little dude up there chopping off the top of that giant tree, pretty wild!

From one iconic Santa Rosa Vintage retailer to the next, we walked down the street and around the corner to Hot Couture Vintage, which has been around since the early 80’s. I can remember this place as a kid!

This shop has a vintage purity that I admire, having remained true it’s classic aesthetic over the years. They still draw the vintage line at the 70’s. No 80’s/90’s revival happening here.

Beautiful vintage dresses galore!

Brigit, the true bohemian babe that she is, was drawn to the embroidered Mexican frocks, like the little beauty she’s eyeing above. Speaking of bohemian style, I’d like to point out her awesome tie-dyed dress, and then draw your attention to that killer leather/woven bag she’s carrying, which was given to her by none other than our friend Milla the Magnificent.

I went crazy over that bag when first seeing on her blog and let me tell you, it’s even cooler in person. I pretty much couldn’t take my eyes off it and the fact that my own favorite woven bag had just begun unraveling to the point where it had to be retired and I had been on the lookout for a new one wasn’t helping.

As it turns out, not only is Brigit fun to hang out and shop with, she’s also got amazing thrift luck! Earlier, as we hit up a couple of thrift shops, she came across this beautiful woven bag for four bucks and was kind and generous enough with the thrift love to hand it over to me!

I’m sure the look of longing in my eyes when I spotted her with it didn’t hurt my cause, and we joked that it was a diversionary tactic to keep me from attempting to steal her bag, haha.

A little snippet of the wall of vintage scarves.

Hats, hats, and more hats :)

After a couple of hours of shopping and chatting, our parking permits were about to expire and it was almost time for me to go pick up Clover from pre-school, so before walking Brigit back to her car, I asked the lovely woman behind the counter to take a final picture of us together, which she happily did. Look at us all matchy matchy in our little faded denim jackets :)

We had actually tried to meet up this time last year when Brigit was in the area visiting her in-laws and attending an annual belly dance festival. It didn’t end up working out that time, so I’m glad we finally managed to get together. Having two adorable little boys of her own, it was nice for us both to get out for some kid-free time as well.

We’re hoping to hang out again during one of her future visits down this way, perhaps a play date will be in order for the kiddos, and possibly a road trip to Sacramento for some more blogger meet-up fun! Thanks so much for coming into town to hang out, Brigit, I had a wonderful time and it was so nice to finally meet you in person!

P.S. You can check out Brigit's account of our meet-up here. You'll get a better look at that awesome tie-dye dress and her humorous account of how she got lost on her way to the meet-up and tried to get directions from crazy people :)

Parades, Past and Present

2011-05-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning we rounded up the troops (family/friends/neighbors… we’re lucky to have a lot of overlap involved in these categories :) and walked downtown for the annual Rose Parade. Unlike last year, I didn’t take any pictures. It was just one of those days I felt like experiencing rather than documenting, as all bloggers know, it can sometimes be tricky to do both.

Clover is such a huge fan of anything that involves putting on a show, be it a play, a puppet show, live music, I’m always impressed with her ability to focus her attention on any type of performance and just really take it all in without getting bored or distracted like you might expect from a child her age.

So of course, a parade is right up her ally and I had a wonderful time enjoying the show through her eyes. Not to mention, a parade always brings back my own nostalgic memories of the town parades I went to as a little kid back in the 70’s…

That’s four-year-old me on the left. I befriended the little girl with the braids while sitting on the curb watching the magic unfold. My dad with his trusty 35 mm provided the documentation...

I love these snap shots, the small town Americana, the rainbow of colors, the quirky shots of random people in the crowd (I have no idea who these two girls are, but isn't that photo awesome?) I love the way my dad’s sense of humor shines through. The tongue-in-cheek patriotism of the images.

In fact, I think my nostalgia for this time period has less to do with my own actual memories and more to do with all the wonderful images that my father created back in those days when he was passionately exploring photography.

Images that I cherish, especially as I grow more and more in love with photography myself and find joy in creating images that could one day bring light and form to my own little girl’s nostalgic childhood memories :)

Hope you all had a fun weekend!

(Edit: Bonus points to Nicole for spotting the Kennedy in the crowd! I can't believe I didn't realize the tall guy in the suit is indeed a young TED KENNEDY! Talk about kicking the nostalgic Americana up a notch...)

A Mother's Day In Bloom

2011-05-17T23:55:00.000-07:00

A family stroll through the acres of enchanted woodland gardens at the Sonoma Horticultural Nursery in Sebastopol. Absolutely not to be missed this time of year. Rhododendrons, azaleas, clematis, wisteria, dogwood, redbud, iris, foxglove, columbine...

I guess you could say I got flowers for Mother's Day... not to mention, my very own flower fairy! I am one lucky mama :)

May Day! May Day!

2011-05-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

This sweet little beauty of a dress was one of several vintage gems that came to me by way of a lovingly assembled, thoughtfully themed care package presented to me in person on this magical night by the lovely and wondrous spirit that is Heather :)

Her theme was Beachy Village, so lovely: “I was imagining music on an old wooden pier, blues & whites & lavender. Sand underfoot and a warm cresent moon smiling overhead.” *sigh*

I wore the dress to the May Day celebration at Clover’s preschool. It felt perfect for the occasion, and even reminded me of something I might have worn at her age.

The delicate details: sheer puff sleeves, tiny pearl buttons, lace collar and trim, along with my girl picking flowers necklace (better view here), an old pre-blogging days thrift find.

Last years maypole involved a rainbow of paper streamers. This year, they stepped it up a notch with beautiful ribbons of fabric in sweet, springy patterns and colors.

If you’re wondering where Clover is in most of these pictures, the answer is right here, attached to the hem of my dress. She was having one of those days.

There is nothing orderly about dancing around the maypole with a bunch of 2-4 year olds, it all inevitably ends in complete and utter maypole madness. Could this be where the term mayhem comes from, or perhaps the distress call "mayday! mayday!" ;)

Yeah, it seems I am not above a little mini-muffin bribery to get my girl to pose for me with one of her besties. Clover’s pal Lillia, who you’ve seen before, most recently dying eggs with Clover in her backyard, is the daughter of friends of ours. These two were born only two weeks apart.

As I was in the middle of taking a picture of the maypole, this little sweetheart came up and tugged on my dress. When I stopped and looked down at her, she looked up at me with sparkles in her eyes and a big smile on her face and said “You’re beautiful.” Oh my goodness, talk about heart-melting! Of course I informed her of her own beauty, and then snapped this shot : )

Wee cupcakes and lemonade in the play yard to celebrate the birthday of yet another of Clover’s besties, Maiya, our little girl next door.

Then it was off into the neighborhood with a red wagon full of colorful little handmade paper baskets. Each filled by the kids with fresh picked flowers to brighten some lucky neighbors day.

The kids had so much fun marching up to set baskets down on each doorstep and then running off to hide before the door was answered so they could all jump out and scream Happy May Day!

Of course the neighbors get such a kick out of these smiling little faces showing up at their doorstep with flowers every year. This guy’s reaction was especially sweet and touching. It seems this old fashioned May Day tradition brings joy to all involved.

I hope your May Day involved flowers, smiles, and joy this year as well!

Mom

2011-05-08T01:50:00.000-07:00

In honor of Mother’s Day I wanted to share this beautiful photograph of my mom. It was taken by my dad in a Massachusetts field of wildflowers in the summer of 1976. She was 24 years old and holding on to mine and my younger sister’s balloons as we gathered up unruly bouquets.

When I think of my mom, I think of her gentle soul, her natural beauty, and her seemingly endless reserves of quiet strength, how she dedicated her younger years so completely to raising my sisters and I, how she later dedicated herself so completely to caring for my dad as he was leaving this earth, how glad I am that she’s been able to find new life and love, and how blessed I am to have this wonderful woman in my life.

I love you mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

A pretty song for a pretty lady :)

Happy Mother's Day to all you gorgeous earth mamas!

Hippety Hoppity...

2011-05-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

I know, just when you thought for sure the Easter posts were over, right? ;) Well, not just yet!

Our Easter festivities actually began on Saturday when we spent the afternoon with friends at their home, dying eggs in the backyard, having an egg hunt for the kids, and meeting NINE new baby chicks. It's crazy to think that ours were this small just last Spring!

While the papas helped the kids with some traditional egg dying, there was a new method that I had just heard about and was eager to try.

It turns out, if you wrap an egg in a piece of printed silk (I picked up a tie at the thrift store) with the print side against the egg, then overwrap with a piece of plain white sheet material, and boil/simmer the wrapped eggs in a mixture of water and vinegar, the pattern on the silk will transfer onto the egg! So easy and they turn out looking super cool. I followed the instructions found here.

We got up bright and early Sunday morning to head across the street to my sister-in-law’s house for Easter breakfast with a big group of neighbors and family. They’ve got a very fancy espresso machine and know how to use it (my sister-in-law used to own and run a small coffee shop), so homemade lattes at their house are the real deal!

Clover was given and amaranth seed planted in a dyed egg shell. I thought this was such a fun idea and once it sprouts, it can be planted right into the ground egg and all. I loved the little bunny egg cups made from egg cartons too.

Looking out the kitchen window into their backyard, where the big egg hunt was soon to take place.

Clover looking rather tiny under the massive bamboo poles leading into their garden.

And they're off!

With a little help from her older cousin Vida, Clover did a wonderful job of filling up her basket.

The confetti-filled eggs were quite literally a smashing success!

Leaving smiles on the kids’ faces and the ground covered in tiny bits of candy-colored paper.

Following party number one, we made it back home just long enough to take an outfit photo. The day started off a bit cold and even drizzley at times, so with the busy day ahead, I ended up ditching my plan to get all gussied up in a perfect little Spring dress recently given to me by Heather, and just went the easy route with jeans and rainboots instead. As for the dress from Heather, it ended up being completely perfect for celebrating May Day, so you’ll be seeing it soon :)

At least I fancied things up a little bit with some lovely (all recently gifted) pieces: the gorgeous blouse was sent by Amber along with the moccasins that I purchased from her shop, the necklace (a Flaming Hag Folkwear original) was a gift from Nicole, and my sister-in-law Zoe had thrifted me this lovely shrug thingy with embroidered birds on it just a few days before.

With the blouse being pretty much sleeveless, the shrug made for a perfect little cover-up until the sun came out.

And come out it finally did, as we arrived at party number two, which took place where Clover goes to pre-school (aka the farm).

Mmmm, pretty cake. There was quite a spread to be enjoyed and even a guy in a chef’s hat cooking up made-to-order omelettes with fresh eggs straight from the coop! Clover took note of his hat and asked me why there was a baker at the party. I’m pretty sure she had these guys in mind when she asked ;)

Little girls in flight on the “birdie swing” hanging from the oak tree mama and papa were married under.

Clover and her cousins Vida, Lucia, and Fiona had lots of fun while looking pretty adorable on the teeter-totter in their Easter dresses.

Just as the big egg toss was about to get underway out in the field though, it was already time for us to pry Clover off the see-saw and move on to our next Easter engagement. It was a seriously action packed day.

Next stop, my mom's house...

Where there was yet MORE egg dying, fun with MORE of Clover’s cousins, and you guessed it, ANOTHER egg hunt!

By this time, I was getting a little lazy with the picture taking, but I did snap one of this ridiculously cute framed photo that my sister Val took of her two youngest daughters, Riley and Alana.

I also got my lovely mom to let me take some shots of her tattoos. Would you believe she’s turning 60 this summer?! She just got her first tattoo like two years ago, the one above, she loves hummingbirds :)

She surprised us with her second, this beautiful mandala on her back, having had it done only a few days before. Yeah, she’s a pretty hip mama ;)

Speaking of pretty hip mamas, we then stopped by Lucas’ mom’s house and had dinner with her and her husband at our favorite Mexican spot down the street. By this time I was done with picture taking, but of course I couldn't resist a shot of Clover hangin’ with Buddha out in grandma’s front yard on Easter, I guess she didn't want him to feel left out ;)

...and that, in an eggshell my friends, was our crazy busy Easter :)

Spring Chickens and Scenes From a Sunday

2011-04-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

No, not Easter Sunday, you know me, I have yet to get around to those pics. This was actually the previous Sunday, far more mellow, way less action packed, and much more sunshiney. It was just a nice little day at home.

My morning started off with stacks of dishes to be done, laundry, floors desperately in need of vacuuming, and the general chaos that ensues when a gang of four rowdy kids, all under the age of five, are let loose in your home…

Have a closer look…

Now extrapolate this to the entire house.

I will admit that on a less beautiful day, one not quite so filled with bird song, rose-scented breezes, and the warm promise of Spring, things may have been off to a discouraging start.

However, on this particular day, it was the words “a beautiful mess” that came to mind and even inspired me to get out my camera and try to capture the sort of chaos that makes a house feel like a home, lived in, loved.

Nevermind that there are CRAYONS strewn across the wood floors… don’t their tiny pops of color look pretty through the rose-colored glasses of a perfect Spring day?

Ah, the culprits! They may look innocent, but do not be fooled. I actually did a double-take when I walked out the back door, after having whipped the house back into some sort of order, and stumbled upon this rare little scene.

Clover and the neighbor kids, all squished into the sandbox, playing together quietly, happily, no crying, no throwing sand, no arguing over sand toys… I’m telling you, it was weird. I had to run and get my camera!

Later that afternoon, we spent some family time in the garden. Lucas and Clover planted some small blueberry bushes. He started digging the hole and she ran right over to get her tiny shovel from the sandbox to help. She loves being papa’s little garden helper.

Clover moved on to the patch of wild onion under the plum tree for some flower picking, while I joined in on the planting. You can never have too many strawberry plants strewn about the yard.

I didn’t even have to ask Lucas to take my picture… that’s how magical of a day it was ;)

Clover taking pride in her onion-scented bouquet.

Someone told us recently that chard is great on pizza. It’s now on my to-try list. You can never have too many chard recipes at your disposal.

A double-yolker!

Yup, it turns out one of our chickens will every once in awhile lay an egg that is quite a bit larger than a normal sized egg and has two yolks instead of one. This is the third one we’ve found!

We’re still not sure which hen is laying them, but Lucas and I both have our money on Hiccup.

Little Kettle Corn went broody on us for a few days. Luckily, after gently picking her up and moving her off the nest a few times, she seems to have snapped out of it.

When we let the girls out to free-range, usually toward the end of the day, the first thing they do is run straight to the back corner of the yard to their favorite dust bathing spot. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, it turns out the key to a clean, well-groomed, parasite-free chicken is a good honest roll in the dirt!

See how pretty they look after.

I sat under the willow with my camera poised as they pranced through the backlit flowers after their dust bath. I couldn’t help but edit in some soft-focus...

Glamour shots for chickens, anyone?

Happy Spring planting!

On a Sunny Saturday

2011-04-20T12:21:00.001-07:00

Can you tell how in love I am with my new-to-me Minnetonkas? Yeah, I pretty much just gaze at them longingly all day long ;)

See, there I go again!

Saturday’s outfit:
Plaid jumper: Crimson & Clover <3
90’s floral rayon top: thrifted
Old gray leggins: thrifted a million years ago, I think
Vintage Minnetonka Moccs (I love the side lacing!): Violet Folklore <3
Hand-crafted leather and recycled chain owly necklace: Flaminghag Folkwear <3
Hand-crafted leather butterfly hair-clip: Milla <3

So many beloved bits of leather going on this outfit, and it’s always quite satisfying when a plaid/floral combo works out : )

As I was documenting my outfit, I couldn’t help but take a break to capture our massive rose arbor, which has just over the past week started blooming profusely. It grows right out toward our kitchen window and fills the side-yard with the sweetest scent.

The bees are loving it too! This little fella kept following me around, buzzing in front of my camera lens. I suppose even bees need their 15 minutes ;)

As Clover and I observed them buzzing from bloom to bloom out the kitchen window yesterday, with a look of adorable concern, she asked me “Do the bees sting the roses?” Sometimes it’s so fun to watch her little three-year-old brain at work :)

Saturday afternoon Clover and I went out to Hopmonk Tavern (yes, the very location of a certain very fun night the weekend before!) with my friend Angelina and her little boy Finnegan to enjoy some free festivities going on in conjunction with the Sebastopol Apple Blossom Festival.

The sun was shining, the beer was tasty, and an old-timey bluegrassy band was playing out back… meanwhile, out front…

Our boys Joey, Klaus, and Josh along with the rest of the expanding Wiskeydrunk crew had their gravity-defying cycling spectacle, the Wiskeydrome, set up and in action.

Clover and Finn had front row seats and even got to try to hit the guys with small bouncy balls as they whizzed by, fun stuff, and probably pretty safe too!

Upon Finn’s request, Klaus tore it up on a tiny blue kid’s vintage Schwinn.

We also witnessed the successful execution of the, never before attempted, no-hands pass, woohoo! Hey, does that parachute tent look familiar?

Clover and Finn, let their freak flags fly ;)

Photo-op on the old-school tandem cruiser. Clover’s adorable floral dress was a gift from Amber that arrived along with the beloved moccasins I purchased from her shop. She also threw in a super cute bonus blouse and cardi for me as well! Thanks Amber!

Upon Lucas' arrival we were off to a BBQ/gathering of friends nearby.

Clover losing it after a long day in the sun.

Blue skies and BBQ lead into an evening around a blazing fire with the full moon overhead. We'll be meeting up with a bunch of our friends who were there in Mexico next month for the wedding of our wonderful hosts, Luis and Julianne, can't wait!

Good friends, good food, and a bunch of full moon loony kiddos!

And what blog post would be complete these days without a gratuitous kitty pic? She belongs to our friends who hosted the BBQ. She has kitty thumbs. Unfortunately, they aren’t visible here, but trust me, they’re there, and they’re super weird and kinda rad. Apparently, they help with writing poetry too, as evidenced by our friend Luis' recent status update on fb:

“I had another weird dream last night where I found out my cat wrote a book of poetry and it was called ‘Me.Yow.’ I was trying to find it on Amazon and was mad she never gave me a copy. Weird dream weird cat.”

I thought that was pretty awesome :)

Go and Sing to the Mountain, Go and Sing to the Moon

2011-04-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

My outfit for a very special Sunday evening… a favorite floral frock (thrifted) and my glorious new Minnetonka Moccs from my girl Amber’s magical Etsy shop of beautiful bohemian wonders, Violet Folklore! I promise a better view of these lovelies in my next outfit post. Of course I topped it all off with my favorite hair accessory, the lovely leather leaf clip made by my darling Millakin!

Now, why was my Sunday evening so special, you ask?…

Moonsong sisters reunite! My lovely ladykins, Heather and Amber, picked me up following a long drive out from the foothills and we were off for an incredible night full of beer drinking, soul-nourishing music and dancing, and all-around fun-filled sisterly shenanigans at Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol!

Our evening began with a tasty double IPA which we toasted with love to our dear Milla, who we held close in spirit throughout the night. So much so that it was as if she were right there with us at times… turns out she was up on the stormy shores of her island doing just the same :)

Heather brought Amber and I the most thoughtfully assembled gift bags full of all manner of treasures which we opened together as the sun went down on the biergarten… so much thrifty gifty goodness… it will need a post all its own!

Heather has already described this evening so perfectly. Rather than try to improve upon perfection, I’m just gonna show some of my pics from our jubilant night and direct you on over to her post (if you haven’t already been) for all the glorious details…

…not to mention, several more classy bathroom outfit shots!

Ah, Elephant Revival, the band whose blissful music is responsible for bringing us girls back together so soon! I will also send you over to Milla’s post for her beautiful portrayal (she saw them play just the Sunday before!) of this band that is so dear to her heart, and for such good reason as we now know from experience! On with the pics…

The three of us danced unabashedly front and center the entire time they played! Completely caught up in our gleeful haze, it wasn’t until near the end of the show, when Bonnie began wooing us all with her beautiful saw playing (she also plays the washboard and has a voice straight from the heavens, by the way) that I realized I hadn’t taken any pictures and rushed over to grab my camera.

There was plenty of fiddle wooing going on by the lovely Bridget as well :)

Such a wonderful show it was!

Completely smitten, we reeled the lovely Bridget and Bonnie into our happy little group after the show with some girl talk in the ladies room, followed by…

A lively little impromptu Tom Waits dance party!

We all got hugs from the girls, then reluctant to end our perfect evening…

Hung around a bit longer and were treated to Dango’s spirited story of how he came by his beautiful antique stand-up bass... it’s all in Heather’s post, along with a bonus image of Amber expressing her heart-felt appreciation for said beauty of a bass ;)

Oh, what an unforgetable night! SO MUCH FUN!!!

The Moonsong Sisterhood, Part 2

2011-04-06T09:47:00.001-07:00

Ok, where were we now?… Ah yes, hangin’ out in Gold Country with this beautiful group of people! With the unfortunate exception of Heather’s husband Darin, who had to work, but with the very welcome addition of her lovely sister, Adie, the gang departed Placerville on Sunday morning to journey on toward Nevada City (Amber, Graham, and Mycie’s neck of the foothills).

Speaking of which, the sun was shining brightly on them there hills as we wound our way along historic Hwy 49. A perfect clear day for breathtaking views of rolling hills and gorgeous vistas. About midway, we all converged for a pit stop in the historic little town of Coloma.

While waiting for Milla, Heather, and Adie to catch up, the rest of us wandered the short distance down to the river’s edge to watch Clover and Mycie run around and play with sticks and stones and sand.

The dress Clover was wearing actually happened to be a hand-me-down from Mycie, that came with my birthday package from Amber the year before :)

This photo of Mycie and Charlie is one of my favorites of the trip.

I wore my new little plaid dress, cozy pastel cardigan, and leather and chain owl necklace… all new-to-me Crimson and Clover/Flaming Hag Folkwear treasures from the previous day.

After the solid week of rain, hail, and snow leading up to this day, I think we were all feeling pretty blissed out on just being able to sit along the river bank and soak up some much appreciated sunshine.

With the arrival of Heather, Milla, and Adie, the whole group took a stroll over the American River by way of a one-lane bridge.

Heather, Adie, and Graham enjoying the gorgeous view.

Milla held tight to the little ones as we made our way along the bridge with it’s dangerously large open gaps along the sides!

Ah, the boys… sadly, this is the closest thing to a group shot that I got of them, and Darin wasn’t even there for it! At least Amber got this shot, but we really did drop the ball I think in not getting them all to pose together. Not that they minded, I'm sure.

It bears mentioning though, that they were all really great about this whole thing. A real top-notch group of menfolk we've got ourselves, none of whom knew what they were in for with this whole crazy meet-up masterminded by a bunch of giddy wives.

They deserve a ton of praise for coming along on this decidedly estrogen-charged ride and remaining good-natured and open to the experience throughout our sisterly adventures. There wasn't nearly the amount of eye-rolling that us girls had anticipated! Not to mention, they are a super laid-back and funny bunch of guys, always a bonus!

Speaking of giddy wives!

Group shot of the ladies in the town of Coloma, where gold was first discovered in 1848, triggering the 1849 California Gold Rush. A location rich in history when it comes to hunting treasure. A fitting spot for us girls, treasure hunters of a different sort, to come together!

Essentially, that is exactly what brought us together, our love of finding treasure, mainly in the form of vintage clothing, and the urge to share that love with other kindred treasure huntresses. Who knew that in the process of doing so, the most cherished finds would turn out to be each other <3

Yeah, I’d say we struck gold for sure ;)

As soon as we reached Nevada City, we hightailed it on over to Ike’s Quarter Café, where Adie’s husband Art works, for a super yummy lunch (during which I was apparently too hungry to take any pictures, ha, a rare moment on this trip.) We were also joined by Amber’s good friend and shop model, Suuzi, who turned out to be every bit as warm and lovely in person as she appears on Amber’s blog.

Nevada City showed remnants of recently snowy days as evidenced by the roof of our sweet rental cottage. This is where myself, Lucas, Clover, Milla, and Charlie would be spending the night. It was perfectly located just steps away from Nevada City’s ridiculously charming downtown too!

As we settled in at the cottage, our lovely friend Nicole did indeed show up with her wonderful family in tow! Leaving Lucas behind to enjoy a wee nap, the rest of our growing gang set off to meander along the idyllic streets of Nevada city.

Our route downtown took us on a peaceful stroll through a little old snow-dusted cemetery just up the road from our cottage.

With headstones dating back to the 1800’s, it made for a picturesque photo spot…

with the sun peaking through the trees…

and these little sprites frolicking amongst the spirits of Gold Rush days.

We made our way to the 130 year-old historic National Hotel, oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi, where we met up with yet ANOTHER beautiful bloggy lady, Sadie Rose! She was just checking into the hotel, after a drive up from Chico to join our ragtag crew.

We took advantage of the lovely seating area in the lobby to get a group photo of all the ladies, from left to right: Me and Clover, Adie, Heather, Amber and Mycie, Milla, Nicole and Kama, and Sadie, our newest addition!

Nicole and her family… seriously stylin’ clan that they are!

Another favorite photo from the trip… there’s just something about sweet lil’ Mycie charmin’ those dark bearded men I guess!

Just as we were saying hello to Sadie, it was time to say goodbye to Adie (short for Adrienne, thus pronounced such that this sentence rhymes :)

As the lobby filled up with barefoot little girls running wild, gal's a'chatting, and the ever present photo ops, Charlie wandered off (an endearing tendency of his btw, in fact, if he hasn't wandered off, chances are he's napping ;) only to be discovered downstairs taking full advantage of the amazing old timey bar w/ constellations of shiny Christmas balls hanging from the ceiling tiles!

Unfortunately, Sadie's little boy Asher began feeling a bit under the weather as they arrived at the hotel, so they decided to rest up in their room before joining us later to hang out.

As the sun began to set we made our way back along the quaint streets of Nevada City. Under cotton candy clouds, we admired the perfectly eclectic mix of lovely architectural styles exhibited by the homes and churches along the way.

Peeking into dreamy shop windows,

and stopping every two feet or so for more photo ops, aren’t these two adorable?!

After stopping into a candy shop to pick up some hot chocolates for the walk, Lucas tracked us down, and just in time, as Clover had decided that walking up the hilly streets just wasn’t for her anymore. My hero!

Back at the cottage we all settled in for another cozy evening together… beer, snacks, families, friends, kids jumping on beds, grown-ups laughing and telling stories. It was another totally fun night and the addition of Nicole and family, Sadie and her son, and Amber’s friend Suuzi, who we’d met earlier at lunch, only added to the merriment. Another group shot of all the ladies, check out me and Clover surrounded by all those beauties!

I was struck by how unique all the girls and their individual personalities turned out to be, yet how we all seemed to fit together in a way that felt somehow complimentary. It was really neat to be surrounded by a room full of people, most of whom had never met in person before that day or the day before, and feel the kind of warmth one might experience hanging out at a party full of close friends.

And yeah, I felt like I would have liked to have been more outgoing than I was that evening and to have connected with some of the girls more than I did, but that’s just part of my unique personality, for better or worse, and to be honest it’s not unlikely for me to feel that way even at a party full of people that I have known for years. I’m a weird combination of someone who is not totally comfortable being social, yet for the most part loves being around people. Anyway, enough about my social quirks…

Later that night… sisters bundled up and circled in song, surrounded by tall trees and the silence of the moonlit cemetery, it's hushed souls… moments of connection did occur, moments that I felt privileged to be part of :)

As the night went on hugs were given, goodbyes were said, until it was just the Missas and the Millas again… off to bed.

The next morning we checked out of the cottage and walked back down to Ike’s for what was arguably one of the best breakfasts of my entire life…

SO GOOD.

Unfortunately this awesome little shop wasn’t open, so we had to settle for peering in longingly through the window.

After another quick visit to the National Hotel, since Lucas didn’t get to see it the day before, we headed out of Nevada City with one final stop to make…

Amber, Graham, and Mycie’s sweet little miner’s cabin in Grass Valley! Where we found Amber and Mycie having a quiet morning together in their lovely and cozy home.

I was completely charmed by their wee dwelling, where earthy touches mixed with bits of vintage whimsy in the most wonderful ways.

Our final ladies group shot :)

With the end of our bittersweet little visit, came the reality that our special weekend was really coming to a close and it would probably be some time before we'd all get to see each other in person again. Not that that has stopped us girls from already scheming up ways to make this happen again sooner rather than later!

Milla and Charlie came back with us to Santa Rosa and spent one final night before waking up at the crack of dawn to head on up the coast. Of course I was sure to wake up at the crack of dawn too, to send my friend off with a nice long hug and and a maybe not-so-dry-eyed goodbye.

So now I’ll quote myself from the comment I left on Milla’s post, 'cause what better way to sum it all up than with my own sappy little metaphor, right?

“…those first silly little comments we made about each other's outfits (though we had no idea of their power and potential at the time) were actually small seeds that have since sprouted and grown and branched out and blossomed, and propagated... spreading new seed and bringing us here to this beautiful garden of calico and kindred spirits! It's all a bit mind-blowing, don't you think?”

Indeed... and in the best of ways!

Things Are Looking Up

2011-03-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and this morning on the way to The Farm, Clover and I had our first hot air balloon sighting of the season!

During the warmer months, it’s not uncommon to see hot air balloons flying over the Sonoma County wine country, in fact it’s kind of a thing around here, and the route we take to Clover’s pre-school just happens to pass right through an area where they can often be spotted in the morning hours.

I love the fun and excitement it adds to our little drive when we do spot one (sometimes several!) and Clover becomes so overjoyed each and every time. It never gets old. They’re so whimsical and seeing those candy colors floating against a clear blue sky is sure to brighten any day.

Not only was this morning’s sighting special because it had been months since we’d glimpsed one, but it seems our timing was just perfect because as I saw it heading toward us, I remembered that my little point and shoot was in my bag and proceeded to pull over to try to get a good shot.

Much to our delight, it flew straight over our heads! It was at a fairly low altitude too, such a fun way to start off a lovely spring day :)

Ok, now comes the part where I profusely apologize for all the blog neglect lately. I know this is not the post you were expecting. That one is coming soon, I promise!

This bloggity slump of mine has continued longer than I'd hoped... BUT, the good news is that with all this cheerful sunshine we've starting get around here, along with the warmth on my skin, I'm feeling the inspiration sinking back into my bones and I'm finally feeling excited about blogging again! Fair-weather blogger?... Yup, I suppose that's me ;)

Thanks so much for sticking with me you guys, and for all the really sweet and touching comments on my previous post. I was truly moved by so many of them. This community means a lot to me, it does. So, big hugs to all who read and find some joy in this little head space of mine, I do love sharing it with you :)

The Moon Song Sisterhood, Part 1

2011-03-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

Many apologies for not getting this post up sooner my lovely friends. Last week, as I began to write it, one of the themes that kept coming to mind was the beauty and positivity that can be brought into one’s life through these crazy internets. On the flip side they can also be a mind-numbing techno time-suck (let’s not kid ;), but at the heart, it’s all really about connections, and as for my own interweb wanderings, I feel so incredibly lucky to have made some very special ones along the way. Though I should probably also say, that I don’t really believe that luck had too much to do with it ;)

This post was in essence written to celebrate the wonder of such dear connections, however, over these past days, the heartbreak and horror, the destruction and devastation, of all that has and continues to unfold in Japan has been overwhelming, and I must admit, it has left me with the urge to “retreat” just a bit from all the “connectedness” and really cherish the comfort that I’m fortunate to be existing in right now here in my cozy and, as yet, safe little home with my loved ones.

I feel terrible for the people of Japan who are directly involved, I feel terrible for our planet, and on my Yahoo homepage when I saw this major headline: “Radiation soars at Japan nuclear plant, Area residents are told to stay inside during the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, Threat heads up the coast” immediately followed by this “major” headline: "‘Bachelor’ winner gets cold feet, Emily says she’s not quite ready to wed Brad, even after accepting his proposal,” well, I just felt a little sick inside and terrible for humanity as a whole.

With my portal to inspiration and kindred souls currently overwhelmed by confused and often conflicting messages of doom and fear, the timing of this post started to feel a bit off. Though while I know all of our hearts are breaking for the people of Japan right now, I also feel like sending out a story of love and light and positive connection can’t be a bad thing during such times as these, and I know that there are at least a few lovely souls out there to whom these pics will bring smiles to their faces and hopefully brighten their days like they do mine, so without further ado…

Our story begins in Sacramento, CA at Crimson & Clover, the most magical vintage shop in all the land… seriously, where else would this story begin? ;)

(left to right: Milla, Nicole, Me, Amber, Heather)

Brought together ultimately by a mutual deep-seated love of vintage clothing, it makes perfect sense that this would be the chosen spot for myself and these gorgeous and wondrous ladies to finally find ourselves all together in three-dimensional reality for the very first time!

Nicole, the all-around sweet spirit and stylish-beyond-words proprietress (her co-proprietress, Kara, we unfortunately didn't get to meet this time). Milla, Amber, Heather, and myself giddily descended upon Nicole at work in her shop after initially meeting up, daughters and husbands in tow, for lunch at the restaurant next door.

With Clover and Mycie (Amber's daughter), happily swinging at the park across the street with their papas, we girls were free to browse, chat, take lots of pictures, and pretty much just bliss-out on each other for awhile.

Pretty Aquarian birthday packages from Nicole, our fellow water bearer :)

Ah, the gift of Gunne! Milla basking in the glory, as the rest of us ooh-ed and ahh-ed in the background.

Heather flashing her bright and ever-present smile, as we all wandered around the lovely shop in a giddy daze, perusing racks of dresses and admiring Nicole’s amazing handmade accessories, juggling cameras and arm-loads of vintage loveliness to try on… many of which turned out to be destined for new homes ;)

Heather and Amber looking quite excited about their purchases, as we all were!

Once the little girls had done all the swinging they were going to do, and the papas had already played the cookies from the coffee shop card, it was time to move on to the next phase of our adventure. We bid Nicole a fond farewell, with hopes firmly planted for her and her family to meet up with us in Nevada City the next day.

Now, if you wouldn't mind joining me on a wee philosophical tangent…

Following Heather’s wonderful post, both Milla and Amber recently published beautifully written accounts of our weekend as well, each expanding on sentiments shared by all-involved, as we’ve had a chance to reflect on our time together.

One topic that came up in conversation among us that weekend, had to do with the dynamics of getting to know someone through blogging, and/or other such modes of online communication, where people come together based on common interests. We all agreed that when approached with honesty and pure intention, there can be the potential for forming even deeper connections/bonds/friendships than those you might make through “real life” channels.

This writing-based means of self-expression, where you are often “carefully externalizing your internal life into words,” as Milla so elegantly put it, can lend itself to deeper interactions than you might initially have with a new person in your life.

For an introvert like myself, externalizing can be something quite difficult to accomplish during the course of everyday social interactions to begin with. As someone who feels more comfortable expressing herself through writing than speaking, I feel like it’s allowed me to make so many wonderful connections that I never would have otherwise. It really has become an avenue for getting to know people that I’m endlessly thankful to have discovered.

What’s also interesting is that, not only do you externalize the “inner you” through the act of writing, but at the same time, through the act of reading the blogs/comments/emails of those you are connecting with, you effectively internalize the “inner them.”

There’s something powerful about taking in information through reading the written word, and over time, getting to know the essence of someone in this way makes them sort of feel like a part of you, part of your own internal landscape. It makes me think of the way reading a good book can seem to infiltrate your soul in a way that watching the movie never quite can. I know that’s a complete oversimplification, but perhaps there’s still some truth to it.

This all leads to some thrilling first moments of being in the warm presence of women whose form had previously taken shape for you in this way. It is a bit like "stepping through the looking glass." Your internal reality becoming your external reality, as girls who existed as composites of words and images in your mind and heart, become vividly real right before your eyes. Eyes that lock in deep recognition, while smiles beam, and heartfelt hugs commence. It’s an experience both surreal and hyper-real all at the same time.

It’s all very fleeting though, because before you know it, you’re looking at these sweet souls in the flesh as if that’s just how you’ve always seen them, and it’s all a bit mind-bending in the best of ways!

But let’s get back to our adventure, shall we?

Speaking of the magical act of reading, our first destination upon arrival in Heather’s hometown of Placerville was also where she works… The Bookery!

This used bookstore is nothing short of AMAZING and my girls, being the bevy of beautiful bookworms that they are were all completely in their element in it’s labyrinth of shelves quite literally overflowing with the written word.

Milla, kneeling at the alter in her place of worship ;)

Amber, unable to contain her excitement over the True Stories of the Sea section :D

Following the excitement of The Bookery, we got Mexican take-out and headed up the hill to Heather’s house where her husband Darin was waiting to warmly greet us all. The ten of us (myself, Lucas, and Clover, Amber, Graham, and Mycie, Milla and Charlie, Heather and Darin) went straight to settling in for a good ol’ fashioned sleepover!

A little beer, a little food, and the next thing we knew, Heather’s bedroom floor was barely visible as the gift giving extravaganza (dubbed “New Christmas” by our menfolk) commenced in full force!

Clover and Mycie went straight to work on Clover’s new fairy sticker book. A gift from Amber and Mycie, but not before each putting on one of many (and I do mean MANY) new vintage dresses. Seriously, between Amber’s hand-me-downs from Mycie, and Milla and Heather going completely above and beyond hunting down adorable vintage dresses for the girls, I think Clover’s collection now puts my own to shame!

While we were all the recipients of many thoughtful gifts from one another, this brooch that Amber saw in Milla’s Etsy favorites and decided to surprise her with, was really quite special.

The circle of four women so perfectly captured the spirit of our gathering and our feelings of sisterhood toward one another. It even turned out to be a foreshadowing, as later that evening we would find ourselves out in the cool night air, hands joined in just such a circle, the four of us together beneath a bright full moon.

New Christmas, the aftermath :D

Looking adorable in new dresses from Auntie Milla, Mycie and Clover had some good times jumping and posing on Heather’s bed. They are both so good at posing, not sure where they get that ;)

By the end of New Christmas, these girls were BEST BUDS, running around together and squealing with laughter like they’d known each other all their lives. Isn’t it amazing how kids do that, form friendships so quickly and easily, like “Hey she likes to wear old dresses and jump on beds too, I’m gonna have some fun with her!” They’re just all-in, from the get-go. It’s inspiring really.

In a way, I think online communities sort of give us back some of that child-like boldness in making connections. I would probably never walk up to a stranger on the street whose style I was drawn to and say: “Hey, I think you’re awesome, wanna be my friend?” But that’s basically how it goes down in the land of blog… you tell a cute Finnish girl that you think she looks adorable in her red dress, and fast forward three years later…

That connection has grown, and expanded, and now includes others…

yes, their dresses also happen to be cute, but at this point that is so completely beside the point…

and if your lucky, one day you all find yourselves and your loved ones face-to-face in a gypsy caravan of a living room sharing beers and smiles and stories and laughter…

and you adore these girls in person more than you ever thought you could…

(their loved ones are pretty great too ;)

There’s a magical midnight walk under a full moon, homemade raspberry wine shared straight from the bottle, howling, circling, singing, laughing, confiding, bonding…

and you’re ALL-IN, from the get-go ♥

The after-glow... scenes from the next morning, bathed in golden light.

Heather’s sweet kitty Cream Puff was not the only cute and furry creature roaming the house that morning.

Aaaaaaaaand, still posing :D

Milla working on the mountain of yummy pancakes that she contributed to the insanely delicious group effort breakfast we all enjoyed. It also included potatoes and bacon by Graham, fried eggs (from our chickens!) by Charlie, and endless amounts of coffee which Lucas took the lead on.

The girls, devouring pancake after pancake, under Heather and Darin’s amazing adjustable embroidered patch calendar, the likes of which I’ve never seen anything like, so cool.

More lovely bits of home décor.

Amber’s collection of Tarot cards provided for the most adorable scene of the morning…

Tarot for tots! The girls were enthralled as Heather, in her cute flannel nightie(!), went through the cards one-by-one with them. They played a game where they assigned identities to the characters on the cards based on which of all of us they looked like most.

It’s hard to say who was having more fun with this, the girls or Auntie Heather ;)

More to come in part 2 of our journey... next stop Nevada City!

Also, if you haven't already, Milla's and Amber's glorious and complete posts, both WONDERFUL reads, can be found here and here... and the love fest continues ♥

Reaching for Spring

2011-03-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Since it feels like a really long time since I've done a simple outfit post, I decided to rustle up a cute outfit today and take a few pics while I continue working on a couple of monster posts about the big meet-up weekend.

I just realized that Spring is only two weeks away, woohoo! Inspired by the brightly shining sun and all the blooming going on around the homestead, I went with a little floral mixing. Oh, how I do heart me some floral mixing :)

This pressed leather and chain owl necklace, a Flaming Hag Folkwear original, hand made by the lovely Nicole herself, is my new love! It has been spending most days around my neck since we visited her shop in Sacramento. Heather, who was also contemplating it's purchase, was kind enough to allow me the honor, thanks Heathe!

Late last night, there was an owl hooting outside our home, which is pretty rare for our neighborhood, it hung around for quite awhile hooting at semi-regular intervals, so cool! I like to think the necklace had something to do with it's presence ;)

Floral Top: thrifted
Floral Skirt: thrifted
Belt: flea market
Boots: thrifted
Necklace: Flaming Hag Folkwear
Leather Hair Leaf: Made by Milla

p.s. Thanks to Sadie and Bee for the mini/leggings/boots combo inspirations!

Look Who the Big Storm From the North Blew In...

2011-03-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

The Millas!

Ah, where to begin?… Well, it was a dark and stormy night (haha, but it kinda was, so we'll go with it), the arrival of the Millas expedited by an unfortunate camping mishap involving Charlie’s finger, his woodcarving knife, and seven stitches….dun dun dun…

Released from the Crescent City ER, to a mounting storm and a car packed with camping gear, not to mention, strict orders from the doctor to keep that finger dry for the next few days, they decided to high-tail it straight down the 101 to us, postponing their California coastal camping for the journey home to their wee island off the coast of Northern Washington.

Now, aside from the evening of their arrival being stormy, it also happened to be Valentine’s Day, and while neither the Millas nor the Missas are much for celebrating said holiday, it did seem somewhat fitting that this day be capped off with the arrival of the girl who stole my heart (coming up on 3 years ago!) straight through the computer screen, armed with nothin’ but a cute red dress and a coordinating teacup ;)

With Charlie’s finger on the mend (he healed up like a champ, btw) and the weather forecast showing nothing but rain, rain, and more rain for the next five days they would be spending with us, many of the adventures that I had optimistically planned during the beautiful spring-like weeks leading up to their arrival, were not to be.

However, the Millas and I did venture out late one morning, during a lull in the downpours, and embark upon a drizzly hike up to the marshy little pond I hiked to with Clover recently.

Stopping at the pond to take it all in, just the three of us in our beautiful foggy surroundings, we noticed the storm clouds quickly approaching. The sound of croaking frogs was soon joined by the quiet tapping of hail. At this point, I decided to take out my camera and video document this lovely scene:

As I completed my little turnabout, it suddenly began DUMPING HAIL, at the end that’s Milla saying: “I think we may need to take cover, huh?” Followed by my reply of: “Yikes!” at which point we ran giggling gleefully up to the surrounding trees and, while looking out from under the cover of their branches, witnessed the most magical hailstorm I’ve ever seen.

The timing and setting so perfect, it was one of those experiences in nature that feels really special as it’s happening and I was so happy to be sharing it with these two wonderful people.

Haha, we do alright with our self-timers, but the sad reality is we both suffer from an affliction where we get extremely awkward and uncomfortable when having our picture taken by an actual human.

Often aggravated when said human also happens to be a husband ;)

We followed up our hike with yummy gluten-free cupcakes from the amazing Bliss Bakery, where Milla was especially delighted to discover that they served Kombucha on tap!

We took our goodies around the corner to Atlas, one of Santa Rosa’s finest lil’ coffee houses, for some warm caffeinated goodness to take the chill off. Then it was off to pick up Clover at the farm, where Milla and Charlie got to witness the aftermath of Pirate Day.

With all the rainy days, lots of time was spent just staying cozy at home. On this particular afternoon, Milla taught a very eager-to-help Clover how to make Finnish flatbread. I took this adorable opportunity to practice using the fancy flash my brother-in-law lent me on the new camera.

Clover, wielding her big rolling pin like a pro, quickly became quite the expert at cranking out flat circles of bread dough, faster than Milla could fry them up. As you can see, she got a bit overzealous with the flour too.

Made with love :)

Clover had so much fun being around Milla and Charlie. I thought she might be shy at first, but she was putting on a show from the moment they walked through the door. Charlie had to work a little harder to get on her good side, though she did get very excited about waking him up from his naps and enjoyed helping him pick lemons in the back yard :)

I think Clover was pretty taken with Milla from the get-go (she has a wonderful way with the little ones), though the bread-making really seemed to seal the deal. It was utterly precious to watch them bond so sweetly over it. I think Clover may have seriously considered trading me in at that point ;)

Exchanging belated birthday gifts (thrifted treasures and handmade goodies), crafting gifts for others, home cooked meals and chatting around the dinner table, movie nights on the couch, eating out at our favorite local Mexican restaurant and an epic Thai dinner downtown (the kind where you take your shoes off and sit on the floor with pillows. Needless to say, Clover was all about the barefoot pillow dining!), visiting thrift, vintage, and antique shops in Railroad Square, and LOTS of time spent being entertained by the small and often hilarious force of nature that is Clover in all her various states… these were some of our rainy day activities.

Really, the best part was just having Milla around in my real life, doing real life sorts of things, and having it all feel very natural and normal.

On Friday, the day before we were to head off on our much anticipated weekend of sisterly goodness, the rain finally let up and while the day was still a bit chilly and gray, it was for the most part dry. So, Lucas quit work early, and we all piled into our car to head out for one big day of West Sonoma County adventuring.

We followed the Russian River out to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve in the small town of Guerneville, where majestic old-growth redwoods tower over a lush understory of moss, ferns, clover, and mushrooms. We set off on a lovely hike through the forest, letting the cool damp air cleanse our lungs while watching Clover hobble around in her pink fuzzy jacket with little ears on the hood. Like a wayward ewok trying to find her way back to the village.

I forgot to put the battery back in my little point-and-shoot which does better in low light situations without flash (not a fan of built-in flash). I didn’t bring the fancy flash for my other camera either, so for this part of the adventure I mostly left the picture taking to Milla, which is probably why I went a little picture crazy once we were out of the dark forest.

Armstrong has an outdoor amphitheater tucked away in the woods and there was just enough light coming in there to get a shot of Milla in front of the stage and the water-filled orchestra pit.

Hollowed out trees make for good photo-ops :)

From the forest to the sea by way of the enchanting drive from Occidental to Bodega Bay along Coleman Valley Road. Preceded by a short detour into Freestone to gorge ourselves on fresh baked bread and scones at Wild Flour, home to the most delicious breads in all the land.

From the spectacular views along the vistas of Coleman Valley, where you feel as though you are literally on top of the world, we descended onto California's coastal Hwy 1 and headed north to Goat Rock, one of the most scenic beaches along the Sonoma Coast, to get out and frolic in the fog for a bit.

My girls <3

Some Milla and Charlie moments :)

In addition to the arching rock formation just off the coast, Goat Rock Beach is also known for the abundance of lovely beach stones that can be found along the water’s edge.

We were bent over for quite some time sifting through these gems of the sea.

Milla insisted that we pose for a family portrait ala the one she took of us back in September of 2009 during our visit on the island. I'm glad she did.

Um, just in case you didn’t notice, CLOVER LOVES THE BEACH.

*sigh*

Have I mentioned how much I love this girl? It was so fun to get to spend an entire week together and tough to say goodbye, but the good news is, we don’t have to go there yet because there’s still so much more to come...

Next stop… the foothills! Where the sisterly love continues to grow and expand and encompass as beautiful kindred spirit’s abound! All by way of the dreamiest little vintage shop you ever did see… so stay tuned ;)

A Thing of Beauty

2011-02-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

Yikes, has it really been 3 weeks since my last post?! Well, I guess I needed a little break. You know, it happens, gotta just take some time for life, recharge the creative juices and what not.

Ironically, during my time away from blogging, I had the great great pleasure of coming together face-to-face FOR REALS with some of my most beloved ladies of the internets!

Somehow the term “blogger-meetup” doesn’t feel quite magical enough to describe what occured last weekend. The exuberant physical realization of a sisterhood, one conjured with love and nurtured over time through photographs and thoughtful keystrokes, comes closer. Though I guess "blogger meetup" does roll off the tongue a bit easier.

For now, I will just say that the whole experience was truly a thing of beauty :)

I loved the above photo of us girls from Heather’s wonderful post about our weekend. If you haven’t already, you can read it here. In the meantime, I will continue going through my insane number of photos and try to somehow distill them down into a cohesive post or two of my own. Stay tuned!

Oh, and I'll leave you with this picture I just took of Clover, 'cause her outfit happens to be pretty darn cute today:

See what I mean?