27 July, 2011

Magic Beans!


Remember when I started my little bean seedlings on the patio a few months ago? I had harvested just five beans from my plants last summer (which I planted much too late in the season to grow more), and in April I sprouted them in my kitchen, transferred them to tiny pots, and put them out in the sunshine (along with a few beans given to me by my friend Christine). When they got big enough, I planted them in the ground and Christine helped me build a bamboo trellis for them to climb. Although, sadly, their growth was stunted about a month ago when a neighborhood cat uprooted several of them, I was able to harvest enough beans today to make me very proud. Even though my harvest was small, it was so rewarding to see these beautifully colored Scarlett Runner and Cranberry beans, and to cook them for dinner! Next year I am definitely going to plant more.



Stamps!


These beautiful Merchant Marine stamps are being released by the US Postal Service tomorrow. I'm so excited to pick some up for all my postal needs.

24 July, 2011

Megan Berk

I'm completely in love with Megan Berk's paintings, especially these fire and nighttime pieces. I wish I had enough wall space for one of the larger ones- they are so lovely.


21 July, 2011

Busted!


My "Globe Bank" card is featured in this month's (August/September) issue of BUST magazine, in great company. Love that desktop calendar!

You can buy the card here!

Ode to Confetti System


If you read any design or event blogs, then there is no way you've missed Confetti System's amazing creations over the past couple of years- it's really like everything they touch turns to gold. I am consistently impressed with what they come up with, so I thought I'd pull together a bunch of images here (all from Confetti System's tumblr and website except where otherwise noted).



martha stewart weddings







the selby




sight unseen




Fine Artichoke

I was recently approached by a lovely online shop called Fine Artichoke about selling some prints. They have a really wonderful collection of hand-printed, food oriented artwork for sale. Among my favorites are these:


bonnie kaye whitfield


alison sahmel


megan berk


john welles bartlett

20 July, 2011

Weekend, Etc.

The past week and a half has been busy as usual and unseasonably warm. Among other things, I went to the amazing Coppola Winery pool for a day of drinking rosé and relaxation, got (more) sunburnt on the beach at Oakland's Lake Temescal, attended an incredible dinner in honor of Yotam Ottolenghi at my beloved Camino (plus brunch there another day of course), ate lots of ice cream, went to an engagement party at a house on the San Rafael marina, ate a fantastic dinner at Ippuku in Berkeley (quickly becoming a favorite), drove to San Jose for dinner atSaravanaa that was as good if not better than their restaurant in New York, harvested my two walnut trees and made an enormous batch of nocino from the crop.


blueberry sorbet at camino


ottolenghi dinner



rhubarb pie and pennants at the engagement party


green walnuts


rose vanilla and strawberry ice cream from ici


camino brunch


Also, I never blogged about July 4 weekend, but it involved a ballgame, lots of fireworks, a big barbeque, friends and family, and a huge brunch buffet. The week before that, my mom and I took a girls' trip up to Healdsburg for a couple of nights. We stayed at the fantastic H2 hotel, ate at Dry Creek Kitchen, Shimo, and Spoonbar, tasted wine at my favorite vineyard, spent some time at the Healdsburg Hotel Spa, shopped and took almost no pictures... oops.


the vineyard at unti