big sur II

the wedding was beautiful, and the bride and groom who we met on craig's list could not have been more welcoming or gracious

big sur bakery, amazing



these last two did us in time wise but we made it home and we're wiser road warriors now.

big sur I

jacob played guitar at a wedding in big sur this weekend.

so we made a few pit stops along highway 1
verve in santa cruz



historic bridges


the river


and he totally rocked it

Melanie Penn

amazing artist. and i love her blog. double whammy. you should go to The Rabbit Room and download her sample. i know we keep listening to it on repeat.

Way with Words

I've been reading as much as possible lately. With more time on my hands than normal I've been reading books like they were my job,

I wish.

Some of the most notable recent works are Lydia Davis' Break It Down and Sailing Alone Around the Room.

Both authors take the ordinary and bring it to the light of day in a new, extraordinary way.

I loved Davis' excerpts and felt that she really shined in her shortest pieces, that summed up a feeling perfectly. Collins' poetry also accomplished the task of capturing feeling. I liked that he did not need to be bogged down in despair to talk about the feelings of sadness or loneliness and he has an exceptional sense of humor that carries itself throughout.

renegade

i love the renegade craft fair. it was one of my favorite events last year and i got a couple of neat objects to hang on my wall when i had just moved into my new place.

it helped my studio become personalized.

its a huge gathering of 225 independent artists and craftsman from the west coast.

its at fort mason on the 31st and 1st.

{side note, how is it already august? wow}

i can't wait to use their free photo booth and look through the art and listen to music. not to mention there's always a crowd and that means, the best part of all, people watching.

the summit

i got the job at the coffee shop.
they will be opening in mid-august and serving blue bottle coffee.
the training begins at blue bottle's oakland location next week!
i can't wait to be in that atmosphere again.
i love being a part of a bustling cafe and their focus on art and community not to mention delicious food sounds perfect.
hopefully i'll be learning more about coffee as well.

wave organ

the jetty in the marina, by the yacht clubs, is set alluringly off the beach but inaccessible. jacob and i did not know how to get there and whenever we wondered about it we did not have the time to find out. until yesterday. we rode past and decided it was now or never. you have to go down quite far to get on the road that goes back out to the jetty. its very rocky and has a beach area, that's closed off, but initially the wind is the most notable. it builds and gushes around you. until you reach the end and instead of a rocky outcropping there are well defined granite blocks, and a ramp that curves, and pipes coming out at odd angles. this was not what we expected. we sat and enjoyed the view of both the golden gate bridge and the city while we rumerated about what the heck we were sitting on. i ventured over to the pipes and they were hollow. they filled with a gurgling, wave, sound, almost like a shell but louder. as we wandered from pipe to pipe, we found a plaque entitled wave organ. this was an installation built in the 1980s. if one listens to it at prime time, high tide and a full moon, each of the pipes is supposed to fill with its own unique sounds of the ocean. it was beautiful and very unusual.
it was a wonderful discovery.

Tartine

on the way to my second interview yesterday,
yes there are rounds of interviews, for a coffee shop people, a cafe. seriously.....but whatever i need it.
so we're walking and thinking about getting a burrito when a delicious smell wafts toward us, it basically grabbed us by the nose like in the cartoons, and jacob says you want to go get a pastry?, and i'm dragging my feet a bit because we'd said burritos you know and i didn't want him to feel guilty because of my longing look toward the delicious smell but then he started walking toward it, i think the smell grabbed him too, and seemed to really want to go. So we tried tartine together. there are no words for this cafe. its owned by a couple, one does all the bread the other does all the desserts. there are lines at all times pretty much and they sell four barrell coffee. need i say more?
oh but i can't stop. we enjoyed the ham and cheese croissant. its huge and much browner than a typical crossiant but so flaky and smooth on the inside. with gruyere cheese. we topped it off with a morning bun. its not to sweet but very flavorful with a hint of orange and brown sugar and cinnamon.

coco

jacob and i have been dog sitting this week. i love coco. she's so ugly she's cute really. she's a little circus dog, similar to a shitzu. she goes up on her hind legs when she's excited or wants food. she cuddles with us on the bed and she loves smelling everything when we go outside for her walk. her feet move so fast as well since they're so short. its adorable.

last night we had people over and she was great with them. she rubbed her face in our quilt and when she looked up her beard was all messy. it was hilarious and she loved the attention. its going to be hard to let her go.

possibility

i start writing for an online publication called Trumi.net this week. it's goal is to network like-minded people and raise awareness about activities going on locally, in the bay area. i'm excited but nervous. we'll see how it goes.

afternoon sun

the weekend started out with a stroll though the japanese tea gardens in with friends in golden gate park. They're free before 10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. thanks bekah for the heads up.

though the weather had all the appearance of staying as foggy as when we woke up the sun shone through throughout the weekend. we lounged in the park, grilled out and did a little dance. it was lovely.

we also enjoyed Inception, amazing. go see it immediately.

surprises

i had a job interview yesterday that i was nervous about. from the response i received it sounded something like the movie the newsies, when they're clamoring at the gate for a job, but hipster style. but jacob and i went and though i had to wait a while, the manager was great and the other interviewees seemed very down to earth and cool. i just really enjoy talking about coffee. then after exploring some art alleys, and thrift stories, we hit up bi-rite for sandwhiches and headed to the park. followed by ice cream. and did i mention that it was the first beautiful day in a while?
perfect.

murakami

i enjoy his books immensely. in college, my senior year, my english major friends read his works and raved but i never had time to read them. the day has come and i am better for it. i read after dark, one of his newer works first and then finally got my hands on Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Murakami journeys into the subconscious and plays with ideas in ways that are believeable and thought provoking. He also presents characters that are important and relateable. i think this story will be stuck in my head for awhile.

bicycles

i've been using mine alot lately but jacob keeps the lock since he has to use his to get to work and we haven't gone and gotten another one yet. but i've been very surprised at how nice people are about lockless bikes. i've had multiple people offer to watch it for a minute so it doesn't get stolen. such as the guy at the post office. i kept looking around the corner to make sure my bike was still there but he offered to guard it for me. he waited and then offered me a bag to get my package home. this happened again today at the store. i'm pretty paranoid about my bike being stolen, since its happened before, but this is renewing my faith in bike ownership.

hayes valley garden

I went, i got dirty and i learned about permaculture. it was super interesting. i will be going back. i could have taken home some of my fava bean harvest but i left early, after four hours, they were still working on this natural building bench. i had already helped with two batches of the material and i could not do any more. so i said peace, and left without my beans. sad. i should have asked, but all that work made me forget the beans. i was going to try and make baba ganoush. well, all the more reason to go back right. there were some squash and other plants growing as well. i can't wait to see the results.

men's fashion

so i've been very excited about exploring the men's fashion world. jacob has not been quite as excited, we'll say. but since he got a new job at the franklin bowle's art gallery he has to look spiffy. so we've done some shopping and while he was handsome before, he's going to look pretty darn good for this job. i really can't wait for these bow ties to be available from something's hidden in here.
too bad i won't get to see him most of the day.

pescadero

we set out on an adventure last night. jacob's new job, more on that later, will have him very busy this next week so we decided we needed to use our freedom wisely. we set out for highway 1 after i got off work and hit the foggy coast right as the sun was down and the fog scuttled across the road.






i had been to pescadero before a couple of years ago and remembered a lighthouse and a delicious breakfast. after many twists and turns along the way, we came upon the lighthouse, explored the beach and prepared to sleep in volksy for the night.
we could see the rotating light through the front window and enjoyed the sound of the waves.
in the morning we went to duartes, a small town restaurant/ bar that has been in pescadero and the family since the late 1800s. it was delicious. we finished breakfast off with a piece of apple pie.
it was the perfect way to start the day. we can't wait for more adventures to come with volksy.

cafe velo rouge

jacob and i stopped by this cafe yesterday afternoon after the free day at the de young. we enjoyed the bike theme and the delicious blue bottle coffee. i had been there before for breakfast with bekah a while back but had been jonesing to return for a while. it was as good as i remember and we split a breakfast burrito whose flavors combined perfectly for a wonderful and satisfying meal.
they have live music on friday nights and sunday afternoons.
it might be the perfect after church lunch spot.

july 4th extravaganza

while jacob had to work quite a bit this weekend we still enjoyed the, mostly, beautiful weather and the festivities. we made it to the filmore jazz festival on saturday afternoon. The music was awesome but definitely beat out by the garlic fries and the photographs by an artist named Lisa Kristine. she seems to capture the real person and her travels seem very extensive.

on sunday we made it to the fort mason farmers market for berries and then had some lovely friends over for dessert and to watch the fireworks. some were lost in the fog but it was beautiful and different and we still saw many of my favorite firework, the weeping willow

and monday we finally made it to part of the lands end trail.

we explored tucked away beaches and the bridge and watched the surf.

we love the fourth of july

*i only had my iphone for the trail. so while they're not good quality pics they are the only ones you'll see while my photo uploader and computer are not speaking to one another.

scary sounds

so jacob worked last night and i was here. alone. planning dinner, trying to clean for july 4th and chatting with the kimbo.
then as it was becoming twilight i heard a noise upstairs, a boom-woof sound, kind of like a dog, kind of like something fell.
the family is out of town for the weekend and my worst fear is that someone will be up there when they're gone.
so i jet out of the house and book it to jacob's starbucks, looking behind me the whole time knowing "they've" followed me.
jacob thought the whole thing was funny at first but i sufficiently freaked him out by the time we walked, instead of him getting to bike, because apparently grabbing my bike would have taken to much time, home.
yet he still searched the entire upstairs with only me, an umbrella and 911 at the ready on my phone. after hearing some louder fireworks outside we decided i must have heard a spare homemade one that a neighbor set off, you know whatever you can do to sleep.
we still roasted the asparagus and tomatoes for dinner and it was as delish as the picture.
boy am i glad he's around.

susie cakes

is a delicious new bakery on chestnut with whoopee cookies and red velvet cakes and cupcakes filled with icing. i've had a few samples and i've heard the praises of the cupcakes. bekah even said the cookie with icing, whoopee cookie, was the best ever. i can't wait to try one. i thought it could be a fun place to work so i asked for an application and they said yes but was i OVER 18?! yes people, she did. i am 24, i am married and i have my masters. it took eating quite a bit of humble pie to say yes i am thank you and accept the application.
i even had the perfect shade of red lipstick on,
{i finally found some today at forever 21}
i thought that would make me look older for sure.
i know, i know i'll appreciate it one day. we'll see about that.
yet even that could not take away from the place. i still suggest you try it.
and come see me when you're around.

little bee

i loved and hated this book at the same. it was very depressing but uplifting about a young nigerian refugee. her perspective is beautiful. and the connections the author makes are amazing but the reality of what happens when people ignore others or the developing world is nightmarish.

so don't read it unless you have time to take action or are atleast prepared to look at the world differently.

for me-for you

I love this blog. I love this blogger. I love her necklaces. they are very whimsical and reminiscent of friendship bracelets from school.

she is doing a shop opening for target on July 4th but check out her shop as well, they're all sold out now, but she's updating in August so stay tuned.