The Art of the Self-Portrait

The iphone now has the camera feature where you can see yourself on the screen as you take a picture. But, I miss the good ol' days when you had to guess. It made for much funnier pictures--squishing next to your family and friends and ending up with half your face out of frame. Okay, so I like to use the new feature to make sure I get a good shot, but I always go back, turn off the view finder and take a wonky one for prosperity. Try it for yourself!

 Me and my nephew at a game

 Junior and me waiting at a bus stop in SF...in             

                                      the summer!

 NYC in winter

 Yosemite

 NYC in summer

 My niece and me in Yosemite

 1st Giants game of the season

Picnic Season

Even though it's raining in SF today, I like to imagine my upcoming season of picnics. We live within walking distance to Golden Gate Park, so there's always an excuse to grab some delicious food/wine and head over for some leisure time. Here's a picture of my great grandmother (far left) and her friends in GG Park. If only these hats were still fashionable!

I recently invested in a collapsible, rolling ice chest, brightly-colored melamine plates and a small cutting board.  I already had a small BBQ, wicker picnic basket, and a giant wine collection (no, seriously...you'd think we were winos.) It's helpful to bring a trash bag, ziploc bags for used utensils, a wind bottle opener (very sad when you leave this behind,) wet naps for sticky hands, and sunscreen! I always keep a picnic blanket in my trunk because you never know when you'll need something to sit on or cover up with.  And it made perfect sense to me to start making some picnic blankets for our Etsy store. My first batch sold out quickly, but I've recently added more.

 

So start planning your own picnic! Here are some SF links to help:

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=picnic+area&find_loc=San+Francisco%2C+CA

http://sf.popsugar.com/Best-Parks-Picnics-SF-18179352

http://sfrecpark.org/PermitsAndReservations-PicnicAreaReservations.aspx

Layla

Layla came to us from the vet's office. Someone had dumped her there when she was a puppy. It took the staff 3 days to catch her. They knew my family liked German Shepherds so they called. She was so malnourished that her ears drooped.  But with a new happy home, good food and a big backyard to explore, she started to perk up and join the family.

You never know who a rescue dog is going to grow up to be. Our other rescue Shepherd is lazy, sweet and dumb. But Layla seems to be so happy and grateful to have a home that she works everyday to show her appreciation. 

She is the perfect guard dog, barking at strangers coming up the walkway and chasing off possums and other critters from her backyard. She loves babies and carefully investigates and follows them worriedly as they bobble around the house. She patrols the pool when kids are swimming. And as seen below from 2 subsequent years, she protects our Christmas presents! Layla's favorite past time is looking out the front window like this. When she first came home, we blocked her off from this room because she was still in the chewing phase, but soon realized she needed the window. She always has to know what's going on around her house. And as soon as we un-barred her from this room, the chewing stopped. She'd found her job.

Take a risk on a rescue dog. You may just get a smart, sweet, grateful dog like Layla!

Sleepytime

It's Spring Break and all I want to do is lie in bed. Daytime, nighttime, doesn't matter. When I change my bedding, I change my mood. I've got flannel cowgirl sheets for winter and crisp white for summer. I've got a Calvin Klein duvet cover that I've adored for over ten years and I'm amazed at how well it's held up (especially through my laudromat years.) I have four down pillows that become jigsaw puzzle pieces in the night. Buy quality pillows, people! They are worth the splurge. My staple is my pink fuzzy blanket from the Shabby Chic collection at Target. My mom has the white and blue ones at her house too. Everyone fights over them. 

Complete indulgence is a day nap. When was the last time you had one? 

Peapod Fabrics

I'm always looking for cute new fabric. And I was delighted to find this WONDERFUL fabric store right in my own neighborhood. The gal who owns it is super nice and friendly. I usually have to take a friend with me, so I don't go nuts buying everything I see.

These images are from her old location. http://www.peapodfabrics.com/storefront.htm  I'm sure she felt cramped in this little space, but I miss it. It was jam-packed, which made the fabric hunting more fun. You really had to concentrate and go back to make sure you didn't miss anything.

She's since moved to 1400 Irving St. @ 15th Ave.  I like the new space and she's definitely got more space and a better natural light, but I fell in love with the old place first. I'm nostalgic that way.  


She's got a great little blog here: http://peapod-fabrics.blogspot.com/ 
Be sure to check it out and support local shops.

Babes & Babies Event

Appel & Frank found us online at our Etsy store and invited us to participate in their upcoming event on Sunday, April 15th. Come check us out in person!

http://appelandfrank.com/babes_babies.asp

We flew south for the winter, but now we're back!

Hi everyone!

We took a little blog hiatus for a bit, you know, to live some life and stuff. But we're back in the nest again and ready to share a crafty spring.

Fall is my busiest season at the theatre and since you've last heard from me, I've directed 5 plays, the last one being a production with 70 kids. My studio is a hot mess of scraps and sequins. I've lost 2 glue guns (along with my sanity,) I'm almost out of thread and my drawer of ribbons looks like a festive octopus party. I had so many unfinished birdie projects that it made me sad to go in there (because I knew I wouldn't have time to work on them.)  Luckily, I'd built up quite a stock of blankets to sell for the long winter months, and even though I ran out of picnic blankets to sell, I've been hanging in there with cozy baby blankets. I have the Etsy app on my iPhone and I love when I'm out at the movies and my phone pops up a message saying I've sold a blanket. I'm just out enjoying life and the sales magically happen.

I've been working on a big batch of picnic blankets and did a photo session yesterday in the windy backyard. I'll post pics after I've uploaded them. Some super cute fabrics!

Next weekend, we're off to our favorite vacation spot for Easter. It involves a lot of eating, sleeping, reading on the woobie couch (the softest sectional this side of the Mississippi,) playing with dogs, seeing what's growing in the garden and midnight trips to steal lemons from the neighbors. Oh, and Bunny Cake...

And this guy shows up too!