She Was Never Boring

I love this Pet Shop Boys video from the 90s. It never fails to remind me of New Year's Eve. My sweet hubby and I are heading off to the desert tonight for some R&R and maybe a few parties. Here's to an exciting 2011!

Holiday Treats

There's something about this time of year that makes me giddy. I hate the cold so it's odd that over time it's the time that I look forward to the most. I love when all the Christmas lights get turned on, stores are brimming with sales and nights are spent cuddled up by the fire. For me, the season kicks off the minute I spot the first "red cup" from Starbucks. I haven't been drinking coffee for months, but something about this first spotting sends me into a tailspin of anticipation.

My current Starbucks beverage of choice is a Peppermint Hot Chocolate - 1 pump peppermint, 2 pumps chocolate - otherwise it's too overpowering.

Next on my holiday tradition list is the Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Bark (Obviously, I've got a thing for peppermint chocolate). I've tried them all. Nothing compares. It's expensive but oh so worth it. I've been known to eat an entire tin in a day, so this year I'm taking it with me to visit my family so I will need to share.

Willaims-Sonoma Peppermint Bark

What are your favorite holiday treats?

Flowers from Friends

Oh how I love being surprised at work with flowers. I received this beautiful bouquet today from one of my dearest friends and her lovely family.


Happy holidays!

Lucky Me

I'm going to see the Nutcracker tonight at the San Francisco Ballet. Can't wait!

San Francisco Ballet

Isn't this cute?

I love this seahorse photo that I came across on the Mighty Girl blog.

Seahorses

Argentina

We're back from our whirlwind adventure to Argentina and had a wonderful time. South America was never high on my list of places to go (don't know why!) but I highly highly recommend it. It was fabulous. Buenos Aires reminded me of Italy, Spain and Mexico all rolled up into one fabulous city. My favorite pocket was Palermo Hollywood where we stayed and I adored all the intricate graffiti covering the buildings. I wish I had taken more photos, I guess I'll have to go back.

Special Scents

When I travel I try to pick up a new perfume so it reminds me of my vacation each time I put it on. When I was in Paris last January, I fell in love with Jeanne by Lanvin. I've since run out and am contemplating getting more but I'll have to see if something speaks to me in Argentina first!

Baking Beauties

I really want to form a tradition of baking dozens and dozens of cookies for the holidays. I'm hoping to start when I return from vacation!

So Good Together

How cute are these bowls?

Spotted on Oh Joy. Created by Pigeon Toe Ceramics and Shanna Murray.

Already Thinking of Spring

It's not quite Winter yet and I'm already pining for the longer days and warmer weather of Spring. I love this little green jumper from the Spring '11 J.Crew collection, I'll have to add it to my wish list.

J.Crew Spring 2011 Collection via Fashionista

Pumpkins

It was a chilly, rainy weekend here in the bay but staying inside nestled next to the fire was just what the doctor ordered to nurse my stubborn cold. I baked some gluten-free pumpkin muffins from this book, but I may have done something wrong because they took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to bake and were still gooey and fell in the center after letting them hang out in the over for 15 minutes longer than the recipe recommended. Somehow the rest of the weekend got away from me but here are a few festive photos from my front yard.

Pumpkin family

Our grape harvest

Trick or Treat

Freshly Baked

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love knowing the holidays are right around the corner, I love the gold light, I love the colorful leaves and I love to bake anything with cinnamon. To kick off the fall, I decided to embark on baking my first-ever homemade apple pie from this book.

Having never made a crust before, it was definitely the most challenging part but I have to say, I'm pretty darned proud of myself for figuring it out. This was an all day affair but it was the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. Delicious!

Peeling the apples, fresh from the Farmers Market

Cooking the apples down

Perfect apple pie

I Heart San Francisco

I am in love with San Francisco and even after 10 years of calling the Bay Area home, I still can hardly believe I'm lucky enough to live here. I adore this stop-animation video shot in and around the city.

San Francisco: The Miniature City from MINIMUS on Vimeo.

Thank you to Christina for posting it!

Pretty Pictures

I spent the weekend at a photoshoot for Famous Frocks, an amazing sewing book I'm working on for Fall 2011. I jumped at the chance to bring the dresses to life and was even more thrilled when I was assigned the Audrey Hepburn look. The crew was amazing and I had a blast. Can't wait for the book to come out!

Mini Makeover

Ever since we bought our house I've been wanting to re-paint the kitchen and bathrooms. Well, this weekend we finally painted and I love it! Here's a sneak peek...

Our kitty Misa checking it out
Benjamin Moore Cloud Gray

No more shiny green walls!
Benjamin Moore Ashley Gray

Lady in White

I adore this dress from the Victoria Beckham Spring 2011 collection. See the whole collection on Style.com.

Ferry Building Adventures

I've been getting up early every morning and starting to work around 5:45am. I sounds crazy but I absolutely cherish this time to clean out my inbox, leisurely sip my tea and watch the sunrise with my animals. So today I thought I would take some extra time at lunch to get inspired at the beautiful Ferry Building.

Mushrooms for my best friend. She loves them. I detest them.

Flowers fresh from the wonderful McEvoy Ranch

Peppers from the McEvoy Ranch garden

Heath Ceramics. Want.

Cheese from Cowgirl Creamery

Miette. I die.

Bestsellers, including the new Oprah selection, Freedom, at Book Passage

Have a great Friday!

I Can Cook!

I often make declarations on new projects or ideas that I'm going to try to execute and this September I vowed that I would try to learn to cook. My hubby has lovingly taken me under his highly skilled wing and is trying to teach me the ropes. We've made some apple fig almond risotto, kale, bacon & bean soup and butternut squash halibut stew. All have turned out very very well if I do say so myself!

This week, I decided to take a cooking class with the lovely Emily Dellas at First Class Cooking. She offers amazing interactive classes in her beautiful home and when you're done prepping the meal everyone eats together in her dining room overlooking the city. It's a wonderful way to spend the night. I was so caught up in making the meal that I only remembered to snap a few photos.

The ingredients to our heirloom tomato, peach, burrata and basil salad

Lemon, herb quinoa

C rusted zucchini, eggplant and tofu for the vegetarians

Dinner, including pistachio crusted sea bass

Homemade chocolate-hazelnut gelato

If you're in the Bay Area, I highly recommend you sign up for her mailing list. She sends out the menu at the beginning of the month so you can pick your date. Classes fill up quickly so book early!

Alexa Chung for Madewell

Fashion Week has officially arrived and so has Alexa Chung's new collection for Madewell. I'm loving this black polka-dot blouse and think it would be perfect for the holidays.

Annie Blouse

Off to the desert!

I'm heading to my favorite hotel this weekend for some R&R in the hot desert sun. Here are a few pics of my last visit. I'm betting my weekend will pretty much look the same. Happy long weekend!

Walking through the lobby

Reading in the pool

Cruising around town

Anthro in Argentina

The new Anthropologie catalog just landed today and it is delicious. It was shot in Argentina and features the beautiful Criollo breed of wild horses. I am now even more excited for my upcoming trip in November...

Photo from Anthropologie

Fancy Photos

My lovely friend Christina has been experimenting with photography lately and I'm loving her latest set including this dreamy picture of me.

Photo by Christina

Another Fave

Check out this INCREDIBLE video created be two other fave authors I have the pleasure of working with, Meg Mateo Illasco and Joy Deangdeelert Cho.



Isn't it perfect?

Wallpaper Love

One of the things that I love most about my job is the amazing artists and authors I get to meet and work with on a daily basis. One of my all time favorites is fabric designer, Amy Butler. Not only is Amy an absolute doll to work with, she creates the most gorgeous fabric, bedding, rugs, towels... and now wallpaper! Swoon!

Amy Butler Wallpaper for Graham & Brown

It's been a quiet weekend chez moi as both the hubby and I are trying to recover from a cold that we caught while we were away (it must be our bodies missing our morning snorkeling adventures). So last night we curled up and watched A Single Man directed by Tom Ford which we thoroughly enjoyed. The costumes were immaculate, as were the interiors and I couldn't help but wish I could hang out in Julianne Moore's closet and play a little while.

Julianne Moore stars as Charlotte in The Weinstein Company's A Single Man (2009)
Copyright © The Weinstein Company. All Rights Reserved.

Aloha!

My hubby and I just returned from a long weekend in Hawaii to celebrate our 7th Wedding Anniversary. Since copper or wool didn't really appeal to us as a gift, we decided to run away to the sun and surf. The flight was quick and our amazing resort was only 10 minutes from the airport. Highly recommend.

Gorgeous sunsets

The view from our Hale

Beautiful flowers aplenty

Coconut palms

The hammock beckons from the black sand beach

Our swimming pool

Surf's up!

The love birds