Posts from — May 2010

The long weekend has been fruitful thus far. In a single trip to my favorite thrift store (located in the ghetto, which seems to keep most hipsters away), I emerged with the following treasures:

Now I just need a bowling shirt that says Linda on it and I’ll be all set! And I’m pretty excited about sanding down and painting the bookshelf above. Maybe teal or green! I also found a mid-century dresser that I wasn’t able to snap a photo of before storing it temporarily at a friend’s house, but that will be a future blog project too! Probably going to re-align the drawers then paint it white.

Today I also did some upkeep on my terrarium. It needed new resurrection ferns and a whimsical porcelain deer added to it!

Now I’m off to make a test run of mini vegan cupcakes for next weekend’s Pinklight Bazaar. Working on some new flavor creations – stay tuned! Sigh. I proclaim tomorrow do nothing day…we’ll see how that one goes for me  :)

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I’m really digging New York-based artist Franklin Evans’ multi-faceted installations. He has a pretty extenstive install comprised of new paintings and drawings called “timecompressionmachine” currently on display in the Greater New York emerging artists show at MoMA P.S. 1 in Long Island. I’m really envious of New Yorkers right now.

via Escape To New York

Other than the above and a New York Times article, I haven’t seen a ton of photos yet of the exhibit but here is some random radness from past works so you get the idea…

via Sue Scott Gallery

via Bailey Gallery

Oh boy. Somebody transport me?!

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So, I got ordained and married my sister and Jorge on the beach along the coast in Mendocino, California. Just call me Reverend Em! It was about a five minute ceremony, which I started off with “Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what brings us togevva today” (yes, seriously!). The most beautiful setting we could have dreamed up (which happened to be free), we wore jeans, my mom was a little flower fairy, Matt filmed the and photographed, and then we played on the beach…this was as awesome as it looks.

Congratulations Jen & Jorge! And YAY for new family, Jorge and Miguel – now I have brothers. Love you guys ♥

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I had to interrupt the steady flow of California posts with a quick random one because I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite bands, The Swell Season, last night at Hard Rock Live. If you’re not familiar with this band, good gracious you should be! It’s comprised of Irish rocker Glen Hansard and Czechoslovakian singer/songwriter Markéta Irglová (the pair starred together in an absolutely brilliant film called Once).

Cameras weren’t allowed so unfortunately Matt and I didn’t get any photos (and from fourth row center they would have presumably been pretty great). I just found some decent footage from someones iPhone on YouTube from last night though…

The ease of watching them play for two hours was insane. With a perfect mix of songs from the Once soundtrack and their debut album, Strict Joy, and even a Van Morrison cover (!), combined with their easy-going and genial demeanor it made for one of the most memorable shows I’ve been to in years. Since the band is based in Ireland, they had never been to Orlando so I felt honored to have been there witnessing such beauty.

If you’re interested, here’s The Swell Season’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert performance/interview. It is about 30 minutes long, and totally worth your time!

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My sister Jen runs a fancy little coffee shop called Ritual Roasters within Napa’s Oxbow Public Market – a new & shiny indoor facility full of local specialty shops. Ritual originated in the Mission District of San Francisco and then branched into a second location in Flora Grubb Gardens also in the city. The Oxbox is the company’s third location, and is situated amongst some amazing vendors offering homemade local goods like Anette’s Chocolate (dark chocolate truffles sprinkled with sea salt, anyone?), The Model Bakery, and Three Twins Organic Ice Cream.

Yeah, my sister really IS this awesome. Ritual sells these incredible cookies by Annie the Baker – a local woman who truly understands my undying love for a soft cookie! Her cookies have the consistency of cookie dough rather than a baked cookie, but they’re still totally crispy on the outside. How does she do it!? Matt and I got addicted while we were in Napa (umm okay, maybe more me than Matt?), so much so that my sister just had to Fed Ex me a bag of Annie’s cookies in the mail. Sad…and happy?

Jen’s husband, Jorge, is the chef at a restaurant within Oxbow called Hog Island Oyster Company. They have a really rad old boat hanging from the ceiling.

The Napa Farmers Market happens every Tuesday and Saturday in Oxbow’s parking lot. The thing I loved most about their market is that all of their produce is actually LOCAL – what a concept! Something that is so rare at most farmers markets around the nation (especially in Florida…).

There was a baked goods vendor called Olive Tree Organic that offered delicious vegan and locally sourced treats that had strictly natural sweeteners added. We tried banana nut bread with chocolate chips and a coconut macaroon (which was out of this world). The couple behind the business was super friendly and I really enjoyed meeting them/tasting their awesome vegan treats.

California really did spoil us.

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Matt and I celebrated an anniversary while in Cali and decided to go all-out, as you can see.

We discovered Market in St. Helena because it was a Michelin Guide-suggested restaurant for a full meal under $40. For lunch, I had the most inventive yummiest veggie burger I’ve ever eaten! The base was made (from what we could tell) of julienned zucchini, carrot, onion, and broccoli, and was topped with avocado, bib lettuce, basil pesto, and mozzarella cheese. Heavenly to say the least!

After that, we did a quick stroll through St. Helena’s beautiful historic downtown and stumbled upon some Sine Qua Non in a wine shop!

Next, we drove just up the road to the base of Howell Mountain to visit our friends at Herb Lamb Vineyards – a family owned and operated low-production boutique winemaker. Matt and I had the pleasure of hanging out with Jennifer Lamb (she is fabulous, funny, sassy, AND a fellow marketing expert!) on their lovely porch overlooking the vineyards, played with some very hyper puppydogs, visited their chickens, and of course got to drink some fantastic HL wines and sample some local cheeses and breads. Jennifer had many of my favorite herbs (including pineapple and chocolate mint) growing along the porch and even had a variegated lemon tree (!!!) and artichoke plants. We most definitely were spoiled that afternoon! To stay updated on HLV, check out their Facebook fan page here.

For dinner, Matt took me to Thomas Keller’s world-renown Bouchon in Yountville, which sits cozily next to Bouchon Bakery. The herbed gnocchi with summer vegetables was divine, as was the TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo)!

Aaaaaand then I passed the eff out after doing nothing but eating and drinking all day. THE END!

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I knew it was going to be a memorable trip when we were immediately greeted with some kick ass (however unintentional) street art at the San Francisco International Airport. Some kid apparently smooshed his oily little face onto some glass in a 180 degree motion. I can’t believe how well it translated to photograph!

Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory of Flowers had a carnivorous plants exhibit called CHOMP! 2 going on. Here are some of my favorite shots (most courtesy of my boo).

There was also a sweet art exhibit set up at the gift shop within the Conservatory.

While wandering around the Mission District, I was mesmerized by an artist masterly constructing a gigantic advertisement for gin with a paintbrush. We stopped to talk with him for a while, and found out that he aspires to one day be a filmmaker.

Favorite graffiti in town.

The idea of a Banksky piece getting vandalized is kind of hilarious.

Delores Park.

We met up with my college bud Kristen at a cute little coffee joint/bike shop called Mojo Bicycle Cafe! Sooo good to see her.

Whoever is the owner of this arrow gate is should probably be my friend.

I got a t-shirt at Loyal Army on Haight St. that says “Animal Rights Are Never Wrong.” My kind of folks

I have quite a propensity for used book stores anyway, but Green Apple Books at 6th and Clement St. was INSANE! They had every book that I could have ever imagined wanting, a designated Edward Gorey section (!!!), Charley Harper card games and puzzles, the most ridic greeting card and sticker collection, man…I’m about to go into a cold sweat just thinking about how unfair life is because I don’t live near this gem.

We also wandered into a strange (understatement?) combination Japanese mini-mart and crepe shop in Inner Richmond called Genki Crepes. I really regret not getting a crepe because they looked and smelled fantastic. Maybe I was thrown off by the mini-mart’s offerings of such delicate delights as pre-packaged “Let’s Party” freeze-dried fish and crabs…PARTY TIME MOTHEREFFERS!!!

The epic day was rounded out by one of the best meals of my life at Burma Superstar. We got to hang out with a good friend of Matt’s, Mystery Woman Beth (who is totally amazing). In the photo below, I was enjoying my little nook booth (for obvious reasons). If you’re ever in San Fran, do yourself a favor and go here, then order the pea shoots, the tofu tower, and have a white sangria. MMMMM MMMMM MMMMM!

I love how every time I visit, I leave with a new list of favorite places. SF never lets me down!

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The drive up highway 1 from Napa towards Mendocino was breathtaking. Unfortunately, it was also barf-tastic (SUPER curvy and nausea inducing)! But frequent scenic overlook stops and quirky one-stoplight towns along the way made it all worth it.

And speaking of kittens, downtown Mendocino had the most charming little bookshop called the Gallery Bookshop with a pretty awesome message: SAVE THE WORLD. BUY A BOOK. Yesssssssssuh! They had a killer art section where I found an obscure limited edition Hundertwasser (one of my absolute favorite architects and artists of this century) hardcover book that I lost my shit over and bought.

Gualala with the fam!

The Geyserville General Store was like stepping into a 1950’s feed store in cowboy country complete with three flea-infested but adorable pups. I definitely bought coffee mugs that have “Perky Cowgirl” and “Happy Cowboy” printed on them, and Matt found a leather belt with ox and bison hand-carved into it by a 75 year old man.

SHEEP!!!!!!!!!!

The legendary Sea Ranch Lodge – a little piece of New Zealand sittin’ pretty on the coast of California!

Up next? San Francisco adventures and FOOD times!

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My big sister and her hubby (stay tuned for a super special post all about this!) live in a magical place in Napa, CA that is lovingly referred to as Camp Fannyho. Most who visit are required to make a God’s Eye of yarn and sticks to hang throughout the corners and hallways, and the smell of delicious homemade food (namely brioche and huevos rancheros) tends to linger in the air. Whenever I visit, I sleep like a baby and eat like there’s no tomorrow. I guess that’s what vacation is all about, yeah?!

In and around the neighborhood…

Expect more California posts in the coming days <3

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