On this first Friday in November I’m thinking about gratitude. Throughout the year I try to count my blessings—sometimes in a daily “gratitude journal” but more often than not by documenting the (mostly) good and interesting things in my life on Instagram. (Thank you, Insta!) In case you haven’t tracked this yet, Thanksgiving comes late [...]
It’s always fun to take a peek behind the scenes, don’t you think? Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the San Francisco headquarters for the online stationary company Minted. You may remember that I’ve touted Minted’s high-quality papers and sophisticated designs before. No surprise, their offices were just as aesthetically pleasing as their products. [...]
In our new modernist home, a few splashes of orange around the house and a skeleton on the front bench suffice for demonic decor. I’ve been experimenting with deer-resistant plants in the front pots and though several perennials have given up the ghost already the nasturtiums are thriving. Right now a strand is crawling into [...]
As you may recall from my Europe packing post, this summer I traveled to Switzerland and Germany. For my inaugural “Away Things” post I thought I’d share some images and impressions of the charming festival I attended in a small suburb of Zurich. Think Heidi meets The Hunger Games. The Lenzburg Jugendfest was unlike anything [...]
Reading about the young Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, this link to an earlier film about her life appeared. Watching it I was struck by her shy smile, the rushing waters where she lived in northern Pakistan and the inescapable violence that surrounded her. But I was also fascinated by her parents–the never photographed mother [...]
I grew up in a farmhouse where most of the rooms were covered in wallpaper. Flocked wallpaper in the entryway became the backdrop for my wedding photos. Big orange and white panels of wallpaper led the way to my bedroom. Fish swam on bathroom walls and English gardens bloomed in the kitchen. In my grown-up [...]
Last Friday I put together my Friday Things post and stepped away from my desk to meet a friend for lunch. Twenty minutes later I was hit by a car as I was crossing the street to meet her. Yes, I was in the crosswalk. And no, I hadn’t looked both ways before crossing. I [...]
Ever since I read writer Susan Orlean’s New Yorker piece about working at a treadmill desk, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of walking or at least standing while I work. When we bought this house we thought it came with a built-in office desk. However, when we moved in we found that the (not built-in [...]
As summer draws to a close, the landscape here in rain-starved California is dominated by straw-colored hills dotted with silvery-green foliage. It took me years to appreciate this dusty color palette having grown up in a place that was either bright with summer rain or starkly white under a layer of snow. But now these [...]
After taking a few months off from home-remodeling projects to travel and entertain house guests, we’re back at it. Today I’m trying to hear myself type over the bang-crash-clang of demolition. If I didn’t know better I’d think some super heroes were duking it out upstairs. But no, it’s the super-duper tile guys demo-ing one [...]
