The night that Boston police were shooting it up with the Tsarnaev brothers, I was at our favorite restaurant Camino celebrating vegetables. Renowned cookbook author Deborah Madison was in town and Camino was hosting a dinner for Madison with a menu inspired by the recipes from her new cookbook Vegetable Literacy. I’d like to tell [...]
I’m just back from a long weekend in Miami where I enjoyed the surf and sun and wondered what this world is coming to. Everywhere I looked people were ignoring the lovely sites around them and glued to their smartphones. Perhaps they’re just better at multi-tasking than me, but it seems that if you can’t [...]
My Boston kids are on lockdown and I’m locked on to news sites again. What a crazy, distressing week this has been. I’ve been so grateful for peaceable things this week, including several walks through Mountain View cemetery where I saw how the quality of light can change everything. Like the way this stone angel’s [...]
True confession: I like Peeps. Yes, those Day-Glo sugar-coated marshmallow chicks are a taste treat I actually look forward to every Easter. To enhance the texture, I open the package a few days early to let them get a little crunchy on the outside and set them out as part of my holiday display. Look [...]
Reading about how a walk in nature can relieve brain fatigue (no kidding) makes me even more grateful to be surrounded by rejuvenating spring greens this time of year. Other things that perked me up this week: 1. These charming Coach videos of old and young fashionistas playing dress up together (via Advanced Style). 2. [...]
Like a tipsy party guest, oxalis—with its day-glo yellow blossoms and exuberant growth patterns—can be a pain to those attempting a manicured springtime garden display. Here in the woodland hills of Oakland, however, outrageously cheery swaths of oxalis are as welcome as a sunny patch of daffodils in a proper English garden. Also, did you [...]
On the prowl for new reading material last night, I dropped by a local church hall to hear Rebecca Miller (author, filmaker, wife of Daniel Day Lewis) read from her new novel “Jacob’s Folly.” Miller was articulate and the book seems intriguing, but as she spoke I was as distracted as her protagonist housefly. You [...]
Spring played peek-a-boo this week with on and off showers and some balmy days punctuated by frosty nights. Nevertheless, I enjoyed several playdates in the garden with some cold-weather annuals. Like my mother always says about lipstick—everyone needs a little color! Here are a few other things that brightened my world: 1. If you, too, [...]
Last week I stepped away from my computer for a short break to work on my Purl Soho scarf while half-listening to an old episode of Glee. As the Warblers warbled, I fussed with getting the herringbone pattern established, then returned to work. Later on I walked down the driveway to pick up the mail [...]
My apologies to the rest of the country. I know you’re oh-so-tired of shoveling snow and watching icicles form on icicles. But here in the Bay Area, we are in the clutches of an early spring and we can’t help but crow about it. Try to think of our incessant postings of beautiful blossoms as [...]
