When we were young and broke it was a challenge to fill our empty walls with something more than inexpensive framed posters. We actually rented our first piece of original art through a rent-to-buy program at the Oakland Museum. That program has since been discontinued (though SFMOMA still runs one), but I’m grateful that it [...]
This week there was mischief afoot. On Tuesday I lost my keys for good, as best I can tell. I remember using them last when I came into my house after walking with a friend and threw them in the little pink tray on the shelf above my desk. But Wednesday morning the keys [...]
If you’re design-inclined and traveling to New York or Boston in the next two months, you’ll probably enjoy one or both of the shows I saw when I wasn’t ogling leaves in New England. The first is the beautiful John Singer Sargent Watercolors exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston which showcases ninety-two watercolors [...]
Ever since I finished a ten-years-in-the-making quilt top on Tuesday, I’ve been happily plucking clipped loose threads off my furniture, clothing—even my hair brush. Now the top (and back) are off to be professionally quilted and I’m savoring the delicious pause between completed and new projects. I’m also taking a little break from fiction writing [...]
Perhaps you’ve already seen the video of British street artist Banksy’s paintings being sold—or mostly not being sold—at a street fair in Central Park. If not, take a look. Like me did you get more anxious as people kept missing the opportunity (Banksy’s paintings sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars) that was Right There? My [...]
On this week of the fall equinox I’ve been spending time getting ready to host a baby shower for a young friend. Other friends are bringing the food which means I’ve been able to focus my party prep on my home and garden. Early in the week, feeling very Mrs. Dalloway-esque, I headed to my [...]
Just as I was about to drive off from the Googleplex, I noticed this unusual cloud formation where the sky seemed to be cut in half. One side was a nearly cloudless blue, the other a gauzy panel that reached almost to the ground like a cloud curtain half-drawn over the summer sky. Seemed like [...]
Will tomorrow find you lighting sparklers in your childhood backyard or someplace entirely new? Maybe you’re staying put for the 4th but packing your bags for later in the summer. Lucky you! Despite the hassles of modern travel, there’s still nothing like Getting Away From It All to shake things up for the better. Here [...]
Picking up from last Friday’s post—a mama racoon died unexpectedly right here beneath the floorboards of our home and her cubs went missing and that’s left me unsettled all week. But there was also a happy circle-of-life surprise this week. My niece Kristen gave birth to little Lila Sharon and all of a sudden I [...]
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, [...]
