Bay Area Friends, It’s tour season and two of my favorite tours–the San Francisco Designer Showcase and the Garden Conservancy Tours happen this month. The Showcase House runs through May 28 and the Garden Conservancy Tours run in May and June in the East Bay, Marin, Santa Cruz and Mendocino. This Saturday, May 12, take [...]
Every time I attend the San Francisco Decorator Showcase I come away inspired by big design concepts and small design details. My travels have delayed my attendance so far this year, but these photographs by San Francisco photographer David Duncan Livingston make me eager to catch this stunning showcase before it closes on May 30. I [...]
I’ve subscribed to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box for decades. Every week I pick up a box full of organic vegetables and from May through September I can also receive a bouquet of flowers grown on the farm (Full Belly Farm north of Sacramento). These gorgeous sunflowers were today’s bouquet. Arranging them in a [...]
Recently I was invited to dinner at the offices of my niece’s hi-tech start up in the booming South of Market area of San Francisco. The on-site food was some of the best I’ve had and the interiors more upscale than many tech companies I’ve visited. But during the after dinner tour of my niece’s [...]
Today the air smells like smoke and the sky is buzzing with helicopters. I suspect they’re monitoring the fires north of us that are burning out of control. I am watching them circle the Bay and thinking about the Oakland Hills Firestorm in 1991. We didn’t lose our home but close friends did and I [...]
If this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase is any indicator, color is making a comeback. The hushed neutrals of the past have been replaced by sumptuous hues and bold graphics that feel fresh and invigorating. For example, in Cecilie Starin’s black and white dining room the abstract murals by San Francisco street muralist Ian Ross [...]
It’s been a while since I shared any remodeling news. That’s because most of the interior work we wanted to do on the new house is done and we’ve been enjoying a respite from projects beyond the ongoing purging and organization of stuff. But an early spring is upon us and a wedding party is [...]
For this installment of Away Things, I’m sharing the fun, fast hour we spent last weekend at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. This outdoor museum is not only sassy, it’s also surprisingly beautiful. There’s just something irresistible about these out-to-pasture remnants of Viva Las Vegas. Also known as the Neon Boneyard, the museum features [...]
Early this morning we said farewell to a member of the family fleet. We bought this used Audi A6 when Claire was in high school. She wanted something cooler to drive than the family mini-van or M.J.’s dented Camry. But fourteen years later (and probably close to 150,000 miles–the odometer broke some time ago) the [...]
This was a busier than usual holiday season with all the kids and spouses (and a new fiance!) home. So I’m just now taking a few moments to ponder some favorite things from 2014. Perhaps you too are finding this Friday more about retrospection than resolutions. If so, you might also be thinking about some [...]
