then & now with a dash of hope

for those few of you interested in the cabin progress.... it is slow and steady, but the already shed blood, sweat and tears is paying off.

i know, i know...this is the good part. the exploration and discoveries of owning a home, but boy can it wind up being a bit unnerving...the anticipation can be paralyzing.

so, the good news is there were beautiful hardwood floors buried under the layers of carpet, padding, plywood sheets and you know the rest. this will save a few bucks as we were thinking there was more linoleum squares hidden below, as is in the rest of the cabin.

the ceiling is also super charming and in tact...more luck and grace. the next job is to work on that wall with sea grass wallpaper. we are actually going to rip off the sheet rock to expose the pine paneling behind it.

much more to come.....

precious moments

several months ago i posted a photo of a swimming pool in sonoma, california that was the location of a friends post wedding party.

well, the party was this last weekend and i was in charge of flowers/decorations. the bride did not set a budget, but we decided to keep it low key and hopefully take advantage of the local options.

i can tell you we spent:

Flowers $115 (from red barn in sonoma) flowers picked fresh that day. it was ton's and ton's of bunches of many sun flower varieties, bunches of eucalyptus, bunches of other wild flowers they had just cut that day....amazing.

succulents $100 (purchased at a secret location in socal) we put together 60 containers.

containers for succulents $30.00 from ikea and from recycled cans we all saved.

it all worked out, and that is really because it was all put together in love and celebration.

congrats mike and sarah....it was one of the few summer highlights.

i had to include one photo of peanut...friend of b-mo and mike and sarah's pride and joy :0).

peak

summer seems to just be starting here in san francisco, but the weather has not put a hault to the local farmers........its been amazing all summer.

every fruit stand on the side of the road in the country, every open air market along mission street, every where i look fruit is bursting out of its boxes and over flowing in the stands....not enough time in the day to eat all the produce i crave. life feels good.

photo's from the selby

summer maddness

the SoCal getaway was just what the doctor ordered. as you can see b-mo took full advantage of the amenities.

thanks for a fantastic and long weekend sis!!!

sailing away...from gray to blue

i wish i were sailing away, but will actually be driving away on a summer getaway to see my sister and family in SoCal (even better). Some of you may know her.....she is the talented one in the family, with that fantastic shop on etsy called fringe (and a great blog too).

this post is dedicated to my friend at a perfect grey. she is always inspiring and pushing my buttons (the correct buttons that is). the image of the houseboat (urban outfitters) started this post...and it went from there.

happy early weekend.

sitting on france

well, not really.

aren't these something? talk about double take!!

a local, favorite french furniture importer has 25 of these little pieces of france. i already have one red one and am officially "jones-ing" for several of these white ones.

1960's french. what a great decade indeed.

is before better

the real demo on the cabin started last weekend. this was part of the original wrap around porch that was converted into a small bedroom many moons ago.

i know, the before doesn't look so bad, but.......the closet was taking up 1/3 of room and we were needing to see what was under the "charming" plywood ceiling. lucky us.....it is just what we were hoping. you really never know what is underneath and or behind until you start peeling away the layers.

now, the next decisions to be made are:

whether to keep the neglected grass green shag and have it cleaned :)

AND paint or not to paint the ceiling in this little bedroom. i definitely have an opinion, but i differs from my partner in crimes. shoot!!!

thoughts???

repurpose

a couple things:

1) great find on ebay and under $20. this little river and or lake scene takes me to one of my other places of perfect peace. high altitude forests with clear water lakes and rivers. many memories of family camping trips, fishing poles, gathering twigs and branches for the evening fires and you know the rest of the story..we all have one. oh, and the fresh air.
this was a pleasant surprise, as the ebay photo's were far from clear AND actually this little oil on board is more rich in color in person. a new cherished find.
i heart used and loved treasures.

2) a recent dinner included a very small portion of thyme in the recipe, but of course one has to buy a whole bundle just to get that tsp required. so, just as a reminder to those of you who use your fresh herbs....put them in little favorite containers and pinch the leaves as you walk buy....the fragrance can be so earth bound that one almost wants to inhale an entire plant.....
these little bouquets also have a long shelf life.

photo by brockstreet

breathing again

well, it has been a busy few weeks with work, guest, cleaning, cooking and more work...but i do have a bit of progress to report on the new project.

after many sleepless and restless nights of wondering what lie beneath the varnished plywood ceilings and a tiled drop ceiling in the bedroom in the cabin, we were able to get in there this weekend and discover just what i was hoping for...a raw wood beam and plank ceiling. yippee. oh the joy. its going to be rustic, with a hint of more rustic and to top it off....painted.

someone, please hold me back....i'm tempted to hop in the car and drive and hour and start painting that ceiling right now.

i promise to post some photo's after this next weekend. i keep forgetting my camera in my scurry out the door to evacuate the city for some sun.

photographed by roland bello (fantastic)

we've only just begun

well, for those of you that have witnessed our ups and downs with real estate....i have good news to report.

we got the keys to our little 750sf cabin in the sonoma mountains. exciting little/big project, chalked full of hopeful future post.

we are just excited to escape the city on the weekends and enjoy some real summer weather on our own land. i need some heat and i need it now. enough of this june gloom that has crept into august. high in sf today, 63 (at least the sun comes out).

no shots of the interior at this time..will save them for before and after shots, but here is a glance at the ouside before. the first photo is of the driveway and if you look close enough you can see the shack at the very top of the drive.

did i mention it is in the middle of nowhere, just vineyards, lama farms and a zen retreat.

cheers to little to no budget with great expectations. feelling blessed indeedie!