fine dining

i would sure love to belly up to this table, eat a comfort food meal, and then walk a few steps and sit in that lovely chair in the corner.

love this image, the mix of woods and textures always turns me on.

reading room

this has to be the best window seat around. can you imagine? all those great books surrounding the window, that great old window itself, a space that seems to have limited foot traffic and that breeze that i know comes and goes all summer long.

the rustic feeling is so apropos for the current climate of our culture. the little luxuries of life that have been bi-passed for decades, due to our need to build bigger and better. we seem to have lost touch with priorities. i am trying to keep this personal and not political...i just continually find myself longing for simpler times and this image evokes that.

getting personal

had such a wonderful weekend with family in town. we played in the city a bit and then headed out to the county for a long walks and good food...... and before, after and in between we spent our time laughing our heads off.

the joy and magic of spending time with the ones you love is refreshing and a great touchstone for hope of how the balance of our lives will be.

image 1 eucalyptus trees at jack london state park. amazing memories of this day.
image 2 family in china town, sf

p & r

this ones for you...in hopes of this being the year of you discovering your little piece of the pie. this image reminded me of you..

all are gone.....

....but the memories live on. well, someone made it onto the coveted christmas list of a local and prominent cookie maker. all i know is that i will do anything to stay on this list....thoughts of trading in b-mo have even crossed my mind. kidding. what i am not kidding about is the way these little treasures melt on your tongue...holy cow.

thank you mirna, you have changed our lives with these cookies and the love and time are valued.

2 dry

2 months, too dry. we have had the driest winter on the books here in sf and the sonoma valley has been no different.

same time last year our property was covered in lush ferns..this year i had to go out and buy some green. planting in 65 degree weather in january is really messing everything up...tricking us to believe it is spring. not going to complain though...we have had some amazing winter walks...bird watching...gazing.

i found this cement urn at local antique mall, the price was good i am embarrassed to admit. but it is priceless to me and makes for a good before and after.

UPDATE: it rained this weekend...woohoo.

down time

mandatory time off = sleeping in until 9am for a week, homemade warm biscuit's with jam and coffee at 10am, catching up on reading....i know, sounds slothful, but i had no idea how tired i was.

i was also able to muster up some energy to drive a few minutes to do some antiquing...looking...

a few highlights in these images (the guy wouldn't sell me even one rope...i can see why)

its a wrap

in more ways than one. shwew....we made it through another year and hopes are high for 2012. lots and lots of hope.

so, when push comes to shove i always revert to my favorite wrap style. junk drawer. i always keep a stash of new york times fashion section on hand, as you know twine is a staple in my home (i use it on everything and for everything), greens are also an easy way to spruce things up (no pun intended) and the copper gardening tags have been in my junk drawers for over 20 years. in my opinion, the best labels ever.

hodge podge you may say...true, but surely wrapped with love...i think that is all that really matters.

forty, 40, forte....

someone in the household celebrated one of those milestone b-days.... and with it came some crafty gift idea's. one of those milestones you want to mark with memories, laced with a bit of sentiment.

so, we have a "family" friend in seattle who is one of those mind blowing talents. she is an apparel designer, hand bag designer, singer song writer (with several albumns), she is a painter. basically....she is a gift from the heavens.

every year, dawn smithson, sends a hand painted christmas card. a highlight of the season. when i was pulling out the christmas garb this year, and i uncovered her painting from 2010 and when i saw it a birthday idea sparked right out of my head....a dawn smithson commissioned painting of b-mo. i couldn't imagine a better b-day gift for loopy. then when it arrived at work earlier this week....i almost dropped a few tears on my desk. so touching..the soul and spirit of this little stinker couldn't have been captured better. thank you dawn.

so, i have included last years painting of the tree with the mystic own at the top and of course the b-day painting of b-mo.

if you would like a commissioned piece of work by dawn...please let me know and i will be happy to connect you.

luxury.....

in our little cabin on a country road. who would have thunk? during our montauk vaction this summer, we stumbled upon a store that carried the la labo products and that is where the trouble began.

i'm of that age where i do not long or obsess over wanting things...i appreciate fine things, but am able to find practicality and editing more relaxing. but i must say, the la labo fragrances put all practicality aside and the obsession began. i forced myself to pass on the purchase and that is when the angels decended, one in particular..by the name of patti was particularly forceful, and that angel demanded she was sent to gift hillside with this fragrance.

thank you angel....you make life much sweeter and your generosity overwhelms at times. this fragrance is the signature hillside fragrance and i hope it last forever.

notice that this label is custom for hillside. boy do we feel blessed and the cabin smells dreamy...like heaven.

adult christmas

as some of you know, i had a visitor last weekend. one of those friends that you consider family. we had a blast at hillside, along with a few side visits to antique malls, farms and eateries.

as usual, she came with a little bag of treasures from red ticking..and boy was she kind this year. i must have done something right this year :).

this handmade mermaid will have a good life and always carry the memories of december 2011 and she might even get a new blouse for christmas this year.

you too can find this great treasure at red ticking...hurry, time is running out.

more weekend photo's to follow soon.

monday moves

lets just say i am not moving that fast today. the sun is shining, coffee downed, but i cannot seem to get past that.

this image keeps me very focused on keeping that one wall in the "big" bedroom original redwood, no painting, just rustic and raw wood. this old redwood was part of the original 1 room cabin that hillside used to be, build in 1915. i think the original cabin was around 350 square feet, now just a bit bigger..not much.

there was a window on this wall, and our contractor did an amazing job filling in that hole with detailed precision and now all it needs is some staining....i'm working on it, but definitely not in a rush. i kinda have to do it right the first time.

i hope the start to your week is not quite as relaxing as mine.....