sunflowers

After making donuts and picking up a few new treasures at Heath ceramics I headed up north where I came across this small sunflower field. I took a few pictures and then walked around a bit and did a little window shopping/gathering inspiration before taking a few more photos as the sun shifted. It was time to head over to the Berkeley for more exploring before movie night. 

foraged flowers

I've been watching the lone antique rose change over the past few days as the petals darken and fall. Inspired by the Gardenista request for photo submissions of handpicked bouquets I picked a few flowers on the way home from a bike ride to the Golden Gate bridge and back. We passed a hillside dotted with sweet peas in bloom and then a few hydrangeas were nearly hidden by an abandoned building. 

another lovely day at the farmers market

One of my favorite Saturday rituals is a trip to the San Francisco Ferry Building to walk through the farmers market stalls and see the colors of the season and say hello to the heroes that grow our food with love. I was just looking at photos of edible bouquet arrangements (with blueberries on the vine) and really wanted to experiment with this and then the next day I was thrilled to see Cuesa with a long table of herbs ready to help people make their own small bouquet. After carefully tying up my small bouquet I was off to pick up a few treasures.... hello, padrone peppers. I couldn't resist a raspberry bombolini (Italian filled donut) from a vendor inside the market. Sunflowers seemed to be the flower of the week and shined like little rays of sun. 

SF Summer classics

Gorgeous flowers, specialty foods, and helpful folk at Small Foods. I received a few texts from Mikayla (super talented friend) that called for celebration so I planned a quick impromptu lunch picnic. BLT sandwiches have become a staple of the month or some variation of it and I thought I brown some bacon, toast up the bread, slather it with mayo and a handful of spinach and pick up tomatoes along the walk to meet Mikayla. I stopped a tiny farmers market on the way, but no luck so I popped into Small Foods and they only had tiny cherry toms so I saw potential in a ripe peach and went with that instead. We grabbed fancy soda and a bag of chips before heading to a shady spot by the boats. They had one of my absolute favorite sodas, the jasmine tea ginger ale! After I calmed down from the exciting news about where she saw my work (I tell you all soon) we were able to take in the sunshine and enjoy our lunch and a new favorite summer sandwich the BSP bacon, spinach, and peach. On the walk back across the city I came across an open hydrant and paused to cool down and enjoy it (just so wasteful). 

city streets

Summer wedding in Sonoma

*here are a few photos I snapped with my phone (to ensure I didn't get carried away) at a friends wedding, between tears, after a little bubbly in the sun with temps over 100* so they're not as clear as usual, but I want to share them here anyway. 

My dear friends Sonya and Ian got hitched and it was beautiful. Before the ceremony it was hot... around 102 degrees outside, but we didn't care and just sipped on cold drinks in the shade in the groom's parents backyard garden, where the ceremony took place. Small bowls of lavender flowers were set at the end of the benches with paper cones beside them to fill and toss as a send off instead of rice. The ceremony was beautiful and the grooms vows were first and I'm pretty sure everyone teared up by the end. Both bride and groom had their parents on either side and sang a song or read a poem or shared a story. After the ceremony we walked over a short distance to reception where we imbibed wine and infused water while using the spray bottles to mist our legs to keep cool. When I think of Sonya and Ian an appreciation of good food and music comes to mind and there was an abundance of both. We noshed on passed appetizers before the bride and groom sang us a song before we sat down to eat and incredible dinner with plank roasted salmon that I'm still thinking about. You can see the hand painted menu and invitations here, lovingly made by my friend Mikayla. There was a lot of laughter, a few toasts, more wine, dancing and then later coffee that was roasted by the bride's father and individual pies. These two are kind and honest and all that and their love shined today. Hugs, and love... and congratulations! 

bright city day

from the flowers and blueberries at the market to the tiles and window displays  

double rainbow

the early mornind fog was thick and lingered through my walk to the farmers market making all the colors pop, even the subtle ones... except the seagulls who are apparently clad in SF fog camo. Bundles of lavender brought smiles to almost everyone that passed and my shoes proved to be a little dose of sunshine every time I gazed down. I finally gave in and bought a donut from an indoor vendor and almost blamed it on the fog. Of course the sun came out and shined bright by the afternoon and then a double rainbow appeared, via a neighbors clothesline. 

my sunny blossoms in a California Home + Design contest

This photo I took at the Ferry Building Farmers Market of Icelandic poppies was picked for this California Home + Design contest. Voting ends July 12th at 12pm... which may be after you read this and that's ok. To vote just click here and then click to select your favorite pop of color, I'm #10 under @bay2, and then enter your email address and then submit and you'll have a chance to win $250 to Jeff Lewis Paint.  

p.s. I have a few more exciting tidbits to share here soon. 

cactus love

San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society show at the county fair building was incredible. The theme was outer space and I'm already looking forward to the next one and seeing what they come up with next.  I get giddy when I meet people that are passionate about what they're doing and this place was packed with people excited about plants. I bought a few small succulents (pictured third from the top on the right) and learned a few new tricks. 

here, fishy fishy fishy

shrimp and snapper tostadas de ceviche with avocado, lime mayo, and tapatio salsa and on the right is a beer battered fish taco with a thick layer of avocado mayo, salsa and cabbage from Primavera at the Saturday Ferry Building Market. The foggy sky made the chamomile blossoms and dark figs pop

day(s) at the museum(s)

I woke up early and raced to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to absorb as much as I could before they closing their doors for the next 2.5 years as they expand. I was surprised to see a line had already formed for The Clock viewing with over one hundred people in line and it wasn't even 8 AM yet. I joined the line and after a long wait I was lucky enough to be one of the last few people allowed in the theater for the 24 hour viewing of the 24 hour long movie. I stayed until close to noon before leaving to recharge and keep my tummy from rumbling. I was given a clock stamp on my hand to allow me to take a 15 min break before waiting for another person to leave the theater so I could step back in. I opted to let everyone else experience the movie and explore the rest of the museum in the last 48 hours. I had a piece of Rothko toast at the rooftop sculpture garden, most of the sculptures have already been placed around the city, but the "Please do not touch the artwork"stencil remains. The figure by Jenny Saville was a commanding presence in the room and I kept coming back to this piece. While some visitors stayed all day and through the night with the museum open for 24hours as the countdown continued... I went home and then came back for one more visit before they turned off the lights. 

with my second day in a row at SF MOMA, this time with a friend, but still a little bit faster we raced around taking in favorites before I raced to the De Young Museum for the final day of the Dutch Paintings exhibit with the Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer as the central piece where eager museum visitors where lined up to take a peak at through thick glass. The floral and food still life pieces are my favorite. Lucky for me the rest of the museum was pretty empty so I took advantage of the quiet space to reflect on the art, even Rothko was alone, which seems to never happen at MOMA. After so many hours between two museums I was seeing similarities/art everywhere. I strolled through the rose garden, and ambled through the Union Street Festival before walking past pretty tiles and sidewalk chalk notes for a garage sale that looked more like inspirational art on the steep SF hills before making my way home

Carnival

Dynamic colors and energy in the Mission at the Carnival celebration. So much joy and pride that everyone was beaming. Young and old danced (or walked) to routines practiced in anticipation of this event in hand embroidered clothes that show rich culture and tradition or the colorful risque style of Brazil with themes that change every year. Many watched from their apt windows or lined up along Mission street. I walked around the neighborhood after the festival and spotted this Frida Kahlo sidewalk art and "A Sunday Afternoon at Dolores Park" mural painting by D. Doherty that is a take on Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884.