Nursery

Ya'll I had a baby. 

So that's my explanation for a looooong hiatus from blogging.  And will be my continued excuse for the spotty blogging from here on out :)

Wanted to share some nursery pics that I posted on the other blog.  I'll just cut and paste here if you're feeling too lazy to click ;)

Here are a few pictures from Stella's room!  There's not really a theme, rather we just began filling it with things that we loved or had special memories to us.  We recycled a lot of the furniture (the Ikea malm dresser was in our room before, as well as the little desk and chair), the recliner came from the Salvation Army and the pouf from the living room.  So really the only new pieces are the crib (Ikea again) and rug (Land of Nod). 

Our most expensive splurge was the canvas above the crib from local artist Caroline Wright.  I saw the print online and just loved it and then got to meet Caroline in person at her studio as well.  Since it was the only thing I loved for the nursery and I was 7 months pregnant at the time, I think BK just let me get it so we could get moving on fixing up the room.  That said, I still love it and I hope that one day Stella will want to take it (and me) with her to college. 

A few other fun details:  we loved the 2013 calendar travel theme from Rifle Paper Company and framed our favorite destinations for the large wall.  BK painstakingly matched the colors and painted the frames.  The little bird growth chart is so precious and it's been fun marking her progress.  For Stella's first birthday, I ordered a specially made cuddling bunny from the Polka Dot Club and have been pushing it on her as a lovey.  Some days she looks for the bunny and kisses it sweetly and other days I find her dangling it over the crib in a mildly threatening way so I guess time will tell.

The owl clock is of course by George Nelson and I have such memories staring at that clock in the early days using it to time our nursing sessions.  In our little recliner nook, we framed two pictures of Link and Kirby from k9artgallery.  They aren't exactly pictures of Link and Kirby but it does look remarkably like them and I cannot tell you how many times Stella's eyes will light up and she'll say her word for doggie when she sees these pictures.  Totally worth it.  And lastly, the little baba sheep painting was made by BK and his mom was he was little and Stella loves batting at the wool felt sheep as we try to wrangle her diaper on and off.  

Thanks for letting me share!  Hope you enjoyed a little look into one of our favorite rooms in the house!

Vintage Mondays: Vera butterfly towels

I have a Vera obsession.  So much so that I can just look at a square inch of a pattern and know instantly whether it's Vera or not.  This comes in handy during estate sales where they fold and tie up all the linens in bundles or put them in clear bags so you can't go through them all.  It's a limited talent but a skill set nonetheless!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Mini tiered cakes

Super adorable and easy to make.  Just use your favorite cake and frosting!

Wishlist Wednesday: Smeg refrigerator

A completely superfluous wishlist item but I can't stop squealing each time I see these Smeg refrigerators!

West Elm

Yellow colorblocking

Gorgeous retro turquoise

From Oh Joy

Vintage Mondays: The Book of Knowledge

BK's estate pick this weekend prompted a lot of ooohs and ahhs from the cashiers.  This 1920s encyclopedia for children has all sorts of random information and facts.  I guess this is what people did before Google.

A few of my favorite entries:

And this one is hilarious--how to tell good drawings from poor ones:

Favorite Friday Recipe: Butter Cake

This is probably one of the most ambitious cakes I've ever attempted to bake (there was a whole separating egg whites and whipping them into peaks part).  It was delicious but I think next time I might just go with a Sara Lee frozen pound cake :)  Recipe here.

Trip report: San Francisco

We took a long weekend trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago and enjoyed the cool weather and good food.  SF is a favorite destination of mine and here are a few must see, must do, mostly must eat places on my list!

Our first night there we stayed right on the Embarcadero (the above picture was the view from our room) and while our flight was delayed so we couldn't make it to the farmer's market on the pier, we still had a great time walking around the Ferry building.  Loved the neat displays at Far West Fungi, the delicious rolls at Acme bread, and as tradition, bought some mugs to add to our Heath ceramics collection. 

We also got to sample the delicious empanadas at El Porteno (highly recommend the jamon y queso and the champinones), the bahn mi at Out the Door (from the owners of the famed Slanted door) and finished off with dessert at Miette--their macarons are really the best I've had in the US (not pictured unfortunately, I scarfed those down).  We also made it to breakfast the next morning at Frog Hollow farms and their fruit yogurt parfait is amazing.  I would've bought a crate of their peaches if we had room in our luggage!

Japantown is another favorite destination--with Kinokuniya--a bookstore with fun Japanese fashion magazines and stationery.  Sophie's Crepes was unfortunately closed the day we were there but we more than made up for it by buying boxes of fresh mochi manju at Benkyodo Co. (everything's great but especially the fresh strawberry and blueberry ones).  

 
Fillmore Street is a short walk from Japantown and there are lots of great shops to browse.  Two of my favorites are Steven Alan and Crossroads Trading Co. (an awesome consignment store). 

We happened into the Woodhouse Fish Co. for lunch and had some delicious fish and chips and crabcakes.  SF is the best place for seafood!

Finally my last recommendation and it's a splurge, is the Sunday jazz brunch at the Garden Court at the Palace Hotel.  We booked a few nights at the Palace and our package came with a restaurant credit and we sure made good use of it!  Not only do you get to dine under a gorgeous glass dome ceiling with chandeliers dating back a hundred years, the food is simply amazing in terms of quality and selection.  There were several stations that included breads and pastries, dim sum, seafood, cheeses, meats and a prime rib carving station, waffles and omelets made to order, and an assortment of desserts.  Among our favorite items: the shrimp and lobster claws, freshly squeezed orange juice, this amazing crab salad, fresh strawberries and delicious sticky buns.  Definitely my favorite US buffet! (top international billing still goes to the St Regis Bali)

There was a lot of walking around the city to counteract all the eating though we did leave SF with a box of See's Candies as a memento.  Hopefully we'll be back soon--along with our new little one!