Best intentions for a Friday

I had big plans for a Creative Crush today. You see, I picked up a bag of the most delicious grapefruits early in the week and I've been happily working my way through it ever since. Is it my imagination or has citrus been crazy good this season?

We've had grapefruit sliced on salad, all by itself in the mornings, in pudding, popsicles and finally in a (close to perfect) tart. I've had two slices this morning already. Someone will need to take this thing off my hands before I polish it off all by my lonesome.

Anywho, I took lots of pretty pictures but am simply running out of time. You see, Emerson and I have a date at THE PARK WITH THE TIRE SWING! Big happenings around these parts. I'll share recipes and photos next week. Maybe.

I hope you guys have the best weekend ever.

Studio update: Dressing the flower girl

I've been spending quite a bit of quality time with my sewing machine these last couple of weeks. There's been a dress for Danielle. (I'm hoping she'll reveal a photo of her wearing it some time soon). And this little dress for Emerson's best friend, Lark. She's to be a flower girl in a very fancy wedding next month.

Making things for loved one's in mind is a complicated endeavor. With every cut and stitch and press of the iron, I imagine them wearing (and hopefully loving) their new garment. And as happy as that makes me there is also the inevitable pressure and worry that it won't be perfect. That someone might see it and think "homemade" - because "handmade" equals care and great attention to detail but "homemade" conjures up some less than appealing amateurish visuals. Can you imagine the pressure Kate Middleton's seamstresses felt? Just a few of the worries that fill my day.

Party files: Garden glamour

I visited Antiques Colony last week for some vintage therapy. It's my happy place. The music is old-timey, everything reminds me of my collective grandparents and the space is so big you can loose yourself for hours. It did not disappoint. In fact, it sort of blew my mind. Piles of 1940s Indian blankets, embroidered table lines, etched wine glasses, so many lovely things. 

After I made my modest purchases I visited my favorite stall. I always save it for last. I've been eyeing those multi-colored stained-glass panels in the back for nearly two years. They are expensive. I love them. And did you spot that turquoise Bauer pot on the right? And how about that giant glass wine jar on the left? Yikes, the treasure.

But the cluster of colorful glass jars has me imagining a festive garden party. I'm picturing hanging lanterns, lots of garden roses and a rainbow of cocktails. Wont you join me? I'll probably still be wearing my kaftan from last week's French bistro date. But feel free to freshen things up with sundress and floppy hat. 

Eat your greens

Every week I have good intentions about making you a soup and sharing it here on a Monday. Remember Soup Monday? Yeah, that was fun. Maybe next week.

In the meantime I've been obsessively eating kale and I swear I'm a better person for it. This salad is an all-time favorite. It's a steal from Kelly's French Bakery Cafe, because I can't get to Santa Cruz every week for my fix so this is my substitute. It's a really loose recipe so feel free to improvise. Also, kale is so hearty that you can dress this salad and eat it for days. It will still taste fresh and crisp.

Kelly's Kale Salad

One bunch of kale, washed well, ribs removed and leaves chopped.
Two carrots, grated
Handful of toasted sunflower seeds (I like a lot)
Goat cheese

Dressing (here's where your improv skills will really shine)
A little soy sauce (a little goes a long way)
Some sesame oil
Some seasoned rice vinegar
Lemon juice
A teaspoon or so of fresh grated ginger

Creative Crush: Tumblr Loving with Live and Enliven

Each Friday, a special blogger friend shares her current Creative Crush - whatever is cause for inspiration at this very moment. Today I'm happy to welcome Ana from Live & Enliven. Ana is a creative force in the blog world. She creates beautiful templates (she updated my own blog a few months ago and I was thrilled to work with her.) If you don't already know her, I highly recommend spending some quality time on her blog. She's a doll. Today she shares with us her love of Tumblr.

I've always had a thing for beauty and by that I mean things that look beautiful in my eyes. I've learned to appreciate peoples’ intrinsic ability to make impressions within us that stay even when they are no longer with us simply by the way they dress, the way they speak, the way they smell and those things they are passionate about.

Ever since I started blogging and filling up my life with precious images and words from other bloggers that more often than not speak to me in a personal, almost magical way I've collected and catalogued pretty things online. Quotes, images, links and everything in between.

I've had a long lasting fixation with tumblr and always thought I could see more in them than on peoples’ blogs. An image could often say a lot more than a thousand words and testing that in my own life has been overly eye-opening.

I have something more than a crush on my tumblr, I see it as a journal... I go back and see progress, I see how I'm captivated by certain things at times and how that lets things in my personal life come through. I am also encouraged by it, by the quotes I collect, the videos I love and even the eccentric photos taken of people I don't even know by people I know even less.

This might even be a crush that sticks with me forever. I can definitely see myself 10 years from now, still finding joy in tumbling. Is that how you say it?

If you haven't joined tumblr, I recommend you do and let me know how you like it.

Thank you Estelle for inviting me to share on your beautiful blog.

Bad photo, good cake

Don't look at this photo for too long. It's a little crazy making but it's the only one I have and images are my story-telling crutch.

Bottom line: If you have bananas browning on your kitchen counter and chocolate chips in the cupboard, make this cake. David Lebovitz knows his stuff and his banana chocolate chip upside down cake is lovely. Also, he takes prettier photos that me. Next time I will double the butter/brown sugar base in the pan because those bits made the cake extra awesome. I used nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and it worked well.

Side note relevant only if you have rose bushes - chop up your banana peels and dig them loosely into the soil around the plant's base. The peels will decompose over night, you will have delicious banana cake while composting (without worms!)

Also, serve the cake warm with good vanilla ice cream.

P.S. Next up, I really want to try the Chez Panisse almond cake Mr. Lebovitz adapted.

Party files: Perfect lady night

I'm throwing an imaginary dinner party and you're all invited. Just a couple requests, of course. Please wear your favorite kaftan, meet me at a romantic French bistro and won't someone please whip up this cake for the occasion? Am I missing any elements? Feel free to weigh in.

In other news, I had an absolutely perfect lady date on Sunday with my best gal, Melanie. Shopping at Anthro, a little wine tasting and a viewing of Bridesmaids. It was every kind of awesome.

Not black velvet

My stepdaughter went to her prom this weekend. She and her bestie took "princess pictures" with Emerson (their idea). It was a very sweet and a little nutty. Did I mention I helped raise two teenagers. I don't talk about it much around here for a million and a half reasons. Lately, I've been thinking that whole endeavor was actually easier than life with a three year old. But that's really a conversation for another day.

Saturday's sea of chiffon and rhinestones and Disney glitter reminded me not one bit of my own formal dance experiences. Those were full of black velvet. Every single one. Black nylons (or panty hose, if you must) and black pumps. I never would have seen the current trend of floor length GOWNS coming. I wore a borrowed Jessica McClintock black velvet, strapless, jumper. Yeah, you read that right. It was awesome. Did you go to your prom? What did you wear? Let's share some dirt...please don't leave me hanging here.

Creative Crush: Growing pumpkins with kids

Each Friday, a special blogger friend shares her current Creative Crush - whatever is cause for inspiration at this very moment. Today I'm popping in with my own current crush - gardening. Specifically, I'm a little nutty over edibles in the garden. Fresh herbs, strawberries and my carnival-colored carrots that I sweet talk every morning.

Full disclosure: this is not exactly my garden. My best friend, Melanie, reserved a sunny spot in her backyard for our kids to plant pumpkin seeds this year. They each have a stake in the ground with their name on it so they can monitor their plant's growth. The idea is that each one will have their own pumpkin to carve up come October. So far, so good. Together they planted nine seeds back in March and five ended up taking root and are happily soaking up sun and water.

After doing a little bit of research I've learned that it's probably dumb luck that our seedlings are so strong. Because mid-May is actually the perfect time to start pumpkin seeds and you can likely find seedlings that have already been started indoors at your local nursery. So there's still time if you want to get your littles in on the pumpkin patch action.

I'd love to hear about your own adventures in gardening. So please do share! Happy weekend, friends. And cheers to Blogger for pulling it together. That was a long 24 hours of limbo...

Sunshine and daydream

I'm thrilled to see the return of the maxi skirt. I never fully embraced the dress, although long, flowy and shapeless is typically my thing. I think the style took off too close to my pregnancy and I was working hard to transition out of maternity wear. Anywho, I plan to make the maxi skirt my summer uniform.

I pulled this number from my own archives (I used to be a little bit hippie) and instantly remembered why I LOVED this skirt. It even has two tiny bells that hang waist band. I'm wearing it today and it feels light and feminine and easy. Exactly how I would like to feel in these coming months.

Also, I just upgraded my iPhone and the only playlist that made the transfer was my Grateful Dead mix. Coincidence? Not sure, but today I cannot get enough.

P.S. Post title is a steal from Ellinad spir's style. Lyrics from a classic Dead song. Anyone know it?

Is it wrong?

Imagine a world where every day is Mother's day? Start the morning with a favorite author, eat a meal prapared by someone else on dishes washed by another...it's just like a dream. Lovely, but fleeting. Happy Monday, friends.

Creative Crush: All things strawberry with A Place to Share

Each Friday, a special blogger friend shares her current Creative Crush - whatever is cause for inspiration at this very moment. Today I'm happy to welcome Torrie from A Place to Share. Torrie is another blog friend from Southern California. I swear, I could fill a dream road trip with visits to the SoCal girls from blogland and Torrie would be top on the list. She hit a serious soft spot today with the Strawberry Shortcake reference from way back. (I too once had a Strawberry Shortcake-themed party. I was 30.) I had it bad for those smelly little dolls. Of course, I love her take on the timeless theme. Perfect for summer.

Ever since I wrote this post about strawberry sauce, I’ve become sorta wild about these adorable little berries. It’s as if I’ve somehow drifted back into the early 80’s Strawberry Shortcake era… into Strawberryland. That sweet red haired gal and her gang had quite the grip on me. I mean- other things came and went. Barbies. Care Bears. Cabbage Patch Kids. But I sure did love Miss Shortcake - I had the best themed birthday party (with a strawberry cake, of course), and I even went around singing the little tune (my poor mother). Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. The whole line-up revolved around food (Huckleberry Pie, Apple Dumplin’, Maple Stirrup and the Oats Mobile)! And all this time, I thought it was pure nostalgia. Whatever the case- there’s just something so blissful about a strawberry… the red-pink-green color combo, the tiny ‘polka dots’ & white stripes inside, the subtly sweet aroma. Not to mention- the prime ingredient for the ultimate summer dessert.

There is just no end to the cuteness.

Images via (left to right; top to bottom) 1 (& here), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

My only advice

I'm not much of an advice giver. But if you were to ask I would say that there's nothing wrong with planting the smallest of herb gardens in any spot that's catching sun this summer. Because on days when nothing feels quite right, you'll notice that the bees are still buzzing and the spearmint will continue fighting the sage for space and you'll be forced to make a bouquet of the best smelling stuff. And then you might realize that nothing feels as right as all of that.

Big plans

I spent the better part of Saturday with this view and decided that I do not spend nearly enough time at the ocean. My top priority for the summer: go to the beach. That is all.

Happy Monday, friends.