fishs eddy

I discovered Fishs Eddy while in New York. Wow. Maybe it's okay there isn't a  Fishs Eddy in San Francisco. I might have to buy everything, like, for starters, a collection of these floral containers. Love them.

new york + a goodbye

Stella swinging in Madison Square Park

We've been busy travelers of late. Tuesday night we arrived home at midnight after 5 days in New York. The memorial service for our beloved friend Katie was on Saturday at The Players Club in Gramercy Park and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. We added on a few days so we could see my sister, visit with friends who live in New York and those who had flown in for the service, and so J could make an appearance at his office in Dumbo.

A few highlights: a trip down The High Line, brunch (the biscuits and french toast!) at Buttermilk Channel, seeing old friends, poached eggs over curried lentils and yogurt at The Breslin, pizza at Lucali...and saying goodbye to Katie.

The Players Club

  Photobooth shot at the Ace Hotel

Anna + Stella

 Manhattan from Long Island City

Nick Cave cave show at the Jack Shainman Gallery

 

Stella, me, and my sister at The Standard 

Dumbo at night 

Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain

Smiling Stells

 At il Laboratorio del Gelato


(some photos taken by my sister)

a portland weekend

We spent a lovely, if drizzly, weekend in Portland. My last trip to Portland was in 2009. How silly, considering how much I adore the restaurants, the shops, the architecture, all the bridges, the laid back coolness of everything, and Portland's pocket neighborhoods. 

We stayed at the Ace, visited with friends, and tasted some truly fantastic food, thanks to my friend Elizabeth's awesome recommendations. I wish we could have seen Elizabeth, but alas, she is living with Paris with her husband and adorable son for a few months. How dreamy.

Some highlights: the Almond Brittle Salted Ganache ice cream at Salt & Straw, Pok Pok, sampling various food cart fare (hello, Garden State, yum!), The Bent Brick...for coffee we stayed with old favorites Stumptown at the Ace and Stumptown at Albina Press. 

Thanks to Elizabeth's recommendation we also ventured into Monograph Bookwerks. We came home with two new art books from Monograph: Marcel Dzama's The Infidels, and The Chinese Dream, A Society Under Construction by Neville Mars and Adrian Hornsby.

Here are some shots from our Portland weekend:

blue + blue

LOVE!

alexandra grecco blue blouse & skirt set

the last werewolf

So I finished another book. I know, amazing! One of the perks of having my parents visit us is that I usually get a little time to myself. When my mom took Stella to the park on Thursday I started Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf. 

Before I launch into how much I LOVED this book (LOVED IT!) I'll preface by stating that this book isn't for everyone. First, it's about a 200-year-old werewolf. So, you know, if you're not into werewolves or vampires (I myself am not big fan of the occult) you might not be inclined to fully appreciate this book. Second, it's gory and at times raunchy, as you might expect from a book about a flesh and guts (human) eating, horny werewolf.

The premise is Jake Marlowe (possibly a nod to the other Marlowe, creator of Doctor Faustus?) finds out he's the last werewolf on earth, the last of his brutal kind. He is lonely without a She, and now alone in a world with filled folks seeking to destroy him. With no real reason or desire left to live he contemplates suicide.

This is a gothically dark but deeply funny, strangely sexy (werewolf coitus), beautifully written book. I flagged half a dozen pages with paragraphs of luminous prose. Like this:

One develops an instinct for letting silence do the heavy lifting. In the three, four, five seconds that passed without either of us speaking, the many ways the conversation could go came and went like time-lapse film of flowers blooming and dying. When it was over all the relevant information was in. Parodoxically, it renewed our licence to pretend.

And this:

Iowa. Nebraska. Wyoming. Utah. Those unritzy states of seared openness, giant arenas for the colossal geometry of light and weather. Here the main performance is still planetary, a lumbering introspective working-out of masses and pressures yielding huge accidents of beauty: thunderheads like floating anvils; a sudden blizzard. Geological time, it dawns on you, is still going on.

world war II london in color

These color photographs of London under siege by Nazi bombers during World War II are riveting don't you think?

via ckck

stella :: 9 months

Stella is growing fast, so fast. She is pulling herself up to standing now, and crawls towards everything she shouldn't like the trash, the fireplace, the edge of our bed, the stairs. She waves at every one and everything including flags and trees and dogs. She loves eating paper, straws, the corners of books, leaves. She growls like a monster with enough encouragement and if you ask her for a kiss she'll plant her big, open-mouthed face on your cheek.

sea-room

Loving Sam Kallis' illustration based on this Frankenstein quote:

“We were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea-room in which she floated“ - Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein"

[via: ckck]

upstairs downstairs

The drama, the intrigue, the costumes... I'm loving the revival of Upstairs Downstairs. Plus it features a few favorites: Keeley Hawes (MI-5/Spooks, Wives and Daughters, married to Matthew Macfayden), Claire Foy (the perfect Amy Dorrit), Dame Eileen Atkins, and Jean Marsh.

art murmur + flock home

On the first Friday of every month downtown Oakland is transformed. People fill the sidewalks, lines form in front of food trucks, and galleries open their doors for Art Murmur. Last night, as the warm day turned into a glowy evening we took Stella in the Ergo out into the 20s between Telegraph and Broadway. We listened to a bluegrass band called Old Jawbone, we ate lightly charred grilled corn from Ozumo and slices of pizza from Fist of Flour, and we wandered in and out of galleries looking at art and crafts.

My favorite find of the evening was Flock Home, a line of linens and other cute things by artist/designer Gina Pericini. Gina's pillows and napkins, table runners and baby onesies, quilts and pencil pouches are made with sustainable undyed linen, are hand-printed with non-toxic inks and are just lovely. Take a look:







And visit her Etsy store.