reading list - kerr time.

Read of the week, this NYTimes piece, Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court. Highly recommend....

project patio.

Hope the holidays have been wonderful! Ben and I just got back to SF last night after a fantastic couple of days in Palm Springs and Christmas celebration with my family in Denver. And now that we are back, I am ready to get started on 2017 and that includes doing something with our patio that we have severely underused for the past year. Updates to come, but to give an idea, here is what we are starting with....

read of the week.

I meant to post this NYTimes piece about the Philippines last week - highly recommend it - both the format and styling but most importantly the substance of this piece are powerful to say the least.

travelogue ~ hyderabad, india.

I've been delinquent on posting about my quick trip to India. I went to Hyderabad for work, and while it was only a couple of days, it was an awesome glimpse into India. I ate my fill of butter chicken (no, seriously, I really ate too much butter chicken) and my colleague, Gaurav, was so hospitable and the perfect company.  In truth, we working a lot and didn't get out to see as much as I would have liked. Also, Hyd is huge and spread out and it takes forever to get anywhere because of the traffic, and I did not do a good job of documenting and taking pictures. Nonetheless, here are a couple highlights from the tour de force!

It such a big city in all directions, buildings upon buildings...

We went to a market near the office - I loved the colors in this wrap and there were so many cool lamps and lanterns...

This guy selling heart balloons on the street made my night.

We took some rides in these "autos" - they are chaotic and amazing and a little unstable - but how could you not, right? Interesting bit, Uber is huge in India. People love the air conditioning, the closed car and they are frustrated with the autos and their prices - so there is a lot of intense competition.

On Saturday, before I left, I went to visit the Chowmahalla Palace. It was beautiful and empty, so I wandered through the palace buildings and the grounds.

And on the way back to the hotel, I took a couple pictures along the way...

It was a whirlwind visit and I feel so lucky to have gotten to go. And who knows, maybe Ben and I will make that trip soon...

Hapi. Hapi. Hapi.

Loving all the prints over on Hapi. 

I happened to spot one in an instagram post earlier this week and hunted it down to this site and really loving all the color, and apparently I am taken by stripes! Also, totally reasonable price-tags on these, in case you are still on the hunt for good holiday gifts and this hits the spot...here a couple of my favorites. 

changing landscape.

Oh 2016. In the aftermath of the election, on a personal level for me and Ben, an underlying question and anxiety has been how this changes our long-term plans and goals, and very specifically, when will we move back to DC? Will we ever move back to DC? To be clear, we had no set time-line and this was not going to be an imminent return. We just got out to California and we are happy. But we also miss the east coast, and we have both felt we would head back east eventually - we just assumed it would be DC. That is no longer a foregone conclusion. When we were in NY, we debated whether a river town might be a new reality for us. So, who knows....

With all this said, we do really miss DC the city, so we were psyched to see the announcement that a new indian place, August 1 Five, is opening in SF and the chef was previously at Rasika! Can you say Palak Chaat? For anyone who knows DC and Rasika - this is huge news and this little piece of DC coming our way warms our hearts. DC we love you and miss you dearly - hang in there!

holiday cheer.

Yay for December - the new year can't come soon enough! After a couple days in Palm Springs, we are headed to Denver to celebrate Christmas with my family. In case you are still gift buying, figured I would throw out some quick ideas - hope they help!

1. Recycled Glassware / 2. Be Nice to People Print  / 3. Guitar Hook / 4. Gingham patterned pillow from Etsy

 

 

5. Rodin Olio Lusso / 6. Time 100 Photographs Book / 7. White & Black Buffalo Check Throw / 8. Make Your Own Bird Wings

post-election.

Well hello there. How we all doing? Everyone successfully avoid election talk at Thanksgiving?

Sorry for the abrupt hiatus, I didn't have much to say for a while there (unless you wanted a streaming flow of rage and devastation). I am in India this week for work and it is nice to be outside of the US for a hot minute. Not to mention, Ben and I have been playing with the idea of an India trip, so this is a quick taste test. The picture is the sunrise from this morning!

I promise to post soon about our Thanksgiving in NY and India, and in the meantime, to keep you company, here are some links I have been collecting for you (fair warning, much of this was post-election reading)...

• At least Minnesota did something good. 

• We are officially the land of a bigot. 

• This bathmat is so pretty, don't you think?

• Ever presidential indeed.

• Thank god I married a feminist too. 

• I have always sworn by a good thank you note.

• Joe memes - get me every time. 

• This line in this Atlantic piece is everything - "On August 18, 2020, American women will celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the right to vote.  That will be just 77 days before the next presidential election."

• Shout out to the IRC and others. Time to start channeling the rage.

• Jabril Peppers on the Michigan football team is quite something - this profile makes me want to watch him even more.  

• I would hire her. 

TIME 100 photos.

TIME is out with an updated book - The Most Influential Images of All Time. I am a total sucker for these books (also a great holiday gift idea for any photography lovers you know). And even if you aren't going to get the book, their interactive website with the photos and background is a fantastic procrastination tool for this fine Monday...

the aftermath.

I don't know when I will forgive America for this election. I am not one for polls and never have been. And I frankly don't want to hear every other person's brilliant opinion and assertion as to why we lost, but I will say, this exit poll stat makes me angry and hurts my heart. And indeed, there is a special place in hell for women who don't help women...

running it out.

This weekend can't come soon enough! We are headed to NYC tomorrow to celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday. He is running the marathon on Sunday. Amazing, right?

We can't wait to be back east for crisp fall weather and to be surrounded by sarcastic, no bullshit new yorkers...hope you have an equally awesome weekend - and here a quick links in case you are interested....

• Tartine Manufactory is now open for ice cream - we can't wait to go taste it out!

• Audrey Gelman is at it again and I can't decide what I think of her latest foray -- want to grab coffee and talk it out with me?!

• I am loving all over this JCrew coat - pretty much anything tweed gets me every time. 

• Water Wars in Central Asia.... this is a fascinating quick read (Hat tip to Ben)

• We are a couple weeks out from that last debate and hopefully we are all recovered and ready to dominate this coming Tuesday - but this NYTimes Late Term Abortion piece is worth your read. 

• Hillary's website error page is phenomenal. 

church it up.

I am crawling to the finish line of this week - it's a brutal one. But these two songs are currently on repeat, so I figured I would pass it along. Electric Church by Mike Taylor is a little too poppy and upbeat for my normal but MK (our Soul Cycle instructor that I have a serious girl crush on) put it on one of her lists and was loving it a couple months ago. And Like a Dream by Francis and the Lights came highly recommended from a good friend who is young and cool and has his pulse on the music scene. A Wednesday gift for all of you...
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palm springs countdown.

Palm Springs anyone? We are headed to Palm Springs for a couple days in December with some of our best friends and I am super excited. We rented an awesome AirBnB and the plan is to lounge around, eat well, and just relax. We will have Freddie (1.5 years old) and Nora (3 months old) in tow, and Sarah is pregnant with her #2 - so it will be low-key and easy...

I have started compiling a list of restaurants, stores and activities just in case we decide to get active, and would love to hear any and all suggestions...so bring it on!

double bind.

This NPR piece about the "double bind" that women face in the workplace is hitting close to home. Maybe because we have 12 days to go in an election that has demonstrated so much of this or maybe, now that I am a touch older and looking around, this resonates all the more....

travelogue ~ austin.

I was in Austin last week for work and what an awesome little city. Most of the days were spent on work-related meetings but we did get out and about a little and here are some quick recommendations in case you are going any time soon...

• La Barbecue - great food truck and the owner used to be the pit-master at the renowned Franklins - I can report back that this BBQ was legit - highly recommend!

• Ruby's BBQ - tucked behind a gas station with lots of outdoor space in the back - this place was Texas cool (though La Barbecue was no question better) - this was a bbq experience - and outside of downtown. 

• ABGB - awesome craft beer, long tables and great pizza - loved this place and apparently it is a go-to for local Austinites. 

• Odd Duck - small plates with a cool, laid back but upscale vibe -- this was highly recommended to us as a must-stop and as long as you get BBQ in first, this was a great place! 

• Gourdough's Donuts - holy smokes these donuts are big and good. If you are looking to go big - this place has personality to boot. 

• Frank Restaurant - I loved this place. Who doesn't love a hot dog and $6 dollar dinner with Texas charm and personality and a down-home feel right downtown. Money spot!

• Parkside - we had a big team dinner here and I loved this place. The food is great and the feel and aesthetic is clear but cool. Would highly recommend for a formal, low key meal. 

Basically, all we did outside of meetings was eat, so I don't have activity recommendations (besides a fantastic morning run around the capitol pictured above!) - so for the next time in Austin....

stooled.

Oh stools. We have an awesome kitchen island that we designed and had made soon after we moved into our apartment out here. The plan all along was to add two stools to one side for some seating in the kitchen and because I love a good stool seat with a big island. But we have dragged our feet and been generally indecisive about what we want. But then last week, I happened upon this picture in a Domino Instagram post and I can't get enough of these Blue Dot Hot Mesh Stools...aren't they awesome?

sun time.

We went over to Tartine Manufactory to grab lunch yesterday and while we were waiting in line, we ended up talking with the nicest couple and their son. And the woman was wearing the coolest pair of sunglasses, I couldn't help but ask her where she got them. Turns out they are from Sunskis. I came home, promptly checked out the website, and ended up ordering a pair of the Dipseas in Marine Slate. They are a reasonable price and I loved the blue color she was rocking. Here is a sampling of some of their sunglasses on their website...

sport it.

Maybe I am late to the party but JCrew now has a sports line and, while I will be the first to admit I am taken by anything involving stripes, color-blocking or polka dots, I am loving what they are putting out.

sweet sweet green.

This is huge! A Sweet Green (the DC started and based salad restaurant) opened in SoMa this week. SF doesn't have a lot of low-dollar, good food options and I also regularly crave the Harvest bowl, so I could not be more excited about this announcement. A little piece of east coast DC has just landed down the road from us!

election time.

28 days and election day can't come soon enough. If you are looking for a reasonable, level-headed, fact-based and largely fair profile of the candidates, this PBS Frontline piece, The Choice 2016, is actually really good. I keep falling asleep and haven't finished it yet, though that is no indicator of how interesting it is, but rather just a reflection of how pathetic I am past 9:30 pm....