paced out.

It's the home stretch on this week and Ben's parents are coming to town tomorrow for a quick visit. We are taking them to Napa and Sonoma and I'm already looking forward to the warmer weather (90s!) and some good meals! And to help finish out the week, here are some links I thought might be of interest!

• The restaurateur behind Le Diplomate is opening a new restaurant by Union Market!

• This NPR piece from Radiotopia - The Procedure - about abortion is fascinating (hat-tip to Jordan!) - highly recommend the listen!

• Aren't these Barcelona vases from World Market great?

• Bread + Ice Cream - yes please!

• We got this bag for Ben's Mom for her birthday coming up as the perfect beach bag to carry towels, snacks, a book and more - we are going to fill it with beach essentials for her upcoming Maine trip! 

• Ben got us hooked to this show, This is Us, on NBC. Mandy Moore is back and it's like a big old romantic comedy wrapped into 18 episodes! You can get a month free of Hulu and plow through it like us. 

boden.

Have you ever bought anything from Boden? I get their catalogue every month, and every month I flip through and see one or two things that I like, but I have never followed through. This dress and silk shirt caught my eye last night going through the latest, aren't they great?!

face time.

The best gifts are the ones you would never buy for yourself and you love them so much, you end up buying them for yourself after that. My two best examples are the Earth tu Face Serum that Hannah got me for my birthday this year and the Confidence in a Cream face lotion that Alison gave me. I love them both (and apparently I was in need of some face products and treatment)! The Serum is lovely. It smells and feels like a spa on my face for a couple minutes every day. And the face lotion is buttery and cooling - I actually look forward to lotioning my face.

I have never been good at taking care of my face and skin and honestly a lot of times at night I am so tired and lazy that I end up going straight to bed. But turns out some amazing products can also be just the kind of motivation you need. In short, if you are looking for a serum or face lotion, would recommend them both - all thanks to Hannah & Alison!

blousey.

A colleague at work has this Everlane blouse and it is beautiful. In fact, she loves it so much she has it in white, black and rose! Isn't it simple and lovely? They are currently sold out in my size, but she told me that regularly happens, so I am just checking and waiting for it to come back in stock to buy my own in white...and just thought you might like it too!

weekend warrior.

I swear I'm not avoiding you - I just haven't been able to keep up with everything of late. But not to worry - lots of updates coming. This giant eyeball is from a quick trip to Dallas last week - how cool is that?

And in the meantime, happy weekend and some links to distract you for a little while - be back soon!

• I read this New Yorker Georgia O'Keefe piece before Santa Fe. It's a take on her style and an awesome read! 

• Who didn't love Maggie Gyllenhaal already? I love this about parenting her children in the Trump era...

• I don't really wear hats, but loving this JCrew classic ball cap! 

• We are headed to Walloon over the 4th of July and the countdown is on - Ben and I both are checking the live webcam regularly!

• More NoMa news - Politics and Prose announced it is opening in the Union Market lot - super exciting. 

• And on the other coast, Tartine is opening a Coffee Manufactory in Oakland! 

• Ben's brother, Adam, and his wife Christina - just welcome our nephew to the world last week - Sam - and this piece about raising a feminist son feel timely. 

patio update.

Remember back in December when I mentioned that we were going to put some effort into our patio area? Here was the picture of our patio in December...

Yikes! Since then, we have made some inroads. While we haven't had time (and budget) to do as much as I would have liked, it is coming along and more to come. We added some succulents (all about that on this post) and they are coming along beautifully - we are going to add some more soon.

And we bought some lounge furniture for one corner of the patio. We did a good amount of searching and looking. I stalked Craigslist for a while (because god knows I love a good Craigslist find!) but finally settled on going over to Ikea one weekend to pick up a set of furniture I had bookmarked. When we got there, we swung by the super discount corner and there it was in all its glory. One whole set of patio furniture just sitting there - total stroke of luck. It was in perfect condition (missing a couple of pillows) - we promptly claimed, somehow fit it all in the car and brought her home! I threw some outdoor pillows on there (here, here and here), combined it with Ben's fire pit that he got in December and a rug from Home Depot that I threw in our cart randomly months ago when we were there picking up screws. It is slowly coming along. Here is what we are looking at as of today...

 

And here is the view from inside...on the weekends and in the early evening, it is lovely with the lights on and sky fading.

Next up is the dining area. You can see a sneak peak of chairs that we picked up a couple months ago, so hopefully another update coming soon, stay tuned...

windbreaking.

I know, I know. I have been terrible on posting the last couple of weeks. I'll make it up to all three of you at some point soon! In the meantime, happy Friday. I am on a plane coming back from Dublin and I just bought this windbreaker from Cotopaxi. Cute, right?!

pillow cased.

Oh hey hey. I can't remember how I happened upon this Etsy store - ZDkilimspillow - but just take a look at the pillows. I love them. Apparently, I especially love anything striped. They are beautiful and come in all colors, patterns, textures and sizes. I can't attest to the quality yet, but given the price point, worth taking a chance and looks like it is supporting a Turkish businesswoman....

shoe it.

Happy Friday! How great are these shoes from Sezanne? Seriously though....

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. 

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

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.

friday roundup.

It's finally Friday! My Mom is in town visiting and Ben and I are taking her away for the weekend for a getaway to Paso Robles. She loves car time and getting quality time with her kids individually and we figured this was the perfect birthday present for her this year. We are planning on cooking her a belated birthday meal and just enjoying her company with beautiful views and a new place for all of us.

And I thought I would also share a round-up of some interesting bits of late....hope you have a great weekend.

• This beautiful and tear-inducing piece in the NYTimes - A Letter to the Doctors and Nurses Who Cared for my Wife.

• Samantha Bee is the funniest person on tv right now and this segment - Maine's Personal Trump - hits a little too close to home!

• Loving this JCrew Toggle Cape and just waiting for it to go on big sale. 

• We can't wait to check out this new restaurant, The Morris, soon. And we are super excited about this indian place coming to the Mission soon!

• I am a sucker for old people and this just warms my heart - I hope it does for you too (hat tip to Ben!). 

showered.

Loving this Sun Showers Lululemon jacket...

the sandalia.

A friend was wearing these Beatrice Valenzuela Sandalia sandals this weekend and if not for the price, I would have bought them 15 minutes ago. Oh man, they look so comfortable and awesome....

rugged.

I happened upon Pampa a couple weeks ago and love their rugs and pillows. In addition to whatever you can buy, the prints and photographs of Argentina and the Andes are gorgeous and worth scrolling through. In particular, this whole section of horses is beautiful.

The rugs are all handmade by indigenous communities and Pampa is making a concerted effort to highlight their work while also preserving their artisanship and woven techniques....