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Linus Bikes

17 Oct 2011
Design
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Since my bike was stolen a few weeks ago, I’ve been eyeing every single cruiser, fixie, road bike, and mountain bike I see. There are a lot of nice looking bikes out there, but one brand has me drooling. Linus bikes are so pretty! There’s a beautiful baby blue one I keep seeing parked on the University of California campus, and yesterday in San Francisco I saw a gorgeous cream one. They start at around $300, and since you really can’t get a decent used bike in the Bay Area for much less than $200, I’d consider them an option. But since I don’t have a nice safe spot to keep it, I wouldn’t dream of getting one yet. Those bastards broke a tree to get to my last bike, a really great Trek hybrid that I owned for less than two months. Let’s just hope it was resold quickly to someone who loves it as much as I did. What kind of bike do you have? Did you buy it new, or on Craigslist?

Local Loves: Jered’s Pottery

28 Apr 2011
Design, Events
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Last December, I won a raffle at Jered’s Pottery‘s holiday open house. The prize was $100 worth of pottery. Deciding from among all those lovely dinner plates and espresso cups was tough, but there was only one thing I really needed – pots for some plants. I took a long time, carefully considering each vessel in Jered’s Berkeley studio before picking up this black beauty (pictured above) and a sweet little jade green container.

On Sunday, Jered’s is hosting a May Day Open Studio Party. If you live in the Bay Area, go and pick up some of Jered’s hand-thrown clay vessels. Maybe you’ll win the raffle this time.

ps – This is the first post in my new “Local Loves” series where I’ll be featuring the things I love in the place where I live. (Right now, that’s the San Francisco Bay).

Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles

22 Apr 2011
Design, Fashion
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After driving by a gazillion times on my way home from wherever, I finally made it to Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in Berkeley, yesterday. Had I known how fantastomatically extraordinaire this place is, I would have made it there a lot sooner. Hoop skirts hang from the ceiling. Remnants of exquisite antique lace is carefully organized and displayed within these archival looking plastic sleeves. Vintage clothing (including the cutest aprons) hangs on racks. I picked up an adorable white linen dress for Elodie. It has lace edging and tiny pink rosebuds embroidered down the front. She’s going to wear it as a Christening gown next month when we go to Rhode Island.

For all your textile art needs, go to Laci’s. Wow, this place is fantastic! Yarn, embroidery hoops, lots of crafting books, I was only barely able to skim the surface on my visit, but I plan to go back soon, and often. And did I mention the bridal boutique? Oh to be a bride again…

Check out Mary Corbet’s post on Lacis to see some great shots of the space, and have a wonderful weekend!

Eat Cake and Print

15 Apr 2011
Design, Food, Weddings
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Last week I had the pleasure of attending a spring soiree hosted by The Whole Cake and Olive-Route, a pair of local East Bay businesses after my own heart. The Whole Cake is run by my new friend Kelsey Robinson, who makes the most gorgeous wedding cakes. And they taste really really delicious too (I had about 10 samples). For the event, Kelsey created wedding cakes inspired by the designs of Olivia San Mateo’s letterpress wedding invitations. I thought it was such a fantastic idea. It reminded me of a flower show, where the different arrangements are based on a theme. There were several different displays set up among the pretty antique printing presses at Olivia’s design studio, each included a cake, an invitation, and a little flower or accessory that went with the motif, like a little potted succulent for the desert resort wedding theme, and a conch shell for the beach wedding theme. Check out the exquisite details of the festive Mexican fiesta themed cake below. Makes me want to plan a wedding…

p.s. We all got to take home these adorable original letterpress prints that say “Eat Cake and Print.” So cute!

Pretty Green Houses

22 Mar 2011
Architecture, Design, Home, Personal, Photography
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One of the projects keeping me busy between diaper changes and readings of “I Am A Bunny” is writing features on “Green Homes” for Apartment Therapy: Re-Nest. I’ve met so many wonderful people and peeked inside so many gorgeous homes this year. From California Craftsman bungalows to New England farmhouses, each of them inspires me to keep my own home clean and beautiful. Thank you to everyone who has shared their home with me so far! See them all here.

Swiss Doll House

12 Jan 2010
Culture, Design
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If Heidi didn’t have to go live with her grandfather in the hills of Switzerland, she’d live here. I recently discovered this fantastic dollhouse on The T-Cozy, a wonderful blog written by Susan. The exquisite miniature chalet belongs to her friend Leslie whose grandmother bought it for her at FAO Schwatz in the 1960s. I want one, and I’m thinking that it’s about time I get my own dollhouse out from my own grandmother’s attic ASAP.

See close-ups of the interior including tiny four poster beds, a hand painted wardrobe filled with fluffy blankets, and a framed painting of an Alpine peak at The T-Cozy.

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