color crushes

feeling the love for color, and in the mood for sharing:

to my favorite little sprout

happy 11 month birthday, peach blossom, you have nourished my soul more than anything else i've ever known.
your strength, humor, and love are so impressive. your heart is so wide open and you just take everything in. you know what you want and you'll fight like mad to get it. you are a big flirt and captivate people every where you go. you are very proud of your 2 little teeth, and you're very good at speed crawling. you love to eat fresh fruits, sweet potatoes, crackers, cottage cheese and all types of beans. you adore being with your cousins and really like playing in water {bath time, kiddie pools, etc}. you always wake-up in the best mood & help to wake me up happy too.
p.s. i love it when you call out "mama, mama, mama" until i come get you. it's just the sweetest thing.

candyland in sf

which way to the gumdrop mountains?
well, go to north beach and head over the far side of telegraph hill....on lombard street, of course!
to celebrate candyland's 60th birthday yesterday, hasbro put on a fantastic show: a life sized game of candyland on san francisco's lombard street! best idea i've heard in a long-long time!
only children from uc san francisco children’s hospital and the nonprofit friends of the children were allowed to compete on the game, but 100's of other children watched on the side lines. so wish i was there too!
also, this incredible cake made by the uber-talented debbie does cakes got devoured after the game. what a treat!

photos and story found on sfist
thanks mr.hilarious blogasaurus for the tip!

august rush

it's the beginning of harvest time & many wonderful things have ripened around here, so we're scurrying to get them put by for future enjoyment. not to say we aren't enjoying them while they're fresh too. we've been gobbling-up peaches, berries, beans, peas, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, garlic, figs, pears, and corn....a serious bounty this year! this is the time when all our hard work in the gardens starts to pay off ~ and so far everything is delicious! but my heirloom tomatoes are by far my favorite treat out of my garden so far.
the figs were divine, and have become one of alesia's new favorite foods. especially with creamy chevre {goat cheese}!

one of my favorite breakfasts this time of year is fresh cut peaches, blueberries & cream:
our family likes garlic. a lot. so we grow quite a bit in our garden and tie it up for use all year round. here's our harvest of italian & elephant garlic this year.....time for some olive oil & pasta!

we turned these bartlet beauties into spiced pear deliciousness to use throughout the holiday season. yum!
ok, now i'm getting hungry again!

time for some retail therapy

check out these gorgeous handmade pieces by michael arras:


and these fabulous finds at working class studio :

{outdoor pillows}

{the kay collection melamine plates}

oh and these lovely little gems at viva terra: {misprint garden sign}

{pearl lotus chandelier}

{recycled bangle votive candle holders}

to fly in the middle is magic

this jaw-droppingly gorgeous photo is of the largest hot air balloon gathering in the world ~ the lorraine mondial air balloons rally in chambley, france. in the photographer's own delightful words "to be there is a gift but to fly in the middle is magic." gbatistini created this particular image by stitching together 6 panoramas. absolutely stunning!
but wait, there's more...
a time lapse video of the launch:


and an entire flickr group dedicated to the launch is here.
where i found another fantastic photo by leadenhall . he took this on a serendipitous train ride ~ as he was riding across france he looked out the window and saw that it was raining balloons. how lucky we are that he captured it on film to share!
bon weekend!