local art

i stumbled upon this print on kiramothdesign's etsy page. like and love. now where could i put it? hmmmm....

reuse

i think i am going to petition yelp to allow me to give Oakland's Creative Reuse 10 stars. it's amazing. i am hesitant to even post this for fear that too many people would raid the goods at this stuff depot, but alas, i think my friend shannon my be my only follower. so enjoy sifting through the heaps of crap, shannon!

surprises

what an adorable thing to discover at the end of a cuppa chamomile. i love llama designs.

light

thanks to my new favorite blogger, the jealous curator, i have discovered runeguneriussen's work. let there be light.

iced tea

2/3 peppermint. 1/3 gunpowder green. fill glass 1/2 up with boiling water, put in the tea and let it get super strong. (twice as strong as you would normally like it). if you like it sweet, now is the time to add sugar. i do not. once it is strong, fill the glass with ice and enjoy! love on a summer day!

greyhounds

grapefruit and vodka. what else do you need on a saturday afternoon? this awesome vintage citrus juicer from tramplamp. yes. for only $25, i want.

isley

ok. i have SERIOUS love for the isley brothers. when i lived in oz, i listened to the the heat is on at least a billion times. they don't realize it, but the isley brothers are some of my closest friends. they make me happy when i'm blue, dance with me when i'm joyous and best of all listen to me when i need an ear. so naturally, when my cousin kevin brown was spilling good gossip on the brothers, my ears perked up. *note: he's not my real cousin....he's a dj on my fav radio station KBLX

according to my cousin, rick james' last live show (aside from an awards show) was the stone soul concert. the following year they asked teena marie (self-proclamed "ivory queen of soul" and rick james protegee/lover) to perform some of james' songs as a tribute. naturally, this should close the show. the uncomfortable duty of telling ron isley that he wasn't going to headline went to my cousin. mr. isley's reaction? "do you know who i am?" man, he's a badass. i'd also like to point out that ron isley was just released from prison (tax evasion) and at the young age of 69, insisted at this year's concert to play for 90 minutes! and he headlined, of course. so impressive.

double note: i missed this year's concert to be in San Diego at my very dear friend's wedding. very worth it. but next year, i'm there.

being the early bird

it's true. anyone who knows me, especially if you've lived with me, knows that i am the furthest thing from a morning thing. but when i made the move back to the west coast, i told myself that i would try to keep waking up 3 hours before i normally would. i've been pretty good so far and today was my reward. i woke up at 6:30. on a work-from-home day, that's early! after taking my very sweet time getting myself together, i drove down toward my favorite coffee and bakery shops. i was beyond delighted when i discovered that the city of oakland doesn't charge for parking before 8. as i walked around rockridge collecting my morning goodies i looked around at the other morning birds and thought, "you all had the right idea too." now i'm back home for a day of work, hiking, and cooking. pandora has already played erykah, common and the isley brothers. if pandora played 'today was a good day' by ice cube, i'd swear it was reading my mind. instead it's playing old school mary j blige. turns out it's reading my heart.

best coffee EVER: royal at claremont & college (now known as Cole Coffee)

best morning buns in the east bay: la farine (down college 1/2 block from royal...toward berkeley)

home

"if you like it so much, why don't you go back?" ....it's the thought that goes through everyone's head when i talk to them about california. to answer all you bostonians, that's exactly what i'm doing on monday. while i'm mostly excited to go back to the golden state, i will really miss my friends here. so this weekend i will be sailing, dancing, and cooking with my new friends.

hips

i am loving this shape right now. i wore a dress similar in structure, but much less dramatic, this weekend when i went to decordova (an outdoor sculpture garden in MA) with friends. i like how structured it is and how it can create an illusion of a waist. it just felt so appropriate to wear at a sculpture garden. this dress by the Scandinavian label, Acne, is on sale at gilt right now...over $500 off but still totally unaffordable, sigh.