First half of 2011

How is it that an entire year has passed since I last posted? How does time go by so quickly? Last year at this time I thought I might be laid off from my job, or forced to move to a new place to find work...unsure about many different things. A lot has happened in these first 6 months of 2011, that is for sure: a new job in a new field, a brand new roommate, the end to a 3-year relationship...it's hard to put it in perspective that way and feels trivial to sum it up in one short list. I'll never forget the first time I recall feeling nostalgic about the passing of time. We were walking back to school from our Third Grade year-end class picnic that my mom hosted at our house (within walking distance of my elementary school). I remember saying to my teach Mr. Howell (my "wise" third grade self mind you) "I can't believe the year is over, it feels like it just began", and I remember that he told me that the older I get, the more I will notice how quickly time passes. No other profound thoughts to express tonight, just marveling at what Mr. Howell got right...time passes right before our eyes. A good remind to embrace and live happily in the moment while it occurs.

The Hilyard Family grows

In my opinion, there is nothing more wonderful in life than being an Aunt. Our family has always been small, and I have always been the youngest, so it was a welcome change when Ryan was born 3 years ago.  Just last week my new niece Mallory was born and I can't wait to meet her!  There's something so warm and happy about kids, and my nephew and niece make me really happy.  I don't even need to elaborate more than that...they just make me really happy :)

Tessa, Ryan (age 3), Mallory (age 1 day), and Doug. Love this shot!

Portland, Oregon

I visited Laurie is Portland a few weekends back and had such a fun time. When the high cost of living in San Francisco starts to outweigh my love of this place, then I could see myself moving to Portland someday. It's a city of parks, murals, food, cafes, books, rivers, and great farmer's markets...many of my favorite things in the world. Laurie was an A-plus tour guide, taking me to just about every park in the city. The highlight was seeing Halprin's Portland sequence, which Laurie is currently working on nominating as a National Historic Landmark. It's an amazing series of fountains, which are fascinating even when not turned on.  Some pics below of the highlights of my trip.

Halprin's Ira Keller Fountain

Farmer's bounty at the Saturday Farmer's Market

Plenty of modern architecture!

Lion guarding the Chinatown gate.

Which way to go? Like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.

The Chinese Garden, a serene place, tucked away in the urban fabric.

Oh how I love owls!

I've been obsessed with owls long before they became the most popular items of Etsy. I blame it on the 1970s macrame that mom had decorating the house when I was a kid.  I just love them and recently found this fun tutorial online for making cute felt owls. Here is the link, and here are my creations!

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-felt-owl-brooch.html

Sewing with Holly

My Nana taught me to sew when I was a little girl, so it's always something I've been interested in, but have never fully pursued. Recently I've become absolutely determined to learn how to sew properly, so I've been learning and practicing with some friends. My friend Holly is an incredibly talented seamstress, and has been helping me on some projects. This has proven to be such a wonderful experience. Holly has this amazing sewing room at her house, and it's always such a pleasure to sew with her in her beautiful space.

I feel like in some ways I'm channeling my Nana by doing this, while refining a skill I didn't fully recognize I had. It's sort of like riding a bike...cutting out fabric, lining up seams, sewing straight lines, and voila!  You have 1/2 a project completed in only a few hours. Today I worked on a baby quilt for my new niece to be (she's due in April). I just love combining all these different prints and you end up with the whole new creation.  Holly and I went to this Amish quilt show at the deYoung Museum on Friday night and it totally inspired me to do something with lots of little blocks.  I've still got a lot of work to do, but nice to see so much progress on a project in only 1 afternoon. 

 

The original 6 fabrics I picked out at Cliffs (the butterflies are my fav)

 

 A sampling of additional fabrics from Holly

A sneak peak...

Dolores Park

This is my park (well "our" park, but I feel like it's mine)...how can they change it?

The City is planning this 2 year renovation of Dolores Park (I live one block away and whenever possible, spend sunny Sunday afternoons there reading the New York Times). As part of my job, I'm often involved in the public process for proposed alterations to historic buildings, but what about this wonderful gem of a historic park?  I'm still in the fact-finding process, but I want to make sure that this "renovation" has considered the park as a historic resource, because it most definitely is.  An official City park since 1905, it served as a refugee camp during the 1906 Earthquake and Fire and had been an icon of the neighborhood ever since. It is a welcoming gathering place...it's where we go to movie night, where Chester Copperpot makes his rounds, where strapping young men sun themselves on the "beach"...and is by far my favorite people-watching locale.

Time to join the Nimby bandwagon on this one for sure.

Craft Day #1

Alex and I have been talking about doing a craft day for some time, and today we had our very first one!  It is so exciting for me to have a friend who also is obsessed with Real Simple magazine and likes to make things.  She has a sewing machine and a nice big table, so I ventured out to the Outside Lands (aka. Outer Sunset) for a lovely afternoon. Today happened to be a beautiful sunny day after almost 2 weeks of rain, so it seemed even more special to make the trip out there.

I finally made the yellow birdcage pillow I had purchased fabric for ages ago.

And, I made this yoga mat bag from my "Sew and Stow" book of patterns I've been excited to try.

Alex was on a roll and re-opulstered all of their dining room chairs and made a pillow out of her favorite childhood tee shirt. 

I think we did pretty well for ourselves today...summoning the crafting ferries for inspiration.