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.

Sea Ranch...

is a very special place.  I have wanted to stay here ever since hearing about it in one of my survey of architectural history classes in college. It's not just about the architecture, or the landscape, but this amazing juxtaposition of the two. There is even suprisingly respective infill around the site (they must have good design guidelines).  I bought this ridiculously large book about it while we were there, and now want to read and learn all about the project, how it came into being, how it changed over time (things only really nerdy historians would want to know). Driving the coast in the rain, although scary at time, was really amazing. We covered a lot of ground in one weekend: hitting up the Point Arena Lighthouse, Fort Ross, Jenner, Mendocino, and Fort Bragg along the way. I love that I live in a major city, and only a few hours away is this totally different world, of pristine coastline and tiny villages, where the speed of life is a bit slower, and you can recharge in only a few short days.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Sunset view from our house.

Walking in the rain.

Oh, that California coastline!

A beautiful Victorian in Mendocino.

Crafting, 1950s style

My Nana taught me all sorts of crafts when I was a little girl. I would go to her house on the weekends and we always did craft projects, whether it be crocheting doileys, sewing quilts, making necklaces with all of her beads, or gluing wood shavings to blocks of wood in PopPop's workshop, she always encouraged the creative side of me (as my mother always did/does too).  I've come to realize in the last few years, that the lessons and skills they taught me are something I will carry with me forever, and are hobbies for which the intrigue never disappears for me. 

My recent facination is with crafting blogs.  There are several that I follow, attempting to gleen new ideas and tips about fun things to make. Sometimes, just the planning part is fun enough, the thrill of a new idea and a new project. I feel like with the recession, lots of folks are harkening back to the days of DIY in the post-war period. Since I also have a fascination with all things "modern", I recently found myself searching for vintage dress patterns on Ebay.

The image is from my purchase last weekend, eight vintage patterns from the 50s and 60s for me to try.  Now, all I need to do is buy a sewing machine and I am on my way to re-capturing the fasionable 50s...an era long before I was born, but one that I feel I can relate to in some way.  I think Nana would be proud, and that makes me really happy.

Sunday: Yoga and brunch

For the last few months or so, my friend Shannon and i have started a regular yoga routine. We meet on Sunday mornings for a 9am class (pretty early if I've been out late the night before). We go to Laughing Lotus Yoga Studio near my apartment. I absolutely love this place, the teachers, the practice, just the right amount of touchy feely chanting and meditation, while also getting a really good workout.  Shannon's fiance, Johnny, usually meets us somewhere in the mission for brunch after (since we are always super hungry after the 90 minute class). Today, to switch things up a bit, we went back to Shannon and Johnny's apartment and Johnny made us poached eggs, english muffins, fruit and hot apple cider.  Yummers!  It's my favorite way to start a Sunday.

Diamond Rings

Who needs a man to buy you a diamond ring, when you can purchase your own CZ ring for $2.99 at H&M?  This is one of the ones I wear stacked on my right hand to make me feel special...and on rare occasions, the one I wear on my left hand to repel sleazy guys at bars (although this trick actually tends to attract the sleezy ones).

Docomomo

Century Theater near the Winchester Mystery House

I was recently named President of the Northern California chapter of Docomomo-US (a non-profit group specializing in the preservation of buildings, sites and landscapes of the modern movement).  I feel honored to serve in this position, as it's an organization I am very passionate about, with inspiring members, and it's fun! It's the era of design I am most passionate about, mostly because of the interesting way that landscape architects and architects worked together during this period to create really vibrant, energetic, thoughtful places. When I was studying historic preservation, I was surprised how I was drawn to the mid-century work, because it's not an era that people easily accept as "worthy" of preservation (whatever that means really).  I find it challenging (in both good and bad ways) to make the case for preservation of these resources, which is why I think our organization is so necessary for raising awareness about the serious threat to these places.

For my birthday this year, I am getting a group of girlfriends together to go to Sea Ranch, a 1960s development master planned by the late Lawrence Halprin (my most favorite landscape architect). Many of the era's most prominent architects designed homes there, and it's really interesting how they achieved their designs, carefully siting the houses in the existing ocean side landscapes. I have been getting this nerdy excited feeling all week as I've been planning the trip, because I first learned about Sea Ranch years ago in an architectural survey course, and now I actually get to go stay there.