LA Picnic Time with Joy the Baker

Thanks to Illie, a faithful reader, I am now super excited about a blogger/baker picnic here in LA that, if it comes to fruition, will be hosted by Joy the Baker. She is threatening to bring those cupcakes. I am drooling and excited to make it out to meet some fellow bloggers and enjoy some time outside. I'll post about a location as soon as she announces one. Also, did anyone else make it to the Blog Out Loud Event. I was tired so didn't mingle too much...

Smog Shoppe

Smog Shoppe is an event space in Culver City that is so inspiring to me: sort of a mix of Paris meets Anthropologie meets a thrift store meets Flora Grubb. I need to visit in person, and soon. It's time to spend time outside, to grow plants and to embrace summertime. I'm thinking of hosting my annual crepe party (which has been on hold the last couple of years) and finally planning some of those picnics in the park.





Photos are by picotte.

Moments in the sun

She's been doing a lot of sleeping in the sun. I pet her, she does her best to purr. These are the moments I will remember. I love seeing her giant ears backlit by the sun. I love the fawny color of her fur. I love that she lets me cradle her head in my hand and then shows me where she wants me to pet her. I will miss her enormously.

Update: I let her go today. Thanks for all the kind words. It does actually help.

Summer Reading

I've been hitting up my local library to read up on interior design and find some summer reading books. Man, how great is the library? It's free, doesn't contribute to clutter and I can satisfy my craving for new stuff.

Summer is also a great time to commit to reading some books and not just magazines. At least for me...

Here are some of my recent favorites:

Living in Style without Losing your Mind. A great companion to Apartment Therapy, it's all about designing for living not necessarily so that it will look like it belongs in a magazine. I'm halfway through and want to quote most of what I've read already.

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrota. Just finished this. He also wrote Little Children which was both a great movie and a great book.

Handmade Modern came out a while ago but has some really inspiring diy projects that all have a mid century/california style. I don't know if I'll actually make any of them, but it was great to flip through.

Do you have a book you would recommend? I'm looking for a fiction book to read now that I'm done with the abstinence teacher.

Bread makes everything better

I bought my favorite bread at Le Pain du Jour over on Pico (just north of Lincoln). I don't know what it's called but it has raisins, hazelnuts, some other kind of nut, and it is delicious. I paired it with heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market, fresh mozzarella, homegrown basil and plenty of balsamic vinegar and olive oil (oh and sea salt). I cannot explain to you how good it was.

Kitchen: Dainty Donuts

From not martha: a how-to for dainty donuts. yum.