back home

we're home after almost a week away. we spent a couple nights in campbell with my folks and then we headed down south and saw g's family.

this picture is from our drive home last yesterday. it took us 10 hours to drive from la to sf.

ollie hated the last 3 hours. we kinda did, too.

nice to be back.

here's to a great 2010.

pictory

check out one city seen dozens of ways to see some beautiful shots of san francisco.

cruising

happy birthday

saturday night i went to a friend's birthday party.

g had other plans and i was on my own.

the party was a dress up party. it started at eight. i finally settled on an outfit at 9. and then i called a cab. by the time i even got through to a cab company, it was after nine. by the time i got to the party, i was two hours late.

it was a really good party: happy, friendly people and amazing food and drink.

his husband toasted him and then my friend got up to say a few words.

it was emotional for him. he recently lost his mother. he told the story i'm about to tell you. i keep thinking about it. it made my eyes well up with tears on saturday night and again tonight.

when he was in 5th grade, he moved to the bay area with his mom and sister. he didn't know anyone.

he wanted a batman party. (now he says it may or may not have had something to do with michael keaton.)

so, his mom threw him a batman party.

there were two fifth grade classes at his school. they invited everyone in both classes.

only his neighbors showed up. my friend said they probably had no choice.

his mom proceeded to throw him a batman party as if there were two fifth grade classes there. (a good lesson for me. mental note. noted.)

at this point my friend stopped telling his story, and looked up, trying not to cry. there were people standing everywhere: in the dining room, in the living room, on the stairs, all craning their necks to see him.

he continued. he said, that he had no one come to his birthday party when he was in 5th grade and now, on saturday night, he looked around the room and he was surrounded by people who loved him.

and it was so true, there were so many people from so many areas of my friend's life there: his friend from 6th grade, his aunt, his cousin, his husband, former coworkers, friends...

it gave me goosebumps.

today is my friend's real birthday. i hope it is a magical year for him. i'm pretty sure it will be.

happy birthday. xo

heart

favorite

out of all the calendars i've seen so far for 2010, caitlin keegan's is my favorite.

buy it here.

found here.

so big

he's in love with his shoes.

so big and all he wants to do is walk. it's his favorite pastime.

food

dynamo dounut, oh how i love you so.

pictured: caramel de sel, vanilla bean and lemon pistachio

surprisingly, vanilla bean was my favorite and i'm usually a caramel de sel kinda gal.

overall a very good food weekend: fresh crab, kazu sushi, blue bottle coffee, los jarritos, dynamo donut and bstar.

baby monitor

yesterday, a dear friend flew out from new york and surprised g for his birthday.

after we put ollie to bed the three of us sat down at the dining room table to enjoy some fresh crab.

the sound of waves crashing from ollie's white noise machine played softly in the background.

then ollie started pooping, grunting like he was in labor and thanks to the baby monitor, we all heard it, grunt for grunt. dinner at our house is always a classy affair.

loving

available here.

available here.

available here.

little paper planes

prints i like:

available here.

today

when i went to brush my teeth i had to use ollie's toothpaste because we're out. it's a clear gel that's not harmful when swallowed. i doubt it did much for me.

i didn't get all my work done so now i have to work this weekend.

on my way home from work on the freeway, a kid, probably in college, was puking with his head out the window for a good mile or so. i kept wondering why the driver didn't pull over and let him just go to town. i also kept wondering why i continued to look.

happy birthday

best husband/ friend/ baby daddy

driver

kika's treats

i'm positively IN LOVE with locally made kika's treats. cristina beshar was born and raised in brazil until she came to SF in 1999. she's got several varieties of shortbreads and graham crackers that are enrobed in chocolate (milk and dark available). everything is made with local ingredients including straus creamery butter and guittard chocolate. my very favorite kika's treat though? her braziian honey cakes.


darling packaging, too.

it's a dense, slightly spicy honey cake, dipped in dark chocolate.

another cool thing about cristina beshar, she started out working with la cocina, based in the mission.

from the la cocina website:

The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate food entrepreneurs as they for­malize and grow their businesses by providing afford able commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to mar­ket opportunities. We focus primarily on women from culturally diverse and immigrant communities. Our vision is that entrepreneurs will become economically self-sufficient and con tribute to a vibrant economy doing what they love to do.

another item to add to the pile of items that need to be framed

love this so much:



by jessica bruah
from 20x200

lubalin now

i really wish i could go see lubalin now.


info from the website:

Herb Lubalin (1918–1981) is best known for his wildly illustrative typography and his groundbreaking work for the magazines Avant Garde, Eros, and Fact.

On view in Cooper Union’s new gallery, the installation includes recent posters, publications, and motion graphics by internationally recognized graphic designers that spotlight an emerging trend toward expressive lettering and typography.

Original sketches, magazines, logotypes, and posters selected from the Lubalin Center Archive will illuminate Lubalin’s influence on contemporary graphic design.

OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, November 5, 2009, 6 – 8pm
The Cooper Union
41 Cooper Gallery [ MAP ]
This event is free and open to the public.

EXHIBITION ON VIEW
November 5, 2009 – December 8, 2009

belvoir fruit farms elderflower presse

i bought this belvoir elderflower presse the other night because the label. and i keep meaning to open it but i think part of me is scared that it won't taste as pretty as the label looks.

and also because i'm lazy.



stay tuned. the excitement doesn't end over here.

weekend highlights

seeing two really good people get married in the middle of redwood trees on a beautiful fall day.

red tights with turquoise shoes. (not mine, i can only dream of having such style).

a night out with g, while the little man was home with grammy.

painted nails.


a picnic at the botanical gardens.

the library at the botanical gardens


sleeping in. if you consider 7:00 sleeping in. i do.


the face, the belly, the smile.


a sunday morning walk with my guys.

oh the cuteness

tally earrings available here.

i'm not feeling very motivated this week. sorry for the lack of posts.

i love the following from k g + a b:


bears in love


cupcake

oooooooooh!

gorgeous:









made in oakland, available here.

our halloween

we went to belvedere street in cole valley. maegan calls it "castro for kids," which is an apt description.

devo was a little testy and not so into wearing his hat. he also tired very early on. it's okay, though -- i was tired, too.

happy halloween

busy just got busier

go look at this, too:

i realize i'm being a little bossy the past 2 days, but you should go look at this. it's sweet.

go look at this:

regretsy

matt makes stuff on flickr

and it makes me smile.

4/365 "Err Houston we have a distinct problem"
Originally uploaded by matt makes stuff. Go look at other stuff. Like this one.

the past few days ollie's been waking up at 4am. i know it might not be the best thing to do, but i can't function -- we can't function -- on 5-6 hours of sleep so we've been bringing him into bed with us. he puts his little arms around mine and rubs my arm. it's lovely.

except he's had onion breath from the veggie burgers he's been eating.

yes, my sweet little boy stinks. so i've been mouth-breathing and cherishing every second of the early morning snuggles.

it's been a busy week and a half.

love this:

available here.

ugh

1. a truck tipped over on the bay bridge this afternoon (amazingly there were no injuries) and subsequently, i didn't get home until almost NINE PM. (i would've just typed 9, but i thought NINE would look more dramatic).

i worked at the office until it was just me and one other woman and then i went shopping.

at almost 8 when i was leaving emeryville i learned that the 3 lanes on the bridge were still blocked so i went from emeryville, across the richmond-san rafael bridge, south about 15 miles on 101, across the golden gate bridge and into the city.

whew!

it cost me $9 (or should i say NINE dollars?) to get home.

i love the golden gate bridge -- i think it's so pretty but i have to admit that every time i drive across it, i worry about a tsunami. this makes me speed. ugh.

2. because of #1 above, i only got to see ollie for about 5 minutes this morning. i miss him.

3. i'm not fond of public speaking and today i had a give a lengthy presentation. so so so so so so so glad it's over.

dancing and directing

g filmed this on saturday. i cringe seeing myself but i had to share.

kind intruder

i just bought this print and i love it so much:

from 20x200, by michelle arcila.

flickr ♥

like this one.

this one.

and this one.

oops

i've had a few people ask me if i was really filling out kindergarten applications for ollie after reading this post. and the answer is omg! no! i've not even thought about preschool yet, let alone kindergarten.

visioneers

my friend christina sent me the link to the trailer for the movie visioneers and i want to see it immediately.

love humanoid

from humanoid.

found here.

lagger!

ollie turns 1 in less than two weeks.

i had every intention of making the invitations. but... i finally sent the evite out today. i lagged
because i was so busy hand-sewing ollie's halloween costume and filling out his kindergarten application.

i have grand plans to serve multiple varieties of cupcakes on the big day. last night i made these after i put him to bed. the recipe couldn't be easier: all you do is put all the ingredients in a food processor. they were great, too - nice and moist.

the truth is, i'll likely end up being too busy taking him to get his driving permit or helping him with his algebra homework and at the last minute, i'll buy the cupcakes from here. Or here. Or maybe here.

i heart kenan thompson. jean k. jean is my favorite weekend update guest.

ollie and i went to the academy of sciences this weekend with my girlfriend and her daughter. i really want to check out nightlife.

i love our farmer's market. the past couple weeks it's been all about apples and tomatoes. i'm going to be sad after november 22 when it goes on hiatus for the winter.

sundays with my boys are the best: we wake up, have breakfast, ollie naps, then we go the market. after the market we go the playground behind the de young in golden gate park. sundays are good and slow.

goodbye weekend. here's to a good week!

nap casualties

lately ollie will talk happily in his crib for anywhere from a half hour to forty five minutes before he falls asleep. yesterday his friends were tossed overboard.

tweet

i've been twittering a bit here and there. it's one of those things that i started doing and slowly, i'm really starting to like it. if you want to read my lackluster tweets, you can find them here.

should ollie be a bear for halloween?

available here.

pretty

available here.

castelvatrano olives

i can't stop eating castelvatrano olives today.

one year ago today

was my last day of work and then i started my maternity leave.

where did the last year go?

why warm as toast?

my dad used to tuck me in at night when i was little and he'd say, "are you as warm as toast?"

another one he'd say a lot is, "that's just life in the big city, stellers."

stellers you might be thinking. yes, stellers, which was short for stellamellatina. stellamellatina, was my nickname growing up.

my brother anthony was yucky ribers, which was how he'd say river. though sometimes he was misters. my younger brother chris was beeperman. sometimes beepermano.

my mom was kitellers, which somehow came from kelley.

oliver is mooshkie a derivative of moose.

hot dog!

my dad called me at the office this morning at 10:30 and asked me if i wanted to meet him at casper's for a hot dog. it was yummy. i toyed with the idea of getting one with cheese but i wasn't drunk so i didn't.

tired. lazy.

wtf target: frugalistas? not a fan of the new campaign.

on facebook, more of my contacts commented on patrick swayze's death

than michael jackson's death. lots of baby in the corner comments.

we're going to a wedding in november. the ceremony is outside and there will be walking to the ceremony site. what to wear?

ollie turns one in 4 weeks. omg. the first year flew. and he's so not a baby anymore.

i can't figure out how to remove the flickr application from my facebook page, which makes me feel bad posting to flickr because my contacts probably don't want to see another picture of oliver.

i want to cut my hair off.

i want to grow my hair out.

i have my period. why do people say they're on their period? you are not on your period. your period might get on you. or your pants. but you do not get on it. (clearly it's time for me to go to bed. ollie's 4:30 AM wake ups are taking their toll.)

i've been walking everyday after work from 5-6 with ollie and it's really nice.

frame

i would like this for our bedroom.

available here.

where the wild things are

a while back i posted about the where the wild things are movie.

i found out today, there's an exhibit at the contemporary jewish museum,

sendak on sendak. i want to go check this out before i see the movie. yeah!

zach galifianakis

i love zach galifianakis. love him. just looking at him makes me giggle. he was excellent in the hangover and amazing in comedians of comedy, which, i want to watch again. like this weekend. i just watched this, too and come on - zach and will in the same video is sort of a fantasy of mine. (i love, love, LOVE will oldham. love him.) and, i know i'm late to this party but i just stumbled across between two ferns. funny.

hmm...

i'm having a glass of wine from a box and it's not half bad.

it's yellow + blue organic wine. (get it, yellow + blue = green?)

it comes in a tetra pak. according to tetra pak's website:

wine in Tetra Pak cartons use 92% less packaging to deliver the same amount of wine; 54% less energy than that of glass bottles throughout the entire life cycle; create 80% less greenhouse gases; 35-40% fewer trucks to deliver the same amount of wine if compared to glass bottles.

i bought this for our recent trip to russian river and never got around to opening it. just had a glass of the rose and i must say, not bad at all.

ollie lately