salty dog

B.T. McElrath, the Minneapolis-based chocolatier has a new(ish) bar out that’s really good. Really. Good.

70% dark chocolate+ butter toffee+ sea salt=amazing


Parden the poor camera phone quality photo...

Here’s what they say on the package:

You have a choice. Eat our Salty Dog Bar salt-side up and you're invited into its rich, dark chocolate charms, only to discover the spiky crunch of toffee and sea salt. Eat it salt-side down and feel how the sharp pop of salt ushers in notes of chocolate and caramel. So what's it gonna be: mellow or bold? Or both?  Definitely both.

I highly recommend eating it salt-side down. Yum!

better than napping

ollie discovers cause and effect:

where the wild things are

gabe sent me the link for this the other day. he was really excited and now that i've finally watched it, i understand why. october 16th!



watch the trailer.

directed by spike jonze
screenplay by dave eggers and spike jonze
starring: forest whitaker, catherine keener, paul dano and james gandolfini

tastes like summer

gabe went to blowfish the other day for lunch and had a limeade and cucumber drink. he made it for us today at home. it tastes like summer.

gorgeous

from tivi.

who doesn't want a rainbow factory?

don't you?



from pearson maron

caramel on etsy?!

ohyesplease.


paris pastry lab look good!


fleur de sel caramel:


chocolate cocoa nib caramel:

trees

from fabbiz

First Taste

Our baby is growing up. Today he had his first little taste of rice cereal. It was a bit emotional for me. Ollie starting on solids inevitably means that we will slowly begin the process of weaning. (I hope to nurse him until he’s about one. Unless he weans himself before then.) I can’t keep him from trying new things and starting to become his own little person. So, rice cereal he got, as you’ll see below.

scanwiches

sandwiches are one of my favorite things to eat. i want to eat this website.













all images from here.

more!

digging this, too:



by joe ryckebosch

i want

from meilssa joy manning, who i've mentioned here before. on sale at hush.

more ways to waste time linked to brandi strickland's art prints and originals today and i'm smitten.








i want one to hang near the ian johnson print i got for gabe for christmas.

funny story about the ian johnson print. gabe and i were at park life on clement while the ian johnson exhibition was up. gabe loved everything.

a while later, right before christmas i ended up in park life by myself. i noticed they were selling limited edition ian johnson prints.  actually, there was one ian johnson print for sale.   except i didn't know that the artist's name was ian johnson.  i thought the person in picture was ian johnson.  i bought it for gabe.



i'm the kind of person who has a terrible time keeping a surprise. especially from gabe.

once i got home i called him and asked him if he liked ian johnson. and he said, "yeah. that's the guy who did all that great stuff at park life. why do you ask?"

"uhhhh, no reason," i said.

then i looked through the ian johnson book we'd picked up and found out that the person in the picture was ornette coleman.
and once again, gabe's present was not a surprise.

baby fix

after daycare:


lazy sunday hanging out with on dad:

after the bath.  clean toes taste best:

dreaming of sunbathing:

doing leg kicks with nonno:

pizza!

we live in the inner sunset and for ages we've been lamenting that all of the pizza in our 'hood is mediocre at best.

recently we went to our friends for dinner and they ordered pizza from a nearby pizza place that we always find disappointing by the time it gets delivered - normally the crust is not quite right and it's usually soggy by the time it arrives.

the pizza at our friends was amazing.

here's their secret:

they preheat the oven at 350 degrees after they call in the pizza. when it arrives, they take the top off of the pizza box and stick the pizza in the oven for 10 minutes. and it's a brand new pizza. (they also get feta cheese and italian sausage as toppings. soooo good.)

speaking of pizza, according to the new york times, there's a vending machine that makes pizza for you in italy. sounds kind of tempting, doesn't it?

bugheart

i can't remember how i found bugheart, however, i've been subscribing to this blog for a while now. she posts really, really infrequently and it's always a treat when she does. she's going on vacation and she's mapped out her outfits and accessories. so adorable:




last year's:

finally: terrarium

i do not have a green thumb, however, i've been wanting to make a terrarium, as mentioned in a previous post. or two posts.

on saturday we went to sloat garden center. a nice man who works there told us what we'd need for our terrarium. (note: i heart sloat garden center so much. the people who work there are always so great and helpful. also, they're putting in a kid's section and it will have even more terrarium components. can't wait to see what they have.)

after going to sloat, i googled terrariums and found out that i pretty much had everything i needed to get started.  (some sites say to use charcoal and some don't; i didn't use charcoal.)  i used:  soil, sand, rocks, sphagnum moss, and green moss.  and of course, plants.

i didn't think to take pictures until i was a few layers in, but here you go:

apparently, terrariums were all the rage in the '80s. who knew?

also, gotta love this man. look at his huge-ass terrarium:


(his banner is connected to the the photo. or maybe it's called a masthead? i don't know. sorry.)

fanny bostrom

i started to write this blog with every intention of actually writing actual posts. with the baby and work i'm not writing as much as i'd like. i'm trying. but. in the meantime, i'm really digging fanny bostrom.

check out her stuff:

etsy: clothes

i want to hang out in these pants in front of the fire with a good book and a piping hot cup of licorice tea.


from sandmaiden.

also, i love janeane marie's stuff.

like this tank:


and the carmelita dress is so pretty:


this black wool cocktail dress is simple and it looks super comfy:


amanda archer's dress has a great neckline.


lemon story's winter grey jersey dress looks so cozy.

and more vases

these porcelain pods from d terry designs are so neat.

speaking of vases, here are some i like


from heath ceramics



pomegranate vases from urban mercantile


from sf moma store


this is from target

As of late

1.  I've decided chicken officially grosses me out.  No more chicken.  

2.  I love the Real Housewives of New York City.

3.  Tomorrow night I'm meeting a friend from grammar school for drinks.  I haven't seen him since grammar school.  When I asked him how his mom was he told me, "Mom is great! She retired about 15 years ago and spends her days at the gym, online, and at Trader Joes." Doesn't retirement sound amazing?

4.  We got a Swifter Duster.  I like to use it in each room and examine the contents.  

5.  Can't wait to see I Love You, Man.  It looks funny.

  

What they don't tell you

The other day we met some friends at brunch at Foreign Cinema. (Try the burger – it’s great.)

In addition to our little family, there were two other families there. All of us have kids that are under two, so as you can imagine, sometimes the conversation became a little gross. We got to talking about glamorous stuff, such as how the neck of a small baby can start to get stinky because of spit up and sweat and lack of exposure to air. (I know, sorry.) My girlfriend said that stinky neck was not something that any of the baby books mentioned.

I started thinking about all sorts of things the books and friends and family don’t tell you, in addition to the whole stinky neck thing. There are also the things they DO tell you but they’re a little off.  Here are some of the things I've come up with:

1. Everyone said, “Sleep now, while you still can” while I was pregnant. First of all, it’s not like you can put the extra sleep in a bank and use it on days that are particularly exhausting. And, quite frankly, there’s still sleep to be had. Really, the sleeping just comes in small increments. The longest I’ve slept since for one stretch since October 12th is five and a half hours. And that’s really only a handful of times.  Four hours is a long sleep for me now. 

2. I knew that breastfeeding was going to be a commitment, however, I didn’t know the scope of this commitment. You’re tied to breastfeeding every one to three hours in the beginning. And even now, my day is broken up by breastfeeding/pumping times: every four to five hours I’m expressing milk.
3. Nobody told me that I would need to sleep in a bra, with nursing pads. Oh how I long for the day that I don’t need to wear a bra to bed.
4. I didn’t realize that I would miss my husband.
5. I had no idea that grandchildren make grandparents lose their minds. For example, if I tell my dad, “Ollie just pooped,” he laughs like he’s never heard anything funnier.
6.  I worry more now about things I couldn't have ever imagined I would worry about.
7. People said diapers are expensive. The ones we use are $.33 each. (I didn’t do the math-diapers.com tells you this when you buy diapers.)
  

lately

my boy

dj ollie oops