Up close and personal encounters

Take time to explore and enjoy our world.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!

Molly's mobiles and more!

Molly's back with even more ideas and products than before!

“Simply adorable!”

“Wonderfully whimsical.”   

“A charming, colorful addition to any child’s room.”

Or life, I might add.

Whimsical, one-of-a-kind, mobiles with handmade birds on branches

Handmade, pre-washed, and washing machine safe super soft plush minky tag-lined blankies with matching stroller blankets

Visit "Cookie and Curly" on Facebook for additional options.  Or see Molly’s website for more info!

Custom orders available upon request.

 

 

See: Mom-made and marvelous

and More from Molly

Congratulations, Molly!

BlogBlock

I thought about writing about bed bugs.  But the reality of it all totaIly freaked me out.  Double iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.  Particularly when I downloaded pictures.  I was awake pretty much all night scratching. I'm not going to subject you to that. You’re so welcome. I'm itching right now just thinking about it.

Then I thought about reflections, which I love love love.

And/or amazing surfing photos Gretchen sent me.  I WISH I had taken this and the others she emailed.  Will never ever be this courageous/crazy.  So incredibly spectacular.  TBC later.

I Absolutely Do want to let you know about a wonderful Paddler's Program in Kona.  My bags will, I hope, help fund many, many local kid's paddle purchases.  More on that soon.

But, at the end of the day, I decided to stay with Sarah.  How much fun is and was that?  There will be plenty of time for other topics.  I'm staying with Sarah today!  See blog below.

Sensational, Sarah!

Smart/vivacious/artistic/athletic.  Oh, and great fun, too.  Meet our friend, Sarah! 

For years her talents have been featured in FP workshop photos.  Now Sarah is bringing her creativity to the world through Gap’s Athleta!   

In her own words:  "For a few seasons now, I've wanted an après ski dress -- some sort of cover up to both keep me warm and allow me to go running around in my long underwear. I've never found catalog shots of women lounging in their base layers by the fire to be realistic. It's the ski world equivalent of "hanging out in the gazebo in your underwear," right?

Hence, the Hot When You're Not. Whether you're joining you friends in the ski house kitchen for pancakes, heading straight out to the bar for après (or dinner or the grocery store), or chasing your kids around trying to get them in the bath, you'll be cute, covered, and cozy.

The fabric is our Tech Stretch -- a great mid-weight fleece that's smooth on the outside and fleecy on the inside. There's a side zip on the hem for extra mobility or in case you simply want to throw it on over your ski pants and a double zip kangaroo pocket on the front for stashing lip balm, car keys, and cash.

I love versatility and function in my clothes so I kept the design simple. It would be cute with tights and a turtleneck for exploring the ski village or layered over fleece tights for snowshoeing or winter walks."

Connect with Gap Athleta to place your order today!

I just did.  I definitely want to be Hot When I'm Not.  This would include most of my days.  And nights.

Congratulations, Sarah! 

 You may have saved the day for more than you realize!



<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HbXrYD4QGGLv8U8pAn-CfSHws10nCPOMtVWchqbuiC4?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_B-jgpkHMUzo/TKEu7iX5b-I/AAAAAAAD-Ak/jLy3LdwxPBg/s288/sarah_side.jpg" /></a>

Much, much better

OK, I’m feeling the need to Bring Beauty Back to the Blog. 

As informative and reality based as the last two days photos might have been, I much prefer composing and then sharing pictures that are filled with color, texture, light, surprising shadows and reflections.  Bits of brilliance and/or whimsy.  Created by nature or those of us who live in this amazing world.

Whew.  I'm feeling much, much better now. 

Life in the fast lane

Fastrak!  W started a subscription for us this past year and have loved the ease with which we have traveled around the Bay Area ever since.  Check out their website and consider simplifying the commute for yourself, a friend or family member.  

Here are a few benefits:

Take advantage of the growing number of Fastrak-only lanes on Bay Area bridges and Express Lanes.

Drive non-stop through toll plazas and have your tolls automatically deducted from your prepaid account. 

No stopping! No fumbling for cash!

Available at Walgreens, Costco and Safeway. 

Welcome, weekend!

One Wonderful Morning

  

  

Here's to you, dear friends!!!  

Thank you for One Very Remarkable Morning!  For the obvious time/effort/energy that I know it took to create our time together today. 

AS WELL AS . . .

the stunning, always welcoming, creative venue/Susan has clearly taken "garage" to a plane most of us will never experience except when w/her.

my Skype-fest with a favorite far-off friend.

engineering the opportunity to hear from those who couldn't be in CA but were clearly a part of today's celebration.

your astonishing collection of delectable edibles/let's not forget those Bellinis and Blood Orange concoctions.

that beautiful accordion book documenting your days/and nights?/together creating The Perfect Friendship Quilt that's so me AND the me I'm going to be!

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you all.  So Very Much.

You've got a friend in me for sure.  Thank you soooooooooo much. 

Going green

We had a ton of tomatillos to harvest. This super simple/straightforward recipe filled my need to get these cute little lanterns out of our garden and onto the table and/or into the freezer.  

My Texas houseguest remarked that what follows was the best Salsa Verde she's ever tasted.  YESSSS!!! TWO THUMBS UP! 

NOTE:  For those who live locally, bypass Draegers and go directly to a local Spanish Food Market for tomatillos.  Draegers: 1 pound almost $4.  WHAT!!!?  Versus what used to be Key Market on Fifth and El Camino: 2 pounds $88 cents!!!  Crazy.  Totally Insane.  Also, this same Spanish Market/will find name/has a fantastic fast food bar with terrific tostadas, quesadillas, burritos etc.

Here's the recipe that was such a hit with family and friends.  It's from the most recent New York Times Magazine article entitled, "Cooking with Dexter."

SALSA VERDE

• 1 pound tomatillos, husked
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 small or 1/2 large red onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
• canola or olive oil, for the grill

When grill is hot, cook the tomatillos, jalapeño and onion slices, taking them off the heat when they are soft and charred.

Remove skin and seeds from the jalapeño and roughly puree it with the tomatillos in a blender or food processor.  Transfer to a serving bowl. Chop onion slices and stir them into the salsa verde with the cilantro. Season well with salt.  

His salsa verde was was served with grilled fish.  Mine was used it as a spread.  An odd mix of what I happened to have on hand: Rye Crisp crackers topped with this salsa and marinated shrimp from Costco.  A DIY appetizer.

Obviously, it would be excellent used in the traditional corn chip sort of way.  And as Dexter recommended, over fish.  

Bedford revisited

Thank you, Susan.

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.  He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash. 

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left.
(You could be at "dash midrange.")

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy's being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

                                     Linda Ellis

Houseguests!

Will get back to blogging once I find a free free moments.  I'm targeting tomorrow.  

Meanwhile...see The Dash, thanks to Susan who share with me. 

Nothing to do?

What fun to be alerted by Google Calendar that I had No Events Scheduled Today.  Nothing.  How great is that? 

Empty calendars, it seems, create space for terrific things to happen.  Like an early morning walk in the hills with Susan and our three dogs.  A Super Civilized Walk with a Starbucks stop half way through.  The best. 

And then a spontaneous visit from my Favorite City Family to collect eggs, apples and garden vegetables.  And, of course, flowers. 

  

  

   

Yesterday?  A similarly superb sequence of surprises.  Nothing Scheduled.  But a day full of fun, friends and family.  I was/and still am/loving this sort of spontaneous entertaining.  Which feels nothing like Real Entertaining. 

We began in the garden, food evolved, the party grew and moved inside.  Life unfolded. 

Let's toast that!  And do much more of this refreshing/revitalizing kind of entertaining with a small "e."

Here's to a festive few days!

 

Hey have a great weekend, everyone!

Grow Your Own Mushrooms!

Back of the box says it all!  

"Recycling trash isn't just the right thing to do/it's the only thing we can do.  We like to think we've mastered the art of waste reduction by transforming used coffee grounds into the substrate for this mushroom kit.  After the mushrooms have been harvested, the leftover roots enrich the coffee grounds, turning them into premium compost for your plants and thus closing the loop on your BTTR Gourmet Garden."

Oyster mushrooms have been revered for thousands of years in mid-European and Asian cultures and now you can grow them right in your own kitchen!  

• Low in calories
• High in protein and fiber
• Full of iron, vitamin B-complex, glucosamine and calcium
• great source of anti-oxidants

Just place box in an indoor area that has access to fresh air and avoids direct sunlight.  Spray with BTTR mister 2-3 prays of tap water twice a day.  In 7-10 days, you will see small, grayish-blue "pinheads" appear.  These are baby mushrooms beginning to grow.  Harvest in 3-5 days by twisting off the caps when they are 1-2 inches in diameter.

Repeat process for 2nd crop using the back of the box!!!

So incredibly interesting!  Great fun to photograph.  Thanks, Don and Nacole!  What a terrific gift!

Is there anything that Amazon doesn't carry?

BTTR Gourmet Garden: Grow-it-at-home Mushroom Kit

Today

Wonderfully inspiring/idea- and friend-filled workshop.  I want to look like/feel like/BE Yvonne, our 82.5 year-old new FP friend.  OMGOSH! OK, truth be told, I've given up on being anyone else but me.  Still, she is such an inspiration.  So smart.  So vivacious.  So articulate.  Thank you for the model of what can be.  

Don't those of you who came to our first grandparent's workshop today feel the same way?  WOW again. I'm taking pictures next time.  

Evening out in the city.  When does life slow down?  Never, ever I hope.  

Yvonne, you are our hope and inspiration.  

And I absolutely LOVED our time together.  Tremendously talented, thoughtful, creative, fun women sharing what matters most.   

Thanks to all who helped create this day.  ox

In Love With Leggings

Days are shorter.  Nights are cooler.  Autumn is almost here.  How to stay warm?

 

If you love color as much as I do, you may be interested in this resource.  

I'm a fan of these fifteen dollar microfiber leggings.  Tights are ten.  Striped varieties/Halloween, perhaps?/come in the same amazing array of colors and are ten $, too.

Check out the body-slimming/form-contouring/leotards, too, as your initial layer.  Tights and leggings to match!

welovecolors 

(This is the ME I'd like to be!) 

Where is what I wrote?

I actually tackled a blog earlier today.  Then life happened.  Errands.  Hair appointment.  A meeting. More Life.  Beading.  Computer tutorial/great new TO DO TASK LIST in place!  Dog training.  Losing bracelets in bushes while trying to train dog not to bark at neighbors dogs through the fence.  

Had wonderful people to dinner.  Fresh vegetables and a terrific Marcella Hazan/remember her?/tomato sauce that Dave made/excellent!  A lot in the garden is going south b/c sooooo much produce has ripened with the recent warm weather.  

Now I can't find my note pad.  

I'm sure this never happens to you, right?  Good.    

All will be well tomorrow.  I'll double up on blog material!

Sleep well.  

The best laid plans

...are often, as far as I can tell, totally derailed.  Frequently for good reason.  Today was the day to create a short video with Elizabeth/a.k.a. Lolita/but she called to say that there was a possible pertussis outbreak at her child's school.  This is not good.  I just had my immunization.  Have you?

So rather than a really amateur video about making the Best Quiche in the Entire World, I began investigating The Best Laid Plans to see if there was some wisdom out there to share with you.  Here's what I found:

• The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
  gang aft a-gley.--Robert Burns ("To a Mouse")
  [Popularly misquoted as: The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, or The best laid plans of mice and men go oft astray.]
• Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.--Barbara G. Harrison
• I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.--Jim Rohn (Jim Rohn's Weekly E-zine, Sept. 16, 2003)
• It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.--Howard Duff
• Make big plans, but change your plans as time changes.--Marchant
• Make no little plans. They have no Magic to stir Men's blood.--D.B. Hudson
• No plan originated by another will be as sympathetically handled as ones own plan.--Conrad H. Lanza (Napoleon and Modern Warfare)
• Plan ahead or find trouble on the doorstep.--Confucius
• Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.--Alan Lakein
• Strategic planning is worthless--unless there is first a strategic vision.--John Naisbitt (Megatrends)
• There is enough time for everything in the course of a day if you do but one thing at once; but there is not time enough in the year if you will do two things at a time.--Lord Chesterfield (Letters to His Son, April 14, 1747)
• When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.--Napoleon Hill, American Author, Speaker, Motivational Writer
• Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!--Jane Austen

Huh.  I'm going with Jane A. and enjoying the moment.  Quiche coming as soon as epidemic is over.

Totally terrific.

I've now generated ten or twenty potential titles.  This child is pretty phenomenal, don't you think? 

WOW.

Fun format for sharing photos

Spontaneity often works better than putting prescribed plans in place.  At least that's been my experience. 

I could have constructed a slideshow.  Or a book.  But only if I was able to stay up all night.  And the night after that.  And was capable of finishing before everyone left. That's when spontaneity makes more sense to me.

It was the end of a wonderful week with friends of all ages.  I wanted all to go home with a fistful of memories. 

Having printed the pictures earlier in the day, I slipped them into our evening meal. 

Did I realize that I'd become so tearful watching people pick out their favorites?  No way. 

 

Did I think that it was a wonderful way to end our vacation? 

Absolutely.