inspiration for future afternoons

with summer just around the corner, i am planning (on a budget) to transform our backyard to an outdoor dinner party-worthy oasis -- with the added hope of making a table from salvaged wood & metal. we've already had our fair share of foldable chairs, resting plates of food on our laps & drinks on the concrete, etc. in the meantime, i'm using these photos as inspiration for continuous daydreams about future lazy afternoons with homemade baked goods & girlfriends.

photos via cheri messerli & design sponge

the fruits of our labor

home grown organic strawberries. there really is nothing better than tending & eating from your own garden. it doesn't have to be big; perhaps just a few herbs in a box in your window sill or a dwarf fruit tree on your patio, what ever its size it can be wonderful. as for the granola, this time it's from a box, but don't think i'm not already thinking about baking my own...

happy earth day

oh sweet earth, i love you!
and, happy birthday to our dear friend j.

..::So Happy Together ::.. 6 x 8 in. limited edition fine-art linocut letterpress print

here they are, so happy together.


the cut linos (not for sale, but thought you might want to see). these have already been reduced for the 2nd & 4th pulls.

inspired by a proud little mushroom family, living life with others & the song 'Happy Together' by the Turtles. 'So Happy Together' is a 2-block linoleum reduction, 6 x 8 in. fine-art letterpress print. limited edition of 12!! hand drawn & hand carved. each print was hand pulled 4 times through a vintage Vandercook press. signed & numbered. ((these do not have the phrase 'so happy together' in set-type printed under the mushrooms as indicated in photos of previous post. there are only 6 of those, not sure if/when i will make those available for purchase)).

there is a cute story about how important this song is to me which includes my sister & i as small children singing said lyrics in our very own version of spanish. perhaps you have a special someone or two that help you feel your happiest, that you share or would like to share your own Turtles moment with...

available, here, tonight -- $50

so happy together

"so happy together" is a 6 x 8 in. fine-art 2-block reduction print, inspired by this mushroom family i found in one of nick's bonsai planters. hand drawn, hand carved, hand pulled through a vintage Vandercook press; a total of 5 pulls (times through the press) for each print. coming this week, here.

home grown kumquats

these were our sweetest yet, thanks to nick's exceptional skills in the plant-care taking department. it also helped that we let them hang on their branches until their skins became a deeper orange color.

and, a new reduction print will be revealed, here, tomorrow. it will likely be available for purchase on tuesday or wednesday, but wanted you to know about it first.

when auntie em rides the sweets truck to the verdugo bar...

red velvet cake, chocolate ganache & white chocolate pearls paired with spaten optimator.


beer float -- vanilla ice cream & old rasputin.

...you have a "sinfully sweet sunday." last sunday we were lucky enough to partake in the very first dessert & beer pairing at the verdugo bar in los angeles. brought together seamlessly by the sweets truck, auntie em's & verdugo bar. these photos give you a glimpse of our favorites.

cream cheese fiasco

nick & i tend to be pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new food & beverage, sometimes involving research, traveling off the beaten track and/or hunting for special ingredients. after dreaming about the smoked salmon-house made cream cheese-tomato-cucumber-red onion-open face sandwich from our recent trip, i knew making one of our own was an order. we discovered wild spring onions growing in our herb garden & thought we'd try a few -- and what better way than to incorporate them into our own version of house made cream cheese. the short version of the story is: we decided to scrap the whole batch because we couldn't find conclusive information about the safety of eating them (it felt very lucy & ricky trying to figure this out). not to worry, we mixed very edible fresh thyme into the remaining cream cheese, and we were on our way. what do you think -- would you eat a wild backyard growing spring onion?

for fickle weather

yes & yes. never mind the fact that today will be extra long and filled with a wide range of physical activities ((that should never involve such fine pieces of wardrobe or towering heels)) which will include play dough usage, at least 1 game of chase, trying new snacks, the use of sharp japanese tools, a super size paper cutter, heavy machinery, the placement of 100-year old (and quite dirty) type.

image via Le Fashion

Day 4. back to Lagunitas, err Petaluma

day 4, friday, was our last full day in northern california. there were a few things that we knew we couldn't mess with: motion sickness (me in the car), good food, overall happiness. those things & we knew we wanted to be somewhat close to san francisco in order to make our drive on day 5 (back home) a little easier. so, really, our ultimate decision was not a difficult one. we ended up at the metro hotel in petaluma, again! yes, we were that smitten. also, we had heard all about the beer tasting experience at Lagunitas, so this would be our last chance.


this is the awesomely funky room where they poured the samples for their eager fans. we were treated to loads of history about the brewery's beginning days (the owner started brewing at home & selling it out of the back of his truck at local farmer's markets ((!!)), and how specific beers came to be. it was decorated with furniture, band memorabilia -- mostly grateful dead, and old kitchy items from the 60's-70's. seriously, who wouldn't want to hang out here?!


our 5 samples: czech style pilsner, pale ale, ipa, undercover shut down & hop stoopid. the story about how the undercover came to be is a good one: the local cops planned an undercover sting in hopes of arresting any person who sold them marijuana ((if this had happened, they would have lost their license to sell beer f-o-r-e-v-e-r)). apparently, 8 weeks passed with no offers to purchase, but lots of free hits if so desired. the department was very upset that they spent their resources on beer, but the under cover cops, without a doubt, didn't mind!! undercover, the beer, is wonderful. lots of hops with melon back notes. mmmm, this is my new favorite.


after our tasting, we wandered into the taproom (around 4 pm) where, literally, swarms of people were already enjoying dark, frothy, alcohol fueled beverages & listening to live music. i loved that people here were celebrating the weekend early and was feeling a little jealous because my typical friday work day end at 7:30. there were still a few beers we hadn't yet tried, but we had to choose only one (we were told that petaluma police officers really, really like handing out dui's) so we went with ryan's folly. apparently ryan has been a brewer here for years, and initially set out to make a stout. instead, due to pouring in the wrong hops, he created a sweet, thick, brown ale-porter. so glad ryan messed up!!

and that's it for this trip. i love revisiting & retelling our lives through my photos. ever so glad you stopped over to take a peek!! you can count on more photos of our daily adventures, along with some super exciting events (ex. our good pals will host their camp out themed wedding in two-harbors), new art work, food adventures... soon.

Day 3. Albion sunset

after adding at least several pieces of coldest-weather attire, we sat on the deck for the coming sunset. we also banked on the warming properties offered by Lagunitas as we enjoyed a Gnarly Wine. in this photo, you can see the tiniest bumps on the hill's crest. we brought out the binoculars to get a better look...


...the bumps were actually 8 (possibly more) does and 2 fawns. stunning!!


this little guy thought we were going to give him a food offering. we were pretty sure he didn't want the Garley Wine. geeg would have surely chased him away.

on another bird note: we saw 2 osprey catch large fish & fly away with them, fish flapping and all, as we ate breakfast and later as we walked on the beach.






the above 5 photos were taken in sequence as we watched the sun go down. the day was already perfect but this magical hour took us over the edge. we were hoping for a sun-meets-water-sunset, but we lost her way before that. after, we went inside to enjoy a nice salad, small wedge of cheese, fancy olives & kettle chips and watched a few episodes of arrested development. we also had some decisions to make about what we wanted to see/where we wanted to stay the following day... ((i hope you are enjoying these photos & back stories, i really love posting & sharing. on this trip i thought: maybe i could just do this for a living. wow, what a life!!))

available today: raven feather print

i wanted you all to be the first to know!! my raven feather print, titled "raven" will (finally) be available in my etsy shop in the next few hours. details:

this is a hand drawn, hand carved linoleum block in the shape of a small raven feather. i then printed 2 very small runs for a total of 18. currently, you can purchase a print from the 2nd run of 12, all signed & numbered. feather measures slightly longer than 4.25 inches. paper measures 6 x 8 in. including deckle edges. paper is fancy off-white fabriano medioevalis. for more details come visit tworavens, here...

Day 3. Mendocino coast >> back to Albion

the sun was shining pretty brightly which over exposed everything. it made the iris photos brighter & encouraged more highlights overall.


the wild mendocino iris (just made that up). seriously thinking of using this photo as the baseline for another lino reduction...


pretty sure the tide was going out. only two big splashes from this spit hole.


while we were there, at least 10 people chose to walk & jog the trail on these cliffs as part of their afternoon routine. i can think of at least 5,000 more horrible ways/places to get exercise and/or spend an afternoon.


looking toward the town of mendocino from the coast & thinking about all the possibilities... the above 5 photos were taken as we passed through mendocino heading toward the albion river inn. perfect weather, perfect sun, perfect vantage point, perfect husband, perfect day!


this one flew super close any time i conveniently had the camera turned off. this was the best i could do this afternoon.


this huge stalk (looks suspiciously familiar to the skunky green stuff readily available in the area, but it wasn't) brought several brightly colored hummingbirds. i simply love how gorgeous this looks with the sun shining towards both of them.


a close up of the same scene, a few seconds later. ((click on the photo 2x to get a closer look. those little wings are precious.))


the last 4 photos were taken on our deck, partially seen here. the air was getting crisper, but we were prepared: beanies, long-john thermals under jeans, sweatshirts, jackets, heavy socks & sunglasses. we looked a little silly, but we couldn't miss this sunset and wanted to experience while sitting in our adirondack chairs. i'll post photos of said sunset later, because they deserve a space all their own...

Day 3. Albion >> Mendocino >> Ft. Bragg

this was thursday, literally the only day without any rain on our trip (seriously, i'm not complaining). and we were ready to take full advantage. this photo was taken on our way to breakfast. our room was only 50 feet from the albion river inn restaurant, but my golly, what a magnificent walk!


after breakfast, we spent a little time taking in the landscape & views. this is a photo of our room taken from in the inn's garden.


a little closer view of our room & deck. i know, amazing!!


turkey vultures were everywhere!!


this was the very first trip without our beloved geeg. i'll be honest, it was tough at times, but we tried to make the best of it by thinking about what she'd be doing during particular moments. for example, in life she was so afraid of heavy rain that we knew, without a doubt, she'd have crawled behind our heads and under our pillows to save herself, just like she always used to!! now i believe she's a beautiful bird. and i am always confirmed any time i see three of them at once...


after a late breakfast, we took hwy 1 for 7 miles to the tiny town of mendocino (i guess i didn't take any pictures on the way up). we walked all around downtown to explore very charming shops, a used bookstore, cute organic market & cemetery. ((next time we come through, we'll check out a few of the b&b's here.)) our ultimate plan was to head up hwy 1 for another 7 miles to the (slightly) bigger town of fort bragg. our only mission: North Coast Brewing Co. they are the purveyors of a few of our favorites: prankster, old rasputin, & old stock. i agreed to be the dd & with that i had a tough decision to make. i went with the 10 oz. prankster. nick's first choice was old stock 2010. after a proper lunch of salami & pesto on foccacia bread (nick), and mushroom-swiss-burger with garlic fries (me), nick decided to have another, this time the brother thelonious. we both marveled at how far this beer has come. it's sweet & complex, and (luckily) available at most local (LA) whole foods markets.

Day 2. Petaluma >>--> Albion

the inn keeper recommended breakfast at the Tea Room. excellent food (veggie pesto scramble, smoked salmon-house made herbed cream cheese-tomato-onion-cucumber-on wheat toast, chorizo omelet), excellent coffee, excellent music selection (david bowie).


after a delicious meal, we headed toward the coast. sights included sprawling, rolling hills, cows, horses, goats, a creamery, at least 50 turkey vultures & playful ravens. once we hit hwy 1 it was nothing but rain, incredible coastline, craggy rock formations, trees, trees & more trees! there is nothing like the crisp cold rain filled air of the northern california coast.


we made several stops to admire the view & foliage. plus, after hour 2 i was starting to feel a little queasy.


destination: albion (when we began planning our trip, we knew we wanted to stay somewhere a little off the beaten track & extra special. having no prior experience with albion what so ever, we took a chance...) we booked a room for 2 nights at the Albion River Inn. we were met with so many surprises. i am not kidding you, we were able to see this, the albion river bridge, from our private deck (those photos to come). the bridge has a rich history of its own: it was built in 1944 when steel and concrete were in short supply & remains as the last wooden bridge still in use on hwy 1.


we decided to eat dinner at the Albion River Inn Restaurant. i took this photo while we sipped wine & waited for our food: ny steak w/ gorgonzola sauce, mashed potatoes & veg for nick & cioppino for me. after dinner, we continued to enjoy the view while we sipped apple brandy from oregon & 35 yr old sherry from spain.