an afternoon at home :)

Unless, I'm sleeping, it's a rare occasion that I get to be home for more than a couple consecutive hours, but today after saying good bye to loverboy at the ungodly hour of 5 am so he could head off to Vegas with a bus full of 8th graders - I had the entire afternoon to putz around the apartment. You should see my living room floor right now, it's absolutely covered in magazine cutouts, ribbon, construction paper, cards, etc. etc. etc.

In between all the this and that's that I managed to fill the afternoon with, I took a few pics of some of the evolving decor :). Enjoy...

These lovely jars are from Laura - I've filled 'em wih chai tea and topped 'em with lemons from Kat :).

Two of my favorite things in life - Good Earth Vanilla Chai tea and Gingko Biloba leaves.

They're just Ikea plates, but they're green and have leaves on them and I love 'em.

A shot of the living room - the newest addition is the map. Yay for maps.

The canvases are up - still haven't decided what's going on them, but they're up :0.

Nothing' big going on and I love it that way...

No great, grand, wonderful plans for the 3 day weekend round here and you know what, that's just fine with me :). It's lovely to just relax and not have anything to rush off too. I got to play a little bball with a bunch of boys on Friday night which was fun, but whew, full court - I don't know how I ever was in good enough shape to play hard full court for more than 5 minute spurts.

Loverboy and I ran some errands yesterday afternoon and rocked out to the Glee version of Pokerface over and over. I have had the dang song stuck in my head since I watched the Gaga episode and I told loverboy that I hoped we heard some Lady Gaga on the radio and while I was getting ready, he went and bought the song on iTunes and put it on his iPod and then fired it up when we got in the car. I practically jumped for joy in my seat and seriously, I think we listened to the song 10 times.

Loverboy made a yummy Saturday night dinner last night and then we got to take a twilight walk around the Lake. I heart Lake Merritt and last night we caught it at just a beautiful time of day and it almost felt like we were in another country. And then, THEN we got to come home and watch Invictus - which I loved. Nelson Mandela rocks my world and so does the power that athletics has to bring people, even countries together.

Yummy salad with spinach, aruuuuugula, tomatoes, golden raisins and almonds.

Salmon with loverboy's deeeelish orange balsalmic sauce and red quinoa.

Snap peas straight from the roof top garden :).

Scenes from Lake Merritt.

Glee and Anna Karenina ;)

Hah! I'm not sure these two things belong in the same sentence, but if you're a gleek like me and are also currently reading Anna Karenina they sure do.

I am loving Anna K. and I love this quote from Anna K. :

"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade." (p.42)

And sure, maybe it's that time of the month, but Tuesday's episode of Glee made me cry and I can't get enough of this song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zq4o-FlKbo&feature=player_embedded

Happy Friday!

dressin' up, book clubbin' and gettin' crafty

Weekend Highlight Reel #2,796:

Loverboy and I got all gussied up on Saturday afternoon and hit up the first wedding of the 2010 summer wedding season.

It was flippin' freezing at the garden reception so we came home and stood in front of the heater and made a big pot of chicken noodle soup.

Sunday morning Joe was up with the chickens and out the door on his way to Tahoe while I slept away peacefully, storing up all my energy for a book club/CRAFTERDAY with the girls.


Lindsey is the master blender and helped me paint this canvas for my living room - it's not quite done yet, I'll take a pic of the final and post it as soon as it's ready.

Kat sanded and painted this adorable chair a lovely blue.

Lindsey mixing paints in pursuit of the perfect greens ;).

The aftermath.

Laura recording all SIX books we have read together and our 5 word book tweets about each.

Lindsey made us dinner! Fiesta salad and deelish Mushroom quesadillas!

What we've read so far :). Next up Anna Karenina.

***Have I told you already how lucky I feel to have a group of girlfriends to get together and talk about books and create beautiful things with? I love that we love to read and learn about new things together and then share our thoughts about what we read and how it relates to our lives and I love the creative energy that we share and encourage in one another.

look what I found

Gingko Fabric! I think I am going to need to make some pillows for the couch with this stuff!

Feeling so grateful, I could...

...do cartwheels!

ooooh and I think loverboy might feel the same way :).

Another lovely weekend in the bay, here is the highlight reel....

1) Yoga Teacher Training - Did I tell you that I got to lead my Monday lunch time yoga class last week? I did! And did I tell you that it absolutely made me feel so alive? Well it did! I could gush on and on about the ways that practicing yoga has changed my life in the past year - how it's opened my body physically and somehow simultaneously opened my mind and heart in ways that I never experienced pre-yoga practicing. I don't know exactly what it is about simple stretching and breathing that creates such a refuge for me - but all I know is that after each and every yoga class I take, I leave feeling just a bit more and ease and a bit more grateful and a bit more open to life and whatever it brings my way. I have so much gratitude for the teachers that I take classes from and feel as though their instruction is this incredible gift of presence, peace and release. For the past couple of months the thought of perhaps one day being able to do the same thing for others has definitely been floating around in my mind. So this weekend I made my way up to the city to check out a teacher training program - I didn't sign up for anything yet, but feel so satisfied to have taken a step toward doing something that speaks so strongly to me.

2) A Work out less Sunday morning - Most weekends, I pop out of bed and head out the door for a yoga class, a spin class or a run - but today I decided to skip the workout and it felt absolutley glorious to have the extra morning time that would have otherwise been dedicated to sweating, showering and immediately re-fueling my body at home! Joe and I were out the door by 9:30am, and instead of heading to a place to workout, we made a bee line for Philz for heavenly cups of coffee and chai tea. And not only did we get yummy beverages but we ran into two of my favorite peeps - Lindsey and Nate - Happy Sunday Morning indeed! And then it was off with us for a morning of wandering through the Farmer's Market and an art festival.

3) Tending the garden- So I have this lovely friend Laura who, with her boyfriend Julian built a few raised vegetable beds in her backyard and invited the crew to plant some veggies and fruit. Laura was out of town for the weekend, so Joe and I had watering duty and were just delighted to get to go take care of the garden and check out the progress. I feel so lucky to get take part in such a beautiful little community.

Spinach Sprouts

Sunflower sprouts!

Tomato blossoms

Laura's strawberries

Kat and Erik's zucchini blossoms


4) Sharing in a friend's passion - I love experiencing the things that bring people to life. Another good friend of mine is a very talented potter. I think that pottery for her is what yoga is for me. This afternoon, I got to go with her to her pottery studio and see her in action and I even got to get my hands dirty playing with clay and using the pottery wheels to make a bowl! I have to say that I was completely mesmerized by the wheel and the amazing things that you can do with a little clay, a little water and your hands on this thing. My favorite part of the experience was, as Lindsey pointed out, the presence that it demands. There is something about an activity that requires absolute focus that is just so refreshing and life giving. Yoga and Pottery have a lot in common I think :).

5) Watching Loverboy climb a tree - Yup he did - 'cuz he's a stud like that - I love his adventurous and fearless spirit.

Happy, happy, peaceful, fulfilling and joyful week to you!

it's the small things and they're absolutely everywhere...

In loving and beautiful moms like mine.

In not just one but TWO grandmas!!

Aren't they absolutely lovely?

In the sweet simple touches that make an evening with friends even more delightful.

In the back yard at a picnic table surrounded by good friends.

In relaxing around a camp fire.

In late afternoon sunlight pouring through blankets of green leaves.

and trunks of soaring eucalyptus trees.

In the joy of a walk in the woods with someone you love. (Photo credit to Laura :)).

In the culinary creativity of a tea leaf Salad at Burma Superstar

and the bright, cheery yellow of a refreshing mango lassi.

In people to share good meals with.

In nurturing something to grow (Joe's lovely and delicious sweet peas).

Laura's Zucchini.

In signs that make ya smile.

In long arm photos.

In patterns created by Nature.

In the perfume scented air of rose gardens.

In the palette of colors in food.