the haystack needle

cherries + tiffin set

On Sunday, I made an unexpected trip to NJ to see my mom — my poor mom had (another) kidney stone. I didn't want to leave behind the pint of cherries I'd just picked up at the farmer's market. (Dan is one of two people I've ever met who won't go near a cherry.) And truth be told, you need a snack to ride NJ Transit and not get cranky. So into one of my Tiffin tins went the cherries. The bottom compartment became my pit bowl. That Tiffin box set is one of my favorite wedding gifts — use it all the time! Hope your weekend is as sweet as a bowl of cherries.

maine through my diana camera

I just got back the remaining film from my Maine trip. That Diana camera continues to surprise me with photos I love. Here are a few favorites. Above: the dock at Dan's family's camp.

a sweet farmhouse on a Maine country road

fresh farmstand eggs by the roadside

 

Enjoying homemade ice cream (my second love) with Dan (my first love.)

and a couple more from our strawberry picking adventure

forget-me-not quote journals

I wanted to bring a little something out to San Francisco as a treat for my friends. When we get together, the conversations become one big swap — tips, advice, ideas —  and, of course, a number of hilarious moments. So I took some Carrot & Stick blank journals and transformed them into special travel journals to record those forget-me-not conversation bits and funny quotes as they happen on our trip. These blank books are little enough to fit in your bag. I made one for each of us.

 

It was a really simple project. I grabbed a stack of Thomas Paul sticky notes I had (you could easily substitute index cards — I just didn't have any on hand) and used one note to create a title page in each journal. With small alphabet stamps, I noted the meaning behind the journals (see above.) Then I used a glue stick to attach the sticky note to the page. I added about 20 more blank sticky notes in each blank book. These Post-its not only dressed up the journals, but they created an obvious fill-in-the-box space for memorable quotes. I think blank books and blank cards are sometimes intimidating for people because you feel you have fill in the entire space. These sticky notes frame the space to write in.

My inspiration for this idea stems for two recent favorite projects — Suann's amazing quote book of her son's funny sayings and Brooke's speech bubble thank you cards. Both super ideas! I'm excited to fill up my San Francisco quote book with memorable bits of our talks. 

san francisco!

I'm so excited to be heading to San Francisco tomorrow for a reunion with friends (and my first time ever exploring the city!). I'm even luckier to have these four amazing women in my life. We lived together in college and have remained super close despite the distance (3 West Coasters and 2 East Coasters), crazy busy lives, and sometimes infrequent phone dates. Last year we started a reunion ritual in Santa Fe. This year we picked San Francisco because two friends in the group live there — and the rest of us cashed in our airline miles to make the journey to them. And bonus, my brothers-in-law also call San Francisco home, so I'm booking some family time as well.

I checked out the resource links on sfgirlbybay (one of my favorite blogs) to add some of Victoria's recommendations to my wishlist of places in San Francisco to check out. Oh and that fantastic neighborhood poster above is available at Ork Posters.

shopping

+  maison reve

 

a French-inspired home and garden shop — lovely!

+ zonal

looks like an adorable home interiors shop

+ timeless treasures

loads of vintage treasures

+ bell'occhio

a paper wonderland I've been dreaming about seeing in person.

+ splendid little home

 

love those patterned pillows!

+ rose and radish

 

I've been a fan of their online shop for so long — would love to see the boutique!

+ britex fabrics

I could probably spend hours browsing the 4 floors of fabrics at Britex.

eating

+ miette

looks like a sweet pastry shop

+ and crown & crumpet's tea salon and store

But if I don't hit any of the spots on my list, I know I'll still have a great time. I'm so looking forward to having several days to swap stories, eat, drink wine, hike, and walk the city with my friends — it always feels like no time has passed when we're together. I have posts ready to go for you while I'm on my San Francisco adventure. And I'm sure I'll pop in with some photos from the trip. If you have any San Francisco must-see spots, I'd love to hear, so feel free to leave a comment with yours. Off to pack!

pegboard for pots + pans

Each kitchen presents a different space-defying problem zone, but all kitchens make you ponder the same question: where should you put your pots and pans? My answer came in the way of a pegboard. Meet my pegboard! Dan and I got our watery blue pegboard up on Saturday. Hooray! Not only is one major part of the kitchen now organized (pots + pans problem solved), but I'm loving the way the pegboard looks. Below, I shared how to make a pegboard (and some lessons learned from my pegboard project.)

In the end, we opted for a pegboard over investing in a kitchen island. One big reason why: since we're renters, we're trying to avoid buying furniture that works swell in this space but may not work in the layout of our next home. It's so costly and annoying to re-sell furniture. So pegboard won as the perfect non-committal, affordable solution.

 

how to make a pegboard:

+ measure the space where you want to put your pegboard: We had just one area of kitchen wall space where a pegboard could go — that teeny 17-inch-wide kitchen enclave off our cabinets. I recommend taking your pots + pans and laying them out on the floor (in the same size space planned for your pegboard.) That way, you'll make sure all your pots will fit on the pegboard (typical size is 2' x4'), and if you're flexible with wall space, this helps you decide how big of a pegboard space you need.

+ pick up supplies:
pegboard: You can have it cut to size at Home Depot, if you need a custom size like we did.
frame pieces: you'll need 3 pieces of wood for each piece of pegboard (make sure the pieces are cut to the exact width of the pegboard)
screws: you'll need long screws to screw the wood frame into your wall and short screws to attach the pegboard to the wood
primer
roller + roller tray (I used biodegradable paint tray liners.)
paint: I wanted non-toxic paint. I found zero-VOC Yolo paint at my mom's NJ Home Depot (I haven't been able to find Yolo paint in a NYC Home Depot yet.)
pegs: I totally overestimated the number of things I could fit on my pegboard. (I hate making a second trip to the hardware store for supplies.) You'll need only a package or two of pegs (don't buy 6 like me!).

+ prime your pegboard

+ paint your pegboard: I went with Yolo's semi-gloss paint in Water 07. Love love love the color!

  

+ hang your frame: measure + mark your space and then screw in each wood frame piece. Make sure the pieces line up so the frame sits flush behind your pegboard — a mistake I made when I first went to hang the frame.

+ use the small screws to attach the pegboard to the frame.

+ put in pegs and play with your arrangement!

Our pegboard turned a small, otherwise-useless nook in our kitchen and created a hidden gem of storage. Making a pegboard does require some work, but it was actually pretty simple. And the end result made it all so worth it.

patterned pots

Guess where I spotted these cute ceramic pots? Believe it or not, Home Depot. Cost: $5.98. A group of these colorful, patterned planters would make a cheap instant makeover on a patio — or windowsill.

Up next: the pegboard I created for my kitchen (after that Home Depot run.)

24 things making me happy on a summer friday

To celebrate it's the 24th day of July, a summer Friday, and well, a good day for a fun list, here's 24 things cranking up my happy meter.

1. It's my first weekend home in a few weeks, so I'm excited to do projects around the apartment with Dan. We decided on a kitchen organizer for the pots — I'm hanging pegboard this weekend! I'll share the results with you next week.

2. I'm going to see this movie tomorrow night — I think it's going to be a good one.

3. I'm brewing some sun tea today for the first time this summer (see above.) And eating through a bowl of Rainier cherries.

4. I can't wait for the prints I ordered from Abby to arrive in the mail.

5. the prettiest summer swizzle sticks — I want to make some!

6. Emilia's date night sounds like an ideal way to spend a Friday night (except the roller coaster part — I'm afraid of heights!). I'm sorely missing my ice cream sundae crawl through Maine.

7. This casual loose braid looks like the perfect hairstyle for trotting around the city this weekend. If only I could do more with my hair than basic ponytail or let it loose.

8. leave it to a 17-year-old to dream up butterfly jam.

9. Hable Construction's hamper is covered in sunshine — though I'd use it to store my stacks of towels and sheets (which have no linen closet) rather than dirty clothes.

10. blowing bubbles (on your wall!) — so creative!

11. dreaming of having a home one day with a sliding barn door.

12. speech bubble thank you's — how adorable!

13. summer snapshots – ever notice how summer photos have a certain lightness? It must be the explosion of sunshine.

14. bing cherry mojitos. seriously? that is some summer drink!

15. I'm loving the blue light cast in our bedroom now that I have a lovely turquoise curtain panel up. I've never had color curtains before, nor lived in an apartment with such pretty light. The two together make for this sweet, romantic blue light that I just love. And like the old trick of putting pink lightbulbs in before a party, this blue light seems to be super flattering!

16. summer spells carnival.

17. looking forward to picking up my last rolls of Diana film from Maine today! Hope to have some fun photos to share with you next week.

18. and for all of you strawberry lovers like me, here's another super summer drink pairing strawberries + basil. Yum!

19. If you're also dealing with constant rainstorms where you live, here's a clever way to throw an outdoor party, in case of rain.

20. I'd love to be at the beach this weekend, and pick up a handful of sand. The beach rocks.

21. my kind of brooklyn rehab — check me in for an addiction.

22. loving these wall hooks — really unique find by Paula.

23. super sweet "just because" reminders. I got called "a mush" this week by one of my dear friends. I confess, she's right. Dan sometimes gets inundated with my little reminders of love.

24. yay for cabins + lakes — just my kind of summer retreat. So enchanting.

happy friday! hope you have a great weekend!