Coming up Rose

I was lucky to have a visit from my good friend, 

Rose who lives in southern California this weekend. 

What to do with out of town friends? Spend the day in San Francisco of course.

Lunch at Frjtz. After I took this shot, the place filled up. 

Including former Road Ruler, Veronica. Random.

They specialize in gourmet fries and dips. 

We got pesto mayo and Parmesan peppercorn ranch.

Rainy day in the Mission, but we found a sun!

Giants love. 

Perfect way to end the day, talking over a cappuccino.

Dancing Feet

I got my wedding shoes! Franco Sarto on sale for $40. If you asked me what I would wear about 2 years ago, I would answer ChristianLouboutin before you finished asking the question.  But turns out I don't want to be 6'3" on my wedding day. I knew I wanted t-strap sandals with a little bling. These fit the bill perfectly and most importantly, I will be able to dance my ass off in them.

Happy weekend!

Et si vous voyagiez a partir de 19 euros?

So, back in college I spent a semester abroad in Rome, Italy. I traveled a lot during that time, Air Ryan flights here, trains there, water taxis, etc. To this day, I still get french spam from one of the trains lines I rode. I have tried over and over to unsubscribe, but fail. Although, I secretly think I like getting them in my inbox.

Speaking of, we haven't a solid plan for our honeymoon. We have thrown around Thailand (too rainy, flights too expensive), Hawaii (too "easy", maybe with a family one day), Amalfi Coast (logistics difficult). Since the wedding is 7 months away (exactly!) it is sort of time to start thinking about booking our flights. I'm open to anything, suggestions?

Weekend Scenes

This weekend was great! Sneaky spring like weather that made me super happy.  

Here are some other contributing factors to the happy weeks end.

Manicure time! I got a reverse french manicure, to be exact. 

I think next time I will chose a more contrasting shade instead of the gold I got, but I still dig it.

Munched some cute chocolates.

Jon went to the store to get milk and came back with irises for me. 

Here they are in a new frog. Hopefully they open soon!

I also fooled myself into thinking it was February so I baked and decorated some sugar cookies. I feel I hadn't baked anything since November and wanted to try out my silpats, so it was a good excuse.

Spuds and Suds Party

Keeping with my new year's resolution to throw more dinner parties, I had my first this weekend. We needed an excuse to open a magnum of beer and I thought a baked potato bar would be the perfect side kick. A great casual dinner part to get my feet wet.

The idea started with a kraft paper table cloth that I would write on...

I wrote what all the toppings were, which wasn't necessary for the most part. 

Except for the case of sour cream and Greek yogurt.

The potatoes were cooked before hand, with olive oil and sea salt on the skins and then we wrapped them in foil and placed in the cooler (or in this case, warmer) until guests arrived. (Lower corner)

Potatoes: the girls.

And a couple of the boys' creations. So interesting to see everyone's tot styling. 

Overall, a super easy party to throw and I can't wait to think up my next one. I also would like to add that I will never have another baked potato without caramelized onions. Amazing.

Hallway: before and after

I never thought I could get excited over a hallway, it's just a passage way. But not really, I feel its slightly another room of the house and want it to look good. It's one of those things with little changes, that take a long time (JT) that end up making it stand out to make you say "Did you do something different here....?"
Take a peek at our little changes.

Before. White primed walls, icky little trim, brass door knob 

and hinges that were textured over...nice.

After. Nice new trim painted white, new oil rubbed bronze hardware, 

killer new door and gray paint. We still have the same flooring, 

which we would have never chosen, but it gets the job done.

Update: Paint color is Kelly Moore-Rain Nation.

Backyard Farmer

{home grown cauliflower soaking}

After doing the backyard farmer thing for one year, I have come up with lots of tips and advice.  If you are thinking of doing a small scale garden in your backyard, this is for you. If not, you might want to move along. 

What is super easy to grow?

-Lettuce*, tomatoes, radish, herbs, artichokes and zucchini.

These will all grow so well and without much effort you will be giving away extras to your neighbors and co-workers.*Be careful with the lettuce, if you don't pick it and eat it as it grows, it will start to taste bad and little bugs LOVE it, so cleaning it and prepping it is a pain in the ass.

What should I skip?

-Cauliflower, strawberries, onions

While the cauliflower and onions are easy to grow, the results are pretty lame. Say you get a 6-pack of each, say one dies, but 5 take, you water them all summer long to get..... 5 onions? Oh yeah, those things at the store for less than a dollar each? Yeah. It's just not really worth it. Same with cauliflower.

If you grow anything at all, tomatoes are where it's at. That is where you are saving money growing your own, hands down. Last year we went a little crazy with the tomatoes and over planted.  Just because they are growing to be 6 feet and lush as a jungle doesn't mean that's a good thing. With heavy growth comes tomato bugs and spider webs, yuck. This year we will thin them out a lot.

Last summer, crouching under our tomato plants. Heaven. 

Which is where I wanna be. I hate winter!

Last spring, setting up and building our garden.

BTW who's that blond?

To veil or not to veil?

 

What do we think of the birdcage veil?  It is still unique and cool or tired and trendy?

Dot Bandeau

Agnes birdcage

Weekend Scenes

Green tea after re-trying on my wedding dress with my mom and future MIL. Nothing like moms to make you feel better about your decision. (Unless of course you are one of the poor girls on Say Yes to the Dress.) And I wish I was posting the pictures of me in the dress and not this mug of tea, but it sort of seems like an unwritten rule not to?

We are about a month away from Valentine's Day but we already got treats up the wazoo. 

Mojito lime aide and chicken sandwich from Summer Kitchen Bake Shop in Berkeley. Serious yum.The garnish was a few pickled cauliflower.

Pizza with caramelized onions, arugula and Parmesan. Simple and amazing. Oh and have we noticed how I don't do anything in winter weekend scenes except eat? Ah, how I despise the cold weathered months. I cannot wait for the weather to warm, get outside and do things!

We are finally tackling the hallway! It has been the one thing in the house we never painted after moving in, almost two years ago. We decided on the top swatch. Jon has been replacing all the trim around the doors in the hallway and the darker paint on the walls should really make his trim work pop! Oh, and we totally aren't painting because I'm throwing a lil baby shower at my house next month. ;)

Valentine's Gift Idea

{Rifle Paper Co.}

I really shouldn't buy presents so early, because then I gift them well before the occasion. I can't help it, I can't keep it to myself. This year I made Jon a Snapfish book of our engagement trip to Chicago. Take a peek if ya want. 

There's just a sampling for you to get the idea. It is kind of hard to impress Jon with this sort of stuff but he really really loved it!