Not Your Typical Tuesday...

I spent a very lovely birthday in Napa, California...

Starting with lunch at Bottega.

Driving towards Calistoga, California...

We drove into a castle!

We found our destination...



We hopped on the tram...



Breathtaking...



Bidding farewell to the grape vines...



"For when the wine is in, the wit is out."
~ Thomas Becon

What The Weekend Consisted Of....

A trip to Castle In The Air, Berkley...



Inspiring...


A trip to Bell'occhio, San Francisco...

Unfortunately no photos could be taken here but oh, how they wrap the purchases!

Lovely!

A sugar fix trip to Miette, San Francisco...







And a Moulin Rouge party...





What a fabulous weekend right?

"Always strive to excel, but only on weekends."
~ Richard Rorty

P.S. Thank you Andy for being an awesome chauffeur and for the candy photos!

:: Meet Marvolo & Chris Farley ::

We were finally able to name our massive pumpkins! This is Marvolo...my pumpkin.

I'm afraid we pruned a bit to much. Although he's still hanging on and I'm hoping he'll come back with a vengeance! He probably weighs about 25 lbs as of last Sunday.

My brother has the lucky green thumb this season!

This is Chris Farley!

Chris Farley is weighing in at about 70 - 75 lbs as of last Sunday! My bro definitely has tricks up his sleeve!

"Ask not what your Pumpkin can do for you, ask what you can do for your pumpkin!"
~ Unknown

Shake It Like A Polaroid Picture!

Did you know Polaroid Cameras was discontinued in 2007? Yup! I couldn't believe it. After I received this news I immediately became obsessed with finding a camera and film. During my search I found a FREE down loadable program that won't replace the camera but is a huge runner up.

It's on the website Poladroid. You can convert your digital photos to look like a Polaroid picture (as seen with Mochi's picture above). You can even "shake" the photo with your mouse just like you would with a Polaroid. I love it! Yes, and it's FREE although, donations are gladly accepted! I hear iPhone also has an application for this.

However I still wanted the real thing. I end up finding one on craigslist for 15 buckaroos. Now, I'm waiting with my fingers crossed for the film to arrive and hoping to see if the camera functions properly. Did you know the batteries for a Polaroid camera are located in the film pack? (Hence the crossing of the fingers).

"Shake it, shake it like a Polaroid Picture, shake it, shake it
Shh you got to, shake it, shh shake it, shake it, got to shake it
(Shake it Suga') shake it like a Polaroid Picture"
-OutKast in Hey Ya

Mica Mineral Makeup

A few weeks ago my Sister•In•Law taught us girls how to make natural Mica Mineral Make-up. I was lucky enough to have an empty garage for the day to set up our little workshop. Of course I included the paper honeycomb balls in my decor!


We had a ton of color options to choose from!

The ingredients: The base powder (Kaolin Clay?) and Mica (color of your choice)

Here are some completed colors

The make up lasts forever, since you only need a little to make a statement. Not to mention we had some fun girl time!

"A clown's makeup and character, that's all he has to sell. He loves and believes in that character."
~ Emmett Kelly

Massive Pumpkin Update!

Over the weekend I spent some time with my pumpkin and I'm getting pretty excited! After deciding which pumpkin is going to be the winner I cut the rest of the runner ups off the vine. Here they are in above photo. You can see the pumpkin I kept in the background. You can see a smidgen of my brother's pumpkin on the right corner.

Here's the one we hope is the winner! I haven't thought of a name for her yet. If you have ideas please post them in the comment section! We did some pruning on the vine and I'm a bit worried that we pruned too much! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I also did some estate sale shopping this weekend.

another box full of costume jewelry pieces previously owned by a model from the 40's.

My favorite piece (because I always have a favorite)

Duel perfume bottles with a funnel! I absolutely adore this piece!

By the way, Mochi is not the only one enjoying her doggie pool

This is Mr. Kwong. Before he decided to go for a swim in the pool he was nipping at the pumpkin plant leaves!

"It is not the strongest pumpkin grower that survives, not the most intelligent, but the grower most responsive to change."
~Charles Darwin, Theory of Pumpkin Evolution

Enjoying Summer...

This was the only semi-good photo I could get of her holding still!







Need I say more?

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."
~ Sam Keen

The Great GIANT Pumpkin

Remember when I started to write about the GIANT pumpkin here?



Well, my brother and I decided to join Yamagami's Pumpkin Contest this year.



We attended a seminar at Yamagami's given by Stuart Shim back in April. After sprouting the seeds we then transplanted the wee plants on a full moon in May. We are lucky enough to actually plant them in a greenhouse. However as it grows (like seen here) we are training the vines to grow outside. This way they can receive the overhead watering (hopefully this won't cause powdery mildew).



Last week I found this little guy forming! Oh, the excitement!!!! Let's hope this little one is the winner!

"Pumpkin light, Pumpkin bright, first pumpkin I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, Wish I had a prizewinner tonight."
~ Unknown

Vegas Vintage Finds

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shop for some fabulous vintage pieces. Oh, how I love digging through piles of broken jewelry!








My favorite piece! A watch face!



This is how the bargaining went...

Me: "How much for the pile?"
Dealer: "How about 10 bucks"
Me "I'll take it!"
Dealer: "You're suppose to say $8"
Me: "I'm a terrible bargainer, but I probably shouldn't of told you that."
Dealer "Take it for $6"
Me: "Yes! This is the best deal of the day!"

Thank you Mama J for joining me!

“Everything I buy is vintage and smells funny. Maybe that's why I don't have a boyfriend.”
~ Lucy Liu

Journal Pages To Tie You Over....

until the next post.

filled with lyrics from Beastie Boys Namaste.



"Journal writing is a voyage to the interior."
~ Christina Baldwin

Can't believe it's been a month....

since I've posted. I know many of you have giving up on me. But my thoughts are here....I swear! I've been busying myself w/my adorable friends' birthdays.



One of the things I cannot resist is purchasing peonies, no matter how much they cost!



Is was a 2 week process hanging these vintage tissue spheres! We have 1920's plaster ceilings. This ceiling is known to bend nails! The solution? 3M sticky hooks! But even then it was a struggle to keep these fabulous decorations up.



This Birthday banner was made using Alicia Paulson's instructions in her book Stitched In Time!

The birthday girl also received this hand made gift.



Another Birthday girl received this hand made gift.



I think she enjoyed it!

(sorry for the terrible picture)

Happy Birthday June Babies!

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!"
~ Barbara Hoffman

All Things Nature

The rescue of baby song birds that fell 20' from a palm tree on a 96 degree day...



The stocking up of nature indoors...



The Goby that sifts our sand...



The fresh fresh mesclun salad cut from the garden...



The great giant pumpkin sprout...

more about this pumpkin later!

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
~Lao Tzu