Living Life

Hey there. Remember me, friends? I've been away from this blog for, oh, 3 months or so. Well, I've realized that I'm not so good at blogging, but I do like living life. Here's a quick update on a few of the things we've been up to in the past three months:

Cousins in town from London

4th of July grocery run in Napa

  Napa sunset on July 4

 Wedding crashing in Santa Fe on our first Lydali business trip

 A beautiful wedding and the newly minted Popes!

 Carrolls and Prices hanging in Harrow

Oxford with the fam  

 A glimpse of the Olympics

 Lydali reunited and it feels so good

  Learning what it feels like for everyone we make sit in the back of the convertible

 The view of the Golden Gate never gets old

 Just loving on JP

And showing off some Lydali bling

The summer hasn't really felt like summer (you know, it stays the same-ish temp all year round in SF), but it's been really nice nonetheless. A trip to Chicago, Vegas, Napa, Santa Fe, and England were all in the mix, as well as two weeks in Kenya for Jonny. We've been mostly in SF for August (except for a little weekend in wine country with Matthew and Bel), and it's been magical. I know I'll look back on these days in years to come, and I hope I remember just how sweet they are. 

That's all for now. xoxo

LA

I know, I know, I've let this blog go for way too long. And now I'm going to be posting catch-up pictures that are months old. If you still follow me, it's probably because you're a true friend so you won't mind my belated updates. Here's a little story about our first ever trip down to LA last month.

Living in cloudy San Francisco, I imagine LA to be a place with perfect weather and sunny skies all year round. And usually, it is. But when we were there, it rained at some point on each one of the three days, and people there were going crazy. 

We got red and blue velvet pancakes at Larchmont Bungalow, saw some stars on Hollywood Boulevard, found a street that should be even more famous (named after my dad!), visited a cute farmers' market, trekked (mostly drove) to the Hollywood sign, and won matching prize rings on the Santa Monica boardwalk. It was a great weekend, and we saw a lot, but we spent a TON of time in the car. We were really glad to get to go home to San Francisco where we rarely have to deal with traffic or directions, and where people don't wear heels and dress to the nines everywhere you go. 

More to come on other travels. xo

Lydali

Hi friends! Apologies for the super long absence from this blog - I'd actually be surprised if anyone is checking anymore. :) I've been crazy busy working on Lydali, which launched today! My friend Lydia and I have been collecting beautiful products by designers and artists from around the world, photographing pieces, writing copy, learning Photoshop to create graphics, and a million other things, on top of both working in full-time "real" jobs. I hope to be back to posting more regularly on here in the future, but you know me. I've made those promises before and look at me now. 

Anyways, check out Lydali and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear all kinds of feedback - good and bad. 

xo

A weekend in Maui

About two weeks ago, and about the last time I posted, Jonny and I were heading off to Hawaii for a long weekend. We stayed a few days in Maui for what was one of the most relaxing getaways I've ever been on, complete with morning coffee by the pool, stacks of books, daily ocean swimming, beachy cocktails, long dinners, and lots of sunshine. I want to give this vacation to everyone I know - we came back feeling so rested and refreshed! 

New Lydali Bangles

We got home from Hawaii last night and I'm feeling so refreshed and recharged. It's amazing what a few days at the beach with your favorite person can do for you. 

I had some fun packages waiting for me for Lydali when I got home, and I wanted to share some images of sample bangles we received today. These are made in Kenya and Tanzania, and they're really beautiful. Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments, or head over to Lydali on Facebook to cast your vote. We're ordering soon and would love feedback!

Heading to Hawaii!

We're taking off for Maui tomorrow morning for a few days in Hawaii. I've been craving sunshine, getting through stacks of books, hanging with Jonny doing absolutely nothing, and leaving my computer at home. See you next week! 

Sparkling water

As you may note, I've been trying out my (extremely limited) Photoshop skills as of late. It's more just for play as I'm working on learning some tools so that I can do for real stuff on Lydali. 

I truly have been loving on sparkling water lately. Jonny and I decided to give up alcohol for Lent, and I decided to throw sweets into the mix too, so I'm now trying to avoid habitual sweet-eating and wine-drinking. It's been pretty challenging, and it hasn't even been a full week yet. One of the things I'm really enjoying more of, though, is sparkling water. 

We had some friends over on Friday night, and normally we'd open up a bottle (or two) of wine, but since Jonny and I both weren't drinking, we just poured wine for our friends and then went through about four bottles of sparkling water! We've been buying it daily and drinking it like crazy since then. 

Going without alcohol or desserts has been an interesting exercise in discipline and self control so far - two character traits I am lacking in! Only 40 days to go...

Cookhouse

For Valentine's day, I gave Jonny a Beer and Cheese pairing class hosted at Cookhouse. We went last night, and it was such a cool experience. We learned tons more than we ever knew there was to know about cheese and beer and how they work together. 

It reminded me that I'd never posted about my earlier experience at cookhouse, and these are some long overdue pictures from a little Indian cooking adventure back in October. My friend Sri taught the class at Cookhouse, which turned out to be even more beautiful in real life than I had expected from the pictures on the internet. Sri taught us how to make several yummy dishes, and I would share the recipes if I could find the recipe sheet she printed out (oh the joys of being disorganized!). You'll just have to sign up for one of her classes and try it for yourself! 

Real Life

Whenever I read other peoples' blogs, they're always posting about doing cute things and exploring their cities and loving life. I post a lot about the fun stuff I do, but I'm working on making a point of posting more about real life. Real life on Sunday meant lazing around on the couch reading and doing work, leaving a pile of dishes from brunch with friends in the kitchen. Real life sometimes means we're so busy that we go two or three weeks without doing laundry. Sometimes it means I get grouchy for no real reason and take it out on Jonny when he's done nothing wrong. And sometimes real life means travel and dancing and good food and great things that often get featured on this blog. But there's a balance. And I want to make sure anyone who reads this knows that. 

Lemon and Ginger Tea

Lately I've been obsessed with making this lemon and ginger tea - I average about three cups a day. It's super easy, the ingredients are cheap, and it's really good for you. Give it a try!

Beldi

I've made a million excuses for not blogging because I'm so busy, but I'm going to start working on at least blogging about some of the potential Lydali suppliers that I've been so busy talking with! 

Beldi is a husband and wife team (gotta love that!) based out of New York, and they work with craftsmen in Morocco to bring us these amazing rugs, plus lots of cool home accessories and leather goods. I've listed a few of my favorites below, and I hope they'll be showing up for sale on Lydali in the next few months!

(P.S. This is my first time doing any kind of Photoshopping for this blog. Do you love it or hate it?)

Rainy Sunday

I know I've been a little m.i.a. for awhile. I've been feeling super overwhelmed with a lot of different things, and all of my time spent on the computer these days is for work, not for fun. Today is a rainy one in San Francisco, so I'm taking some time to hang inside and catch up on a bunch of stuff (and also cheer on the 49ers!). Hopefully I'll be back with more fun to share soon, but for now, a picture of what the day looks like here (sans the Eiffel tower). xo

Staying Creative

Over the past couple of months, the side project I'm working on has required a lot of creativity that I haven't had to practice in my everyday work. It's funny how creative thinking slips away from you if you don't practice it, but it comes right back when you do. I found this list super helpful in reviving my creativity, and I plan to refer to it often in 2012!