Holiday Stocking Stuffers #3--Simply Silhouettes

Silhouette prints have been quite popular over the last couple of years in home decor, featured in all the shelter mags like Domino, Blueprint, and Martha Stewart Living . The husband-and-wife team at Simply Silhouettes make it too easy to capture loved ones in classic profiles. What's more...they have the most unique, well-written, and honest About Us description I've ever read for a company.

Holiday Stocking Stuffer #2--Nikki McClure

Nikki McClure's papercut work is intricately beautiful and breathtaking. Her 2008 calendar is available at buyolympia.com for $16. It's a work of art.

Holiday Stocking Stuffer #1--The Black Apple

With the holidays just around the corner, thought I'd compile a little gift guide of some oh so sweet goodies. The Black Apple is an amazing artist. She draws these colorful, whimsical little girls. I bought several of her prints from her Etsy shop and they are so lovely. This one in particular I bought for my sister because it reminded me of my sis rocking out to her iPod.

Buenos Aires, Argentina!

We're back from an awesome trip to Buenos Aires. It's just my kind of city. Cosmopolitan. Old world charm. Young and old full of life and in love with their city. It's so amazing that 15 million people can live in the city and the surrounding areas, yet feel very intimate.

As always, two of our most favorite things to during any holiday we take is to eat like the locals, walk ourselves dizzy, then eat again. Buenos Aires is famous for their parillas (which is basically a restaurant specializing in grilled meats). It was meat overload, but it was soooooooooooo good. Palermo Hollywood was the neighborhood our apartment was located in and some of the best and yummiest restaurants were just a few blocks away. We can't wait to go back.

Summer Blogging Lazy

It's been a while since I've updated. I don't have a good excuse except that summer fun has taken over with lots of visitors from family and friends. In early June, we went down to the Bay Area again for our friends' wedding. The ceremony was held at the chapel on Treasure Island and it was a gorgeous day.

A few weeks later, we're back at home and my parents came to visit for the 4th of July week. It's always so nice to have them around because they insist upon doing all the house renovations and fixing up that we are too unmotivated to do on our own. We took my parents to Clearwater Casino on Bainbridge Island because like any near-retirement couple, they like to gamble. Indian casinos have come along way. I still dread the smoky rooms, but now these casinos are a lot more luxurious. I actually spent most of the evening in their outside deck area overlooking the ocean where they had a firepit. It was a nice change of pace from the ka-chinging of the slot machines inside.

I can't believe summer is almost over. Why can't it last longer and street fairs be an everyday occurance.

Ooot and Abooot in Vancouver

One of the perks of living in the Pacific Northwest is that it's just a stones throw away from the Canadian border. Years ago when I first visited Vancouver, I wasn't that impressed. But as I've spent more and more time there, it's become one of my most favorite cities in the world. It has everything...unique architecture, great urban planning, water everywhere, diverse people, and fantastic food, which only comes as a close second to San Francisco cuisine.

Lots of walking this time around. We did not have our four legged toddler with us, so we were able to cruise a lot more quickly. Took an awesome stroll around Yaletown and stopped in some cool shops. One of my favorites is The Cross Design. This boutique exudes a shabby chic, meets Louis XV, meets Tinkerbell vibe. Now that I'm older and gravitate toward a more modern design aesthetic, I can't really say I would buy many of the items there. But it's just so much eye candy that you can't help but touch things.

Like our other trips to Vancouver, our main goal was food and food. Of course, we stopped by our favorite sushi place, Kadoya, twice in less than 24 hours. I think every time we've been to Vancouver this year, we've managed to go to Kadoya multiple times. We hit India Bistro, also located in Davie Village and on the way back home, stopped in Richmond and raided the shelves of Kings' Bakery for some oh-so-yummy to-go treats. It was a great Memorial weekend.

Satan lives in Utah!

And he likes to take it from behind from NBA referees! That's all I have to say.

Mama's Day Gift

We always tease our mom about being a serial plant killer. Martha Stewart she is not in the garden. And she would get really upset whenever one of her plants died. And I think masochistically, my siblings and I buy her plants just to see if it's going to survive. Surprisingly, over the last couple of years, she's managed to sustain life. For Mama's Day gift, I think I'll get her these cool display teas from Full Bloom Tea. It's guaranteed to come alive!

Believe it!

What could be better than to spend a few days at home, celebrating my birthday with my peeps, and getting some good ol' California sun? Let me tell you what could top that...the Warriors bitch-slapping the Mavs in Oakland to make it to the second round of the playoffs in 13 years. Go Warriors!

Could this be love?

I really need to stop drooling over this bag from Hayden Harnett.

Now that it's written, I can't turn back!

I have this bloody awful habit of starting projects that I don't finish. I blame it on my self-diagnosed ADD and would often use the excuse that I am a visionary and can't be bothered with mundane tasks such as actual execution. But this is the year that I whip my house into the mid-Century modern home that it longs to groove to. So to make myself accountable, here's my to-do list:

• Paint front entrance and build mudroom-type shelving for shoes/coats/dog leashes (by June 1)
• Reorganize upstairs office and make it a super-cute creative boardroom (by June 1)
• Decorate master bedroom, install closet system (by June 1)
  
• Plant front yard flowers and clean up backyard (by June 30)
• Redecorate guestroom (by June 30)
  
• Reaarange living room and dining room (by June 30)
• Clean up downstairs office (by July 30)
  
• Finish 2 year kitchen renovation (by September 1)
• Organize garage (by September 1)

I better get my lazy ass to work!

Bubba

We will miss you very much Bubbalicious! Thank you for hanging on for me a little longer so I can see you one more time. I love you!