Happy Birthday Diego!

Today is my nephew's 7th birthday. He is such a fun, smart, talented, imaginative child! Being the first grandchild, he takes the lead with the little ones. He is the BEST older cousin, always keeping an eye on his little buddies, making sure they are safe, while keeping them constantly entertained. Kids LOVE Diego... he can always make them laugh, and they truly look forward to seeing him (just say "Diego" and they perk up, like "where?!").

Diego pushing his cousin Kaiden around in the dump truck.

Helping his little cousin Rydin on Papa's tractor

Diego on his motorcycle... he is an incredible rider... watch out world!

Happy Birthday Diego! Hope you have a fun and exciting day! :) xoxo

Love, Aunt Neshie

Happy Weekend!

An appropriate send-off to the weekend; A Royal Wedding.

We are driving down to visit family this weekend and celebrate my nephew's birthday. What do you have planned for these gorgeous days (off)?

Image via {NBC}

Secret Supper Clubs

This concept is so exciting to me, it makes my knees weak. A secret dinner, attended by only a few, eaten at a communal table, at either a rotating or stationary location, sometimes in the chefs very home... speechless. I first came across this idea of a supper club in an article on The FourCoursemen and fell in love. Since then, they have been popping up every where, all cities; these intimate meals for the ultimate foodie. I have had my eye on this (quickly surfacing) SF secret, Wild Kitchen, who I previously posted about here. I look forward to partaking in this foraged feast, especially after the amazing recap of their Valentine's Day dinner.

Which brings me to my most recent discovery, HiP Paris Blog, and their post on 3 hidden Paris kitchens. OMGosh... cannot handle the excitement! Such an incredible venture, I think this is my next dream job (if you could even call it a j-o-b?!)... the wheels in my head are already spinning! It's truly the perfect fusion of love for entertaining & cooking. Oh, and their lovely post on how to purchase an apartment in Paris is so worth a peek... even if it's just a silly little dream ;)

p.s....here's another little nugget-o-love to nibble on; a rooftop dinner in Buenos Aires by this Edible Tales creator.

image found via {HiP Paris Blog}

Mason Jar Chandeliers

This is such a clever fusion of kitchen utility and modern lighting. I would love to have a cute little workshop with this hanging over my desk. Or a backyard BBQ being lit by these.

image discovered on {little white whale}, created by {boots n gus}

Blog Love

Here are a few inspirational blogs I just came across and wanted to share:

A Little Hut {including the beautiful paper flower tutorial above}

Good Look Cookbook {where inspiration is transformed into creative projects}

Man Made DIY {in a female dominated blogosphere, it's nice to see a guy's creativity now and then... check out all the awesome projects under the how to category}

p.s.... this is a cute idea for a tea shelf. Um... and this freaks me out. The end.

Thank you, Jesus

Is it odd to say, "Happy Good Friday"? When you think about the necessity of Good Friday in the ultimate plan and the fulfillment of the resurrection of Christ, then a "Happy" preface makes sense. Just something to think about. I enjoyed reading this post by my friend Claire.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! This is how I spent mine:

On my way to the Fort Mason Friends of the Library Book Sale, I stopped and got my FREE coffee from Starbucks. To celebrate Earth Day, free coffee and tea was given to those who brought their own reusable mug... sweet!

I made my way to the book sale and arrived when they opened at 10am. I was stoked to see I pretty much had the cooking section to myself.

I spent about 2 hours looking through this beautiful mess of books before Brian joined me after his French class. We then spent another 2 hours looking through the rest of the tables (they give you a map and a shopping cart when you enter the building... seriously intense book scavenging!!).

We then made our way over for our free Blue Bottle Coffee (with a book purchase) and enjoyed a freshly brewed cup of joe and some treats from the case (we needed a major pick-me-up at that point). We then met some friends for gelato in North Beach (not sure I have actually had any REAL food today) then made our way home. Here is the loot that I scored today:

I think I am most stoked about my first edition of The Journal of Gastronomy with a forward by Julia Child and an article from M.F.K. Fisher.

I also got (for $1) Tara Road (Maeve Binchy) and The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis) on audio CD, as well as a gift for my nephew's birthday, A Box (set) of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket... should be fun reading for a 7 year old! Brian devoured the European History section and found some really great books as well... not as good as mine, though ;)

Listening to: Maroon 5

Won't Go Home Without You



Maroon 5 Myspace Video

I have been really into Maroon 5 lately... I love this song and video... maybe because it features Alex from LOST... not sure. Either way, I dig it.

BP Oil Spill: 1 year later

Images from the BP Oil spill 1 year ago today are sickening to look at. Regardless, it is important to see the horrific impact of negligence, greed, and power. Nothing could be more urgently motivating to move away from oil production/consumption towards green, renewable, and clean energy. Here are some more references regarding this disaster:

Interactive Timeline of BP disaster

BP Oil Spill information

Heidi Swanson + New Cookbook

I was so excited to flip open my new Whole Living magazine to see an article on the lovely Heidi Swanson from my favorite healthy recipe blog, 101 Cookbooks. It was a beautiful piece with equally appetizing recipes from her new book, Super Natural Every Day. I already own her previous cookbook, and really cannot wait to get a hold of her new publication (I am like 30 on a hold list of 100 at the library...)! If you are unfamiliar with Heidi's blog, recipes, or cookbook, do yourself a favor and get on board... it's Super Wonderful Every Day!

Tax Day

Tax Day. Even though the deadline has been extended to Monday, we have waited until the last minute to file those pesky taxes. Honestly, I am just dreaming of being elsewhere with my sweetheart.

{image from our 1 year anniversary trip to Europe in 2007}

Dinner In, Dessert Out

Wanting to have a nice evening together, but being on a small budget, we decided to do dinner in, dessert out. We had leftover spaghetti (exciting, I know), but I fancied it up with some arugula topped with warm goat cheese rounds. So simple.

After dinner, we walked down to a little cafe in North Beach and shared a delicious ginger cake drizzled in warm caramel sauce and a side of vanilla bean ice cream. I had a café au lait and bry enjoyed this yummy cappuccino con panna while a 3-piece group (stand-up base, accordion, classical guitar) played Italian/folk style music in the corner. A fun, inexpensive date night.

Morning Buns

You may be aware of my infatuation with this bakery. Well... here's a recent discovery of their to-die-for Morning Bun recipe via 7x7SF...so...happy...

Living in Paris

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for all of Paris is a moveable feast.”~Ernest Hemingway

image via {oh happy day}... check out her amazing posts of adventures living in paris! i am in smitten with their lovely life!

Chic Farming

I love this modern, chic interpretation of a chicken coop. I could see this on an urban rooftop or suburban backyard.

image from {bb-blog}, found via {a cup of jo}

Casey Lynn

two funny girls in high school

at my wedding in 2006

Missing a dear friend today on what would have been her 30th birthday. She is always in my heart.

The world is changing…

Or is it? Is this just a reoccurring cycle in life's history?

I have been absent from the scene lately (family in town, work overload, etc), even missing a number of posts on my favorite blogs, only finding time to visit 1 or 2. Regardless, I have been thinking a lot about blogging and posts I want to share, but have also been contemplating the state of our world. There have been so many crazy, horrible, sad, destructive, and devastating things happening recently that it feels as if we are headed for H-E-double.hockey.stick in a hand basket. It’s difficult to not despair with catastrophic natural events in Japan killing thousands or the man-made disaster of a nuclear meltdown and toxic radiation spewing into the environment. How will we survive? What can we do? Is it hopeless?

I began to wonder if these feelings were nothing new and have been felt before during Chernobyl, 3-Mile Island, Hurricane Katrina, Tsunami in Southeast Asia, atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki… so many reasons for people to give up, crawl into a hole and wait to succumb to the devastation. However, we have seen some of the most dedicated environmentalist, human rights activists, movers-and-shakers, and compassionate do-gooders birth from the rubble of destruction and fight for change. Sometimes it seems to take a disaster to open people's eyes and motivate ideas for creating a better world. The biggest tool for change is education and awareness. I have really been encouraged and informed by Dr. Helen Caldicott at Nuclear Free Planet.org. I appreciate her passion for change and her honest assessment of nuclear situations and radiation risks around the globe.

Ultimately the take-away point seems to be “never give up, never surrender”, “where there is a will, there is a way” and “run the race, keep the faith”. Yes, we as a species are currently destroying the earth, period. But to do nothing about it means we are complicit in the devastation. Hang in there everyone and nature just may find a way to forgive us :)