house projecting / the clift hotel / singalong beauty and the beast / oakland art murmur / the mill / pressed juicery / legion of honor free day 

weekending

i literally just found out about this place (on instagram!) that morning when faye and i happened to be driving past. a sign! so glad we stopped in for a quick caffeine fix - definitely plan to come back for some good weather patio hangin. i'm suuuuuch a sucker for cute outdoor seating. 

ran a few other errands that day. (pickling prep above).  who knew spices were so expensive - remind me to NEVER cook with cardamom (at $11 a bag?!!)

i love ikea almost as much as i love craft stores - my heart is yours michaels! 

so potato stamping finally happened! i had been wanting to try it for a few months now, ever since i read about it on abeautifulmess. we stopped by ikea to pick up a few supplies (pillow cases, stuffing, and a dozen other 'necessities'...you know how that goes). all it took was some careful potato carving, acrylic paint and a few paintbrushes and i was in geometric pattern heaven.  

...well sort of. we at least walked through the park we had intended to go to, but ended up trekking over to angies house to finish up some food prep and avoid the called-for-but-never-happened rain. so it was actually more of an indoor/kitchen kind of picnic.

took the recently reloated theresa to humphry slocombe for some 'secret breakfast' ice cream en route to the park...her first (and whats likely to be the first of many) taste!

and yes, we also stopped at dynamo donuts along the way (lemon huckleberry - totally into lemon flavored pastries these days). no, its not normal to pregame lunch with sweets??

// i was on matzo ball duty this year - 18 glorious floaters. i had to redeem myself after the infamous incident of '11 when i waited too long and had to buy premade.  the shame... // 

// the whole gang - family + my roomies (all passover newbies) //

// i live for these chocolate dipped coconut macaroons  //

// so many desserts, only one (very full) stomach. in addition to the passover meal staples (veg, brisket, matzah, maror), we topped off the night with some incredible homemade honeycake cupcakes and flourless chocolate cake //

happy passover!

i dont think ill be cutting my ear off anytime soon, but its been getting pretty arty around here

// (my very first!) byob painting class masterpiece - a little vino, a little light rock, some acrylic, rockin aprons and good company make for a great sunday afternoon. ill be scouring living social for more deals! //

// loved this housewarming idea - we all added a little something to a blank canvas theyll hang up in their apartment. (naturally i went with some 'interpretative' ocean art) so happy for faye and ralph and their adorbs apartment!! i'm officially inviting myself over for future bbqs //