Saturday Afternoon in the City

After devouring our decadent dessert at the Ice Cream Bar (so much fun eating dessert first!) my two sisters and I picked up some take-out lunch from here:

And took it with us to the Legion of Honor(my absolute most favorite museum in the city, by the way)  We found a nice warm spot to eat our sandwiches (I had prosciutto and fig on a sour dough roll...a bottle of Izze) on the grass near the wall overlooking the bay.  We soaked in the warm sun...must have been 70 degrees.

Can you guess who belongs to which shoe?
Don't you think a person's shoes tells a lot about their personality? 

We pulled ourselves off the grass and went inside to see The Cult of Beauty and Children's Books From the Victorian Era.


My favorite painting is the one with the little girl feeding her mother cherries (can't remember the title)....loved the mother's pale pink dress and the little girl's shoes and socks...very sweet.  I think every mother should be fed cherries by her children.


Love the illustration in this book:

Upstairs, some victorian era clothing was on display... snapped a pic of the details on the back of this dress before I was reprimanded by the guard that I wasn't supposed to. I apologized profusely

 Also loved gazing at this beaut visiting from Rome

Medusa ( yes, those "strands of hair" are snakes)

Bernini is one of the most amazing sculptors ever...can you imagine creating such lovliness out of one hunk of marble?

Self portrait in the museum

One very fine day indeed.

A New Store on the Block

There is a "new" ice cream shop in town...and this is one cool place.  It is called the..... The original "bar" was originally in Michigan and was transported to San Francisco on a flat bed truck...

The sodas are made the same way they did 60 years ago.

Check out the adorable servers all decked out in white hats and bow ties..all ready to prepare your favorite concoction:

Creating this wonderful shop took the lady in black (the owner)
 two years to complete.

The three of us shared a banana split....yumola No more trips to Ghirardelli for me when I am  in San Francisco...I am headed here when I get the craving.
You can find more info about this fabulous place here

Celebrating in Yosemite

Had a marvelous weekend in Yosemite celebrating my sister Martha's birthday... Took lots of pics...had a deelish dinner at the Ahwahnee

seaglass1

And danced under the Falls... Most of all, memories of this.... Will be swirling around for a long long time.

A Most Incredible Sight

Horsetail Fall at 5:33pm

I've been to Yosemite a zillion times and never in my life have I seen such wonderment. I  cradled my precious camera in my hands, as I stood in a sea of very, very fancy Nikons and Cannons with foot long lenses sitting atop expensive tripods. This fellow came all the way from Germany to record the event.

At 5:29 pm the birth of Horsetail Fall Flame began to emerge...the glow rose from the bottom up and continued for another magical 10 minutes.  I clicked away.

What a sight to behold....so glad I was there.

( News about this phenonemon can be found here and here .

This Morning

I woke up this morning and this is what I saw....

Room with a View

I love being in Yosemite with Martha.

Check out her cool camera strap...made from fabric from Bali

Countdown to V-Day...No. 1

I love...my family

my parents and siblings plus kids

DZ with his grandparents, parents, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins

And then most of all...I love my main squeeze...

Oh to be young and skinny again....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Countdown to V-Day...No. 2

I love...


vintage toys turned into table centerpieces



simple expressions of love



vintage Valentines like the ones I used to give to my friends




and flowers.

My sister got these flowers at the farmers market for my dad to give to my mom
so lovely.

Countdown to V-Day...No. 3

 I Love .....

romantic love songs

especially ones from a by-gone era.

I purchased over 80 of these at an estate sale...they are the real thing..all original.
The pictures and the graphics are wonderful.

Countdown to V-Day...No. 4

I love hearts

red ones, wool ones, lace ones and button ones

glass ones, silver ones, antique ones and shiny ones.

My birch log with manzanita branches has sprouted hearts.

Countdown to V-Day....No. 5

Love chocolate...

hearts to eat and hot to drink.

All the Right Stuff

Check out the snack foods I brought to work today...do you notice how I use reusable pouches ? 

So environmentally astute, aren't I?

I've been trying very hard to stay away from the sweetened liquids...

(you know what I am talking about and I admit that I am not quite there yet)

 I keep a bottle of sparkling water in the fridge at work
Filled a nice tall glass with ice... added a couple of wedges of lime
Cheers.

.

You might think I've trended toward ...do I dare say it? ....vegetarian.

(note: I still love a hunk of prime rib)

Countdown to V-Day...No. 6

Love eating cold crisp Fujii apples from the farmers market...ooolala...so sweet...so tasty...and oh so good.

Countdown to V-Day...No. 7

Love this little guy...runny nose and all..

Taking a peek...

... catching my heart

Lots of kisses and sweet roses

LOVE...LOVE...this little guy.

Countdown to V-Day..No.8

Love the sweet fragrance of daphne flowers filling the room.

Love Bug Time

I always wait until February 1st to bring the Love Boxes down

And spread my red hearts around

Not quite ready to give out a shout

Since the loves are still finding their way out