lucky girl

i just about peed in my pants today because a few of my photographs ended up on two of my most favorite wedding planning blogs. how is that possible that both posted about me on the same day?? i am so absolutely and completely flattered!
thank you so much to meg at a practical wedding and emily at emilystyle. as a photographer, i enjoy reading about the other side of the story. i love seeing all of the new ideas that people have invented. the process of wedding planning is so amazing. if you think about it, a wedding is the biggest party most people will ever plan yet the people planning the party are the guests of honor!
thank you emily!
thank you meg!

weekend

what a fun weekend! the renegade craft fair was amazing - it felt like shopping at etsy but with the added benefit of meeting the creative people behind the products. paula and i had so much fun and we picked up some fabulous items. i will definitely share some of my favorites in the next few days.
i am still working my way through the wedding from sand rock farm and i can't wait to get it all together and ready for lilly and bill. there are so many images that i am so excited to share with them. here is another one that i really like. more coming soon.
have a great week!

garden

i am so proud of our little garden. we get a lot of sun in the sideyard so it was the perfect place to put in a few boxes. sunset magazine had directions for putting the garden boxes together as well as a list of materials. this year we planted tomatoes, pumpkins, cilantro, carrots, basil, broccoli, arugula, lettuce, corn, zucchini and chives. the strawberries are a repeat from last year and sam loves to go out every afternoon and pick a few to eat.

have a wonderful weekend!
**friday favorites**
kiva is an amazing organization which enables every day people to loan money to an entrepreneur in the developing world. each entrepreneur has a description about the business he/she runs, the amount of the loan requested as well as the location. you can search by geographical region, gender, type of business as well as loan amount. a little bit can go a long way!
this blog shows photographs of little dolls left around london. the blog is described as "little handpainted people, left in london to fend for themselves". how fun to find one of the scenes!
(found via black*eiffel) 101 cookbooks chronicles a cookbook collection, one recipe at a time. heidi swanson has picked amazing recipes with a variety of ingredients and she will give you honest feedback on her experience. i have spent a lot of time sifting through all of the recipes. you can search by ingredient or type of dish (appetizer, dessert, vegetarian, etc.). you can also find lists of favorite food sites and favorite cookbooks. so many possibilities, not enough time!
sheri giblin has created a beautiful photo essay about summer and i love all of her images. summer is definitely my favorite season. go to her site and check it out for some perfect visions of summer!

who knew that gummi bears could be so versatile? this chandelier was created by yaya chou and a ton of gummi bears. her work 'combines humor and commentary on modern lifestyle'. very interesting...and yummy! do you think the gummi bears melt from the lightbulb?

confused

i am confused. did i just see a 'back to school' ad? we just celebrated the 4th of JULY a few days ago. JULY! hello? what is going on?
one of the things i absolutely love about having children is how they live in the moment. no worries about tomorrow or next week. so, when i find myself wanting to talk about the upcoming weekend plans or a vacation that is weeks away, i stop myself and remember that we should be enjoying today. i am really making an effort to focus on what is happening right now.
why are we so focused on the next thing...the next holiday? the next vacation? the next weekend? maybe someone wants us to start buying things for the next event?
any thoughts?

renegade craft fair

i am so absolutely excited about attending the renegade craft fair this weekend. plus, paula and i are going to carpool which is going to make the trip even more fun. one quick word about paula - this girl is so talented! i have tried to convince her to start her own business because she knits, sews, designs, bakes....basically the girl can do anything!
come back next week for details about the fair as well as some of my favorite finds.

7 years

jerry and i celebrated our seven year anniversary this weekend. it is hard to believe that seven years have gone by yet a lot has happened since our wedding including five moves, two children, one new car, many new friends and a ton of good times. life is good.
this was my year to make the anniversary plans and i chose cavallo point. i was intrigued by the location as well as the historical significance of the buildings. let's just say that we were not disappointed.

we started our visit by going to the spa and we each got a massage to start off our kids-free time with a good dose of relaxation.
our room had a stunning view of the golden gate bridge and although i wanted to stay in one of the historic rooms, the view of the bridge was much nicer from the hill with the new rooms. the picture below shows the view from our room - stunning!
the restaurant, murray circle, was another wonderful part of our visit - the food was delicious and the atmosphere is really nice. i wish we had arrived a bit early so we could sit on the rocking chairs on the front deck to enjoy the view with a glass of wine. maybe next time?
we were so lucky to have clear skies on saturday because the fog rolled in at night (i was wondering why they had ear plugs in the room but this became quite clear once the fog came in - warning, you may want to keep them close to the bed!). after walking around the grounds a bit on sunday morning, we headed back to the city. we stopped in our old neighborhood and walked around the fillmore street jazz festival. then we drove over to hayes valley for a little bit of lunch at frjtz fries and some treats at miette. i held back at miette and only bought a few things although if candy were fat free, i would have bought one of everything!
all in all, i would give our anniversary outing a five out of five. thank you to my husband for making it all possible. i appreciate his friendship, support and guidance - i know that he puts up with my craziness and i would not be here (or sane) without him.

lilly & bill

lilly and bill's wedding last weekend was so nice. sand rock farm was the perfect venue for this wedding - part rustic and part elegant with an old italian villa feeling. plus, you could just tell that everyone was absolutely thrilled to see these two get married.
more pictures coming soon!