city weekend

The weekend started with a wonderful meal at Bar Jules in San Francisco.We dined with artis Ed Terpening and his partner Mike. 

We then walked around the Hayes Valley neighborhood and obtained sweets at Miette and coffee at The Blue Bottle Coffee Company. 

The company was grand and the day in the city glorious.

Next we journeyed into the heart of Oakland where Robin and Ray own The Uptown. Our friend Whiting was on tour and playing at The Uptown Saturday evening. Robin fixed a beautiful meal and we all went to the club to see the show. Whiting was great. I wished I had my camera that takes movies. Ray and I agreed, Whiting has good musicianship. Check out his MySpace page for a list of his tour dates. While you are at it you can find some of his paintings here.

A weekend with people that made me happy and inspired me.

i highly recommend the Obama

photo by Chris Purdy

Another word about politics in a way. I am surprising myself. 

The wonderful part of living in Napa Valley is the abundance of beautiful food, wine, art and people. Saturday evening, Jonathan and I were treated to an exquisite meal by friends - winemaker, Alison Crowe, and photographer, Chris Purdy. Alison is a winemaker and has written a great rich book called "The Winemakers Answer Book" and Chris takes wonderful pictures (one graces our walls I am proud to say).

There were many highlights of the evening but a special one was when Alison served us Obama's head on pieces of decadent chocolate. The chocolate was not some novelty - it was a dense luscious handmade piece from another acquaintance, Doralice, who owns The Cheese Shop in Healdsburg. As I bit into my chocolate I exclaimed in my blissful state, " I highly recommend the Obama."

Oh what a night. 

up up and away

I was awakened this morning by a rhythmic blast from the air. I looked out my window and the sky was littered with four hot air balloons. It is a common occurrence to see these prehistoric travel machines in the sky over Napa Valley. I must admit I never get tired of it. Last year on this weekend I took a ride in one with my mother. Happy Balloon Weekend Mom!

I want to post crisper pictures on this site. Many images are inspirations for work/designs/paintings/conversations. I must research. It may mean switching to another blog site. 

When I get time I want to submit a photo to JPG magazine.

Welcome Rocktober!

I had to pull off the side of the road because the Sonoma pumpkin patch in Petaluma was ablaze with orange. The thing the strikes me as funny is they import the pumpkins rather than grow all of pumpkins on-site. I snapped these photos just as they had set up the patch. All the pumpkins in neat straight lines waiting to be chosen and taken home. Many will get a face before the month is out.

I have a fascination with homemade signs. There are a few sites out there now where one can turn their handwriting into a font. Fontifier is one. I am in the process of turning my mothers handwriting into a font. I'll post the results.