sunny summer saturday

went over to bernal heights to visit with friends. marcella and i sun bathed on the deck and munched on watermelon, cheese, and veggies from the farmers market and listened to the music from the park. kristina joined us and we all headed outside beer on the stoop/sidewalk. 

graffiti in the park

crossed the street and viewed the progress local graffiti artists made throughout the day. some amazing work, live music, and canned soul and hip hop classics. they had a little kid art station too. the wall above covered in drips is part of it.

up and over

with plenty of veggies from the market, fruit, cheese and wine all we really needed for our grilling on the deck dinner party was sausage. so we hiked up steep the ever so steep bernal hill for the evening provisions. so glad we did. the view was amazing the sky was clear, we could see berkely, marin, and beyond. up and over and felt transported to another country, greece or portugal. walked down the main street and i fell in love with the innumerable precious little details, a pink security gate, little laundromat chairs the color of lucque olives, and tiny shops that lined the street. we also found a new favorite bar with succulents growing out of old shoes and typewriters on the back deck, irish lads, and a cue of boys at the pool table. we affectionately call it the cowboy bar and plan to visit soon and often. after a drink at the cowboy bar and groceries in hand we made our way back up and over the hill.

perfect end to a perfect summer day

did a little house hunting on our way back and found a few seemingly vacant homes? i love the 3 bins out front. enjoyed the last of the sun and the strong breeze as we made our way down the hill. and then we had an impromptu hair braiding party! hunger got the better of us and and the grilling began. yummm!

2 white russians, 3 if you count alex

i must be brief as the park and friends beckon. yesterday i noticed a lot of red, my accidental portrait a la red tee, red hot wood at the grocery store, and red cherries for my magners cider. this felt like an extended repeat of wednesday night. off to the pub this time the local hurling(?) team had just played and had started to pass around the silver cauldron of mixed alchohol. the irish are drinkers, sang along with the live musician taking requests from the ladies and mixing in johnny cash, bob dylan, and emi lou harris (who i will see at gg park late summer). then we went out to san bruno to catch the end of a poker party at alex's house. the boys had vodka and white russians for the ladies. with the roommates staying on the couch alex and i drove back into the city to stay at my now empty place. it kinda felt like we dropped the kids off with the babysitters. i promised to not spend the whole day in bed so i am off to seek out some sun and sweat out the white russian. alex guessed my next art work will be of cookies and plants (with a cute accent) because they must be my favorite things. i had raspberry fig cookies next to my 30+ plants. i suppose that was a pretty accurate assumption. must go tonight they are showing the breakfast club at dolores park! i freaking love summer!

from russia with love

started the evening at the local irish pub for cider (on tap) where you get your meat pie next door and then settle down with a drink at the bar. everyone here was irish, with accents as thick as guinness(think brad pitt in snatch). the bartender donall (oh it's gaelic for danniel love) was very generous with free drinks including a red headed slut with the on tap jagermeister, and an invitation to come back sunday for an after game party(i promised to come back). the pub sponsors a team that is a mix of soccer and rugby, the rules were explained but i think i will just have to see a game or talk to more guys that play (they wear little shorts, too cute). i love rugby/soccer culture. stopped at the dive bar around the corner and met alex (from russia with love), and continued my education on russian history and culture, and the best place in sf to get caviar and russian treats in the wee hours of the night. my russian vocabulary is growing slowly. da (yes)!

flip the sign... we're closed

 after a super fun day of work marcella and i had a beer at her apt before meeting kristina at the wine bar. 

rose petal, apricot, crisp

brilliant wine selection and delicious descriptions like the vivid description for the grenache, wet sand, slate, and crushed blackberries that was oh so good. my favorite was a glass of white wine from argentina with rose petal, and apricot notes. great artwork with a similar style to some of my work and a casual atmosphere with comfy black sectional seating reminiscent of the back seat of a taxicab. 

fresh air ?

late night sewing party

after the wine bar marcella and i stopped off at the liquor store for the evening provisions including chilled white wine, chocolate and a mint ice cream sandwich for me, it's - it. we then proceeded to pot out an evening of crafting and tearing through boxes of amazing fabric and little gems. we both ended up drinking too much to be productive but i started a rad california inspired applique project full of sparkle that i will post when it is finished and marce moved on to painting. we blasted music dancing around until the wee hours of the morning, super fun creative night. woke up with a hangover and headed back to my neighborhood and stopped off for a blueberry scone at the irish bakery. the cute boy working today had such a thick accent and he feel the irish can sympathize with a hangover like no other. i think his sweetness helped me feel better. found papayas at the street market for $1 and bought a few, and still hungover i remembered dylan saying that papaya reminded him of vomit, yuck. it may be a day or two before i can eat them now. time to detox

smile for the camera

i take pictures of other people and life almost everyday but rarely of myself. i am much more comfortable behind the camera. as an exercise in becoming more relaxed i decided to take a few pics of myself before heading out to snap the rest of the world. check out my ever growing bike riding guns, impressive i know.

taste of leather

can't fall asleep just yet... so i will share a new fashion infatuation with printed and scored jewelry from the stolen jewels collection by mike and maaike.