The landlord loved us putting in a veggie patch, but I'm not sure he'd feel the same about this.

This makes me feel like such a narcicist. Right before I gave my sister her birthday present, I stopped on the sidewalk so my husband could snap a picture of the wrapping. This is from stumasa, the gorgeous store down the street from me. I haven't had occassion to ever buy any of their wooden furniture in the back half of the store, but I have had many an occassion to linger in the front part, fondling eveything in my path.  I normally skip store-issed gift wrap because it's so cheeseball or fussy but  theirs, of course, is understated and gorgeous. When I got home, I decided the  succulent candle would add a nice pop of color and texture.

Under the wrapping are goregous melamine plates and platters from the super-rad  thomas paul for my sister's lush new backyard that I plan on spending plenty of time in!

Ah, the paper I love to hate.

As part of the SF Chronicle's story on 20 and 30-something jam makers, the writer puts this trend into context by saying home canning is part of the new crafting resurgence. She points to the ever-popular knitting example but misspells the term "purl." It’s only the second-most popular stitch, and that's after the stitch that’s actually called "knit."

Now I don't expect everyone to have deep technical knowledge of these things, but that's what diligent copy editors and editors are for. It's just sloppy.

On the bright side, at least they’re telling the larger story of jammers like me. I’m totally addicted, stalking around the kitchen looking for new fruit combos to boil up and slosh into a jar.

Let’s be honest here. Life doesn’t always look like this. Yes, this sudden still life on our kitchen island is so gorgeous and saturated that it makes my brain vibrate with all its yellowness.
 
But there are breakfast dishes just out of view, careers to keep pushing in the right direction, websites to build, happiness to be maintained, and it’s only Monday morning.
 
When a slant of light hits this scene and sets the room on fire, yes, I step into the vignette and everything seems ok.

But I don’t live there.
 
And this is ok by me.

You can’t hear this picture, but if you could you would hear the sound of kid joy: screaming and laughing and the slap-slap-slap of jump rope on pavement, all set to Van Halen’s Jump.

This rush of Monday morning happiness is just one of the unexpected perks of living across the street from an elementary school.  

come on. my local coffee shop is now putting THREE teabags in a cup of tea. is this because we're so amped up that we want the flavor now now now instead of waiting the couple minutes it takes to brew?

a refresher:
http://www.artoftea.com/learn_about_tea/brewing.htm">http://www.artoftea.com/learn_about_tea/brewing.htm

seasons are much more nuanced here on the west coast, but if you pay attention, spring is just as tender as back east. it comes with a rush of cherry blossoms that smell light as air and fava bean blooms in the garden.