PJ was here, with her full decorator hat on when we turned our discussion to the living room. Window treatments really anchor the room, but the furniture needs a refreshment. Tired old 15-year Pottery Barn overstuff chair and loveseat take up too much room. Curved bay window… So the plan is for […]
Over the last few months, I have started an obsession over Morocco. Don’t ask me why; I’ve never been there. Perhaps my body just aches for warmth as I dodge the gale force winds here in SF (although yesterday we had a miraculously warm day). It actually started a few years ago when I bought
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It has been a long and emotionally exhausting day. For the last two weeks, when we learned of my mother’s kidney cancer (urethelial transitional carcinoma, typically associated with bladder cancer) both my mother and I have worked hard to be strong for the other. But this morning as she was prepped for surgery, the veneer
Cancer. The word has a metallic taste in your mouth. Leaves you thirsty. And when the doctor first utters the word, you hear almost nothing else. The rest just echoes. Did he really say that? What else? Dr. S called me in the surgery waiting room where CNN was covering a story of President Obama
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I decided that my New Year’s resolution is to climb the ten toughest hikes in the Bay Area. I’ve been researching and I’ve come up with this list. Berry Creek Falls Loop at Big Basin Redwoods State Park 10.2 miles Mount Sizer (Seizure??) Loop: Henry Coe State Park (Morgan Hill) 15.6 miles Murietta Falls via
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It’s time to replace the wooden blinds in our dining room and living room. The “Country Woods” look doesn’t support the style I’m trying to create. But what IS my style?? When I started to plan for the kitchen and started buying furniture, I had fixated on a Mediterranean villa look. I’ve since bought and
The previous owners of our home were definitely into the “cottage” look for decor. We have been slowly minimizing that. I’m not sure what our “look” is, but I’m going to call it “Urban Villa.” That is, I like clean, contemporary lines mixed with the Italian/Mediterranean country villa feel. I’m not sure this will be
I’ve decided not to get a “real” Christmas tree this year. They’ve gotten quite expensive and I’m starting to see a folly in spending that money for a tree that will last, at most, three weeks. I’m looking into “fake” trees, but if I’m going fake, then I want to go all out. Solution: tinsel
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We are celebrating the holidays at home this year. I decorate for the holidays only every two years–no sense getting the house all dolled up if we’re spending them in Illinois. This year I hope to take a more contemporary study of holiday decor. While I love traditional decor (the tree, holly berries, pine cones,
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Five best moments Reaching the top of Pico Sunset boat ride with Jill and my cousin Listening to Cory’s Shearwater Every sunset “Dead to me” Five biggest surprises My cousin’s visit to introduce himself The food was even better than I remember The Azorean McMansions Ubiquity of mobile phones How, after 11 years, it still
Acores: Five Things Read More »