EmilyStyle

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Introducing the Ladies Activity Club website!

I drove to San Mateo last night for another fun meeting of the newest Ladies Activity Club chapter. We had bruschetta and played board games. Between this nice event and planning a special field trip for the San Francisco chapter in July, the LAC is doing quite well these days.

Perfect timing to unveil the official Ladies Activity Club website! Look up chapters in your area, learn about starting a club or connect on the forum. Let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions!

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Things I Love Today: Ikea World Map Pillow

I love Ikea. We had such a great shopping trip there last weekend. I picked up dishtowels, napkins, lunch containers, twine and a potted plant for my new desk. Plus, my new favorite throw pillow: KETTY VÄRLD.

It's a hand-embroidered world map on soft blue fabric and signed by the artist. Also available in red and black. Here are more examples of cartography textiles - apparently a big trend.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

To Do: Visit Newborn Twins

Rob and I spent last evening at the hospital visiting Matt and Amber and their new twin boys. Delightful, sweet smelling babies that barely cried at all. Lucky parents!

As usual, I brought my favorite hospital gift of gardenias floating in a small bowl. Thanks to the gals at Church Street Flowers for the hook up once again. Rob also chipped in to put together a basket of magazines and groceries for the new family.

And I was happy to see that my shower gift to Amber was being well used. I got her an Aimee nursing gown and robe in black. A stylish and super comfortable gift for any mom, I highly recommend it for your next shower gift. Congratulations to Matt and Amber!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Weekend Round-Up: Taylorsville

Rob and I joined his parents up in Plumas County for a solar cook-off festival this weekend. Rob's dad has recently taken up solar cooking and has built different types of sun-heated ovens based on his own designs.

















Unfortunately, the cook-off turned out to be more of an outdoor music festival. I get the appeal of these sorts of events: hang out with your friends, listen to music, eat international food, drink as much as you like and walk around. Those are basically the benefits of city life. But fun in San Francisco doesn't involve copious tie-dye, bongos or heatstroke. Not exactly our scene.

The saving grace of the weekend was the lovely location. I'd never been through this gold-rush country between Chico and Reno. Big valleys, clear rivers and cute towns from the turn of the century. We spent most of the day Saturday exploring Taylorsville. They have a great old general store, church, schoolhouse, scenic creek and post office.













After eating our delicious solar-cooked dinner of turkey, stuffing and green beans, we drove out through Genesee to Antelope Lake to do some birdwatching. Very pretty! To bed with a few light summer showers rolling through the sierras.

The next morning, Rob made a second batch of his famous blueberry pancakes for everyone, we packed up camp and drove to Indian Falls. A fun little swimming hole with pretty waterfalls.

















From there, we parted ways with Rob's parents - they're continuing up to Lassen. The five hour drive went quickly and we got to stop at Ikea on the way. Back at home, we had a nice dinner and prepare for the busy week ahead.

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Friday, July 10, 2009

Inspired: Katharine Hepburn's Watercolors

Katharine Hepburn is endlessly inspiring. Just thinking about her makes me want to wear collared shirts and wide leg trousers, buy a canoe and take up tennis. (Actually, I did ride an old tandem bike to work while wearing slacks and a blouse yesterday. That's pretty good Hepburn.)

Like my grandmother, Katharine was a talented amateur painter, especially in watercolors. It's hard to find samples of her work. This is from Antiques Roadshow and there are a few images here.

Might be time to take a class or break out my supplies. At least, I can browse Etsy for some lovely paintings. Check out Bigton, WaterColorStudio, and Jeliza. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Sale Alert: French Connection

French Connection has a sale on now with lots of light blousy tops for summer. I picked up a less expensive version of this top and this top is a solid lighter gray. Perfect with a pencil skirt or wide leg trousers for work. Pair with skinny jeans and t-strap sandals for weekends.

Update: Everything is Coming Up Roses

It's not even been a full week yet, but things are going exceptionally well. The new job is GREAT! A leap very well taken.

Oh, and I'm slowly getting over the bronchitis. Thanks for all your support!

{lovely photo of San Francisco available on Etsy from Blonde Bandit}

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Weekend Round-Up: Nothing

That's right, I haven't done anything at all in several days. My brilliant plan to take a few days off in between jobs was thwarted by a very bad cold. I barely got in a few errands and a dinner party during the whole week.

Adding insult to injury, my illness only got worse as the week progressed. Rob took me on a lovely architectural walking tour downtown on Friday for a few hours, but I spent the rest of the weekend in bed; watching countless dvd rentals, reading several books and trying different combinations of medicines. I can't remember the last time I was this sick...and in July to boot.

My new job starts tomorrow and, despite now having bronchitis, I'm starting to feel human again. I think I'll take a few days off to focus on work and recovery. Talk to you later this week!

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