{ Christmas Garland }

As my first Christmas decorating efforts in my own place, I opted for garland. It always feels so cozy when you use it as the main lighting at night; and, let's be honest, that IS one of the best parts of Christmas. To accompany the fresh greens garland I scored at the friendly, neighborhood Home Depot, I made a pom-pom garland to add some color.

The inspiration for the pom-pom garland came from a tutorial for this awesome pom-pom wreath...so grandma chic. I expect this garland to be one of the decorations years from now that will be ridiculously dated, but ridiculously awesome at the same time.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I'm with my family for the holiday (which is always fun), and, for the record, I indeed received a pair of elf slippers for Christmas from my lovely niece, Jena, this morning. Even better, she has a matching pair. Elf twins.




Lighted garland on the stairs.

And, here's a photo of the livingroom decor from a little farther back:


Wha Bam! Enjoy your holiday! More pictures from Colorado Christmas to come.

{ SF loves nicki schmidt }

It's true. And I love San Francisco. I just might have to live there one day.

Two weekends ago I headed to SF for a quick, 48-hour holiday. The purpose of the trip was two fold. First, visit Kristin Kathleen Goodell (my long-time friend and former roommate) before she moves in India in January. Second, have a lot of fun. Trip successful. I arrived Friday night and left Sunday evening, and we packed a whole lot of awesome in between. It rained about 65% of the time, but I still found it intoxicatingly charming.

My favorite 5 minutes of the trip consisted of viewing the Golden Gate Bridge Saturday night from a look out just up the hill from Sausalito (a place I deemed the Balboa of the Bay area). The lookout was magnificently close to the bridge, making for a colossal view, meaning the bridge looked gigantic. Being at eye level with the towering parts of the bridge rather than looking up at them from down below is so much better.

The rest of the trip included a sneaky elevator trip in the glass elevators at the Westin St. Francis hotel in SF City Center, exploring the ruins of the Sutro Baths, a quick stop at the Legion of Honor, a jont down Lombard Street, a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, dinner at the most lovely cafe in Sausalito, dessert at Ghirardelli Square, enjoying the noises of the wave organ , perusing Fisherman's Warf, attending church and climbing a giant rope pyramid in church attire before heading to the airport.


The accommodations. Kristin lives (well, lived up until a week ago) with a family in Berkley -- she rented the upstairs of their beautiful old home. It donned original wood floors, a footed bathtub, and a view of the Bay Bridge from the hallway window.


Admittedly a low-quality photo, but our only documentation of our stolen elevator ride at the Westin. We sought out said elevator ride because, if you are not familiar, the Westin elevators are glass and are located on the outside of the hotel, so you get a beautiful view of the city when you ride in them. Our elevator trip got postponed by a guard who demanded to see our room key before letting us pass to the elevators. We had no key, so we snuck our way up to a higher floor through a different part of the hotel, then took our elevator ride with pleasure. Breaking the rules always makes things more fun.


Also located in the Westin was this giant chateau made entirely of edible things; primarily sugar. I may be a bad sport, but I'm not sure I see the point in creating a giant castle out of sugar.


KKG as we head down the the Sutro Baths ruins. In 1881, the creator had a vision to create the largest public baths in the word, which he did. 7 pools of salt water. All heated to different levels. Afforadable for everyone. A seriously impressive building complex. Sadly, they were destroyed in 1966 by a fire. Looking back at photos, it's unfortunate that this is all that is left of the baths. This same spot used to look like this:




KKG walking out of a tunnel near the baths


I'm not sure I realized how much my 3-year absence made me miss the coast until we got there.




A nice man took this photo of Kristin and me after we explored the ruins.


A blurry photo of me driving down Lombard Street.


We waited behind this trolley car for at least 3 minutes before we realized it was unmanned.


Rainy drive across the Golden Gate


KKG admiring her dinner in Sausalito. The mater di had sat us next to a rustic fireplace to enjoy our meal. The ambiance was lovely, and the food was delicious. Talk about perfect. The restaurant, Il Piccolo Teatro, had launched a new menu the day we went, and to our delight it was cheaper than most of the restaurants on the street and super tasty. Plus, they stamp a handsome logo onto each of their white-paper table cloths; I wish I would have taken a picture -- it was a great touch. If ever you are in Sausalito, you know where to go.


My meal at Il Piccolo Teatro.


Me, pouring water at dinner. Obviously.


I really need a new camera...


For dessert, we met up with Krissy (right) my neighbor last year, and one of my favorite people ever. Word to the wise, those desserts are RICH.


Sandro -- the cool guy at the Fisherman's Warf who gave me a crab leg for free.


Sandro thought me taking a picture touching the live crab he was holding would be fun. See that expression on my face? Talk about fun.

He also told us a story about a man who tried to kiss one of the live crabs and ended up needing ten stitches in his lip.


The ropey pyramid in Golden Gate park -- we stopped there for no less than seven minutes to climb it before we rushed to the airport (have no fear, after sprinting through the airport, I made my plane with at least two minutes to spare).


KKG from view of the top of the pyramid. We definitely sported our church clothes while we climbed this.


I crocheted a hat while I was there. No picture of the hat, but here's a shot of the materials sitting on KKG's desk.

Great trip. Great great trip. Great great great great great.

{ New logo for TAL }

Old vs. New

Looking good, This American Life, looking good.

keys + iphone + pocket + bump = small calamity

I was at Carrabba's last night celebrating Mike's birthday, and this happened.

Main lesson gleaned from the night: Don't leave keys and an iphone in the same pocket of a jacket, and then subsequently leave said jacket on the back of a chair in a susceptible, waiter-traveling traffic area. OK. Lesson learned.

Highlight of the night: my soup got comped (no relation to the iphone tragedy, total relation to my knowing the waiter and the soup only costing $3.50).

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UPDATE!

The day after my phone broke, I got a replacement for no less than $50! The steal of a deal came from the same boss who wrote me the e-mail about Nicki Smith. I think this makes up for the mistake. And, even better, I am now a proficient iphone unlock and jailbreaking genius (thanks to the genius and publishing of others -- thanks iphone dev team). So all is well in the iphone world.

{ Product of Rachel Ray }

No super cool adventures involving pictures lately, but I did have a charming conversation with my dad (pictured above) last Sunday that I wanted to share.

I called him around 6pm to wish my dad a Happy 73rd Birthday, and after briefly conversing about the affects aging is having on his body, my dad and I discussed his birthday dinner my mom had cooked him.

"We're having prime rib," he said. "And baked asparagus."

"Ummm...delicious, Dad! Nice choice." I responded. Then, since I had never baked asparagus, I asked him how my mom had made it.

"Oh well...you heat up the oven to about 350, then you put some asparagus in a dish and sprinkle it with a little bitt of EVOO and then...(something something something)"

EVOO. Oh. My. Rachel Ray. I love it. Adorable dad.

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In other news, the elderly woman I visit with on Sundays (Rita) has recently been requesting that I paint her fingernails yellow. Not an easy order to fill. But! Awesomely, I found some yellow nail polish at Urban Outfitters on Saturday while shopping with Nate. So great. I decided to try it out yesterday for a test run, and it turned out to be the same color as corn. Which, surprisingly, is kind of awesome. (see below)

{ Nicki Smith }

The other day this e-mail arrived in my inbox. It was written by my boss to a new client coming in to meet with me, and I was copied on the e-mail so I was reminded of the meeting. The e-mail read as follows:

"Josh,

When you get to the office tomorrow morning ask for Nicki Smith. Nicki is the designer that will be working on the new presentation..."

What the?! Nicki Smith?!?

I wrote my boss of three years back with the reply:

"Remember when I changed my last name to Smith? That was fun..."

Awesome.

{ Fun-core }

As opposed to the term "hardcore," the term I like to use to describe my life is fun-core. If it's fun, I'm in. And this, my friends, is definitely fun.

{ Terrarium 101 }

Terrariums are pretty, so I decided to gift one to my friends Ali and Dylan for their wedding (NOTE: Present still pending delivery, so, if you see this Ali, please call me so I can come drop it off :) ). I chose more of an open container because of it's attractiveness, but you can use bell-jar and small-opening containers too. Here's a step-by-step of the simple process.

Step 1 place rocks in the bottom of the container for drainage. I am sure there is a certain height you should clear with the rocks, but mine are about an inch and a half in depth.


Step 2 place a covering over the rocks before you put in the dirt so the dirt doesn't infiltrate the rocks. I chose moss cause it's pretty and multifunctional, but you can use a cut piece of screen (like the screen you use in windows) too.


Step 3 cover with at least a few inches of dirt. I think I used about 2.5 inches; just enough to pot the plant. You could probably do with using more, but I didn't have a ton of space. Make a hole for your plant.


Step 4 plant the foliage. I chose and ivy cause they like a moist environment and they are low lying. I added some moss to the top of the soil (as pictured above) to add some more color. I think I may add a couple rocks or a piece of nice bark before delivery. So lovely.


Here are some other pretty ones from other people:
Bell Jar example
A Collection example
Water Jug example
Cactus example

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UPDATE


After a few days in its new home, the terrarium has earned a new name and a special, set-apart place in my friend's home.

The terrarium is now affectionately referred to as the "taranchelarium" and it rests on a wood end table in a sitting nook in the kitchen. It resides next to a reading chair and a painting of a scantily clad woman, which is now affectionately renamed after me in honor of the plant it keeps company with. Thank you Ali :)

{ Oh...Hello Beautiful Longboard }

OK...I know it's just an object, but isn't this longboard beautiful?! It came up today on whiskeymilitia.com and I fell in love. I already own a long board, and I don't really have a lot/a little/any cash to spare, so I just admired it from view of my computer screen. So classy. So lovely. So awesome. Nice work Gold Coast. Someday, when I'm rich, I may ride your longboard along the coast and take pictures, cause really, how could I help myself.

{ We Can Do Halloween }

Who says randomly purchasing a pair of coveralls at a thrift store doesn't pay off? I got these blue bad boys at DI a little less than a year ago with no particular use in mind, but they came in very handy this weekend; and, bonus, I didn't need to buy any extras for my costume! Check it:

coveralls = sweet DI purchase
hair scarf = previous belonging of my lovely grandma
eye lashes = who doesn't already own false eyelashes? (I bought them for high school prom, and they're still going strong)
yellow "we can do it" pin = paper cut out I created in 1 minute or less

I spent Halloween this year with Mike at a Neon Trees concert. He's buddies with the guys in the band, so we went to support and enjoy. The show didn't disappoint -- rockin fun with dancing and a 6'5 man dressed as Captain Crunch (man -- I wish I had gotten a picture of him). After the show, friends convened at my place to play speed scrabble and guitar. I knitted. All in all an awesome night.

Strangely enough, I boycotted dressing up for Halloween from the ages of 12 to 25. I think I thought it was stupid. But let me tell you...I was wrong. Dead wrong. Ever since I have come back, I just can't get enough. Next year, I may even have to get some false ears involved (see picture example below).

Pictures from the night:


Katy the Penguin, Beth the Ladybug and Fletcher the Convict before we parted ways temporarily for the evening (they went to the stake dance in a barn down south)


Neon Trees show, complete with audience member dressed as Animal from the Muppets on the stage.


Me with Chris, the guitarist from the Neon Trees, in his black and gold bird-ish costume. Sicky sick.


Awesome girl who let me take her picture cause I loved her costume so much. I thought she was Mother Nature, but she said she was a woodland creature. I can handle that. Next Halloween, here I come.


Close up of her eyes.


Julia serenading us at the end of the night.


Beth and Fletcher holding it down at speed Scrabble (Katy not pictured)


Nicki-Rosie-Nicki knitting

Great end to a great night.

{ Pictures long forgotten }

Once upon a time I had a lame Gateway PC laptop that, while it served me well for at least six years (and I am very grateful you bought it for me, mom), decided to crash one winter day in late 2006. With it's crash, it obliterated years of photos (No, I did not have them backed up on any other source, thank you for asking). Gonner photos included pictures from a trip to Europe, all my digital prints of a friend of mine who passed away, and lots of other fun memories that would have been long forgotten if not for my RAD FRIEND JOHN CHO who took a few hours a couple Saturdays ago to retrieve them from my brokeny computer. Oh. My. Fantastic. I love that 1. There are people out there who know how to do things like that and, 2. I know at least one of them.

I took some time out to look through the pictures the other day, and was even more thankful to have them back after re-discovering some gems that had sadly slipped my mind. Here are some of the highlights (along with the photo at the top of the post of me and Mr. Matt Cobabe riding his scooter 3 summers ago -- he definitely had just purchased those scooter goggles off ebay):

NOTE: pictures are now safely saved on my Mac. Still no backup versions. I should probably look into that.


Playing with the pigeons in St. Mark's Square in Venice.


Handsome dog in Florence.


Handsome Nicki in Florence.


Nicki and Lindsey breaking the rules in an Italian train station.


Old woman in a suit riding a bike in Rome.


Between buildings in Venice.


Bike riding at the Palace of Versailles.


Abbey Road in Florence.


The cutest dog in Paris -- taken outside a subway station near Notre Dame.


Golden Gate Bridge in 2002 -- taken on a drive back from a backpacking trip with my brother, Andy.


Favorite picture of me and aforementioned brother, Andy. Taken at our family reunion 3 years ago.


Dancing with my mom in my brother's living room in Seattle.


Me in front of the house I grew up in.


Katy with her icicle bicycle.


Katy and Amy on a summer ride with their non-icicle bicycles.


Nicki and Brian as dinosaurs. With red eyes.