Finding Moments of Joy in a Chaotic World

Happy Saturday, friends!

It’s time for the weekend post with Elizabeth and Kim, our weekly roundup of inspirations and goings on.

How are you doing? I hope you’re finding ways to maintain your peace and sanity in the midst of our increasingly scary, chaotic, and uncertain world … along with the demands of your own life.

Now more than ever I feel the need to carve out intentional moments of joy in my days … and weeks. This week I give myself an A for effort, from finding time to have lunch with a friend, attend a favorite author’s book signing, and a spring floral exhibit in the city. There’s lots to smile about and these moments of joy are a welcome counterbalance to the other stuff.

I hope your week was sprinkled with similarly happy moments.

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On Saturday I went to Tony Hick’s book signing at Barnes & Noble. He had a good turn out including the city’s mayor who was first in line. Impressive.

As you know I’m a big fan of Tony’s work as a long-time Bay Area pop-culture columnist, film and music critic. I enjoyed meeting some of his family and friends who were of course delightful. He summed up the event in his very amusing newsletter.

Saturday night I dragged Jim to see Pablo Cruise, a favorite band from my high school years. They played the Orinda Theater. I didn’t find out about it until the last minute, but was able to snag a couple of tickets in the nosebleed section. It turns out that my moments of joy don’t always align with Jim’s. That said, as is usually the case, he had a great time.

We pre-gamed at The Fourth Bore which was packed with people headed to either Pablo Cruise or the St. Mary’s College basketball game. Go Gaels.

If you aren’t familiar, Pablo Cruise is a Bay Area band out of Sausalito with some fairly major hits from the late 70’s early 80’s. They’ve since been lumped into the Yacht Rock genre and a couple of their songs are considered YR classics.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, it’s really good.

On Monday I met up with BFF Jane for lunch … and a good catchup … at Model Bakery. I brought home half a dozen of their famous English Muffins.

Their Cookbook is one of my favorites, but like most of my possessions (poor planning) is currently in storage.

This week is the de Young Museum’s annual Bouquets to Art celebrating the arrival of spring with a week of floral displays throughout their art galleries. This year the Legion of Honor is included for the first time. I thought I’d bought tickets to the Legion, but got confused and ended up with tickets for the de Young. Thankfully, a very nice woman overlooked my mess up and let us in.

The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a stunning structure in Lincoln Park. It’s modeled on Paris’ Palais de la Légion d’Honneur and founded by the Spreckels family to honor the memory of Californians who died in the First World War. The museum opened on Armistice Day in 1924 and is home to amazing and priceless European art. And this week it’s home to beautiful floral displays.

Anyway, Bouquets to Art is a hot ticket and the Legion was crowded … it’s wasn’t easy to snap unobstructed photos but I managed a few. The featured floral display is in the Spreckles Gallery.

Arrangements are scattered throughout all the galleries.

While strolling the galleries I picked up a few millwork ideas for the new house.

Louis XV Room

And some furniture inspiration too.

I fell hard for these beautiful pieces.

My plan to have lunch at the museum cafe was dashed by the very long line to get in and Jim’s impatience to get home before commute traffic hit. Anyway, Bouquets to Art runs through Sunday at both the de Young and Legion museums (tickets here).

It was a gorgeous day in the city, warm and sunny. I dressed for a typically cool San Francisco day. Three women ask about my leopard print pants, so I must not have looked too ridiculous.

That was my out and-about excitement for the week. Let’s talk about moments of joy a little closer to home … in a place that may seem counterproductive. Hello Instagram.

To avoid the Instagram doom-scroll, I flag my go-to feel-good accounts as favorites in the hope that the algorithm features them more prominently in my feed. Here are a few favorites that are foolproof in delivering moments of joy.

@shifferdiane

I bet a lot of you probably follow Diane Schiffer on Instagram, or maybe TikTok. She’s a delight and when she refers to herself as Nana I totally buy in … even though she’s probably just a few years older than me. She embraces vintage style in her home, choice of clothing, and even the way she fixes her hair. Combine that with her soothing voice, infectious giggle, and gentle manner and I just want to curl up on the sofa for a cozy cup of tea with Nana. But, don’t let her quiet manner fool you, as a retired educator she’s tough, opinionated, and unafraid to call things as she sees them. I love her wisdom and kindness, as do her 2m followers across IG and Tik Tok. CBS Sunday Morning featured her last spring referring her a ‘grandfluencer‘ which I love.

I gather that Diane has faced some significant challenges in her life and I can’t wait to read her new book, The Smallest of Joys, which, of course, I preordered in anticipation of its April 14th release. I’ve believe she’s recorded the audiobook herself so I’m going to need that too.

This week Diane read an essay from the book called The Beauty of Being Yourself.

@wolfgang2242

Steve Greig at @Wolfgang2242 rescues dogs. Senior dogs. And provides a wonderful home to ten senior rescues at a time offering them the comfort and care they need and deserve in their twilight years. When one of his brood passes away, he adopts another senior in need. Isn’t that incredible? His senior dogs are of all breeds, shapes and sizes and his pack also includes Betty the chicken and Bikini the pig.

A couple of years ago Steve relocated to Newark, Ohio and purchased a 1905 Victorian house known as the Swisher mansion. He’s slowly renovating the 5400+ sqft home, and for dog + decor lovers his Instagram is essential – and joyful – viewing.

Can you imagine a household of ten dogs plus a pig and a chicken? Their wake-up, meal, and bedtime schedules require serious planning and organization, not to mention managing their health issues and vet visits. It’s a serious commitment and it’s people like Steve that give me hope for the world.

In the midst of drafting this dispatch I discovered that Steve published a children’s book several years ago, co-authored by Mary Rand Hess, with forward by best-selling author Jodi Picoult. It’s called The One & Only Wolfgang: From Pet Rescue to One Big Happy Family, and it looks adorable. I ordered a copy to send each of my nieces with kiddos.

By the way, who abandons seniors dogs? Apparently it’s quite common which is heartbreaking. I understand circumstances where a dog’s human dies, but people … have a plan for your pets. Our dogs and cat are prioritized in our will and trust and anyone who wants to get their hands on our loot will have to go through them. Ha.

 

@oscarsplaceofficial

No surprise, my favorite Instagram for joyful moments is Oscar’s Place Adoption Center & Sanctuary, where people save donkey’s and donkey’s save people and everyone lives their best lives. Are you watching the Donkey King series? New episodes drop Saturday mornings on ABC local stations.

Ron King, co-founder of Oscar’s Place, says that today’s episode #6 is his favorite of the season. Spoiler alert, the episode follows three donkey moms and their babies as they’re rescued from a livestock auction to find safety, security, and love at Oscar’s Place. Grab your Kleenex. Episodes can be viewed online here after they’ve aired on ABC.

We’ve been Oscar’s Place Guardians (monthly contributors) since nearly the beginning and feel proud as we watch the sanctuary (and adoption center) grow. The Donkey King series was filmed before they received a gift of additional land in Pottery’s Valley where they’ve expanded and increased capacity to save more donkeys.

The new Pottery’s Valley property includes a vineyard and last year they produced the first vintage of Oscar’s Place Sauvignon Blanc in partnership with neighbor, Nelson Family Vineyards. All non-production costs go to the donkey’s.

We bought a case and it’s really good. Order here.

Meanwhile, over at the Folly, things are moving along at an alarming pace. I say alarming because I’m scrambling to keep up with the decisions that need to be made … everyday. Our architect has been meticulous in choosing just the right exterior trim details and it’s wonderful to see them come to life.

The siding is 75% of the way there and insulation is underway.

Odds & Socks ~

Exited to see this documentary on Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles life.

Before the World Was Ours made me nostalgic.

Are you watching Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette? I’m two episodes in and my initial thoughts are that Sarah Pidgeon is very good in this role, and Paul Anthony Kelly resembles JFK Jr from profile, but straight on he looks a tad like Woody Harrison … which is disturbing. Naomi Watts is good at Jackie and same with Grace Gummer as Caroline. I’m not sure how many episodes are in the series, but I want to binge it stat.

Loving this cashmere tank. I have it in black.

Current Favorites ~

 

And that’s what I have for you today. If you missed last week’s dispatch, you can catch up here.

Let’s see what’s inspiring Elizabeth and Kim.

PINECONES AND ACORNS

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA STYLE

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