Today on weekend meanderings, settling into our pied-à-terre, Hugo 75 cocktails, bigger is better (calm down, I’m talking about candles), a great pair of casual (comfortable) pants, and lunch and shopping with Kim … plus a few thoughts and things I bought.
Happy Saturday, friends!
It’s time for the weekend post with Kim and Elizabeth. Our weekly roundup of inspirations and goings on.
On Monday we decamped Snowberry and settled into our pied-à-terre. This was our hardest move yet and I’m not sure why. On Sunday night I was seriously questioning my life choices. But by Monday night I was walking to pick up take-out from Uncle Yu’s, our favorite Chinese restaurant. On Tuesday we walked to Taco Tuesday at Rancho Cantina. Wednesday I walked to get a much needed mani-pedi. And on Thursday I walked to Tutu’s to meet BFF Jane for lunch. Pippa and Maggie got into the act and enjoyed morning walks and evening strolls around town. You get the idea, life is good.
Yesterday I had to get in the car to drive to Stanford for a follow up appointment and – bonus – meet Kim for lunch at the beautiful Stanford Shopping Center. More on that later.
Note: one of the things I learned (the hard way) during the final days of our move, DO NOT pack your nail clippers or nail file. You’ll need them. Desperately. Cuticle oil and hand cream should remain readily accessible as well.
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Image Jessica Brydson Photography
I intended to take a photo of us as we left Snowberry for the last time, but our departure was hectic and it didn’t happen. And, when I left for the last time, I didn’t realize it was the last time. Chaos reigned. Anyway, the above photo from earlier this year is how I imagined myself swanning out the blue Dutch door for the last time. Reality was quite different.
Our Pied-à-Terre
Our new temporary home is a downtown apartment and will henceforth be referred to as our pied-à-terre. As my friend Karen on Bainbridge Island correctly pointed out, it’s more elegant.
The consignment furniture we purchased works beautifully. We still need to find a small dining table. And a dresser. We have adequate, but not generous, closet space but no place for folded clothing.
All our new bedding, mentioned last weekend, arrived and so far so good. The only issue is that I ordered a king size comforter for our queen size bed because I want to be able to use it when we move into our new house (and king size bed). Also, based on past experience queen sized comforters, duvets, etc. can fall a little short – literally – on the sides and a king size seems to work better. Well, not in this case. The Serena & Lily comforter I purchased is correctly sized which makes perfect for a king, but too big for our queen. I absolutely love the comforter so I’m mulling over whether to keep it for the new house, or exchange it for a queen. Or both.
We have a small terrace so we swung by Home Goods in search of a bistro set or some sort of outdoor seating. We got lucky and scored a Martha Steward wicker set of chairs and small cocktail table (similar here). Then I ordered this 5 x 7 indoor outdoor rug (only $69.99) and it arrived yesterday. Do you know how hard it is to find a 5 x 7 rug? I thought it was a standard size, but apparently 5 x 8 is the standard.
Excuse the unsightly – yet very necessary – air conditioner.
To quote Zac Brown, we have everything we need and nothing that we don’t. And, you can’t beat the location. In addition to being walkable to our favorite grocery store, shops and restaurants, we’re less than a mile from our new house which is going to be very convenient once construction is underway.
Hugo 75
Last night was the first cocktail night at our pied-à-terre and I made Hugo 75’s. Jim walked to Bevmo to pick up the most crucial ingredient, Empress 1908 Indigo Gin. It gives the drink its beautiful lavender color. In addition to being beautiful, this cocktail is absolutely delicious and a new favorite. You can see my mixing Reel here.
Hugo 75 Recipe (from Empress Gin)
- 1.5 oz Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
- 3/4 oz St. Germain (elderflower liqueur)
- 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
- 3/4 oz Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
- 4-5 Mint Leaves
- 3 oz Dry Sparking Wine
- Mint bouquet for garnish
Add gin, elderflower liquor, simple syrup, lime juice and mint leaves to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled. In a cocktail glass filled with ice add dry sparkling wine, then strain the cocktail over the top. Garnish with mint and enjoy.
I used Lalarge-Pugeot Tradition Premier Cru from the Chateau Sonoma Bubble Club. And my new Livenza glassware purchased after I got a little ahead of myself and packed all my good stuff.
Oscars Place Expansion & Telethon
Oscar’s Place Donkey Adoption Center & Sanctuary’s Summer Telethon is TODAY from 10:00am -1:00pm Pacific! Call 1-855-536-6539.
This summer’s telethon goal is to raise funds for a main barn and additional fencing at Oscar’s Place Potter Valley. Oscar’s Place recently announced that a very generous donor has gifted them 116-acres about 40 miles from the Hopland ranch creating a significant opportunity for expansion … which means rescuing more donkeys! The Potter Valley location will become home to 50 healthy, lower maintenance donkeys (not requiring a high level of hand-on care).
Image via Oscars Place
If you’ve been here a while you know that Jim and I have been Oscar’s Place Guardians (monthly donors) since shortly after they opened their barn doors in 2021. And we always try to support them with additional contributions during their telethon and other rescue-related fund raising drives throughout the year.
Image via Oscars Place
You can join the telethon on Facebook. And also on Instagram Live. Or call 1-855-536-6539.
We love following Oscar’s Place on Instagram for a daily dose of happy and are honored to play a small part in rescuing and nurturing these sweet creatures. Want to learn more about this amazing organization … check out their website here.
Voyage et Cie Candles
Whoever said that bigger isn’t better hasn’t met this candle. And certainly hasn’t observed the workings of a home stager. One of the many things learned from the staging of Snowberry – by the Dana Green Team – for sale is that bigger is better in terms of accessories. From pillows to pitchers to trays to plants … and candles, larger pieces make a statement and that statement says luxury.
When I walked into our house after the ‘layering’ was complete one of the first things I noticed was the large format Voyage et Cie candle on our beverage bar tray. It replaced a smaller candle I had on the tray, that I thought was good sized until this one showed up.
A smaller, still substantial, version of the candle was placed in one of our guest rooms. So nothing made me happier than opening a box containing the same candle this week as part of a gift from the Dana Green Team … and so well timed because I had already tracked down the candles to mention here on the blog and in a future post … about all the things I learned from the staging of our home.
Anyway, Dana always gives her clients the most thoughtful gifts at the close of a transaction … I should know, we’ve done four with her. Will it be our last, who knows!
‘Columnists’ Who Lunch
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Ms. Northern California Style and yesterday was my lucky day. We met up at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto for a little shopping and lunch. Kim is so much fun and there’s never enough time to cover all the topics we enjoy hashing over. As usual time flew by and before I knew it I was fighting Friday afternoon commute traffic on the way home. Between my late return time, trying to grab a quick dinner with Jim, and watching game two of the Stanley Cup finals, it’s getting late so I’ll just give our meet-up a brief mention. Not to worry, I’ll elaborate next week on some of the cute things we found at Bloomingdale’s and J.Crew.
While at Bloomingdales we chatted with Lorelei, a blog lovely follower, who spotted us from the escalator. She made a beeline over to us and said, ‘I hope you two have your columns finished.’ Busted … there we were out galavanting when there was work to be done. Neither of us had written our posts and we both planned to rush home and get down to business. Over lunch we discussed how much we loved that she referred to our Saturday shenanigans as columns. Kim said we should start referring to ourselves as ‘columnists’ and I’m fully onboard.
Before meeting Kim I ran into Lululemon in search of these wide-leg, cropped pants. They’re a replacement for a similar pair I bought at Lulu’s over ten years ago and wore constantly. Recently I was devastated to spill something oily on them that didn’t come out in the wash despite my Laundry Evangelist training.
I also bought this lightweight pair of Birkenstock sandals … Kim egged me on … at Bloomies. We both tried a few pair of sandals … we have a summer sandal post coming in a couple of weeks.
The only other find I’ll mention is this J.Crew straw clutch embellished with paillettes (aka something ornamental and glittery). Kim encouraged me to buy it for our upcoming vacation … and all future warm-weather vacations, not to mention summer events period. I hesitated, concerned the embellishments wouldn’t withstand being crammed into my suitcase. Kim seems to think that, packed properly, it will travel well. So, twist my arm, I’m ordering it.
By the way, I’m wearing the very popular Madewell barrel style jean and The Deep End shirt from AYR. And, yes, those are my ‘controversial’ Roam puffy slides. You either love the or hate them and yesterday two ‘lovers’ stopped me to ask where I got them.
Not only is Kim the chicest columnist, she’s the cutest and most fun.
See part two of our shopping adventure here.
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So there you have it, today’s column coming to you from my pied-à-terre.
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