wine country

Yesterday I went on for a fun day trip to Napa to go wine tasting for a friends birthday and I have concluded that getting a group together for a limo is really the best way to do this. So comfortable, so much fun to cruise around without someone having to sacrifice and be the designated driver. We went to three wineries, had a picnic lunch and even got the limo driver to take us to in and out on the way back! Wonderful way to spend a Sunday, even if I was super super tired this morning.

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my dream fabric

Have you ever had something you are obsessed with but you just can't justify getting it? I've felt that way about some really fancy fabric. I've coveted it for about a year at my favorite local fabric store. It's on the 'lace' table but obviously isn't lace. I guess the best way to describe it is netting with applique silk flowers. And it's hot pink. So the other day when the had a 50% off one cut of fabric no exception sale, I scooted down there on my lunch break to snatch this up.

I do actually plan of sewing with it, there's some bits on the dress form that are beginning to take shape but I had laid it out on my bed so it all the petals wouldn't get crushed and I thought, it looks so beautiful, why let it sit unadmired in my fabric drawer until it's time to sew it up?? Why not hang it on the wall, and perhaps stroke it when I walk by?!

So that's exactly what I've done.

Side note, it also looked like a really fluffy bunch of flowers when it was stuffed into my bag coming home.

First week of summer

Happy first week of summer. I promised my bestie I would make her a pinata for her birthday, and since she couldn't decide on a shape, I went forward with this fun three layer popsicle one. There was a bit of a roadblock trying to figure out how to do the popsicle stick but in the end it was super easy to construct one out of balsa wood and rig it up to be fairly secure. I designed the pinata to be hung slightly askew because I think it looks cool that way.

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Just a simple summer tote I made from clothesline and a sneak peak of the most amazing fabric which I have been coveting for about a year which I have finally had a reason to buy! happy weekend

a quick vacation

Last week I went on a quick sort of last minute trip to Mexico, to explore a corner of the Yucatan Peninsula with my friend who had been there for the last six months to finish up her masters degree. I flew into Cancun Saturday and had a pretty incredible first night complete with free beach dance parties and an impromptue moonlight swim in the ocean (which btw to all the people who warned that the ocean in Mexico would be cold.... wrong. It was lovely).

The next morning we stocked up on sunscreen and insect repellent before taking a collectivo to Tulum. Tulum is a bit of a smaller city/town and it's very flat so everyone rides bikes. We checked into our hostel, (which seemed like it was going to be a bit empty but it had a nice roof bar and a cute little wading pool and air conditioning in the rooms so we decided to give it a go) and found a place to rent some bikes (70 pesos for 24 hours) and got some refreshments and headed to the beach.

There was a paved bike path running through the jungle to the beach and it was a mostly pleasant ride, the rush of the breeze when you ride provides a nice change to the heaviness of the air when you are standing still. In case you can't tell, I had forgotten how, thick, very humid air can feel. So the beach was beautiful and the water was so incredibly refreshing. The sand was so fine, like powdered sugar, and very very white and we lingered there until the sun started to set since we didn't want to ride back through the jungle in the dark.



Sunset with palm trees is of course totally incredible!

There seemed to be a really great variety of food in Tulum, we actually saw a bunch of vegetarian places which for my friend (who is veg) was a big deal. This place we found across the road from our hostel had the most amazing stuffed pepper I've ever had (stuffed with roast veggies instead of something heavier like rice and cheese and served with sprouted lentils and the best/weirdest purple salad dressing) as well as a very inspiring selection of agua fresca including pineapple mint, apple ginger and cucumber cilantro.

The next day we rode in the opposite direction from the beach to go check out the grand cenote, a natural rock well to the freshwater running under the peninsula, they build steps and platforms into the various corners and you could rent snorkel gear and swim about with turtles and fish and into the caves to check it out, then back out dry out on the deck. It was the clearest most insane colored water. I think Kari got a bunch of cool pictures with the underwater camera but I was happy just to splash around and look at everything. It was very relaxing since we got their early and it was mostly deserted, however, a bus full of hotel kids did show up and the end and it descended into a much frat-ier environment. Still we stayed until they closed down for the evening. 

We were met up at the cenote by two Australian girls who were sharing our room at the hostel, and that evening we all cooked dinner together and sat by the pool hanging out and drinking homemade sangria.

For our final day we rode our bikes out past the beach we had previously visited and went on a tour of some Mayan ruins. Honestly it was a bit too hot for me all exposed out in the sun. I envied the people who had the forethought to bring big umbrellas, and I mostly took a lot of pictures of the sky, which has some rather magnificent cloud formations.

There were also a ton of iguana's all over the property and a great variety of plants as well. I was particularly inspired by the shapes of these giant low palm leaves and how they interacted together.

After that we headed to the beach for the remainder of our day. Someone had previously mentioned that you can often claim unused resort chaises out on the beach either for free, or at most, if you buy something from their bar, so we found two together and settled in.

We both ordered coconuts, and after we drank them dry (so SO refreshing) they took them away and hacked them open with machetes only to return them with a spoon so we could scoop out and enjoy the fresh coconut meat inside. I've only ever had dried flake or shredded coconut so this was of course a tropical dream come true.

We lingered as long as we could, but finally we had to admit that there just wasn't any more sun, and we rode our bikes back into town. A note on the bikes, this was the most brilliant way to travel, both in that town, and for the price. I can't imagine taking cabs everywhere but also walking would have been a bit of a bummer as it is all fairly well spread out. We named our bikes Candace and Lucille and I know I became rather fond of mine in that time. It definitely made me wish San Francisco was flatter so I could have a wide heavy cruiser bike like this.

We spent our last night up at the hostels rooftop bar, (where as you can see, they had an abundance of Tequila and Mezcal which they stored in recycled water jugs, with spigots!) just chatting with different people and enjoying the last of our time there. I should say we also stopped at a tiny taco place on the way back from getting my bus ticket in town and I had what may have arguably been the best tacos in the world. My friend said that they were Mexico City style tacos, all I know is that they were perfect and just served to solidify my belief that I could happily survive on nothing but Mexican food the rest of my life.

And then it was all journey back home. It was rather grueling and I'll skip all the details. Needless to say, I was pretty happy to get home and find that it was cold and drippy (which felt amazing on my sunburnt and bug bitten skin) and take a long shower and get into my own bed.

It was a fantastic adventure, of course too quick and I felt very out of practice after having spent so much time traveling previously. I would totally recommend the area and would like to go back and explore more myself in the future. Overall, it was beautiful and fun, pictures don't do it justice, and I will just have to bring more bug spray next time!

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I spent most of this last week in Mexico and while I'll get together a full review of my adventure for next week, here's one of my favorite photos as a sneak peek. And yes, the water really was that color!

yes, more painting

There was nothing wrong with my bathroom. White bathrooms are simple and classic. But after a year the lack of personality was getting to me. So I decided to go for it and make a drastic change. 

I picked up a quart of a deep navy paint, and was able to use the last bits of trim paint I already had to upgrade the mismatched beige. It was a bit intimidating to start. The first bit of paint going up always looks a bit off when it's a strong or dark color. But in the end it was totally the right choice. Somehow despite the much darker paint job the bathroom is so much brighter. All the white towels looks so crisp and all the artwork looks fresh and exciting. There were some treacherous balancing moments to get up to the ceiling but it was worth it.

 

planters

My air plants were getting a crowded so last week when I was on the phone with my cousin and messing around with some oven bake clay I had lying around I made these funny little face planters. Of course then I decided I wanted them to stand on these silly little legs too, so I superglued on some dowels I cut down. They make a cheerful little bunch on top of my dresser.

Please excuse all the photos, they are just so fun to take pictures of!

 

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