Spring Garden Tour 2012 (aka Too Hot to Handle)

A post from April 22, 2012 that wasn't posted for lack of pictures. The camera went missing for a bit.

A few years back, my mum, grandmother and I took the garden tour. It is put on by the Modesto Garden Club every year (which I found out today is the largest garden club in the US....who knew?). Last time we took the tour the weather was a little warm and I was wearing the wrong shoes. By the end of the day I was pretty uncomfortable and, towards the end, it made for a somewhat miserable trip. This was unfortunate because some of the homes chosen to be on the tour that year were homes in Modesto that I had always secretly spied on from afar and was now afforded the luxury of seeing them up close.
When my grandmother wanted to know if I was interested in going again this year I thought I would give it another go and made sure to wear the right shoes and the right clothes so that I wouldn't make the same mistake as before.
The valley has had a pretty mild spring. Just last week temperatures were more like those that you would find in the winter months. Just the day before yesterday it was only 75 degrees, today it was 92.
It started out well enough, the walk wasn't all that unpleasant and some of the gardens were lovely. I was able to realize another dream today as well.
When my brother and I were younger my mother would treat us to frozen yogurt and then would drive us around the older neighborhoods in town while we licked our cookies and cream or chocolate mousse and we would gawk at all the beautiful homes and wonder what it would be like if we actually lived in them. Every time we did this my brother and I would beg our mother to take us to the 'castle'. There is a house in Modesto that looks just like a castle. It is made of brick, has turrets and a massive front door. If my brother and I dreamed of living anywhere in town, this house was it.
This house was on the tour today and I was able to finally see it up close. I strolled past the koi pond, skipped around the tiled swimming pool and ate cookies by the outdoor fireplace. It really was a silly old dream come true.
After that, things started to go downhill pretty quickly.
I began to not feel well. I made the mistake of staying up a little too late the night before at a party and the next morning didn't give myself enough time to eat breakfast or to properly hydrate myself. I began to pay the price for it. I tried to fight through it because there was no way that I could complain to my mother or my grandmother. I was the youngest one there, I couldn't be the first to wimp out. We made it through the first leg of the tour (and I swear that we were the only ones that actually walked the whole thing) and stopped at the Yogurt Mill to cool down. I knew it was worse than I had thought it was when I wasn't able to finish my treat. At the next house, I didn't go in and waited in the car...I was no longer sweating...uh oh.
Luckily my mum recognized how miserable I had become and took me home. I ended up sleeping through the rest of the tour and the rest of the afternoon.....ugh, I'm pretty pathetic.
Maybe next year I'll get it together so that I don't embarrass my mother and my grandmother.

(The 'Castle' on Magnolia)

Party On

I love this County Fair themed party

Because I make cakes, I find myself growing obsessive about party planning. I get these wild ideas but have no children yet and no real reason to execute them. Instead they linger and stew around in my head. This little problem becomes worse when I end up blog stalking. I came across the following blogs and am inspired.

My first favorite, Party Perfect.

The Thompson Family

One Charming Party

...and Hostess with the Mostess

Japantown

(Japantown, San Francisco)

A couple of weeks ago, I got the wild hair to make another trip to San Francisco. The weather had been terrible in the valley and I was just itching to get away. I called my brother and as luck would have it, he had a rare Sunday off. The Mr. and I got an early start and made our way into my favorite city.
I love being a tourist in this town. I love it because every trip you can be a different type of tourist. I have loitered around the Marina with the Pup and the Mr. pretending to be one of the hoity toity. I have taken shots with a drag queen in the Castro with G by my side. I have cruised around the dilapidated buildings and taken in the reverse view of the city on Treasure Island. I have been the only female on a deep sea fishing boat and caught the biggest salmon of the day on rough waters right outside the San Francisco Bay (My proudest moment that day? Making sure that I didn't lose my breakfast burrito in front of all the guys...that and my fish of course!). The list really does go on and on and on....
This trip we trekked over to Japantown.
I had forever been wanting to make my way to Soko Hardware. I had heard fantastic stories of teapots, chopsticks, rice cookers and all things Japanese. This was the main purpose of my wanting to go to Japantown. We arrived and the very first place we stopped at was Soko Hardware...only to be completely and utterly disappointed to find out that the place is closed on Sundays. Arg! I was almost set to turn around, get in the car, and drive all the way home. I stuck it out and we made our way to the Japan Center. It was early and many of the indoor shops were still closed. I couldn't control myself when we passed by Andersen's Bakery. I was starving! The Mr. wanted to keep exploring and wasn't quite ready for breakfast yet, but lucky for me my brother is cut from the same cloth and will always stop for something sweet with me. We decided to be thrifty and agreed to split a pastry and we each had a cup of coffee. We split the cream cheese and walnut brioche and it really hit the spot. We leisurely ate our snack and did some serious people watching. Everyone was in costume, everyone was a walking anime character. No, there wasn't a parade. No, there wasn't a festival. This was just their normal Sunday garb. More power to them. Only in San Francisco will you be able to find a place where, if you want to stroll around in costume and do some casual Sunday shopping...you can. As my brother and I sat, the Mr. continued to explore the shops around us. After we ate we joined him and headed to the second level. We passed a crepe counter and I wished I hadn't already had my breakfast. The Mr. decided that he wanted a crepe and ordered a savory one of ham and cheese. It looked great and the art of making the crepe was even more impressive to watch.
After we had exhausted Japantown, we decided to make our way to Chinatown.
The Mr. and I had been here on one of our last trips but as we walked through the gates I quickly realized that this trip was going to be different. We had walked right into the middle of the Chinese New Year celebrations. The streets were packed with people, vendors and a wash of bright colors. The brightest being of course red. It is the year of the rabbit and everywhere you look you can see it. It was amazing. I tried to call my dad to have him meet us there because I knew he was in town. I knew this because; number one, he told me he was going to be there with my stepmom, the nieces, and his pup Sam... and number two, he was driving right in front of us when we were making our way down Lombard to pick up my brother. What are the odds of that?? I was driving and the Mr. says 'Why is this old man driving so slow?' I took a closer look and replied 'That old man is my dad!' Small world.
I wasn't able to reach him, and after hitting up a couple of the shops (where I scored a teapot on clearance for only $1.99!), we decided that it was getting close to lunch. The Mr. had done some research and found what he thought would be the perfect place to get some oysters on the half shell. We started for the Waterbar on Embarcadero, right beneath the expanse of the Bay Bridge. Everything on the menu looked appealing and interesting. It was hard for me to settle on what I wanted. I ultimately decided on the grilled cheese with a black truffle spread and cauliflower soup. I knew I would be sampling some of the oysters that the Mr. would be ordering so I paired it with the drink special, a Moscow Mule. My brother ended up with a somewhat deconstructed cerviche and the Mr. had a spicy tuna sandwich with sweet potato crisps. Looking around the Waterbar, I had a sense of deja vu even though I had never been there before. Then it dawned on me why the place seemed so familiar...it was featured on the Real Housewives of Orange County when the housewives took a 'girl's trip' to San Francisco. It is the one where they had one of their many explosive arguments. Luckily the joint was way classier than it appeared on TV. Our last stop was the Ferry Building where I was able to make sure to get my obligatory macaron from Miette (ok, ok, my obligatory handful of macarons).
At this point we were all tired and getting a little cranky. We hopped on Muni to make it easier on us to get to the car. We dropped my brother off at his apartment in the woods and the Mr. and I were on our way home.
Another fantastic trip to my favorite city by the bay.

Japantown

(Andersen's Bakery)

Chinatown

The Waterbar

...this was the last of the picture that day because, of cousre, this is the point where the battery died. 

Etsy Art

(Portrait of Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso) 

When I was younger, I became somewhat obsessed with F. Scott Fitzgerald (as I have explained HERE). I tried to get my hands on anything he wrote and when I did, I devoured it. When I had exhausted his works and it still didn't satisfy my hunger for all things 'Jazz Age' I moved on to anything that was written about him. I discovered that Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald spent quite a bit of time in Gertrude Stein's salon in Paris. Gertrude Stein entertained the bohemian expats of the early 1900s. Picasso, Hemingway, Cezanne, Fitzgerald...they were all there, whiling their days away discussing art, literature, food, drink....art....

There is a photo of old Gertie's salon and rows upon rows of original artwork race up the wall to the ceiling. I forever wanted to live in that room. 

Now that I am a tad bit older, I think it might be time to invest in some artwork myself. With the invention of the internet, it is almost too easy to find art that strikes a cord. 

Below are some of my current favorites: 

(Sitting Together, Leah Giberson)

(Pool Diving, Cathie Carlson)

(November, Clare Elsaesser)

(Poolside, Samantha French) 

(San Francisco, Matte Stephens)

Life Is Too Short...

(Life's too short for the wrong job on pandaeraser)

...for the wrong job.
My good friend/cousin Andrea posted a series of ads on her tumblr feed. The message came across loud and clear in the most creative way.
It did get me thinking though...
True, life IS too short for the wrong job but how, in today's economy, do you realize this and change your direction in life?
Thoughts anyone?

PS. Yes, I am aware that I am missing my last 'Picture This'. I haven't found an appropriate photo yet.

Apartment Therapy Los Angeles: Anthony and Gregory's 1912 Contemporary Craftsman (aka 'Yeah, I TOTALLY know these guys...')

Last week, best friend G (known to the world as Gregory Metcalf) and his boyfriend Tony (known to the world as Anthony Franco) were featured in Apartment Therapy: Los Angeles. I should say that their gorgeous house was featured. When G told me this I shrieked because I have been a huge fan of Apartment Therapy: San Francisco for some time now and knew that this was a huge deal. I have spent many weekends at this house and consider the downstairs office to be my own personal guest room at Château Franco-Metcalf (look close and you can see my hidden contribution, a charcoal afghan that I made G years ago, hanging off the arm of the couch downstairs). These two boys have impeccable taste that carries an obvious artistic touch. Please check out their home tour and see for yourself. Make sure you take a double look at all of the fantastic pillows featured by G's endeavor, Gregory Keith.  

Go Fetch!

Don't hate me but that is the only picture I was able to get of the wonderful time I had at the 3rd Annual Modesto Disc Dogg Competition.

I decided that I was leaving town too much in the past couple of months on my days off and really needed to stay closer to home so that I could tend to things more domestic on my weekends (laundry, dishes, dusting, vacuuming, et all) and the Mr. really needed to tend to the yard work. He is outside mowing the lawns as we speak while I am updating the blog (he is a much better person than I am today).
Just because I was planning on staying close to home didn't mean that I had to let myself stay cooped up in the house all day. I had been catching up on all my favorite design and DIY blogs and was bit by the 'before and after' bug. My plan today was to scour Craigslist with a budget of about $25 dollars and see what I could find to re-purpose for my own home. I am in dire need of a new entertainment unit for the television in the front room but still haven't found anything that I feel would be the best fit. I moved on to the local newspaper hoping to find something in the events calendar for this weekend. I know many people that live (or have lived  for that matter) in my community that constantly complain that there is nothing to do in this po-dunk town of almost 250,000 people. To them I say, 'You just aren't trying hard enough.' This weekend I found the perfect way to say 'I told you so'. After finding it on the events calendar, the Mr. and I headed out to the 3rd Annual Modesto Disc Dogg Competition. It was held at John Muir Park. I grew up in this town and had never been to this park. It is tucked away on High Street which is close to the downtown area and by the cemetery. It is an older neighborhood in town and I always believed it to be somewhat rundown that I never thought to venture further down the street. Big mistake on my part because at the end of the street is a picture perfect little park nestled in the middle of quaint, nostalgic houses. It was in this setting that the Mr., the Pup and I sat under ancient oak trees, in mild weather (finally) and watched other pups make amazing (and not so amazing) jumps and frisbee catches to score points to see who would be top dog that day. We headed out and I was able to get two pictures on the way there and one picture once we arrived...and that was it. Dummy Jen forgot to charge the camera and I couldn't coax anymore photos out of it. I was so disappointed and I know you are too.
These are the potential photo ops that were missed out on:
Baby crawling on all fours at the same level as some of the more well behaved pups.
Cute older couple that showed up to watch on their beach cruiser bicycles. (I love cute, older couples).
Dogs catching some serious air reaching for the frisbees.
Sammy Davis Jr, a dautsund that, for me, stole the show. That dog was hustling!
Eli. I wasn't sure what kind of dog he was but he was beautiful. He was brown with a white streak over his forehead that made him look a little like Pepe Le Pew.
A dog named Zip...only because he had the coolest name that day.
While there, the Mr and I had an opportunity to meet Jill. She walked over to introduce herself and to let us know more about the Disc Doggs. We let her know what a great time we were having but that our own pup was hopeless when it came to fetch. She gave us some tips and gave us some hope that maybe next year,  the Pup might make it to the novice competition. She let us know a trick to getting your dog to return the frisbee to you is to dab a bit of peanut butter under the lip. I said, 'Thats great to get her to go after it but how can I get her to return it to me?' Her answer was so simple, 'Have another one waiting for her and she will come back to you.' Brilliant. Like I said it gave us hope, now all we have to do is practice and maybe next year the Pup will be out there chasing frisbees and scoring points.

The Pup eagerly anticipating going to the park. Taking the Mr.'s seat while he was getting the car gassed up. 

Rare, although carefully cropped, self portrait taken today in support of two of my favorite people.

Not to brag (ok, TOTALLY to brag), the above flower was constructed of vintage fabric from my good friend (boyfriend to my best friend G) Anthony Franco. He is showing this week in LA Fashion Week and I cannot be there. G keeps giving me random updates; certain A-list celebrities are to be in attendance and at the after party, certain D-list celebrities (who are more A-list to me than the actual A-list celebrities) are promised to be there as well. I know he is doing this to entice me to make the mid-week trip but I can't and now its becoming more and more painful. I promise a full post soon after the event on Wednesday. Until then please check out Behind the Line with Anthony Franco. His show is sponsored by Cotton (Yes, THAT Cotton. The touch, the feel, the fabric of our lives...you know you know it) and they have followed him from the beginning of designing his Spring 2011 line. I will be there in spirit and will be watching a live feed at Behind the Line with Anthony Franco on Wednesday, you definitely should too. 

Cookies for Kids Cancer and Antiquing

First up...pralines! Why have I never made these before?
Next weekend I am participating in another charity bake sale. This time it is in support of Cookies for Kids Cancer. More specifically it is in support of two amazing young men (Noah and Caden), one beautiful angel (Chase) and their families that have been affected by this terrible disease. I was asked to break out my mixing bowls and measuring cups. Anything that I can do to help I will. A high turnout is expected because of the overwhelming support of friends and a small write up in the local newspaper (Around the Region),  I thought it might be the perfect time to try out some new recipes. I spent the better part of last week just trying to perfect a red velvet cupcake recipe. I am still working on it but I am determined to get it by the sale. I got the idea to sprinkle homemade pralines on top of the cupcakes to make them extra extra southern. After my first attempt at making them I found myself asking, "Where have these been all my life?" They are crunchy, sweet and salty (with my own addition of a sprinkle of sea salt to the recipe). The first batch didn't last for my second try at red velvets. I am actually grateful that I have not known how terrific these lil guys are because I am sure I wouldn't be able to fit through the front door if I had known about them before now. I can't wait to debut them next weekend.

On Saturday, even though it was scorching hot (at the end of September, I am more than ready for fall weather), I took a little trip to the Antique Warehouse. I was prepared to look and not buy but, for the most part, the prices were extremely reasonable. I got lots of inspiration for future decorating. The store is right off the freeway and when you pull into the parking lot the entrance can be kind of tricky to find. Good thing they have flags up at either side of the door to make things easier to figure out. The great things about this place is that it is comprised of multiple stalls that are rented out by people wanting to sell their collectibles. Every stall is different making it a place for all sorts of different styles. The staff is very helpful and will call the stall renter for you if you want to barter on an item. It had been years since I had last been and it was just as fun as I remembered it. Part flea market, part museum.
Below are some of my favorite and not so favorite finds.
The Good...

I had to show some real restraint when I found the cookie cutters and I loved the old tool boxes. I am a big lamp fan as well, can you tell? 

If I was going to buy anything it would have been a tea set bit nothing screamed out to me. I really liked the weathered cookie jar and the ice crusher might be on my Christmas wish list. I found some vintage linens with adorable retro bows printed on the corners that I thought seriously about buying. I forgot to get a picture of those (I think subconsciously so that no one else would buy them and I could go back and get them). 

My favorite things in the shop that day were these AMAZING porcelain bunnies...could you just die?!? I love them so much. These I definitely might go back to get...now I just need to find out where I would put them...

The Bad...

What tha??? Old timey toilet? Kinda gross. 

...and The Downright Creepy...

Nightmare inducing dolls that follow you with their vacant eyes....creeeeeeeppppyyyy...

English Nursery

I don't have children but I am fully preparing myself for when the day might actually come. And by preparing I mean from strictly a craft and design sense (I am still a iffy on changing a diaper and teaching them how to walk business) The Mr. and I have talked about it and we are considering not finding out the sex since it is one of life's  little surprises that God grants us. I have toyed around with the idea of a unisex nursery. Today's inspiration board is 'English Nusery' to honor my English heritage (my brother and I are both first generation on my mother's side). I am sorry that I don't have any references, I promise in the future I will. I tend to forget to make a note of them because when I look at something I think 'how can I make that myself?'