a love supreme

Today marks my parents' 42nd wedding anniversary! Kudos to them, right?! I've been blessed to witness my parents' love for each other. Their love is truly a love supreme. Wedded in 1969, their story is one that makes even the cynical at heart think fate just might exist. Born and raised on opposite sides of the world, their paths crossed in college and their lives have been united since. I think they are the perfect duo; a true ying and yang couple possessing shared values that bind them. 

Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! 

classic color combinations #2 - blue and green

I've always been of the mind-set that if a color combination occurs in nature then it's fail safe. A recent walk around my neighborhood inspired me and made me realize how blue and green is one of the most calming color combinations. Think of all greens and blues that can be seen outdoors and all of the senses that are triggered from those colors. As I write this I can see a light blue sky and an abundance of emerald green leaves, but I also hear the breeze through those leaves as if the wind/sky gives sound to these colors. When you think about how intertwined our senses are, isn't it quite remarkable? 

a neighbor's gorgeous irises -
aren't they striking?

I love the silhouette of trees against the sky -
blue and green at its classic best!

also photographed from a neighbor's garden -
there's a certain regal whimsy to these flowers

could there be any better spotlight to
showcase these light blue flowers against
their deep green backdrop?

from the garden - a simple salad

Our garden's first "harvest" yielded a deliciously simple salad. The addition of dill and chives - also from the garden - enhanced our arugula and red and green leaf lettuces with herbal freshness. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and freshly ground pepper made for the perfect dressing.

There's something so gratifying about growing a vegetable garden. I'm looking forward to more and more freshly picked veggies from the garden over the next months.  

fresh from the garden

lovely shades of green

light and reflections

A sparkly, ceiling to floor piece of art at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. I love how it catches and reflects light against both a black and white wall. The pictures don't really do it justice - quite mesmerizing in person!

flowerful Friday

Growing in my garden is a type of Columbine, called Aquilegia Dorothea Rose. They are pale pink, delicate, and quite adorable. This is an old-fashioned Columbine, and they're referred to as "Granny's Bonnets". They've been around since 1597!  I purchased mine through White Flower Farm - my most favorite of gardening websites and catalogs. Along with my new bud vases I think they made a lovely combination that I can't look at without smiling.

pink Granny Bonnets with peony leaves
in my new bud vase -
isn't it pretty?

Happy Friday!

San Francisco's Chinatown, part 2

One of my favorite aspects of San Francisco's Chinatown is that it's a real neighborhood with real people living and working. There's nothing fake about it. 

When I travel, I try to take candid shots of locals, which can be challenging for me, because I never want to intrude, so I try my best to be quite sly about taking pictures of strangers. I still have work to do to get better at this! Here are a few photos I did manage to shoot of a few Chinatown denizens. I think each speaks volumes about the vibrant community that is San Francisco's Chinatown.

elderly man waiting
to cross the street -
look at his face,
what do you see?

it might be hard to tell what's going on here - but,
it's a back alley game of badminton!
these boys were so fun to watch

locals out grocery shopping

an elderly lady -
I think she was going home
I like her pants!  :-)

pint sized friends

One of the major milestones in life is to see one's friends meet their future spouse or partner. For me, it's pure happiness to see my friends meet, fall in love with, and have share their life with someone who treats them with the utmost respect and love. 

The other major milestone that I'm now experiencing is seeing my friends become parents. This has been a joy! It's not only wonderful to see friends as loving parents, but I adore seeing my friends' babies  and children grow into little people with such big personalities - they are so much fun and they're my pint size friends. Once they start talking, the hilarity that they can express is priceless. It is an exciting prospect to think of each of these little ones growing up, and I know they are in such loving hands because their parents are truly wonderful friends, and I can't imagine how anyone who is a great friend would be anything but an outstanding parent too!

Here are a few of my pint sized friends...

the handsomest little fellow
and so cuddly -
the most amazing eyes, 6 months

my beautiful and tender
little God-daughter -
all smiles and giggles! 18 months

the sweetest little girl
with so much to say -
enjoying a little monkey friend
and a jasmine blossom
3 1/2 years

San Francisco's Chinatown, part 1

This past weekend, I met a dear friend in San Francisco - we both flew in for a little weekend get-away.  We saw some sights, ate amazing food, and took lots of photos. We're both into photography, and it was fun to have someone else to shoot with. 

San Francisco's Chinatown is a place where I love meandering and just taking it all in. There is so much to see and so much great food to enjoy. We had some delicious dim sum at a restaurant where we were in the minority by speaking English. It is a neighborhood like no other I've been to in the U.S. because it is still so distinct from its surroundings. I love that its residents have kept their culture so alive.  

the main drag in Chinatown

what a contrast!

typical buildings in the neighborhood

the sound of music

Thrilled isn't an adequate enough of a word to describe how I felt when our new piano arrived last week. I was positively elated, giddy, and ready to start playing! The delivery men seemed quite tickled to see such a enthusiastic, almost child-like response from me as they brought the piano inside.

Both my husband and I grew up in households with a piano, and we - though neither of us are exceptional players - felt that a piano was something that we wanted for our home too since we are both lovers of music. Don't you think there is something to be said about a home filled with music? The new piano has been a source of pure pleasure. There's lots of practicing to be done, but that's OK - there's absolutely no pressure for us to perform - it's simply a musical and creative outlet for both of us and has proved to be a great way for us to relax at the end of the day.

isn't it beautiful?

I think it looks lovely in our living room, the sound is glorious, and to me, the best part of our new piano is that we will have it and happy memories associated with it with us throughout our lives. The sound of music is so powerful!

a continual theme: still lifes of fruits

A month or so back I wrote a post about an art theme - still lifes of flowers and showed a few images of these types of paintings over the ages. I think it's just such an interesting way to look at art; you take one basic subject matter, like flowers, and see how through the years artists' portrayals of these very same objects change, sometimes radically. 

I thought I would bring back the "continual theme" post, this time with still lifes of fruit. The 3 images below were all photographed at the Art Institute of Chicago and range in date from 1630 to 1926. Interesting enough, each artist is French and perhaps unexpectedly, the oldest of these pieces was painted by a French woman. I think all of these paintings are beautiful in their own respective styles, but of course I have a favorite. Do you? Which one would you like to see hanging on your living room wall?  

Still Life with Basket of Fruit
and a Bunch of Asparagus
by Louise Moillon, French
this dates from 1630 

Fruits of the Midi
by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French
this dates from 1881

Lemons on a Pewter Plate
by Henri Matisse, French
this dates from 1926

light and reflections

Do you have a favorite scent? I don't know if I have a favorite scent in general, but I do have a favorite candle. It's called Aloha Orchid, and is sold at Anthropologie, comes in a beautiful deep cobalt blue glass jar and smells divine - like tropical flowers in the afternoon sun. 

Doesn't the candle cast a lovely glow?

I wish you could enjoy the scent too!

Flowerful Friday

Antwerp, 1906

I've never been to Antwerp, but this oil on canvas painting by Georges Braque, makes me think it must be a delightful location. The painting dates from 1906, and is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. The colorful, almost playful hues are so cheerful. Braque incorporates a lot of saffrony-yellow into this painting, which just happens to be my favorite color. Isn't it amazing how even the smoke stacks off in the distance look quite beautiful in Braque's rendition of this city? 

Antwerp, 1906
an amazing use of color, making
me think Braque was truly fond
of this Belgium city

I think Braque's career is incredibly interesting because while he started off as an Impressionist painter, his style morphed through the years. The next style or school of art to which he belonged is called Fauvism. This school, included fellow artist Henri Matisse, and is known for brilliant uses of color - representing an emotional response to the artist's subject. Don't you think this portrayal of Antwerp fits that category? Later on in Braque's life, he along with Pablo Picasso were the key players in the Cubism movement. 

tiers of joy

One of highlights of spring is when our lovely little crab apple blooms. The light flowers have a delicate scent. Their fragrance reminds me so much of being a young girl and playing outside in the springtime. There were crab apple trees at a nearby park that along with my best childhood friend, I would climb and sit up on the limbs for what seemed like hours.

One addition I decided to incorporate into our mostly white garden with our crab apple found just outside our kitchen, is an adorable 3 tiered plant stand - a wedding shower gift from family friends. In the pots, I planted the palest of yellow petunias. It makes for a joyful view from inside our house.   

petunias, flowering crab apple, herb garden,
and of course, our garden gnome