Sidewalk Suture

Everytime I walk over these warning marks I think of a wound that has
been sutured up.

Ritual of Duty and Devotion

We were at the de Young today for the Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective (a good show and a great collection of his work) when we happened upon the sweetest scene. We were on our way to the gift shop when we passed a window and noticed a pigeon waddle by. He had a leaf in his mouth and was hastily heading in our direction. At his destination? Another pigeon nestled amongst a spread of leaves each of which had already made the trek from the corner of the courtyard in the beak of it's proud courier. We watched as he fulfilled his duty with dogged determination -- waddling around, tossing aside everything except the best leaves (nothing torn or mangled made the cut), and returning with his find to the side of his truest mate. Each leaf a representation of the relationship between the two birds. Sure, I may be romanticising things a bit but with all of the drama that we fill our lives with on a daily basis, isn't it nice to be reminded of how simple true devotion can be?

Fort Funston

This weekend we took Baz to Fort Funston Beach to stretch his legs. If
you have a dog in the bay area, this beach is tops.

Merci Switzerland!

Recently I was lucky enough to be sent to Switzerland on business and when I wasn't working I made sure that I was either eating or walking around looking for something to eat. We stayed in Neuchatel and took a day trip to Geneve. Their appreciation for good design and delightful food was evident in the thoughtful execution of everything from a fisherman's shed to a child's slide. It made me wonder where our sense of style and our appreciation for beauty have gone? I wish the words "thoughtful" and "delightful" sprang to my mind as often as they did in Switzerland.

Though I didn't take many photos of all of the food that ended up in my belly, I did take lots of the local scenery and simple beauty that surrounded me. Enjoy!

These are boat sheds next to the docks that housed local resident's sailboats. Such a simple way to add color to a landscape and turn an otherwise boring eyesore (think of those plastic sheds from Home Depot...ACK!) into a beautiful element.

The water at the docks (and everywhere else for that matter) was so clear. The plant life living beneath the glassy surface of the water was beautiful...in a spooky kind of way.

For those of you who know me, you know that I'm not a chocolate person. Dee has always been the one in the family who loves the stuff but let me tell you...Swiss chocolate has ruined me for life! Oh creamy goodness, how I miss thee.

(drooling...)

Pantone cups at a design store in Geneve (we must have walked into about 3 or 4 of them within a 2 mile radius). My favorite is the coffee series located in the back.

A local fishing shed in Neuchatel is made more elegant by just adding some wood panels to redefine (not cover) the metal and fiberglass siding underneath.

The front entrance of the same fishery.

Woolly Mammoth slides at a playground in Neuchatel sans metal bars ;)

Almost every window has a form of shutter in Switzerland each having their own characteristics and displaying their wear with pride.

Some local art on the walls of an underpass in Neuchatel.

The window frame of a jeweler displays hand-painted diagrams of the tools of the trade.

An olive oil chandelier in Geneve.

Yummy pizza served on a wooden board. Look at how thin that crust is!

On the Road

These are just a few of the pictures from the road trip Craig and I took up the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to San Francisco. Everyone has always said how beautiful that ride is, but it wasn't until the wind from the Pacific Ocean was whipping my hair in my face and the colors of the wildflowers were surrounding me that I really knew what they were talking about.


The natural landscape of the California coast is beautiful.

Lazy days for the seals that lined various rock beaches along the coast. It made me sleepy just looking at them.

Along the way we stayed a night in Pacific Grove which is right next door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's an amazing facility and there was a lot of beauty to be found but still it was sad to see wildlife such as otter living behind glass and under fluorescent lights.

Jellyfish are beautiful creatures...the layering, colors, and varying forms are so elegant.


Moon Jellies
An antique clock shop on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove

The windblown trees of Pacific Grove

And finally at the end of the road...San Francisco, my new home :)