plants and flowers

While some friends were here visiting, we took a trip to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park and it happens to be my favorite time of year-dahlia season. So many gorgeous flowers!

more spring

We have had a bit of a heat wave recently. So hot in fact that I took the kids to swim in the ocean and that is something of a shock here in San Francisco. Yesterday I convinced the twins to walk all the way down the hill and back up with a bribe of frozen yogurt. They totally went for it.

checking in

Hi. I feel like I'm juggling a lot right now, and the first thing to get dropped seems to be the blog. I'm sorry about that. Here are a few images for you from the current Bouquets to Art at the DeYoung. For those of you who don't know, it's an opportunity for florists to interpret pieces of art from the museum. This is the 27th year they've held it! I highly recommend checking it out this week-up until Saturday. More information can be found here. The image is my friend (and occasional boss) Natalie Bowen Designs. No surprise, but I really love her piece!

the occasional florist

Over the weekend, I loaned a hand to Natalie Bowen Designs so she could take a rare weekend off. These lovely little arrangements were for a baby shower and smelled absolutely divine from the narcissus and freesia. Also over the weekend, we dug the brine olives out of the basement for a taste and fresh brine. We were pretty excited how not gross they are. The 3 buckets of water cured olives have also greatly improved and are now being flavored. Anyone who lives nearby and wants olives, just let me know. In about a week I will have 10 pounds to give away.

one of my jobs

I can't take credit for any of the design behind this fantastic wedding, I just came in at the end to help it all come together. I'd never been to Capay, but the dead grass, rollings hills and big sky reminded my of home.

june

It's such a lovely time of year for wedding flowers. I helped out yesterday in the 102 degree weather. We had to keep the arrangements in the shade until the absolute last minute, but thankfully we were sitting under apple trees in gorgeous Guerneville. It was really one of the lovelier weddings I've seen in a long time. The perfect garden party with a touch of The Great Gatsby. I would have loved to be a guest at this wedding, drinking lemonade and playing croquet. Dancing under strings of lights in an orchard on a warm summer night.

herbs and flowers

This is my kitchen window this week.

solo

I'm alone for the weekend. After almost nine years together, it doesn't seem that we feel the need to impress one another much, but I have to say, having the house to myself has really given me the chance to let loose. By that I mean that I slept in, drank coffee in bed and spent time on the internet. I got up and showered, ate something and then wasted time on the internet. I mopped the entire house because I was cold and nothing gets the blood flowing quite like mopping and then I passed a little time on the internet. It's not like I got nothing done but I'm going to be honest here, I found a new website and I spent a few hours reading it. It had me laughing so hard I got embarrassed (and I'm home alone!) and I'll admit I shed a tear or two. I'll give you the link. 

I'll also give you some ranunculus because they are gorgeous.

 

 

spring?

I don't love the weather in San Francisco. In fact, I really don't like it at all. I know, I know, it never gets muggy, the pipes never freeze, it's mild all year round. But I miss seasons. It's been raining a lot here, and it's colder now than it was a few months ago, but look what I found over the weekend. And it's not just one tree, it's lots of them. C'mon, it's the second of February!

flowers

Dinner guests who bring flowers are the best.

cleanest house ever

The ATSF photographer came this morning. It was exciting having her here. Bonus: the house is as clean and put together as it's ever been. I absolutely love that feeling. Here are a few shots that I took, please remember I'm still figuring out how the camera works.

farmer's market

At the market this morning.




These might be the last images you see from my trusty little Power Shot A530. We've been saving (and by that I mean Cristina has been saving) for the last 6 months and bought ourselves a Canon Rebel T1i. I'm signing myself up for a proper class on how to use it because it's way beyond me. We chose this one because it also shoots HD video which pleases The Heated.

flowers

Dahlias are my absolute favorite flower, and they can't really be grown year round. During their season (late summer/early fall) I try to see and buy as many as possible. I kind of skimmed the farmer's market today, but this amazing bunch came home with me. I set up a photo shoot on the deck to take shots for Etsy, and these got taken by accident too.

early morning flowers

I did the flowers for Coco500 before work yesterday. It's a dark shot, but I liked the very fall feeling of the arrangement; branches, mums, rosehips and pin cushion protea in bright green and an orangey-red.