the silver (gold) lining

I just came back from the Union Design Festival (formerly Capsule) in Hayes Valley. There were lots of goods from independent artists, designers and crafters to be had. I will do a proper post for the festival but I just wanted to share the news that there is a new store opening in San Francisco in a few days.


Designers Adrienne Wiley of Frolick Jewelry and Liza Anongchanya of Ofina Jewelry have teamed up to open Covet, a boutique and design studio in the Inner Richmond. This is really great news and is a silver lining to all the not-so-great news we've been hearing lately about beloved independently owned stores and boutiques closing up shop in the city.

Today, I snapped up a necklace from Ofina. Her pieces are very simple and classic and priced very reasonably. I also own one of her lariats which I bought at last year's indie mart.

The 14k gold filled and bone necklace in the center is now mine :)

Please support local shops and designers, they play a huge part in making San Francisco the great city that it is.

Covet Grand Opening

Thursday, June 4 5-9PM

391 Arguello Blvd @ Clement St.

RSVP to covetsf@gmail.com

or call 415.751.1158

More information at covetsf.com

Our trip down undah: Sydney Markets and beaches

We spent a full week in Sydney. I really wanted to be there during the weekend so that we can experience the markets that Sydney is known for. We managed to visit 2 of them, the Glebe Markets and the sightly more posh Paddington Market.

I loved the Glebe Markets where there were a lot of independent designers and crafters. One thing that I noticed was that booth owners did not want anyone to take pictures of their wares. This was obviously a letdown for me. One person even asked us to delete any pictures we just took. Even though I was able to sneak a few pictures here and there, I don't think it's right for me to post them here so images for this post will be few and a bit generic.

I want to say though that I bought a very pretty necklace from lime lily. If you go to their site, you'll find a few images of their line.



One more thing that Sydney's not short of are beaches. I was amazed at how clean the beaches are. The water is almost always crystal clear and the sand so fine and white. We visited Bondi, Manly and Watsons Bay. It was so nice to just hang out at the beach for a few hours to relax. That's something that we rarely do here in Northern California.

Click on the image for a bigger view:

From Watsons Bay with a view of Sydney

A surfer at Manly Beach

A rock pool on the way to Manly from The Spit

Swimmers at Bondi

Our trip down undah: Melbourne

We just came back from a holiday in Australia. We spent most of our time in Sydney but we also took trips to both Melbourne and Tasmania.

One thing we loved about Australia in general is their very vibrant cafe culture. My husband and I each had our fair share of flat whites and cappuccinos, sometimes even having 2-3 cups a day.We couldn't help it! The coffee was so good and the cafes were too irresistible.

Having a flat white at Degraves

We were in Melbourne for only 2 days so we didn't really get to see too many things but one neighborhood we made sure to spend our time in was Fitzroy. Our Aussie friends told us that we'd definitely enjoy it there and they were right.



Brunswick street is lined with cafes, galleries, restaurants and shops. It was easy to spend the greater part of our day in this area. There were also a good number of shops that sold items by local Melbourne designers and artists.

Pillows by Bird Textiles

We also paid a visit to the Queen Victoria Market. There was an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. We also loved walking around the wet market where they sold meats, seafood, cheeses and more. We also made it a point to make a stop at the American Doughnut bus!

Yep, these 2 San Fransiscans traveled around the world to get american doughnuts. It was was really good!

ceramics class report + finished products

I took a ceramics wheel class in April and May at Ruby's Clay studio in Noe Valley in San Francisco. I'm trying out several creative outputs and since I never took any arts and crafts class in school (besides embroidery), I figure now's the time.



At the beginning of the class, I was being hard on myself. I couldn't figure out how to center on the wheel and could not remember the steps to make a bowl. I started talking to my classmate who have taken several ceramics classes before. She said that I shouldn't get frustrated, that I was doing well and that it's important to practice a lot. This made me feel a bit better. I started coming into the studio during drop in hours to practice.

I placed a tea cup beside it for size comparison.

I put too much glaze on this one so it ran.

Unfortunately, my instructor was not particularly instructive. I learned mostly by asking her questions (sometimes she was helpful, sometimes not), talking to my classmates, watching videos on you tube and practicing on my own time.

My husband says this one is his favorite, because it was one of a kind. This was supposed to be a taller cylinder but I had to cut the top off because it became too wobbly.

In the end, I enjoyed ceramics and have decided to take another class later in the year. I think this is something I can grow to love and enjoy over time.

terrariums by kat geiger

We went to the Glen Park festival today. Honestly, I was expecting a few food related booths, maybe some community services, some jewelry and not much else. Much to my surprise, I saw this wonderful booth full of terrariums by Kat Geiger.








I fell in love with the containers that she uses. I also love the little white houses that she placed in each of these containers. Some of these terrariums don't need any care. Like Kat said, they are enclosed in their own eco-system. Some of them just need to be misted every now and then. Isn't that fantastic? We bought a hanging tear drop shaped one.

Kat was recently featured on Apartment Therapy. She also sells her terrariums in several Bay Area stores like Urban Indigo, Fleurty and Apartment 46.

spring is here!

The weather has been so nice here the last few days. I took some pictures while walking around the city so I thought I'd share them with you.

left brain vs right brain

Here's the new Dialogue episode from Design For Mankind. It's refreshing to know that artists can also be list makers and that it's not strictly a left brain vs right brain thing. I am a project manager by trade and a list maker by heart so I definitely appreciate this.

I am also a very big procrastinator. I've only worked in an office, and I honestly cannot imagine how I will be if I end up working for my self or working from home. I don't think I will get anything done. Focus, focus, focus! I definitely relate to what Kelly Lynn Jones says that all things end once I turn the TV on.

Design For Mankind - Dialogue Episode 4 from Design For Mankind on Vimeo.

I Know What You're Thinking

3 wonderful artists have (had) their opening of their "I Know What You're Thinking" show tonight at Sloan Fine Art in New York City. I have been a fan of Caroline Hwang since I saw her show at Giant Robot here in San Francisco a couple of years ago. We were looking to buy one of her pieces but it was sold at a previous show so that was a bummer.



I have not heard of Seonna Hong prior to learning about this show but looking through her work, it looks like it is right up my alley. I am loving the little girls in her Viscery Loves Company series.



And of course, I am already a fan of Saelee Oh ever since I bought the Jill Bliss/Saelee Oh calendar in 2007. Look at the painting she did on her dad's laundry mat. I think it's lovely! Maybe this'll make me do more laundry. Maybe.

If you're in the area, this is definitely a must see!

'I Know What You're Thinking'
Seonna Hong, Caroline Hwang and Saelee Oh

Sloan Fine Art
128 Rivington Street
(corner of Norfolk)
New York, NY 10002
212.477.1140

Opening Reception: March 18th 7-9 pm
Show runs from March 18th - April 11th

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Wear green, be green and drink some beer! Here's some green from a few of my favorite etsy sellers. Cheers!

Crocheted Dog Scarf, $18

Apple Martini Millinery, $725

All Natural Laundry Detergent, $9

Evil Apple, $18 necklace

The Gardner Print, $18

Green Guilmore Heels, $22

friday favorite!

Yay! Just a quick post cuz I'm at work ;)

Mixed Plate blog Friday Favorite - flowery yoga mat bag.