today

fika and a silvery ferry ride

finally back to the blog after moving to vallejo!

winter light

happy holidays!

before / after

 
front cafe in SF

 

flew down to so cal and back with no drugs/alcohol. normally i need something to handle flying without hyperventilating/panicking (even though i've flown many times in my life). occasionally, when there is no turbulence, and i am able to focus on the beautiful views, i do not totally freak out. i do love seeing my home from above. i love that the island of alameda can be so easily seen as a whole. it's graspable (both from above and on foot/bike). i see the green park street bridge, and from there can figure out what the other visible main streets are and where my house is. 

after flying over alameda, we passed over the golden gate, which looked like a bright toy bridge against the blue. and then water and more water and the blinding sun casting a gigantic gold circle on the water. and then some rows of curvy clouds lined up seemingly evenly spaced, like a letter written in cloud instead of ink. i got lost in the incredible beauty of the earth, instead of in thinking about how insane it is to be up so high. was still completely exhausted by managing the anxiety though.

at my parents' i sat in the sun on the front steps in the mornings. it was strange and still without any dogs around. first time ever in my life that my parents have been without dogs. no one running up to wipe their shaggy sandy schnauzer beards on me. 

saw two of my long time/lifelong friends and then back up to my insistent lap cat, PL. a short but sweet trip.

december

 
wispy clouded, sweets-filled, a fika mamma

the glögg is made, the tree is trimmed, the candles burning and the rain falling (finally).

into the holiday winter spirit

with some homemade glögg and kanel bullar (above)

wintery photo goodness
so cozy
reindeer
trees

goodness
i like sunken treasure's moon calendar and prismatic print shop's astrology calendar.
maria's come darkness scarves and book (scroll down) look gorgeous.
hanna konola's holiday cards

saturday treats

jen and i delivered some of our show opening announcements around town saturday. we went to prairie collective (pictured above) for the first time. the shop is lovely.




midway through passing out cards, we were forced (by our sweet teeth) to stop by tartine. i almost want to eat the cakes and pastries for their stunning good looks alone. luckily they taste even better than they look.

emporio rulli aka decadence

fika in larkspur

emporio rulli is an italian cafe, gelateria and wine shop with an old timey italian feel. there in the kitchen they make candy, tarts, gelato and many italian pastries. (the pastries were definitely better than the cookies.) the chocolate pastry above had a raspberry paste inside. so good! mmm m.
oh and the coffee is delicious too.

how did i miss this?!

i often wander over to the contemporary jewish museum on my lunch break because i like the architecture and landscaped courtyard there. i can't believe i have walked past a swiss chocolatier, schoggi, and not noticed it right there next to the museum!

today was the perfect day (grey with impending rain) for a hot chocolate. i was actually looking for a new hot chocolate place today, and lo and behold!

i like how the chocolates match the buildings outside—sculpted shapes and similar colors.

i have never been that big on downtown sf, but working downtown, it is growing on me. i like hearing the different languages of the tourists and looking up at the windows scaling the sky (flashing clouds around like disco balls) it's crazy that buildings can be so tall. it really is.

should have posted yesterday's radical chocolate link today.

a fika story

ever since i was little, my mom has occasionally taught once a week night classes in swedish at community colleges, in addition to her regular high school teaching gig (teaching german and french and yearbook). now she's retired, but teaching the swedish class again. she was telling me that last night the lesson was all about conversations around coffee.

she made coffee for her students and brought pepparkakor, and then they talked in swedish about things like whether they wanted milk or sugar in their coffee. of course my first question was, "did you tell them about fika?" and she said she forgot! shocking, right?! i love that in this art-craft blog world so many non-swedes now know about fika. ah the wonders of the world wide web.

(my mom will tell her students about fika next week. we don't want them to be completely clueless and deprived.)