(japanese tea garden in san francisco! x0x0x)
so excited to be working in california again! x00xx
june's FEATURED QUILT of the month by my mother, ann rhode! x0x0x
(fly bye 2026 by ann rhode, 37W x 37L”)
ann’s fly bye was inspired by a quilt made of wood. she started in the middle and added borders of various scrap strips until it felt done. the flying birds seemed perfect to depict the freedom of the piece.
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MIAMI! x0x0x
in travel
recently we went to a wedding in miami (which was a whole spectacular story in itself) and i got to walk the art deco district in south beach. i felt like i was on a perfectly curated movie set… the buildings were all painted pastel, cotton candy colors with the delightful curves and lines of the deco period. the SKY was brilliant, clear blue and ocean was pale TURQUIOSE. this ocean looked nothing like my northern california pacific… unfortunately, i didn’t get a photo of it as i was a little overstimulated and foggy headed (which seems to be my norm these days… i’m not sure what is going on with my brain, but i feels like tissue paper, easily torn and fragmented - for example, when i packed for the wedding i carefully put all of my wedding outfits and accessories into my suitcase and totally forgot to bring CLOTHES for the daytime. i walked the deco district in the jeans i wore on the plane since i didn’t pack a single sundress and it was a HOT tomale that day.)
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i left my heart in san francisco... x0x0x
(stunning berkeley marina sunset! x0x0x)
i LOVE pompadour! x00xx
in travel
even though we haven’t lived in amsterdam for sixteen years (i can’t believe it’s been that long!), when friends are traveling to the netherlands, i still get asked about my favorite spots. the top of the list is always POMPADOUR chocolate shop. this beautiful, jewelbox of a place was right around the corner from our apartment and theo and i used to go there several times a week. the front of the store has cases of gorgeous little cakes and chocolates and the back has pretty marble tables where you can have coffee and tea or a tosti (the dutch version of a grilled cheese, but smaller and not buttery.) theo and i popped in on rainy afternoons to meet his sweet friend, ruby, and her adorable mama. theo and ruby would have hot chocolates and i typically had a mint tea (which was made with real sprigs of mint) and served with a little almond cake… DELICIOUS!
Read Moreso much fun to be working in the bay area! x0x0x
grafitti in nature! x0x0x
(the end of the tunnel with the mountains in the background)
over spring break we went to tahoe with dear friends. since there wasn’t much snow (and even after 14 years in colorado i don’t ski anyway, but i am quite good at apres ski!) we did other excursions in the mountains. one of them was visiting the donner summit railroad tunnels built between 1865 and 1868 by over 12,000 chinese laborers. these tunnels are an astounding engineering feat created with only sledgehammers, picks and explosives. 15 tunnels were carved through SOLID GRANITE… progress was slow, they typically only managed 14 inches a day, but they completed them 15 months ahead of schedule. the chinese workers were not acknowledged when leland stanford opened them in 1869, nor were they mentioned at the one hundred year anniversary. it wasn’t until the 150 year anniversary that their contribution was celebrated by then US transportation secretary elaine chao, herself a chinese american immigrant. the tunnels were eventually abandoned and closed in 1993. they were finally designated a national historic landmark in december of 2024.
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HAPPIEST MOTHER'S DAY 2026! x0x0x
while for the majority of my life to date i was not a mother, this role is such an intrinsic part of who i am that it feels like i have always been one. and in some sense i think i have… i read that all the eggs a woman has are present at birth, just waiting for their moment. so it’s really just this ongoing, overlapping ribbon of motherhood tying us all together, generation after generation. and that feels right. i am definitely still mothered by my own mama who encourages and supports and worries over me, even though technically i have been an adult for almost forty years. i also feel mothered and protected by my grandmothers, long gone, as their advice and examples reside in my consciousness. as hilary says, “it takes a village!” it’s too much for one woman to bear the sole responsibility for the safety and development of human beings. we need the grannies and aunties and fairy godmothers and best friends to bolster our mothering.
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just THE BEST to be home! x0x
(southside rooftop view of san francisco! x0x)
may's FEATURED QUILT of the month by my mother, ann rhode! x0x0xx
in quilts
(it’s only a little planet 1999 by ann rhode, 40W x 39L”)
it’s only a little planet is the result of a “challenge” that judi warren blayden set up. judi asked a group of quilters to respond to a quotation by robinson jeffers in quilt form. this quilt with repeating circular planets of varying sizes is ann’s interpretation of jeffers’ quote.
robinson jeffers:
“it is only a little planet, but how beautiful it is”
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i'm thrilled to be home in california! x0x0x
GAME OVER hip hop dance performances by DESTINY ARTS this weekend! x0x0xx
the incredible kids from destiny arts have been rehearsing and dancing their tails off for their series of hip hop dance performances this coming weekend. see below for tickets… it’s going to be AMAZING! x0x0xx
HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY adam chasnow! x00xx
today the father of my children is having a BIG birthday. out of respect for his privacy, i won’t say which one, but it is a DOOZY and it falls somewhere between fifty-nine and sixty-one… so please join me in celebrating him for reaching this special, well-earned, new decade. HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY adam! wishing you everything wonderful! x0x0x
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i really LOVE new orleans! x0x0x
i just can’t get enough of new orleans. i planned a trip in march because i didn’t think theo was coming home for spring break and not seeing him for a whole semester was too upsetting… but then he DID come home and it was a bonus visit!
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recap of the eggy holidays! x0x0xx
this is one of those years that passover and easter were right on top of each other, which can be exhausting for the mama in a family that celebrates everything. we made the decision not to host a big seder like we usually do… partly because the big kid couldn’t come home from college and partly because the littler kid and i were going to be in the mountains until the evening before the seder and it’s too hard to pull together with so little time. so we ordered in a lot of the meal from saul’s and i really only made the seder plate and the charoset. i was worried that it would feel sad, but it was actually super calm and easy. we all fit at the round table and we facetimed theo in. i am still getting used to celebrating some things without him. he wasn’t here for either valentine’s day or st. patrick’s… although i heard that both cupid and the leprechauns found him in new orleans.
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HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY lucy lu! x0x0x0x
my baby girl is “SWEET” SIXTEEN today! but she is so much more than that… she is hilarious and ferocious and silly and unpredictable and empathetic and giant-hearted and completely OUT OF THE BOX. i am continually flabbergasted by her because my natural state is pretty deep IN the box. i follow rules and recipes and traditions and norms and google maps and i keep lists and agendas and spreadsheets and plans. that’s not really how she operates. and after SIXTEEN years of living with her, i am just beginning to understand that. it’s not like she hasn’t been clear her entire life… she’s always expressed herself. i have just been slow to recognize that my organized, efficient, strategic and “proper” (boring?) path is not the one she’s on. hers is much more exciting and curvy and creative and i’m finally realizing that i’ve just got to let her go and hope that every once and a while she will need a water break and i will be able catch up with her for a bit.
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thrilled to be designing in my home town! x0xx
(beautiful bay view from tilden park! x0x)
april's FEATURED QUILT of the month by my mother, ann rhode! x0x0x
in quilts
(tulip bouquet 2018 by ann rhode, 44W x 46L”)
ann was given a beautiful bouquet of long stemmed tulips and each day they would dip and change their position in the vase. she captured them daily in photos and recreated them in fabric.
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REPOST: easter comfort food
* in anticipation of easter i am reposting my mother’s easter brunch recipes, in case you are headed to the market soon for your holiday shop. i will only have one of my little duckies home this year as the other one decided to go to college. i AM grateful that he made it to university, but i MISS him so much and will probably be stuffing my face with far too many of my mama’s easter buns to sooth myself… HAPPY, HAPPY EASTER! x0x0x
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