oh, geez...

i have a soft-spot for hobos (he's actually a table lighter)...

it has been far too long since i have written! things have been crazy here in fog city (i know, it's no excuse) but i'm ready to fire-up this here blog once again...

as most of you know, we had a fire 6 months ago. things worked out just fine, the work is almost complete, but g has opted to keep things private - so i'll just say that it looks beautiful and leave it at that!

i've also taken a fab trip to vietnam (!) - i'll post pics soon - and started a new project for a friend. it's another gorgeous san francisco home - this time late edwardian (as opposed to my VERY victorian one) and BIG. like, it even has a garage. which is a true luxury here in fog city. stay tuned for some news on that front.

anywhoo, today i'm going to start with an easy post...

i took a trip up the california coast (with many stops for wine-tasting) for a weekend of antiquing with the girls. and picked up a few new cuties for the house. check out all of my new boyfriends!

and also for ringmasters (esp. when pose as adorable piggy banks).

and who could resist "clippy" the paper-clip holder? (though he may actually be promoted to toothbrush holder.)

i love old neon signs. this one is made more awesome by the fact that the acrylic has faded to yellow and hot pink - making it OH SO GIRLY. perfect with the pink and orange flowers in my office.

here are a few photos from the trip, in case you're interested...

everything's just perfectly rusted up here. and check out those beautiful california poppies!

lunch at sequoia burger! nomnomnom.

water lilies at j vineyards

the inn in timber cove. so so so great. nothing around for at least 20 miles.

after dinner - toes up by the fire at the inn! (and time for S'MORES!)

what trip is complete without thomas magnum? perfect late late late night viewing (with wine and cheese, of course).

early morning walk along the cove

and a view back towards the hotel from the walking trail

brunch in guerneville. sometimes, in wine country you have to branch out and drink something other than wine. like sparkling wine. with fresh lemonade and mint. mmmmmmmm...

wild lupine on highway one.

dog days of summer.

dear readers,

i can't believe it's been so long since i've updated my little blog!

i know you are all AVID readers of fog city sparkle (ha! that was funny!) so i do hereby swear to begin updating this more regularly again - espcially with summer waning here in san francisco.

indian summer in san francisco: this morning's sunrise from my stoop

[tip for non-sf readers: always plan to visit our fair city in september and early october to get the very best weather. we don't have perpetual summer like they did on 90210 (the real one - not this silly remake filled with walking, talking twigs).]

so, what have i been up to on the home front? not too much that is of interest to you probably. we are working on converting our building from tics to condos and, with sf's myriad ridiculous laws, it is enough to make you bonkers. so our house fixes of late have all been of the "bring this up to code" variety - and not the "ooh, look at this amazing fabric i have to do something with it" kind.

however, i have some ideas percolating (and some new silk curtains to make), so it's time to get to work - and get to posting!

in the short term, here's something fun: my first (and only) tomato of the season!

it's finally been hot enough to ripen the two tomatoes that have been on the vine for months. one get eaten overnight but i managed to pick this one (a black cherry heirloom) this morning. huzzah!

okay - be back soon with some good stuff for you!

jen x

i'll tell ya what i want. what i really, really want...

my favorite find of the day: a 1950s china girl bobblehead. she looks like me!

somedays all a girl wants is a nice day in the sun, all to herself. a day filled with shopping, hand-cut french fries, driving too fast on sun-dappled winding roads through ancient redwoods, and a good book on the beach.

well, that's how i spent my saturday and it was GLORIOUS.

i hopped in the car and headed over the golden gate bridge (for those of you not from here, no, i never do get tired of seeing it!) and up towards sonoma.

first stop was vintage bank antiques in petaluma, an old gold mine boom town. this place is AMAZING. a decomissioned bank filled with antiques top-to-toe. you can even walk through the old vaults.

i could have spent hours here, but i was itching to head a bit further north on the gravenstein highway (yup, we gots the apples!) to sebastopol, another ag and gold mine boom town just a few miles up the road.

first stop is always llano house. it's beautiful little cottage and barn filled with depression glass treasures and great vintage chairs.
no luck for me though so i headed to my favorite, ray's trading and salvage.
ray's is filled to the brim with vintage cast iron goodies and salvaged doors (which i plan to acquire a dozen of when i am ready to restore all of the doorways in my house). in his yard i found these lovelies, which came home with me.
click the photo to look closer - don't you love the *mustachioed lions' heads* in the centers?!

they will soon become a loveseat-sized park bench in my backyard - for lovers (in the victorian sense - get your mind out of the gutter!) to canoodle on when we have backyard parties.

with that success under my belt, i happily headed to fft and found a pair of these! *swoon*

if you've seen photos of the house exterior, you know it is DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. however, someone did a runner with our original doors. i'm thinking this pair might be the perfect replacement. what do you think?

then i headed to the big-daddy of sebastopol antiques, the antique society. i got lucky again and found a pair of embossed thonet-style chairs...
a great bottle opener to mount to the wall in the backyard...

well, this just about sums my style up in one picture, doesn't it?!

and a pretty little gilded bud vase for the guest room.
after all of that, i was famished and hit sequoia burger, a little mom-and-pop burger stand, for one of my all-time favorite burgers (and a SMALL side of their hand-cut cajuns).
fortified, i hit the bohemian highway (yes, that name is FOR REAL)...
and ended up here...
on the beach in monte rio. and i (finally) read water for elephants, cover-to-cover.
it was a GREAT day. just what i wanted.

the first time....

"can you tell from the look on my face that i... love you more TODAAAAAY..."

one year ago today i walked into this house for the first time. i didn't know it at the time, but i had finally come home.

this year has been a whirlwind - and rather like falling in love. joy, doubt, fear, butterflies, and hard work. and i wouldn't trade a single second.

here's a quick look back at that first day. these are the photos i took at the open house (click the photo to see a larger version). and click here for an intro to this crazy project.

we've certainly come a long way!
(top row, l-r) entrance, downstairs hallway, formal dining room, living room

(2nd row, l-r) downstairs (illegal) bathroom, kitchen, view of city hall from kitchen, upstairs hallway

(3rd row, l-r) master bedroom, master - 2 closets. w00t!, view from master (you can see the bay!), guest bedroom

(4th row, l-r) upstairs bathroom, office, view from office, backyard

(last row, l-r) backyard, backyard entrance to basement, basement

"although sometime has passed
i still remember just like it was yesterday.
the time is moving fast.
the love i have for you
time won't ever change -
i'll always feel the same
now until the end..."

i want cake!

while most of you follow this blog to see what i'm up to on the home front, some of you know that one of my other creative outlets is cake making. i'm not a professional, so this is just a hobby that happens a few times a year, but i really do enjoy it.

all of these cakes are made with one of my very best friends, sarah, who will be leaving with her husband and 3-year-old twins to travel the world for a year. in honor of her husband's birthday, and their trip, we made a cake to celebrate.

the cake is topped with edible likenesses of the girls (though they insisted "don't cut me!" and "please, mommy, don't let anyone EAT me!") and a *very* inaccurate map of the world showing some of their planned stops. (one friend remarked "i'm not great with geography, but WHAT PLANET is that?" haha.)

for those of you who are interested, here are a few (crappy cell phone) photos i took while we made and served the cake.

covering the ugly (and delicious) thing with blue and white marbled fondant.

add partial continents and flags (that's the old vietnamese flag, nguyễn dfynasty/ pre-communism, on the top right for those of you who aren't familiar.)

serving to many appreciative little people.

happy kids.
and a happy gracie.

iceland again.

if you read this the first time around, go ahead and give it a skip.

i was reading more about the motherland, and eyjafjallajokull volcano today (fascinating, right), when i thought to myself that it might be a good idea to remind my readers (all two of you) that iceland isn't so bad!

so, here again is the post i put together after christmas in iceland, meeting the fam!

me at the blue lagoon. the colors were indescribable!

i know that this blog is supposed to be about the process of renovating and decorating the house, but i still thought it relevant to include a post about my trip to iceland last month. after all, each place that we go leaves an indelible impression upon us and changes us - which ultimately influences how we live. for me iceland was about the colors, the simple and modern interiors, and all of the fabulous art.

street art in reykjavik. i heart graffiti.

some of you will undoubtedly ask "WHY ICELAND? and why iceland in the MIDDLE OF WINTER?!" well, it's simple really. my grandmother was from a small town in the north of iceland, akureyri (note: this is the 2nd largest city in the country at 17 thousand people. a HUGE portion of the population, 200k+ out of 300, lives in reykjavik).

my grandfather met her when he was stationed in iceland during WWII - and she broke off her engagement with some poor local boy to run off to the u.s. and marry this tall, handsome american boy.

the fjörds of akureyri, where my grandmother was from.

akureyri architecture - surprisingly like home!

i'd never visited but my dad and i had talked about it for years as he had not been either. and so, when he saw a great deal in one of his travel newsletters, we leapt at the chance. and i then got in touch with my family there (not hard since we are actually in almost daily contact despite the fact that we'd never visited) and made plans to meet them all.

we flew in for a very short trip - just 6 days because i have taken so much time off this year to deal with the house, and had a fantastic time.

perpetual dusk in the wintertime - great since it's my favorite time of day!

iceland LOVES christmas.

meeting my family was a memory i will treasure forever. i was the only non blue-eyed person there (my mother is from taiwan, my father met her when he was stationed there during the vietnam war), but i felt like i fit right in. i saw my freckles, i heard my laugh, and felt my grandmother's spirit in them all.

my family (and me looking, and feeling, like a drowned rat!)

what struck me, too, wass how big a part of the culture art, in all its forms, is with icelanders. from food to sculpture to street art to fashion - iceland is at the cutting edge of it all. you can't walk through reykjavik, in particular, without noticing.

SWOON! local fashion is gorgeous (and expensive- these were over $600 u.s.)!

bronze statues in reykjavik's town center.

tasted as good as it looked!

there's so much to see in iceland and the people are so warm and lovely - there's no doubt that i will return.

enjoying our favorite pastime.

one too many for dad?

i hope you've enjoyed "getting away from it all" with me, even for a few minutes! i've kept this VERY brief, but will write more if you all seem interested - it's a fascinating place.

jen x

me and dad at gullfoss.

and one of my favorite songs from "cousin" björk for your entertainment: