India Hicks

India Hicks continues to charm me with her pleasant genuine personality (as seen on Top Design) and her organic style. Wanting to escape away to the tropics? Check out her Island Living website for a peek at a certain type of serenity.

Toy Kitchens

Is it just me, or have you also been seeing Toy Kitchens' everywhere? They are quite a bit more stylish and chic than those ones I remember from back in the day.

1: Pomme
2: Pottery Barn Kids

Orange Beautiful

Orange Beautiful's paper treats bring a big smile to my face. Not only are their cards gorgeous to look at, but they are impeccably well-crafted and perfect to send to pretty much everyone. Along with their letterpress card line, they do beautiful custom work you should definitely see. Be sure to also check out their etsy.

Along with their oodles of talent, they have a top-notch blog called the Scoop (I hope you already know about) where Emily and Laura showcase their fabulous finds.

Counting with Wayne Thiebaud

I received this great Counting with Wayne Thiebaud board book in the mail the other day from Chronicle Books. My daughter loved it so much she was licking the pages of cupcakes and deserts with delight. I don't give my girl much sugar, but geesh... I probably should tell her they aren't real. Wish I could satisfy my sweet tooth with a lick. Fabulous book, I love Wayne Thiebaud.

Far from Home by Tiga

This Tiga music video made me happy this morning. It is super clever, has a 'Flight of the Conchords' like vibe and the ending has Halloween flare (you'll see what I mean). I love the lyrics too. It was directed by the late Nagi Noda, boy was she a creative genius. Thanks to the reader from my last post, that let me know about her passing ... so sad.

Fall?

You may have noticed a conspicuous lack of cooking on here for the last week or so. Well, I'm having a bit of trouble reconciling with the weather. I'm already in the fall mindset, thinking about boots (didn't buy them) and drooling over Martha's images of roasted root vegetables and hot stews, but Southern California seems to have decided to have the heat wave we didn't get this summer.

I was going to make cornbread and black bean soup last night, but the 98 degree wall of heat that greeted me when I left my office in the evening convinced me otherwise.

So we improvised.



I guess there is an upside to global warming - we got to eat dinner on the balcony and watch the fall light, and we didn't even need sweaters.



I'm making the most of the unexpected weather, but one more week of this and I'm breaking out the crock pot, no matter how hot it is.

Happy October 1st!

Wow.. It is October already?

(image by Gemma Comas)