Brushes, Blondes and Sisters

This made me want to immediately buy paint and splash some canvas. A eclectic art stop, Accent Arts in Palo Alto-I get my Japanese watercolors here-every time I go in, I like to get a new color for my stash. They are so super saturated and delicious to play with.

The blonde triplets of Palo Alto. C.in the middle surprised K. on her last Friday here. This is at the Counter in Palo Alto which has REALLY slow service but...you can build your own burger-my personal favorite build is the grilled chicken, pineapple, Bermuda red onion, Tilamok cheddar, hickory smoked bacon, dill pickle and sweet BBQ sauce.

K. is such a good sport. She let me braid/experiment with her hair before she left for England on Saturday.

Really Big Shoes and Zero1

While waiting for my ride to the Zero1 party, I wandered over the the park in San Jose central and saw tons of men milling around a rather dramtic shoe selection. The cause was raising awareness for domestic violence and to garner attention, men showed up and selected a donated women's shoe and walked a mile-"Walk a mile in her shoes". Of course, the selection of shoes fitting those over a size 11 gets expontentially more colorful. I got to hand it to these men-some of them really embraced it-wearing socks, getting pedicures, pre-bandaging and mincing around to get the feel. They might have thought about gel inserts....I think more than a few woke up today with a blister or two but what a great cause to support!

The start of the walk. This charmingly group of gentlemen obligingly posed and preened for a shot pre-walk. Thanks guys! Hope the blisters weren't too bad!

Whoa. I can't even walk in these. Brave soul.

I have to hand it to these men-it is not easy to walk at all in these types of shoes-Let alone a mile. Here is the fire chief and his red patent shoes. Oddly fitting.

This is kind of spectacular. I particularly appreciate the black sock coordination.

Very cool offices at Zero1

I think I found the lamp I want for my room. This little gem was at the Zero1 launch party at their new site in San Jose. They are a very interesting organization that brings art and technology together and every 2 years, they light up the city with amazing exhibits. http://zero1.org/

Check out how my dad's head is glowing with the light of the beams. Cool.

Arasterdero Preserve and Gorilla time

Some of the 10% of shaded trails we found. It was a little exposed and on the warm side yesterday...But they were all troopers and we had a great time.

Sisters! This is before I dragged her on a 5 mile hike...see how happy she looks?

The beginning of our hike yesterday. Not sure why they wanted to sit on different stumps but I went with it:) I love the poppies. I also kept telling J. that if he picked them, he would have to go to an American jail as they are the state flower. K. made me stop tormenting him.

K and I got our toes done after a long lunch in the city.
Note to self-pedicure after a lot of walking is the way to go.

It was a serious heat wave in SF-I think it hit 90? Made for some great cityscape shots.

This gelatto place was AWESOME. Bright orange inside and each of the flavors had corresponding decorations....for instance-this is a shot of banana gelatto with a gorilla on it. How cheeky;)

Yummy Asparagus pizza with truffle oil and carmelized onions at Rose Pistola.

My Car...ok...maybe not my car...but this beauty was on the street in North Beach in SF and I just couldn't help myself. It was so shiny!

Bonsai Dog

How cute is my sister, her husband and "their" dog? J. seriously was considering a dog after hanging with Jolie...although she looks kind of tiny next to them.
BUT she is a Yorkshire terrier and J. IS British...it seems to fit, no?

I love the tiny purple flowers on this one.

Couldn't help myself with this shot-this was at the Bonsai exhibit at Mitchell Park-these trees are AMAZING-most of them are over 40 years old.

This was her favorite place to sleep-at the foot of my bed-I was constantly worried that I would knock her off but in the end, we came to an understanding. I let her sleep wherever she wanted and then she would sleep soundly for 6-7 hours.

This is one cute little puppy named Jolie that I was taking care of this past week. She is pretty much walking cuteness. And the guy holding her is my very accommodating brother-in law, J.

I LOVE Jennifer Garner and she has great taste;)

If you are a loyal blog reader...or just want to scroll down...you may notice that Jennifer Garner is wearing the SAME shirt that I wore for my birthday party! Great minds think alike. This could be the first time I have matched a celebrity on the same week or any week for that matter.
Cool.

Frogs, Glass tower and a workout in SF

Interesting modern art sculpture at the de Young musuem although never quite made in in the actual exhibit area....had lots of things to see and do!

Spidey girl! I totally pushed a 12 year old out of the way to get this shot....no shame...

You may be asking-how did Sara get that amazing shot of the California Academy of Sciences? What on earth did she climb up on? As it turns out-that line right there was the reason for the deviation into the de Young musuem across Golden Gate park. Turns out that "Free Day" is kind of on the crowded side and after eying the clamoring masses-decided I'd rather come back another time. At the deYoung museum, anyone can go up to the observation deck and get a bird's eye view for free. Which is exactly what I did-you can see the whole city up there. And the line avoided...

Cool seats at the De Young museum

This was a pretty steep street. Kind of a workout....And yes-I walked like that the whole way...
On a side note, the most disturbing thing seen today was walking into a shop in Chinatown and I heard a croaking and I looked under a table full of frogs in a tupperware bin...I'm talking big bull frogs that you could put collars on....I had to leave pretty fast before I bought them and set them free in the Bay....

My Birthday Bash continued....

Yep. Here is the birthday girl in the birthday hat;) I had a FANTASTIC party at my sister, J.'s house. Everything was exactly perfect and what I wanted-even filled with surprises that I will remember for a very long time. I am constantly amazed and awed at the blessings of the people that are in my life and this was a great day to have people get together.
K and J really knocked themselves out with this one.

My very first shrine:) This was a collage at the entry way to my birthday party that my sister J. had put together of my family members who couldn't be there. But the real surprise was that in those plastic eggs were incredible sweet notes from people that J. had contacted and then cut up and put in each egg. I am working on something really creative so I can preserve the notes which were incredibly thoughtful and had me blushing all night long-they were outrageously nice.

Favorite sodas (when I drink them;) Izzes....Clemetine, blackberry and pomegranate.

Lemon cake with lemon frosting with fresh Meyer lemons and lemon zest...Yummy

My superhero sister, J. who hosted the party made my favorite cupcakes from scratch-chocolate frosting and yellow cake. And yes. They went down easy....

ALL my favorite foods on one table-you know how when you go to a party and like about....60-70 percent of the food on the table? It was AWESOME to have everything on the table be something that I loved to eat.

This couch contains some of the most amazing friends and people I know. So fun to have them all together on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

This is A. and T.-I've been BFF's with A. since we signed up to live in Venezuela lo those many years ago and she and T. drove all the way from Monterey. AND she is one of the most beautiful pregant women I know. Can't wait for little Pierre! (T. is French) and that probably won't be the name...I just like to call him that;)

We've been BFF's since we were 12! This is A. who is my go-to girl on all things fashionable and fun. AND has a heart of gold. What are the odds? This was at my party on Saturday-a small get-together at my sister's place that was pretty much one of the best days ever.

TWINS!!! Well-I don't think we look too much alike but apparently we do:)

And the party kept riiiight on going...K (sister) Mom and yours truly:) This was later that night...

My final thought on my birthday is that I am grateful and thankful for everyone in my life that I have been lucky to have walked this journey with-lots of ups and downs but my relationships with others is where I have been truly blessed. I have some big changes and exciting things coming up and have been humbled by the support of those close to me.

My Birthday! Feast and Flowers....

In the beginning......here is a photo I totally lifted off of my sister's page...Thanks AF! I think I was about 2 in this photo...Maybe 1ish?

My sister J. took me to breakfast to kick off the B-day festivites....so good!
Cafe Brioche=AMAZING!

The best breakfast EVER! My sister J. took me out to Cafe Brioche and let me pick both entrees-Eggs Benedict AND oatmeal rolled french toast with fresh blueberry scones.
And the staff came out with a coconut tart with a candle. So nice!

The front of the manor. PERFECT place for a spring day.
http://www.filoli.org/

Very Sabrina-esque Garden house complete with 2 pure white doves cooing. I felt like I immediately needed to be striding around with riding pants, boots, crisp white shorts and a crop.

More Tulips!!!

Small garden

Big Garden

Um. that's a lot of tulips...

Luggage for my next trip?

Huge clean kitchen still used up until 1975. It made me what to make lots of pies and cool them on the table.

The library with a secret door and wood paneling which hid secret compartments.

Hmm. The flash wasn't the best but this was simply a delicious ballroom.
These eccentic billionaires know how to do a room.

About to walk into my happy place-my very own ballroom-although I think next time I will be wearing something long, Valentino and fabulous.

My summer home

Enjoying the sun and the daffodils...maybe too much;)

A whole lot of Wisteria

95,000 tulips are planted each year-they change the color scheme every time. For those interested-that translates to 50,000 gallons of water on a hot day.

My mom took me to Filoli Gardens where I have always wanted to go-a gorgeous Irish country estate in the hills of Woodside on 650 acres. Lots of movies have been filmed here, The Wedding Planner, The Game, Dynasty, etc....We had the best time and it was beautiful weather.
Flowers, ballroom and hedges....what more could a girl want?

This is how I felt on my birthday:) I have so many amazing people in my life and they all called me on my birthday and made me so grateful for another year of happiness and growth. Thanks to everyone for making my b-day just what I wanted!