#blockprints Archives - Northern California Style

It’s Weekend Meanderings time with Elizabeth and Juliet, and our chance to share some good things that have come to our attention this week! I hope yours has been good. Here’s what’s been on my brain..

Pretty Pillows

I have been wanting to do a little refresh with my sectional pillows and found a well rated and lovely Etsy shop that makes some beautiful pillows like this..

Then I noticed she sells combinations of pillows as well, which makes it easy if you want to pull a look together. Two combos I really like- on left, and on the right.

The whole collection of pretty pillows here.

My favorite inserts, which should be 2 inches bigger than your pillow, are these which look like feather, but are synthetic down, made in the U.S. and karate choppable if that’s your thing. They have weight and feel great. I have replaced almost all my pillows with these…

Block Prints

Looking for a sweet small gift or to just give your morning routine a little upgrade? These block-print mugs at Anthro caught my eye right away! So lovely and they make a cute gift for a friend or teacher and you can add a gift card or some treats. Anthro is getting on the block-print bandwagon and if you are a fan check out their whole block print home collection.

I also love Emerson Fry’s India block print collection… (A company committed to zero waste, organic fibers, plant and non toxic dyes, and other great things.)

Beeks

Slides seem to be all I wear now and a new to me shoe brand with many slide options is Beeks. They sent me the prettiest catalog with the above photo and I was hooked! Begun by two California women, who met at Quicksilver, and were industry veterans, they wanted to create footwear that feels great and looks even better over time.

This is just a glimpse of a few of the sandals which come in all colors and heel heights..

Each pair, designed in California and made in Mexico, and takes over 48 hours to create. Beeks is also committed to helping end child hunger and have focused on feeding at-risk kids in the United States. For every pair of Beeks sold, they donate the equivalent of five meals, through the Childhood Hunger Strategy with the Second Harvest Food Bank. Shop the whole collection here.

Walking the Golden Gate Bridge

If you follow my Instagram, you might have seen that I walked the Golden Gate Bridge last weekend with Max and my oldest son, Jackson. It’s been on Max’s bucket list for a long time, and even though I am a native Bay Area girl, I hadn’t done it either or brought my kids. I just always thought it was a long hike and how to get back and all that…

Turns out it is easy and not a big deal, and so worth doing. We didn’t even leave particularly early, got there about noon and found a parking spot at the Battery East Parking (great map here),which is right across from the historic homes of the Presidio..

From there it’s an easy saunter up to the bridge, with photo op spots, a warming hut/park bookstore, a bathroom and an historic cafe. From there you can catch more trails to explore on foot or bike. We chose to walk to the middle of the bridge which took about an hour and 20 there and back with many stops.

We snapped lot of photos and saw a whale, seals, pretty sailboats and the cityscape of SF. Seeing the bridge and the infrastructure of it up close is incredibly impressive! I loved the historic plaques. Even the lights are beautiful on the bridge. Know that it can be loud, and you are close to cars, but separated by a metal divider. You could go all the way over to the Sausalito side or alternatively, begin there. We felt we saw a lot just going to the middle. It can be foggy so we waited until after morning and chose a nice day weather wise. You will need a jacket as it’s cool and windy on the best of days, so dress appropriately.

More information and photos of the day, on my Instagram . Under my profile click through the ‘Bay Area Favorites’ story bubble to see it all.

After we had some great sandwiches at the cute Round House Cafe with bridge views, and then we headed to the city for ice cream at Salt & Straw and walked around the square in the charming Hayes Valley neighborhood. This a great spot with cute shops, a park and places to enjoy your treats and people watch.

Salt & Straw Ice Cream

On a side note, if you haven’t ever had Salt & Straw ice cream, it’s unbelievably good and the flavors are unlike anyplace else. They are a phenomenal company begun by two cousins and they use only organic and pure ingredients and support local suppliers and manufacturers. They do a huge amount of community care, support and outreach and donations. They pay good wages and try to make an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.

They just opened a branch in Valley Fair by the outdoor shops.

“We make ice cream about the ingredients we use and the farms and artisans they come from. About how we cook and freeze and candy and sort and burn and smash and hand-drizzle and ribbon and spoon and sprinkle all of our ingredients in intriguing and unexpected ways.“

That explains what kind of ice cream they serve.. and right now they are featuring flavors inspired by their Rad Readers series with Scholastic to take kids imaginative stories and turn them into ice cream flavors! How awesome is that?

All the flavors here and all about them and locations here. If you can’t choose a flavor, you can’t go wrong with their salted caramel -SO good!

Betty White’s Carmel Home

Lastly, many of you may have seen this, but I just love Betty White’s home that is now up for sale in the most lovely part of Carmel. Betty and her husband Alan Ludden bought the property in 1978 and built it from scratch on the undeveloped plot that cost just $178,000.

The pictures make it look so open and bright and quite ahead of it’s time. I’m sure it was staged for photos, but I could see living in it just as it is. The wooden peaked ceilings, the curved brick fireplace in the bedroom, and the skylights in the main area and expansive windows are fantastic. I hope someone doesn’t take a wrecking ball to this.

It overlooks Monastery Beach, and the mountains of Big Sur. The beach here is popular for scuba diving as the Monterey trench is right there which after a few feet in, drops to extreme depths. It’s also the steep and extremely dangerous to walk along, but the views are amazing and you can wander south to Point Lobos State Reserve, another stunning spot. The listing is here in LATimes.

Well that’s my meandering for this week now please pop over and see what great ideas my friends Elizabeth and Juliet have for you…

PINECONES AND ACORNS

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend, and thank you for being here!

Kim

If you missed the last Weekend Meanderings, on spring tables, my Hawaii getaway essentials, talented South African designer Sue Bond, you can read the full post here.

If you’d like to get an email when I post, please subscribe to the blog here for a post in your inbox a few times a month! Thank you so much, as Bloglovin seems to have stopped working and I no longer post as much on Facebook and plan to do less there.

Some links may generate a small commission. Thank you for supporting the blog!

Hello how was your week? I had time this week to sit on the couch and soak in my More Beautiful book by Mark D. Sikes and it inspired what I already wanted to write about this week.. the resurgence of all things pretty in fashion and in home furnishings. Have you noticed it too?

It’s being called Grand Millennial style in home sector -the resurgence of florals, gingham, ruffles, scallops, quilted bits and painted furniture.. It’s been coming on big in the interiors front, but now it has fully trickled down to most clothing retailers for spring and summer with pretty, feminine patterns and florals, soft shapes, pale colors and romantic looks.

In clothing, and in home textiles, block print textiles- whose origins are centuries old from Rjasthan, India, have become very popular. The technique involves fabric printing with intricately carved wooden blocks and the NYTimes did a great piece on it here. The naive look of the repeated patterns is quite sweet..

Puff sleeves, squared collars, midi-lengths, gingham, woven, braided and quilted looks are all in this trend of innocent looks making a comeback. Things your mom or grandmother wore or had at home are looking fresh again.

Perhaps this is a kind of backlash to the last few years and the strife in politics and the world, but fashion trends usually happen after such things. Bottom line- people are looking for comfort, pretty and soft right now..I have to say, I do love it and Mark D. Sikes was ahead of everyone on all this.. I’m hugely inspired by his lovely rooms and want to wallpaper everything now!

Remember this bag Princess Diana carried? I believe it was a Pierre Deux, and even though I was a 14 year old, I wanted one really badly. I finally got one in blue with pink roses and wore it out! I know there have always been quilted bag sellers over the years- April Cornell and Vera Bradley, to name two, but now the ‘cool’ brands are selling them too.

The fabric (sometimes quilted), bag is officially back and it’s the anti-logo bag. It’s something anyone can have or even sew and for summer it’s soft, weighs nothing and is easy to travel with. Straw bags are darling, but they can often be tough to lug on a holiday..

This cloth tote is from SZ Blockprints at Anthropologie

This tote is by Loeffler Randall and is their Avery Floral Weekender. . Love the outer pocket.

This sweet shoulder bag is by Faithfull.

This little quilted tote by Antik Batik come-on a pretty blue version too.

This clutch is by Cleobella and comes in pink too.

Etsy has some shops with many variations on the quilted bag with block prints..This cute bag is one from this shop.

This Jaipur shop has more..and also darling bedcovers and baby quilts!!

I just was delivered this cute bag from Sezane, my favorite French retailer. It’s a weekender sized large travel tote. I honestly thought it was a handbag size..It’s VERY large. I love the print. Deciding on whether to keep or not..

Sezane has a lot of quilted bags like this, many currently sold out, but and makeup and toiletries bags if you’re looking for a sweet gift from France.

Some of the fun fashions coming from this trend…

Are you all familiar with DOEN? This is a fantastic California brand that works hard to support manufacturing processes that are fair in the U.S. and abroad and makes it a priority to work with women owned factories and businesses. More about them here. They have the loveliest things including children’s clothes. Love this Elba top.. part of their current Superbloom Sale.

This Anthro dress is so summer..This block print comes in other versions and colors.

I also love this Gingham Cover-up dress.

How about this Loeffler Randall Woven Tote with gingham scarf?

Comes in a chocolate and tan versions too..

This pink J. Crew dress is darling.

This beautiful dress is a cotton from India at Bloomies.

Emerson Fry has an India Collection with block printed fabrics. I love the blues in the Basalie Dress..

This Heirloom Dress is really cute.

I also love this pink dress that has a belt, but can double as a caftan.

I’m not usually a romper fan, but this version by Cleobella is fun.

Old Navy has some cotton versions of the block print look with this blue smocked tie shoulder top..

And this black Old Navy floral print tiered dress has that same feel..

J. Crew has some sweet shorts in Liberty prints.. I especially love this one. I’d pair it with a pretty white blouse.

Of course Tory Burch has a darling new sandal and her Summer ’21 line that mimics the popularity of all things woven and lattice.. It’s showing up in home decor and in clothes.

J. Crew also has their version of this lattice look in a cute tote in many colors..

Back to the cotton prints.. Mango has many block print type dresses and this easy dress in red and a dark blue that is a great summer throw on or beach dress for $59..

And they have this one..

And this cute gingham number..

Mango has braided Raffia Strapped Sandals -so chic.

J. Crew has many things in the new square neckline.. Their Cottage Dress comes in a few different prints..

More square neckline tops too..

Emerson Fry has the Laurent blouse also made in India.

I hope you found something you love. If not, you’ll at least notice these trends and especially appreciate the block prints that are from India. The authentic ones are quite beautiful!

While we are appreciating these beautiful textiles from India, (so much of the world’s beautiful products come from there), I can’t not mention the charities that are all still needing funds to help there with the terrible Covid crisis. Many families are suffering and have lost so much. Please consider helping if you are able.. Oxygen for India is one group delivering oxygen for free, International Medical Corps in on the ground helping in so may ways, and UNICEF is also helping with supplies.

Thanks so much,

Kim

Links may sometimes generate a small commission. Thank you for supporting the blog!