• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Californians at Home
  • Home & Decor
    • Our California Remodel
    • Shop My Home
    • Lake Tahoe Cabin Style
    • Books I Adore
  • My California Closet

Northern California Style

Northern California Style

  • Home
  • About
  • Californians at Home
  • Home & Decor
    • Our California Remodel
    • Shop My Home
    • Lake Tahoe Cabin Style
    • Books I Adore
  • My California Closet
  • Shop My Home
    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

#saltlakecity

Weekend Meanderings-Giving Yourself a Fall Reset, Sleep and Skin Tips, the French Countryside & More..

August 19, 2022 By kimwheeler 29 Comments

On this Weekend Meanderings..making yourself a priority once fall and school season starts, skincare tips from a facialist, improving your sleep, a little about the charm of Salt Lake City, living in the French countryside and more..

It’s that time again for all the good things that we want to share with Elizabeth and Juliet.

We had a crazy week..We were in in Salt Lake City to help Griffin move into his first solo apartment for his junior year at the U. It started out a little rough though.. After hiking Mt Tallac in Tahoe, Grif was to drive the rest of the way to Utah with his full car. The night before, a mama bear, who has been roaming out Tahoe neighborhood with three cubs, smelled Griffin’s granola Max had made for him in the car. In their exhaustion from the climb, they forgot to check the car for food. They woke up to this..

Grif’s two side windows had been pried out and the passenger window broken. Bear paws scratched it all over the place. Needless to say, the granola was nowhere to be found, nor the extra banana I stuck in his side door! ( I know I feel badly about that.) Max and Grif had to push the window frames back to close, and they taped up the driver side window.

Grif drove seven hours back to Utah like that with limited visibility. At some truck stop in Nevada, he fortunately found noise cancelling earphones they sell for truckers!

We met him that night in Utah and spent three full days helping him move in, get his things out of storage, clean a grubby, but nice apartment with awesome views, and sort out the car repair thing, and a rental.

He took off Tuesday morning for a backpacking trip through Wyoming with pals, and we went home exhausted! He needs a table and a couch, but has a desk, a bed and a bike and a kitchen with all the necessities…He’ll figure the rest out as the year goes on. I’m excited for him.

Salt Lake City views

The mountains and the church spire looks like Switzerland to me. I’m sure when they are snow covered it will be beautiful. He’s walking distance to the school and also has a bike and the city tram right below his place..

Mountains to the West, in his kitchen and to the East, in the corner..above.

Salt Lake City

Have you been to SLC recently? It’s a beautiful city with the most amazing mountain ranges on all sides. Things I really appreciate about it are the small little neighborhoods that are tucked into the town. Those little neighborhoods have cute independent shops and restaurants. Sometimes it’s only two or three of them, but it gives each little area a nice feel. You can always find an independent coffee shop to work in..And they aren’t in strip malls. It’s a thriving spot for small independent businesses.

I also adore the brick homes that have been left largely in their original state and just updated with paint and pretty yards. The streets are wide and they have big center strips with trees that make a hot area feel very leafy and green. Many homes have gardens and sunflowers in their front yards..

House with painted white brick and black door.
Salt Lake City home with garden

Eva’s French Bakery is always a must for us and it’s within walking distance to our go-to hotel, Hotel Monaco. The design of this darling bakery is like something you would see in Paris and you can get an authentic baguette sandwich and tomato soup, wonderful croissants and pastries..They also took over a vintage jewelry spot next door ( love that they left the marquee), and make their own crème glacée ice cream now too.

Eva's Bakery Salt Lake City
ham and butter croisssant
Eva's wallpapered bakery

The airport is all new and the Delta terminal is beautiful with a stunning wall of glass that invites you to gawk at the goings on the tarmac and feels very jet age..I loved it!

Glass window wall at Delta Terminal Salt Lake City

The flight from San Jose is one hour and a half and most people come in the winter to ski all the resorts like Park City and others that are a short drive away, but it’s quite pretty in summer..and fall!

I wore my new Anthro blouse and my cord shorts from Carve to travel. I usually do pants in the airplane, but it was just too hot. I brought my J. Crew cashmere travel wrap (on sale now), in my bag and could lay that over my legs when the plane got chilly..

I love this Henley Popover shirt so much I am thinking of getting it in the stripe too.. Looks like the white is already sold out online, but may be available in stores.

Anthropologie Henley stripe popover

Getting back to healthy eating – after travel

I am always so done with eating out after traveling. I really feel the need to sort of detox from all the processed and high sodium foods. I want nothing more than a fresh salad made at home from my own tomatoes. The night we got back we made grain bowls and then a salad with chicken the next..

hummus and chicken avocado bowl
strawberry fennel salad
quinoa bowl

When I’m over eating out, and I want a reset, I go to the grocery and get several boxes of different salad varietals, a roast chicken for protein ( mostly for Max), garbanzo beans, fresh berries, tomatoes, and avocados. I always have frozen brown rice and quinoa and we can make different variations on a salad for dinner with just that.

I always add some kind of nuts like walnuts or sliced almonds or pepitas and I shake in hemp seeds, chia, and flax too. I also like red onion slices or with the strawberries, fennel, which has a wonderful smell and taste..I find the fastest and easiest dressing is to just squeeze a lemon, a shake of vinegar, a drizzle olive oil and a little salt..

I love these O Vinegars in the citrus, orange blossom and pomegranate versions are my favorite and just a shake of them with this California Olive Oil are what I always have on hand and so good. I never buy dressings.

O vinegars

I also revert to water, water and more water. I’m always parched from traveling and from Utah, especially so, though I am hydrating non-stop. I pretty much drink water for all my liquids except my morning oat latte for a few days after returning. I love spring water for the minerals and try to buy a few bottles to supplement our purified tap water.

Skin and Dehydration- and Facials

The other thing I did to recover from three days of shopping and cleaning for the college kid, was book a facial for myself when I returned. I haven’t indulges in one for many moons and I thought after a summer of catering to everyone, this would be a good way to start back to taking care of myself a little better. If you haven’t had a facial for a while, it’s a nice thing to do for yourself after the kids are back in school, or just to reset for the fall. My aesthetician says a good way to care for your skin is to book a facial once with every change of season. I love that as a reminder! You can also do a home facial too!

One tip I learned from her today is that dehydration is almost always the biggest problem with all skin types, and especially as we age. Since I have rosacea and am sensitive, I am always wary of breaking out and probably do not hydrate enough for that reason. I shy away from thicker cremes and oils, but if they are good quality I should not. I also get blackheads and that is related to dehydration as the dry flaking skin, clogs the pores. I did not know that.

Kiehl's recovery facial oil

She recommended adding a few drops of my night facial oil to my day lotion, to amp up the hydration. I also need to use my hyluraonic lotion more, and not cleanse, but just splash with water in the morning. As usual… she told me, drink more water and eat better! I’m sure my high sodium food, dry weather and not enough water was showing, not to mention poor sleep.

Better sleep habits

On the Delta flight back to San Jose, I was wiped out from a few nights of rotten sleep and thought I’d zone out on the free streamed shows. I noticed there was a Master Class on sleep by author, and sleep expert Matthew Walker, so I blew through seven short episodes of his class while on the plane.

Matthew is professor of neuroscience and psychology at the UC Berkeley, and has written a best seller, Why We Sleep. I got so much out of this Master Class, though doing it while exhausted!

Why We Sleep Book

The biggest take aways were always go to bed and wake up at the same time, even on weekends. Drinking and caffeine are the biggest disrupters of healthy sleep and you should try hard to regulate your caffeine intake to morning.

If you’re sleeping after drinking, you’re not really sleeping per say, but are sedated, like surgery, and your brain and body won’t give you normal reset that it does with sleep.. You’ll wake up sleep deficient and your body can’t repair itself or download our memories, like it does during normal sleep. Also everyone needs at least 7-8 hours a night. Routinely sleeping less demolishes our immune systemand those who go with less actually have high incidences of cancers and other diseases like dementia. H

e has a lot of tips for sleeping better in his book and this little clip I found on YouTube had a lot of what I heard in the Master Class… He’s funny too, but his research is groundbreaking and this is something we should all care about if we want to live a healthy life..Matthew says,’Sleep is the elixir of life and mother nature’s best key to immortality..’

One bonus of kids out of the house, its I can’t stay up so late worrying about them!! It’s out of my jurisdiction now..

A beautiful and fun book..

While in Carmel last week, I bought, Coming Home, The French Art of Countryfication, at the Earthbound Farm Stand. I was enchanted with the photos, but I also love the content. There are recipes, decor, style and home tips and much wisdom and inspiration here..

Coming Home to Nature book

This book documents the stories of Parisians who left the city for the country, how they adjusted and what they love about it.

Coming home to nature book
Coming Home to Nature -  the French art of countryfication.

A great book for anyone who dreams of moving to the country or is a Francophile…It really made me want to move to the country.

Well that is my weekend meanderings for this week.. Please check out Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs to see what good things they are sharing…

PINECONES AND ACORNS

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER

Thank you for being here! Hope your weekend is wonderful.

Kim

If you missed last week’s meanderings I shared some fun ideas for Carmel day trips, an easy ladies’ lunch you can pull together, Sienna Miller’s English cottage and a great white shirt for your wardrobe for now and in fall..

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 and every Saturday for Weekend Meanderings.

Some links will generate a small commission here, which helps make this blog possible. Thanks so much for your support!

Filed Under: weekend meanderings Tagged With: #facials, #fallreboot, #frenchcountryliving, #salads, #saltlakecity, #sleep, #utahtravel

Primary Sidebar

Featured Posts

Signature Style- Summer Wish List

The Beautiful Mauna Kea Hotel, My New Bed and Nightstand Options

Tips to Give Your Home a Summer Vibe

Signature Style- Resort Looks and Packing Tips

Signature Style- Summer Sandal Edit

Weekend- The Cutest Beach Bags

Get My Posts by Email!

Find Me on Facebook

Northern California Style

Archives

Categories

Footer

Don’t Forget to Follow!

Blogger, writer and explorer sharing about my native California, and parts farther afield. Join me here where I chat about things to love in the worlds of design, fashion, home, travel and culture.

Currently Pinning

  • feeling all white
I don’t know where I saved this from, possibly P I don’t know where I saved this from, possibly Pinterest, but I’ve had it forever.  I need to remind myself this quite often! 

Our mindset is everything and I was inadvertently raised to worry about things. My mom was one of 8 kids and her mother warned them about the dangers of everything to keep them all alive in her mind.  I think that was seeped in my dear mom’s bones and passed onto us.. by no fault of hers. 

My brain defaults to that and I have worked hard to stop that sort of internal monologue. 

Remember worrying never kept anyone safer. We don’t care more about someone by being a worrier. We just need to expect good things will happen. 

Being a person who is always worrying is not good for those around you either. It hurts your family and their own feelings of security. The more I realize this, the more I feel impelled to reassure, not stress and trust all will work out… and might even be fantastic!

Hope you all have a Happy Friday - and trust things will work out! 

I’ll be back tomorrow with the weekend post! 

#dontworrybehappy #qoutesoftheday #imspirationalquotes
If you missed the weekend posts with Juliet and El If you missed the weekend posts with Juliet and Elizabeth, I shared this pretty Newport Beach Home by the talented @caseyhillstudio in @fredericmagazine photos @lauraresenphotography 💕 

The Chanel slingback is also the ‘it’ shoe of the season and so versatile.. I share the original, resale options, and some very chic copies..at a lower price point.. My favorite Vuori jacket is also back and in new colors.. and lastly the fab J.Crew at 40 book I am coveting.

This is my second go at posting a Reel on the weekend meander.. The first was taken down, for unknown reasons?  So let’s hope this works!

Pop on by our blogs for all the fun and more good ideas!
Links in our bios..
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns 

Have a great week friends. 😘

#californiahomestyle #californiastyle #jcrew40 #vuori #chanelslingback #caseyhill #fredericmagazine
Had a great cappuccino and avocado toast at the mo Had a great cappuccino and avocado toast at the most charming spot @bluestonelane in Los Altos with my dear friend April. So good to catch up with her. 💕 

I think this is one of the nicest spots to meet a friend! Make a plan to catch up with a friend this fall. 

#bluestonelane #losaltos #bayareaeats  #bayareacharm
I have this quote in my closet! It is smart to re I have this quote in my closet!  It is smart to remember we may already have what we think we need to look great.

Right now the season is changing and I - like everybody else, am super excited for fall clothes, adding new things to my closet, and refreshing my look. 

Hold off though. Before we buy anything or get ‘influenced’ from people like myself, we have to first look at what we have. 

I am constantly reminded that the best dressed people have less clothes and wear great pieces on repeat! 

Get in your closet and you may see you already have that perfect fall sweater or the ballet flat that’s everywhere!! The truth is your pieces may be cooler than the new offerings that are out there- and no one else will have them. 

Make this a goal to go to your closet before you buy for fall and I promise you’ll shop smarter  and get what you really love and need.

Have a beautiful Friday!! Here’s to sweater days soon. 🍂

#fridayinspiration #fallshopping #closetinspo #quotestoliveby
I haven’t posted many house photos lately. I jus I haven’t posted many house photos lately. I just realized yesterday how very much I’m enjoying being at home especially now windows wide-open and the beautiful weather. We couldn’t be more lucky here in California when the weather is as it is now. 🧡

My tomatoes finally turned red and my new fig plant that I added to the front yard in spring already has figs on it!  Marlo is enjoying the sunshine and fresh air too. She’s nearly 18 years old. 

Nothing better than this late summer early fall…Still the goodies of summer and the promise of fun things in fall without all the heat.

If you didn’t read my weekend post there’s a  wonderful inspiring story I shared about getting together with your neighbors and creating small micro neighborhoods…. and how the French love this time of year for socializing again too.. Lots to look forward to! 

Have a beautiful day.

#california #californialiving #northerncalstyle  #serenaandlily #latesummer #earlyfall #catlife #acalifornialife
It’s that fun time when I get to talk style with It’s that fun time when I get to talk style with the fabulous Cindy and since it’s September, we are sharing our Fall Wish Lists!  Are you ready for the change of season?? I can’t wait!

I had so much fun pulling this together. I sort of had to edit myself because there’s many cool new things out there, but we just have to find the right pieces that will make what we already have work and look updated and chic.. We have to be editors! I am just giving you some ideas. 

The best part about fashion right now is there really are no rules and we just had to find what works for us and our lifestyle and our bodies! 

Pop on by the blog, and I’ll share some of the trends like longer fuller pants, suit looks, those darling Chanel style jackets, and other pretty pieces. 

Cindy as always has some beautiful ways to mix it all and create your own look.

Link in our bios as always!! 
@northerncalstyle 
@cindyhattersley 

All the links are on the post, but comment if you are missing something you see here! 

#fallfashiontrends #falllooks #fallfashioninspo
Hello happy weekend! It’s that time for Meanderi Hello happy weekend! It’s that time for Meanderings post with Juliet and Elizabeth!  This week I am sharing this cute bar basket from @hudsongracesf my friends bought for me, and fall items that I am excited to add to my closet.

I am also chatting about the new movement to connect with your neighborhood and create smaller communities -and ideas on how to do it! 

Fall is a perfect time for this and in France it’s called la rentrée and it means the start of a new exciting season of getting back together with others after summer. 

More on the blog- along with my favorite fall soup I’ve made forever from @marthastewart . 

Stop on by our blogs- links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns

#fallstyle #fallvibes #fallsoup #larentrée #microneighborhoods #onlyconnect #trench 

P.S… This is my first time adding music to a static post.. Is this fun or annoying??
My motivation for Friday! I love @therealdvf and s My motivation for Friday! I love @therealdvf and she is still out there working and inspiring women. 

This quote! Only we can make ourselves truly happy and as women we so often taught to look outside of ourselves for that and that’s never a good thing. We have to learn to ask for what we want without apologizing and go for it ourselves.🩷

Happy Friday friends!

#inspiringquotes #quoteoftheday #dvf
What do you do when it’s rainy and cool in Tahoe What do you do when it’s rainy and cool in Tahoe? Well someone asked me today and  actually there is a lot to do and it’s one of the best times to go! 

Last weekend it was a cool 48 degrees and it felt like November even though it was Labor Day weekend. We enjoyed some sun and breezes so being layers!

You can pack a lot in the two days with great hikes and walks..and food!  Two good hikes- one at Ward Creek, another at Sugar Pine Point.. are perfect for now! Have some lunch by the river @riverranchlodge, take a walk on the lake and a drive on 89, end it by playing games and have a cozy dinner in with pot pies from Tahoe House bakery. ( SO good!) 

Tahoe when it’s shoulder season is the best kept secret. Though normally Labor Day would be hot here. Make some plans to enjoy the fall here! 🍂

Here’s to an early fall! I added a few autumn touches to our tiny cabin while I was there..

Yes I snapped that 🐻 bear! He was crossing the road. This is their season to bulk up so you leave no food in your cars..

#tahoe #westshoretahoe #sugarpinepointstatepark #wardcreektrail #shoulderseasontravel #ourgoldenstate #californiatravel
Hope you’re all having a good holiday weekend! I Hope you’re all having a good holiday weekend! If you have down time the Weekend Meanderings is up with my pals Juliet and Elizabeth with some fun ideas for you. 

On my weekend post-
Cute fall decor
Pretty towels on sale 
An autumn my dress and sweatshirt
The US Open’s tribute to Billie Jean King
Michelle Obama’s US Open look and her talented stylist! 

Stop on by our blogs- links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns 

#falldecorating #septemberdecor #bathtowels #serenaandlily #rails #evereve #michelleobamastyle #meredithkoop #usopentennis #billiejeanking
I can’t let this date go by without a tribute to I can’t let this date go by without a tribute to Princess Diana, my original style idol.  I recently found this book my dear mother bought me way back in the 80’s. Tucked inside was this torn page from American @vogue about this new girl’s style….Oh if they only knew what this young woman would be to the world. …

She was so much more than what she wore. She was a real life princess in her heart as well as title- touching so many lives. Who didn’t she care about or show kindness towards? She had it in her heart and that radiated in her face. 

These are a few photos that are my favorites and a few that show her fun personality that always shines through.. 🩷 Of course everything she wore is back in style again like this vest - the caps, the blazers, and floral prints. 

This day makes me hugely sad. 
If it wasn’t for the nasty British press ( who are still horrific), and paparazzi she would be here. 

#dianaspencer #princessdiana #ladydi
The weekend post with Juliet and Elizabeth is up. The weekend post with Juliet and Elizabeth is up. I have my 40th reunion this weekend so I’ve got what to wear to a reunion, an excellent book on rethinking how we age by the chic @annagmurphy , and  the story of how San Francisco’s Nordstrom changed the city and its unlikely success story. 

It’s all on the blog! 

Stop on by our blogs- links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns 

#whattowear  #highschoolreunion #highschoolreunionlook 
#bayarea  #northerncalstyle #californiastyle #agingbackwards #destinationfabulous

Copyright © 2023 · Northern California Style· Blog Design by Little Blue Deer