Anthroplogie Archives - Northern California Style

Happy Monday friends. Just checking in with you all… How’s your summer? Still savoring?

Well, we have officially a week left if you go by the school calendar! That’s not much. What the heck happened to starting after Labor Day?

We did a little day trip to Carmel yesterday. My boys spent some time building sand sculptures.

I spent some time holding the blanket down, and reading. Twas so nice.

We had lunch at my favorite restaurant, Casanova.

I highly recommend a stop there for the Soup de Jour and homemade bread and butter. It’s especially cozy and warming after a foggy beach walk.

Yesterday cream of artichoke with spinach was the soup. That with fresh olive bread was AAAMAZING!!

Did I ever mention they make the soup in small batches and bring a copper pot out and ladle it into your bowl??? Where else do you get that? I know I’ve gushed about this place before.

Loads of charm at Casanova.

Don’t be intimidated by it’s small size from the front. It’s a veritable maze of quaint rooms and patios behind the front cottage. It’s easy to pop in for lunch. Dinner may need a reservation.

We also have been trying to enjoy as many dinners at home alfresco.

Eating outside always feels like a special night.

The boys love it too and stay a little longer at the table which we like. We just discovered a new favorite wine, Cuvee Los Gatos, from our hometown winery, Testarossa. The 2011 Chardonnay is wonderful and try it if you can. It can be bought at the winery, but our local Lunardi’s store has it currently. It’s around $24. We are so spoiled by good wines that we rarely pay that much, but this is worth it.

The tomatoes have liked the unusually hot summer we have been having.

I can’t say the same!! I miss our 80s and high 70s with cool nights.

We did get some summer rain which was so nice and unusual.

I’m really hoping for some real weather this fall and winter. We barely had any last year.

On the bright side we swam so much this summer. Not a day went by that my kids didn’t use the pool.

They will kill me for using this, but I am anyway. 😀

My oldest Jackson is going to be a junior next week. Unbelievable. Hard to comprehend.

Seems like just the other day I put this photo in a frame from a trip to Pt Reyes.

Looking at the sizes of them I guess it was a few years ago actually.

How is it they grow so much in that 12-15 year old span? Your not noticing it and then you see a photo, and your baby has become Lurch!

Argh!!

On a lighter note, still trying to keep the Hawaii vibe from vacation alive in the home.

Hawaii has a lot of these vintage postcards. I tuck them in mirrors and on pinboards.

I’m going to try to have my guide to my Big Island favorites out this Thursday. I don’t know what happened to my blogging time this summer, but it’s been weekly at best and once school starts I’ll have more time for more posts.

Keeping it real though, a lot just didn’t happen this summer.

You know all those plans to clean out closets, pantries, and garages? It never got done and it sure isn’t this last week. I have however threatened my 12 year old hoarder with no new school supplies until he purges his room and desk!!

The pets and the man cave..aka le garage, have gotten some quality time though. Don’t look at this disaster with workbench projects, (we are building a robot apparently), gaming devices and everything else.

I just close my eyes when I walk through!

When I get aggravated at the slacktitude, (my husband’s word), I try to remind myself they’ll be cranking out school work soon enough. (I hope!)

Yes, back to school, it’s not all BAD! I’ll have a bit more time for myself. I’m looking forward to fall and fall clothes. I can’t wait to clean out the closet and look at what I can do with the old wardrobe.

Just popped into Anthropologie in our town and fell in love with this…

This Bloomfield Tee is so easy and I love the front pockets and colors.

Florals are still having their moment and apparently pastels are going to be happening for fall and winter as well. We are talking Easter colors, according to Vogue and others!! Should be interesting…

So maybe this could be a cute transitional piece?

One more fashion note, I did buy a tote already for fall. It’s easy for running around. I love having a bag to throw my shopping in as I go about the day. It’s light and perfect for travel too. I don’t know why, but light totes are my new favorite and I just don’t see the appeal in the heavy and structured bags anymore. It’s either these or a wristlet. Okay sometimes a clutch. I’m enjoying streamlining right now.

What do you think of totes?

I love the brown and black combo and the polka dot lining. It’s called the Kerrington Shopper and it’s from Tory Buch Fall 2014 line. I was in the store the other day there are too many cute things to count. Love the whole fall clothing line and it coordinates with these bags.

I want to buy the small coin wallet in polka dot to match when I can.

I’m wearing the tote with my white outfit for Adrienne of The Rich Life’s How I Wear My White post. Some chic styling ideas for wearing white. She’s also got a fun series started with videos of makeup tips with a very talented makeup artist, Veronica. Something to check out if you want to freshen up your look and get a new visage for fall.

I’m done meandering here and if you are still with me I’ll be back later this week to share my fun visit to California designer Trina Turk’s digs in Burlingame and the fabulous things she has for fall wardrobe and also for the home.

Happy week!

Kim

A fast post today friends! I just wanted to share a little news and some fun finds with you!

Have you an Anthropologie? I love popping in our town one for inspiration.

The kitchen section is my favorite.

I get excited for all kinds of Spring parties when I see glasses like these.

This cookbook looks fabulous! Just transport me there, now!!

Look at these lovelies. So many gorgeous things blooming on my morning walks.

Many of you are getting ready for Spring Break or are already enjoying one. Ours is next week and I think a couple of us are already checked out if you know what I mean.

Boys can be like that, this time of year. Everything tends to fall away… I get that myself. Probably hereditary. I’ve got to keep reeling these guys back in until we hit June. It ain’t easy and frankly being the mother of boys is a daily struggle as well as a joy. I just keep telling myself to keep fighting the good fight (because that is what it is many days.)

That is why I am excited to also share a little fun news. I am going to be able to get away for my own Spring Break in Napa with some blogger pals for 2 nights in a couple weeks!! It hardly seems true. We are being hosted by the beautiful Andaz Napa and also Napa Valley Tours & Transportation. I’ll get to hang out with fun friends and have my very own lovely room. (The room to myself part is almost enough! ) I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now.

I am excited to share with you all the beauty of the wine country and the special places we will go.
Joining me will be Adrienne of The Rich Life on a Budget, and Heather of StyleMindChic, my two pals from my San Francisco Getaway to the Hotel Monaco. This time joining us on this adventure, will be more lovely California gals, the jewelry designer and blogger Tamera Beardsley, and the chic Jennifer Connolly of A Well Styled Life. It will be nice to meet them both in person. I feel like I know them already from their wonderful blogs.

I’ve been doing a ton of (over)thinking about what to bring! These kind of things don’t happen all the time, so I want to make sure I pack the right pieces. Can’t wait to share when I get it all sorted out. I’m doing that in tandem with my Spring wardrobe and closet sorting out.

As I mentioned in my florals post, one thing missing from the my closet was a decent skirt. I really wanted one to wear for the How I Wear My …Skirt Edition on Jill of Everything Just So and Adrienne of The Rich Life blogs today! It was inspiring to see many pretty versions of how to wear a skirt and all the creative participants. Pop over to their blogs to see it.

Grainy photo, but was raining cats and dogs outside and I had to send a pic in.

What I found was this pencil skirt at my local J Crew . It’s on sale plus additional 30%! It was a surprise when I checked out, as it just got marked it down Monday, so move fast if you want one. ( I was really there shopping for the hub’s birthday, but it caught my eye.) If you want to add a pretty skirt I also found this Ann Taylor one for Spring date nights in my search and this gorgeous skirt, which a bit more of a splurge. Skirts make it so easy to look polished and I like that you can dress one up or make it easy for day with a sweater or a T and flats. I added this lightweight blue merino sweater I’m wearing also on sale, and it made for a look that is more California casual me!

While we are on the subject of Spring and freshening up, I loved this month’s Allure.

I’m not a huge magazine girl anymore and frankly, half go unread as I seem to have less time, and also less interest in them. However, Allure still is one of my favorites. Linda Wells, the editor does a great job of making that publication smart with really relevant articles on health, latest science and beauty breakthroughs, and fashion spreads that often center around travel.

This month I actually sat down and read it for what was going to be a few minutes, but ended up being cover to cover. It’s the best issue in a long while and had a ton of articles on aging well and keeping your look fresh as well as being healthy.

Super that they had many older models in this issue. This particular article was addressing greying hair and how to color it and cut as you age. Great stuff.

Amber Valetta was in this article about how she stays fit.

Also a terrific piece on the 25 best new anti-aging beauty products and most can be found at the local CVS. I plan on trying a few and will report back!

Lauren Conrad was also featured. Loved her honesty and especially her advice on how to look more like a California girl. Was very true…

This was a great issue that I plan on saving. So if you’ve got some downtime, find a chair and curl up for a bit with this. OR maybe you are on a holiday and can find a lounge chair, a floppy hat, and an ice tea. That’s my preferred method of magazine reading!

Back soon with our weekend excursion to Mt Tamalpais and the charming Mill Valley.

xKim