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So glad Friday’s here. It’s been a particularly long week to me. Not sure why, but being home a few night with the kids alone makes those days really long. Some bright spots of the week..

My oldest competed in his first ever cross-country meet. Hundreds of kids. There were about 300 in his race alone! Such a blast to watch and cheer him on!

We are having some fabulous weather here in the Bay Area. Loved the late afternoon rays and the ducks at Central Park in Santa Clara where the meet was held.

 I spent many days as a young girl feeding the ducks with my grandfather at this same place. Good vibes here.

And in other news I got out to a fun school benefit lunch last week at the lovely Testarossa Vineyard in Los Gatos put on by the Doves Club. Another wonderful September day. I have to pinch myself to be so lucky to live in such a gorgeous area of the world.

My friend Wendy enjoying the wine.

The gorgeous venue of Testarossa. More moms below..

 Shauna, Juel and Rachael above. My pal Mindy and I below.

The great part about this fundraiser is you can direct exactly what school you would like your money to go to. Nice.

Yesterday my dad brought me this… Behold the bounty of my father’s garden. And this is after I shared with neighbors… Yes, we are blessed to have an amazing dad who can grow anything. Those tomatoes are delicious people. We are talking sweet! I am ruined for any boughten tomatoes and peppers.

Can you believe he grew all these in containers? Only thing is…Dad, I guess we’ll be eating tomatoes for a week or so at least. This is my third batch from his backyard or shall we say gentleman’s farm? (I keep hearing realtors use that term about orchard on a property- kinda funny. Trying to make old bunch of fruit trees sound high brow -you know?)

When life gives me tomatoes I make something like this… I just chop them, add course salt, olive oil, basil, and anything else that’s around. This was my version of an Italian bread salad..

This weekend we are headed to a friend’s house for family movie night. Sometimes it’s so nice to go to another’s home for an evening.  And then my peeps ( i.e. my child labor force), don’t know it, but I’ve got a painting project planned that they are going to help with. He he…

Hope you have some fun plans and grab those Fall sunbeams..

xo
Kim

images northerncalstyle

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that one of my favorite places to be on any given day is Stanford Shopping Center. This is not your regular mall.  It is an absolutely gorgeous outdoor promenade filled with the loveliest flowers, pretty cafes and some of the nicest shops.  Though I live in the South Bay, I’d rather drive the extra 15 minutes and soak up the beauty that is Stanford. 

Hope you all had a nice Labor Day. Though I am a bit sad about Summer being officially over,  I truly believe September is the best month! Maybe it’s because it’s my birth month.  I do know September is an opportunity to bask in more of those gorgeous days that seem like a special gift now.  September means weekend getaways and alfresco dining to me. The weather here in Northern California has turned my perfect temp of 75 degrees. Last night it seemed everyone was out for a stroll. The sky was a gorgeous pink and white. This morning I was woken by the loveliest little rain. It was just enough to make the plants happy and the smell of wet pavement rise! Then we had thunder and lightening this afternoon! Now it’s blue skies and puffy clouds as I watch little birds scamper about.

September is all about the golden light. I plan on using those 30 days (or what’s left) to grasp all the  light-filled, days I can. Some inspiration to get out there…It’s all about those late afternoons and a glass of lovely white wine!

One of my very favorite books. Highly recommend it.

Dallas Clayton.com Check him out.- Wonderful.

Amazing!

This looks like my dream porch in late Summer.

Carmel Valley

Images via- you had me at bonjour tumblr, awhitecarousel.com,WPA, zodiacchic, piccsy.com,yelllowdoortumblr,pretty images,katespade,nomad chic, pinterest. and Northern California Style.

I’m sorry my posting is going to be a bit sporadic for a bit. Summer is here and I am finally catching my breath.  I forgot how wonderful it can be to have unscheduled days. It’s an amazing gift and I’m really loving it. We’ve got another week of sleeping in, staying up late, roasting s’mores, swimming, BBQs and outdoor movies on the driveway. Then we are off on a little adventure to Wyoming and Utah. I created a Pinterest board with my favorite summer images. Just looking at them gets me relaxed! I hope it doesn’t go by too fast.

This reminds me of laying by my grandparent’s pool as a child.

Summer reading is the best! Love this and it’s Coppertone smell. It brings back beach days as a child. Do you remember staying out until after dark on your street with a pack of kids? I hope one day to take my kids tubing on the Truckee River in Tahoe like we did many summers. Flashlights for ghost stories. Camping at Pinecrest is my favorite with my brother and his family. etsy.com Driveway movies on Friday nights is our new tradition with bean bags and blankets. via potterybarn.com My mom hated the ice cream man who came right before dinner hour in our neighborhood. I could never decide between a missile or a creamsicle. Anything with mint! Hope you enjoyed the escape! Happy Summer! Kim images via my Summer pinterest board unless noted.

Gold Rush days is a end of school tradition for fourth grade. Griffin was a chef, with his miner friends.

Last Thursday I took my younger son Griffin to his favorite pizza place for lunch. We started going there when he was just a tiny preschooler.  He always asked to get a slice and visit the duck, Petey at the flower shop next door then feed the fish at the garden store. Thursday was his last day fourth grade and next year he will begin his last year of elementary school.  🙁

  Wow, how did that happen so quick? It seemed those, sniff, toddler years were long. I remember people saying that they couldn’t believe he hadn’t started school yet. He was my constant companion forever and older brother had begun school four years before him. Well, he started school and BAM, it’s almost over and on to jr high soon. He’s really loved school and got involved with student council and a new school club that helps others called the Buzz Club. I’m amazed all he’s done on his own.

Why is it each new grade seems to pass more quickly than the next? I can barely type this it’s so upsetting to me.

Grif at his Spring piano recital.

With pal Liam above.  Best friend Nicholas and Griffin being lifted by their very tall and wonderful teacher, Mr Bolin on their last day. He loved fourth grade and I think it was my favorite too.

Now on to the really big news…My Jackson graduated from 8th grade! Sorry tissue break here. Unbelievably, he will start high school in 2 short months. He has four years left with us and it’s too much for me to even go there.

The kid. And some of my favorite shots of him… Reading with Dad. He has always loved books.

In Sonoma. I love his little sandals here. Watching his first bouncy house inflate in the backyard for his 2nd birthday.

Drawing pumpkins at Halloween.

He always loved sitting by the fire doing legos in his jammies. Below preschool graduation.

Third grade rocker for Halloween with no front teeth! With buddy Vedaank.

Vedaank and Jack now.

Jack with his fifth grade heritage project.

With pal DJ in fourth grade.

And with DJ now!

But this is supposed to be a happy post and as a mom I just want to say how proud I am of this guy. He is the kindest and sweetest 13 year old I know. He has had his issues and we have the usual struggles.

Jackson is not a sports star, but he has a sport he loves very much, tennis. He is not a straight A student either, but he aced his exam to get into the honors biology class he so badly wanted and also got into Geometry. We are so happy, but what we are most proud of is the kind of person he is. He is a guys who smiles at old people and helps our elderly neighbors, make cards for his grandmas and regularly hugs and kisses his grandparents. I’m not sure if this will last, but I think it will since he’s already at that embarrassed age.. He plays too much computer and reads too many comics. However, he has the best sense of humor and makes me laugh every daily.

Walking down after graduating.

Getting his diploma

Celebrating with bro after at Benihana his favorite restaurant.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know I have had a FEED bag on my wish list for a while.  Well, today I came across another fabulous FEED bag to covet on the Travel and Style Journals of Pamela in Canada. I love her blog and you can check it out here and read more about Tory and her own foundations collaboration with Lauren Bush-Lauren of FEED. Both are wonderful organizations that are donating 100% of their proceeds to benefit women and children. Unfortunately, they cannot be purchased online and have to be bought at a Holt-Renfew store in Canada. So if you’re Canadian, this is for you, and if you are not, then hope you have a friend there! Let me know if anyone gets one. The regular FEED bags can be purchased online at  feedprojects.com. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we’ll get these in the U.S. soon.

We are right in the middle of prime fig season now! You know how it is with figs, – you’re either a fan or not. I have to say I’m a fan! I love them all! Green, black, brown, they are all amazing. My favorite is the brown turkey fig! They look like a little round turkey.

I started like most of you, who think they hate figs. I never tried one, except for Fig Newtons, until I had them in a couscous, at a friends house. I got recruited to slice green figs for it and was completely mystified at how to handle them and if you ate the skin, etc. I learned fast and well, the rest is history.

This recipe calls for a box of plain couscous, figs cut in quarters, (or smaller if you prefer), browned rings of a shallot, toasted pine nuts, and olive oil and salt to taste. I have to say, it is probably one of my most favorite things in the world! Just try it and you will see.

This dish started my love affair with the fig and now I try to use it whenever I can.  Here’s another -a salad I threw together. Don’t they just make everything look so luscious? They’re great with mint too.

One time, I also made a yummy appetizer for the hubster and his friend Justin, with figs, a bit of goat cheese and a walnut on the top. Delicious! Love that with a cold glass of white wine on a late Summer afternoon. Love to know what everyone else does with figs. Enjoy it’s a short season!

Our fig-appreciating friend, Justin. Had to add him!

Lovely Florence

 Yesterday, I ran out out to the mall to do a quick errand and dropped into a designer store to lust after the shoes and bags. While I was dreaming of what I might buy, I was complimented on my Furla bag. The  sales guy asked me about it and loved it’s color. I immediately thought back to last summer when we traveled to Italy and the very chic Italian lady who helped me choose it.

My Furla

The four of us, traveled to Rome, Florence, and Venice. I may do a post on the trip in the future, but it really was beyond beautiful. We all loved it. The one thing I noticed immediately, was the amazingly stylish way Italians dressed. They have a chic that is quite different from the French, who have an off-handed style.

This gentleman is on his way to work in Rome.  Would you ever see someone dressed so nice on a bike here?

Most Italians wear clothing that looks custom-made to fit them. The clothing just looks luxurious, the fabrics and details. Their garments are simple, not fussy, but they fit their bodies perfectly. Also, they have the most amazing shoes! Everyone had gorgeous leather shoes, as I guess you would expect.

A couple in Florence. Don’t you love how they kind of match?

My husband thought I was a nut, but I took a few stealth pictures of Italians. Men in gorgeous suits on bikes and scooters, couples dressed to go out for the night and the like.  One thing I could not take a picture of was the clean, unmade-up faces of the Italian women. These women wear no foundation, no anything and natural hair which is not blown dry. Seeing women like this, I can see how Raphael and Botticelli were inspired by Italian women. I wanted to be one. No finger or toe polish on these girls and it looked damn good. You could see the Americans coming miles away and we all looked like we tried just so hard. These women embraced their natural selves, walked with beautiful posture and exuded an almost intangible beauty.

Which brings me back to my bag… I was hoping to buy at least one nice leather item on my trip. In Venice, I found myself in Furla which is one of the few places you can buy leather bags a little more inexpensively than they are sold in the states. The saleslady was one of those natural Italians. Very friendly, she and I chatted about both having two boys, (yes, I was shopping with men- of course they were outside!) She, being about the same mid-forties age as myself, had not a stitch of makeup, short naturally curly dark hair, unpainted nails and was so fresh looking. The same description of someone here might be akin to a granola type. That could not be farther from the truth in Italy.

My boys in Florence at an beautiful fruit stand.

She kindly gave me her opinions on bags I tried on and ventured to suggest a teal, slouchy, over-sized bucket bag. I would have never thought of such a strong color and shape, but on it was wow! I loved it and got the matching wallet too. In my mind, I needed a neutral that would be an investment. She was so on the money and ahead of fashion. Now, in this season of color, I am very in style with my teal bag and the shape is so unique too. Each time I put it on, I think of that very stylish and sweet Italian mother and take a little makeup off too.

Above Florence with my younger son.

A rainy day in Venice.

The weather is picking up here and sun has shown her face today! Just in time for my crazy report that the umbrella stand can be repurposed and very well!

How I got into this, I’m not sure. I was obsessing over finding an asian-inspired one last fall. I was working on making the perfect mud room entry and adore the umbrella stand. It always looks so neat with a row of coat hooks or a coat tree.

The first one I found was from, where else, TJ Max, with a lion on it. Used it for a bit at my other house until some beast, (i.e. boy/boys) cracked it. It is still holding together. In the interim, I found an adorable metal one. Looks possibly like it was originally a flower bucket, but was just right in my mud room!

 I have now found the perfect one I originally had in my head, at Pier 1. It’s the very traditional blue willow ware look. The problem is, during our hellish Winter, all our brollys broke and now I have only one small orange one left. What to do with these stands? I couldn’t put them away. They are too cute. I stuffed the lion one with some stiff grocery bags and set a darling Ivy on one. Love it! It also gives Ivy room to trail. This stand would be adorable in pairs flanking a door. Now if I could find the mate!

The metal flower bucket became a powder room trash can. You know, this was accidental. I had  taken a gross waste basket out and the kids kept complaining there wasn’t one in the mud room bath.
I moved it three feet into there and, viola, the perfect trash can. I am also loving the depth of it. I don’t know if you are like me, but I simply hate a full trash can and can’t relax until it’s emptied. This way, you see nothing, it’s so deep! Love it.

The pretty blue one is now housing our families’ collection of beach sticks from various walks. Looks summery like that right in front of the fireplace!

I’m off now to search out more of these cute stands for my other baths!!