#pendantlighting Archives - Northern California Style

It’s time for our Weekend Meanderings with Elizabeth and Juliet. I hope your week has been good. Mine flew by, but there’s a few new things around here so let’s get to it..

My New Pendants!

I wrote the week before last about finally making a decision for new kitchen pendants and these Serena & Lily small Headlands Bell Pendants seemed like a fun choice and the price was great (still on sale for $278). They came quickly and Max was able to put them up for me one night this week! I wasn’t sure if they would be too beachy, but I actually LOVE them. I’m very happy with the look and they kind of soften up the kitchen which has a lot of sharp angles. At night they give off a pretty look to the ceiling too.

If you’re looking for pendants or a light for a room, they come in a few different sizes and shapes also in a black and the quality is very nice for the price!

Summer bath refresh..

I recently added a few new things to our main bath and one was this little ladder towel bar and a vase from Target.

Serena & Lily has one of these ladders, but they can also be found here at Anthro, here and here. Mine was a Homegoods find.

They no longer have this vase (or not online that I can find), but this is a similar one I also have from Target and I love the texture. Since this is under a skylight, and get a lot of sun, I added a dried faux eucalyptus branch in the little vase..

Easy summer white dresses

I am getting ready to go to a conference in Atlanta next week with blogging pals, Juliet, Annie and Mary Ann and was trying to find light dresses to take. I know it’s going to be very warm and humid..I was forced to do the mall thing and actually fell in love with two dresses, this unique shirt dress by Club Monaco with pretty stitching, a unique gather in the back and cool pockets.

I also found this Rail’s Jasmine dress. I am normally not a fan of these elasticized waists, but this dress has a relaxed fit and the prettiest details and a built in slip on the bottom.

Below, I’m in the Rails dress…and a bit sweaty and wrinkled..I had just gotten back from an outdoor lunch when Max snapped this, but you can see the length. It’s a nice run about dress and to take for travel. The skirt has a built in slip. I bought a small. but I’m usually a medium. I’m 5’3 and 135. I’m wearing my favorite Tory Burch espadrille slides I bought a year ago. They no longer have them, but I am considering these which are this year’s version of her espadrille slides..so cute!

White accent for the home

This shorter version of a garden stool popped up on Amazon and reminded me of my grandma’s 1960’s home. I like the shorter look and how nice to pop a plant on, or have two flanking an entry door, or to hold a pile of towels in a bathroom, or maybe two under a console table? Just a few ideas for this cutie.

A pretty San Francisco Townhouse in Frederic magazine

I love Frederic magazine by Schumacher and they always have inspiring homes. This 1920’s San Francisco townhouse in the Presidio Heights neighborhood by SF designer Allison Caccoma and updated by architect Andrew Skurman is one of them!

The owner is a lifelong collector of unique pieces and had Pinterest boards of how she wanted every room. With the most gorgeous arched windows and pretty terraces, it’s a dream. I’m crazy for the terrace above, with its the brick laid on the side in a zig-zag pattern and the beautiful doors. The owner has a mix of things from all periods and styles, which is very modern and personal.

The cutest summer totes

If you aren’t familiar with Mersea and their Moroccan totes, they are worth checking out. They are beautifully made and come in three sizes and a few colors and designs.. I love the white versions of their Medina Market basket. The small is perfect for a little handbag, the medium for a tote to hold more for a day out or a trip and the large is great even for storage and many use it for files! Love the cute details on the leather tab too..

Chantecaille Future Skin Cushion Skincare Foundation

In summer I really don’t want to much makeup on and I am also lazy. I found this light compact foundation that also has decent coverage and makes my skin look so nice. I just puff it on quickly with the sponge and use a fingertip for areas I want a bit more coverage. It’s a water-based foundation formula with smoothing and anti-pollution skincare ingredients that blur imperfections. It also comes with one refill for the compact. I have been using the Vanilla color. This is the perfect summer foundation! For each cushion compact or refill sold, a bottle of milk for a baby elephant is bought at the wildlife refuge Chantecaille supports -another lovely thing!

Supergoop family size pump

My friend Stacy who I play tennis with, always knows the latest and greatest and told me about this wonderful sunscreen by Goop Play Sunscreen SPF 50, which is so good and comes in a family size pump. It’s a fast-absorbing, non-greasy, water and sweat-resistant, and broad-spectrum SPF 50 lotion for the face and body.

I now have it in the pool bath/mudroom space where everyone uses it on the way out. I love how it feels on, not sticky or thick and is easy to rub in. It smells good, doesn’t leave a white residue, and everyone seems to like it. So important because I want us all to use more sunscreen here in California!

The Lady Di Look Book

This isn’t in the white theme, but I had to share this new release which looks very good..

This new release, The Lady Di Look Book: What Diana Was Trying To Tell Us Through Her Clothes, by Eloise Moran looks to be a really fun read.. and a must for any anglophile and Diana fan. It takes a deeper drive into Diana’s clothes and finds the meanings she was trying to convey, plus many interesting tidbits about her life we didn’t know before, added in with beautiful photos. There is a sample on the Amazon link and it looks great. I’ve already pre-ordered. It comes out next week!

Micro Weddings

Are you a fan of small weddings? The last pandemic years have encouraged so many to go small instead of the usual big overblown and pricey bashes. I personally love an intimate wedding and we had one too. This year especially a lot of people have chose to go small thanks to date and venue shortages, and they are just tired of waiting. I think you can have a stylish and smart wedding with all your dream details for a small group. Micro weddings are the latest things and Juliet is on it! Her niece just had a very chic and sweet ceremony and reception for twenty with so many good ideas that Juliet wrote about it this week. Cute Sophie and Chad, below..

Well that’s my meanderings. Please stop by Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs and see what’s on their minds this week..

PINECONES AND ACORNS

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER

Thank you for being here!

Kim

If you missed last week, I shared designer Ulla Johnson’s beautiful Montauk home and her fashions, Wimbledon spectator style, Tahoe hikes to try, and more!

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!

It’s time for our Weekend Meanderings with Elizabeth and Juliet ! It’s been a week so this extra holiday weekend is much needed by all here in America I think.. We are heading to Tahoe for a few days and I hope we will to get some quality nature and family time in and if I’m lucky some reading by the lake..

A few good things this week..

Nancy Meyer’s Home Remodel in AD

I was very excited to hear Nancy Meyer’s own Provençal style Los Angeles home was going to be featured in Architectural Digest this month after my Instagram friend in the Netherlands alerted me. Thanks Sally!

This article delivered with many beautiful photos of the home and Nancy herself. In the article Nancy tells how once she was an empty nester in the house where she raised her daughters, she felt it was too large, so began building a smaller replica of her home next door. In the interim two years while it was being built, she had fun changing up the original with paint and little tweaks, and fell back in love with it, stayed and sold the new build. The California classicist, Mark D. Sikes did the design with her and there is more about how they worked together in the July issue of the magazine.

You could say her style is California elegant- lots of white, punctuated natural elements like rattan, a little black here and there, stacks of books, pretty pillows, lovely pieces of art, and fresh flowers. This is good living at it’s best and her interiors always look comfortable and inviting! I’m all for this kind of style that’s homey more than showy.

Are you a Nancy Meyer’s fan? If so I am interested to know what’s your favorite film or interior? My favorite is It’s Complicated, and the Santa Barbara home of the baker heroine played by Meryl Streep. The whole article and all the photos online here or in the July issue of AD.

Wimbledon Chat

Are you glued to the television like we are during Wimbledon? I have been trying to limit myself to one match a day, sometimes I record it and watch in the evening. I’m rooting for all the young players who are making it up the ranks. Emma Raducanu who won the French Open is one of my favorites.. How do you like her $37,000 worth of pearls and diamonds she is wearing? Apparently she is sponsored by Tiffany! I just wonder how much sun and sweat those kind of pearls can take?

Also loving Coco Gaufe and I am a fan of Tsitsipas only because he looks like my teen crush Bjorn Borg who adorned my teenager walls.

Vogue has a fun piece with the best on court looks at Wimbledon over the years. You know they are very strict still and you are supposed to wear white and only white, no exceptions, and no accents! They still ask people to change clothes. Some of my favorites from the article.

Lunch date in Danville

Last Friday I met Juliet for a working lunch and a little shopping. I hadn’t been to Danville in about twenty years and it has changed a lot. The little downtown is very charming and there are many sweet shops and restaurants. We stopped in two of them, Eye for Pretty a wonderful home shop, and Flaunt, that has home and beautiful clothing. Flaunt is owned by Ashley, who writes the fun blog, Modern Glam Home. Both are great shops and Juliet and I were dying over so many things..

Juliet at Eye for Pretty, above

Flaunt below .. I loved this dress on Juliet in the blue stripe with little lemons. It was made for our Ms Spritzer..and she looks good in everything !

Juliet made us reservations at the cutest restaurant, Locando Ravello, where I had caprese salad and she had a chicken parmigiana.. I highly recommend the very authentic and delicious Italian food here. Normally you’d want to sit outdoors in the cute patio, but that day was nearly 100, so we opted for inside.I plan on coming back here with Max some summer evening.

I loved the blue decor, which reminded me of Sorrento. The caprese dish was so delicious, it inspired me to recreate it in a small version on our Travel Inspired Appetizers, earlier this week, in case you missed it.

Serena & Lily Sale

I know I have mentioned Serena & Lily sales before, but I get a lot of inquiries about my house things like my Montara Mirror below, and I like to let people know when their things go on sale. Right now the entire site is 20% off – use code SPLASH.

It’s also a great time to get their towels which I love, and I am seriously considering three of these Headlands Pendants for above my kitchen island. My current ones are no longer functioning, and these have a pretty look and decent price too..

From the S&L website.. I kind of love this look..

The Serena & Lily sale ends on July 5th.

Our rights…

Thanks to all who read and left messages, many very personal about the overturning of Roe last week. I was so moved by the comments and some private messages, which I will share on stories. I am collecting them all. Women amaze me, what we go through in our lives with pregnancies, births, and also those living with the trauma of sexual assault..

More of us than not, have had struggles with all of these things and yet we are stoic. So many move through life and others don’t even know what scars we are carrying. It blows me away the bravery and toughness of women and the selflessness. That’s one reason why taking the right to decide what happens to our own bodies and consequently, our lives, for half the nation is beyond cruel.

This article about the participants of a years long landmark study was a shocking and sad comparison of what the lives were like in later years for the women who were denied abortion, compared to those who were not.

Amy Odell’s Back Row ( an excellent blog) this week, exposed the hypocrisy by some companies who say they’ll support women needing abortion help, and yet have money going to PACs that support lawmakers who have be vocally opposed to Roe.

An article we all need to read on Global Citizen- ‘What happens in nations where abortion is banned? Lessons from around the world.’

This page has all the abortion funds in the United States by area, so you can choose to help a fund near to your home, or perhaps one that needs more support.

Well that’s my meanderings for this week. Please stop by Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs and see what’s on their minds this week..

PINECONES AND ACORNS

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER

Thank you for being here.

Kim

If you missed last weeks meanderings, living like an Italian, California casual dresses, a day trip in Aptos, a cite Santa Cruz cottage for sale and more 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 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!