2014: Week 7

February 17, 2014

Dave and I took Lucy to Hakone Gardens where we got married. I simply could not resist taking this shot. I might get a big print made of this.

Bamboo grafitti.

Looking so grown up sometimes...

Meow.

At the end of every 6 week session, I get to go and see Lucy in dance class. She had improved SO much since the last time I had seen her. It's really cute hearing her say things like, "grande jeté."

Valentine's loot! Lucy had a school party, I made jigglers that stressed me out way too much. I'm glad I made a test batch!

My valentine.

Yes! We came home to a farmer's market surprise thanks to Pop Pop. ROMANESCO!!!

"WHY?"

We made a fairy house, inspired by Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue.

A peep inside through the roof—candies, flowers and a bed made out of tissues and washi tape.

Hope you had a nice week, too!

xo Becky

Easy Hearts, Two Ways

February 12, 2014

It's Valentine season, and with Lucy being in school for the first time we needed to increase the typical volume of cards being churned out. We used two easy techniques.

The Good 'Ol Toilet Paper Roll

A simple process of squeezing the roll into shape and using it as a stamp.

Tip: Cupcake cups make for an easy cleanup option with paint.

Lucy easily churned out 24 of these for her class.

Washi Tape

We covered big pieces of paper with washi tape. Lucy is very precise. I wonder where she gets that from?

Afterwards I cut the paper into strips to run through a paper punch. You could also easily just hand cut a bunch of hearts, but I happened to have this heart punch already. Also, Lucy can't really cut well yet and she could help more this way.

Cute little hearts.

Then we glued them onto folded paper stock.

The "scraps" made for a nice card, too.

xo Becky

2014: Week 6

February 10, 2014

Family date! I've taken a lot of these pics, I should post a series soon...

I had a really good nail situation most of the week.

The drought is far from over, but it's been nice to see some rain.

I did the 3 day juice cleanse from this book again. I should do a soup cleanse next time. Juice is too dang cold in the winter!

Pensively gazing. Likely wondering if he should nap immediately or cry in a failed attempt to get food first.

My lovely on a rain walk.

We made Valentines. I'll share them with you on Wednesday.

Dark and stormy, my self portrait assignment for the week for the work DARK.

xo Becky

2014: Week 5

February 3, 2014

A dish towel that I made - my first sewing project. Don't act like you're not impressed.

An exchange of love.

My sunshine on a cloudy day.

This girl is getting SO big!

Date night at the Palace of Fine Arts to see Mike Birbiglia.

Celebrating her BFFs birthday. Lucy immediately stuck her finger in the cake.

I love observing how Lucy "stages" her toys.

Actual rain!!!!!!!!

Hardcore thugs are in the neighborhood. Watch out.

xo Becky

2014: Week 4

January 27, 2014

The best thing about this week were all the amazing skies.

The worst part was Lucy is sick with the flu.

Prepping a lesson in color tinting.

A failed craft post.

Nothing Bundt Cakes!

Playing with long shadows.

"Rainbow Dad." A portrait of Dad by Lucy taken with the Photo Booth app.

Building bathroom storage (post coming soon!).

The stern foreman.

Watching cartoons.

Still life with donut.

xo Becky

2014: Week 3

January 20, 2014

I had a birthday this week! Somewhere in my thirties...

I cut my hair. 12017410194_0407f69e6a_o

Focused on my mantra :)

We made bubble art. See the tank top? Yep, California.

Playing on a slightly cooler day.

Lucy started doing ABC Mouse. It's a learning app where you earn tickets and can buy things for your virtual "bedroom." I keep telling her to save up for something awesome like a pet dragon, but instead she completes a task and immediately says, "Let's go shoppin'!" and gets something like socks.

A co-worker gave me a Polaroid One 600 that he picked up at a yard sale for six bucks. Dave got me Impossible film for my birthday and this was me waiting for my first photo to develop. Later I read the film instructions and saw that the film is supposed to develop in the dark or turned upside down. Whoops. There's going to be a learning curve for sure, learning how to use my *new* toy.

On my birthday we went to Rancho San Antonio.

And we met this guy.

In other exciting birthday present news, I got a sewing machine. The lady at the fabric store was not very impressed when I told her I was going to be making dish towels. More learning curves...

xo Becky

2014: Week 2

January 13, 2014

This week 52 of You began, a year-long self portraiture course with an amazing group of female photographers. I took a similar, shorter course last year and loved it. I'm especially excited that this community includes my sister!

It was "cold" by Bay Area standards this week , but winter still has yet to really show his face.

Lucy was sick this week--Scarlet Fever (which sounds CRAZY, but was nothing more than a rash for her and a nasty cough). One cool thing was that I ran into my best friend from junior high working reception at Urgent Care. Small, wonderful world...

The big event of the week was Dave's band, On Telegraph, had a show on Friday. I tried really hard to get some pictures but it was pretty much the darkest club I've ever been in, so that didn't really happen. They sounded great, though and it was a super fun night.

The SECOND big event of the week was Dave's birthday. Lucy and I surprised Dave with a scavenger hunt to find all his prezzies. I got so carried away watching them have fun that I forgot to take any pictures to document the adventure. Later that night we went to one of our favorite restaurants, La Bodeguita del Medio, a Cuban place over in Palo Alto (PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you live in the Bay Area GO THERE). I wanted to take lots of pictures of the night, but again it was too dark :(

Over the weekend we visited Happy Hollow with friends and fed some goats.

Lucy burned some rubber.

We met this guy.

Bonding.

Hope you had a great week, too!

Becky

2014: Week 1

January 6, 2014

Choosing to FOCUS more in 2014 means creating some new routines for myself. Getting back into the swing of blogging regularly will start with a gentle push for me to post once a week with a sort of "week in review" showing pictures and filling you in on what we did. I find that most of the blogs I follow have this and they generally tend to be the posts I enjoy most, so, please enjoy!!! Playing with her piggly tail shadow.

Good. Clean. Fun.

Levitation.

Lucy got a haircut from Batman.

The SF MOMA is closed right now, so they've created outdoor exhibitions throughout the Bay Area. We went and visited some of the installations in downtown Los Altos, it was pretty sweet.

Chris Johanson, "Door Sculpture to Talk About the Ideas of Different Possibilities You May Have to Process Your Life."

Spencer Finch, "Back to Kansas."

This was actually a whole retail space, lit only by natural light from the door and some windows. There are two couches in the middle of the space and if you view the piece as the sun sets, the colors all appear to be in grayscale. I would be sweet to just chill here with a glass of wine and watch that.

I love the paint job on The Makery.

Jessica Stockholder, "Cross Hatch."

Her piece was Lucy's favorite and was really pretty. We were sitting on part of the installation which is bleachers, and in the winter light the shadows were really nice. The chalk-like painting covered everything in the intersection and bled up to the buildings, including the grass, tanbark, benches and poles.

Crossroads.

California.

Winter sort of forgot to show up in California this year. The result has been some really amazing light.

My favorite Instagrams of the week. This first one needs no explanation.

Ringing in the New Year with FIRE!

The kids had a glowstick rave. The dude at Diddams actually tried to talk me into a 150 pack of these...

On New Year's Day we ate Ozoni, which is a Japanese tradition. It was so freaking good we all asked why don't we eat this every day for breakfast?

I hope you all had a great New Year!

Becky

Happy New Year!!!

January 1, 2014

Hello friends! It seems I accidentally forgot to return from my August Break. :) In this lovely new year of 2014 I have decided to embrace the word FOCUS and I hope to share more here as a result. Cheers to a great new year!!! And a look back at my favorite photos from 2013.

The August Break: Days 13 - 18

August 19, 2013

Day 13: Home

Day 14: Stillness

Day 15: Books

Day 16: Floral

Day 17: Touch (Photo by Lucy)

Day 18: Looking Down

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Days 9 - 12

August 12, 2013

Day 9: Taste

I love pay-day!!!!!!!

Day 10: Red

Any excuse to play with food...

Day 10: Play

Lucy has been playing a lot more by herself (and telling us to "leave her alone").

Day 12: Far Away

Lucy and Daddy taking the wagon to the mailbox.

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 8

August 8, 2013

Day 8: Self portrait

I wasn't really feeling the self-portrait thing today, but this fat cat made it better.

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 7

August 7, 2013

Day 7: Skyline

Lucy and I went for a walk after dinner, she brought her camera, too. I told her we were on a mission to take pictures of the sky. These are some of my favorite shots that she took:

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 6

August 6, 2013

Day 6: Diagonals

There's enough lines in here to find a diagonal, right? My parents say this carpet makes them seasick :)

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

P.S. Did you spy my Tatty's?

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 5

August 5, 2013

Day 5: Close up

A close up of my favorite type of pen of all time :: S H A R P I E

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 4

August 4, 2013

Day 4: Love

I picked up a random leaf and found a teensy, weensy heart-shaped hole. I love the small details in life.

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 3

August 3, 2013

Day 3: Yellow

AM painting outside in our pajamas.

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Read about The August Break here.

The August Break: Day 2

August 2, 2013

Day 2: Circles

Circles around my work...

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

The August Break: Day 1

August 1, 2013

Day 1: Breakfast

Quinoa with almond milk, sautéed peaches, chia seeds, more almonds and COFFEE.

See you tomorrow!

xo Becky

Reflections

March 2, 2013

Getting ready to throw away the calendar I carried around all month. I will miss having Martha's voice in my head, scolding me about dusty chandeliers and reminding me about tours of my stables.

Did I learn anything this month?

Yes!

Here are some of the discoveries I didn't previously share:

Martha has a cartoon. For reals! Martha and Friends follows a 10 year old Martha, 2 dogs and her BFFs as they make crafts and inevitably get bossed around by Martha for not properly organizing their friendship bracelet collections.

Martha's in court again. Rut roh. This time she's involved with a debacle with Macy's. It's ok, just stay cool Martha...

Genghis Khan, one of Martha's dogs, took Best of Breed among the chow chows a few weeks ago at the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Congratulations!