On my radar

spring has sprung, and with it a whole host of fun things to have on your radar as temps rise and the sun stays with us a little bit longer each day.

So I neglected to post last week. Don’t worry, I did not fall off the face of the blogging earth again. No, it was what you might call “a doozy of a week.” To be honest, Daylight Savings Time really messed with my sleep schedule the week prior (ergo, my schedule in general), so studio productivity was sleepy in tandem. At the start of last week, I felt a lot better and more rested, but with the bottleneck of work from the week before, shipping out my last custom design project for a while, and then a car break in…well, despite my best laid plans, everything remained off-kilter.

Yes, a car break in. After years of driving in big cities, our vehicle finally fell victim to a smash-and-grab. What’s worse is I am a nut about not leaving stuff in the car, or at minimum hiding it in the wheelwell of our SUV’s trunk area. Joe exists in a more trusting, “what could possibly happen” space, so when he drove him and an out-of-town friend to meet me for dinner, he was less adamant about the friend bringing or hiding his stuff. Yada yada yada; the rear passenger window is now made of cardboard and duct tape.

But as always, I’m your silver linings gal, so I guess if I have to find the good in this particular situation, it’s that I will never spend another second of my life negotiating where my husband should hide shopping bags/messenger bags/anything that looks remotely interesting when we are out and about in SF. He gets it now. Hide that shit!

The other silver lining is that I had a bunch of posts halfway prepped last week, but simply couldn’t finish them, so this week you get three posts! That’s right! You get a Monday post! And you get a Monday post! EVERYBODY GETS A MONDAY POST! And it’s a good one.

Here’s some stuff that’s been on my radar. All of it would be carried with me or hidden in the trunk of the car, were I ever driving around with any of it.

Of Note

Painted Mary // Don’t you just love Mary’s artwork? It makes me feel nostalgic—I think because my grandmother and aunt had Thomas McKnight prints all over their homes, and her style reminds me of his work. But Mary’s work is vibrant and playful and whimsical in its own right, of course. And you know I love that she’s a local gal! She’s currently at work on new pieces now, but this print is for sale through Of a Kind, and I highly recommend you follow her on Insta.

The Inventor // I’ve followed the rise and (hard) fall of the blood testing company Theranos on this blog, and now’s no different—you should definitely invest a couple hours and watch the HBO documentary The Inventor, which brilliantly covers the full (insane) story.

Dress Me // So we are working on planning a long trip to France this summer (more on that below!), and of course I’ve already started taking inventory of my acceptable hot weather clothing (read: dresses only), and scheming about the upcoming required stockpile. A quick browse on Anthro, Madewell, J.Crew, Sézane, et al and HOLY SMOKES there are so many cute dresses out already. It’s not even April yet! I recently picked up this one from Net-a-Porter; side note to say I’m so happy they carry Madewell, because this dress sold out in 2.5 seconds, even in store. I also ordered this one (size up!), but am now wishing I’d found this one and this one from Sézane first. Hm. Are you on the dress train this spring and summer?

Sandals // My sandals/slides situation is always questionable, just because the SF summers don’t warrant a huge collection. Since we’ll be doing quite a bit of travel through Paris and the south of France, it felt wise to grab another pair or two. I landed on these slides from Dolce Vita, and these woven ones. Both are really cute and comfy in person! The Dolce Vita ones are low on sizing, but Nordstrom has a variety of colors in lots of sizes.

Monet Exhibit // I can’t wait to grab my tickets to the Monet: The Late Years exhibit out at the DeYoung and go dive into all this COLOR. Have you ever?

History Cool Kids // Are you already following History Cool Kids on Instagram? This account is so fun! It features throwback photos and videos with interesting stories and factoids about our recent cultural history. Curious what the flamingoes are about? Read here. Also, I completely remember this commercial, and OMG, is that Finch?

Summer plans! // I have the best friends. Specifically because some of them decide to meet adorable French-American boys on Hinge and then plan their subsequent weddings in Paris. And then invite me. The best! So Joe and I are heading back to Paris this summer to attend this fab wedding, then travel to Provence where we have rented a house with some other friends for a week. We’ve been to both places before (more French journals here), but it’s been a while. I’m especially excited to spend more time in Provence, which we visited in 2012. Last trip, we stayed in Aix, and didn’t have as much time to explore the hilltop towns in the Luberon. So this time, I’m really excited to stay out in the countryside and unwind. And, I think the lavender might be blooming.

All this to say—any good recommendations? From what I can tell from other blogs, Instagram, and the like, there are so many wonderful new spots that have opened in Paris since we last visited. If you’ve been in the last year or two, any great restaurants or cafes off the beaten path that you really loved? When it comes to Paris, what’s on your radar?