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On Sunday, Missy & I took Finn on his first farmer’s market outing. We seriously stocked up in San Rafael, and then went back to M’s place and had a wonderful afternoon with equal parts cooking and cuddling. For dinner, Billy joined us and we tried out the Wednesday Chef’s method for pork chops — so good! Equally good were the Lebanese-style Stuffed Eggplants we had on Monday.
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In addition to the savory side of things, we made a giant batch of apple butter. I have loved apple butter since I was a kid, and we would stop (and stock up) at The Apple Farm on the way to visit my aunt in San Luis Obispo. I hadn’t made it myself before, but now I am a total convert. SO easy. We did it in the slow cooker, but the recipe (from Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It) we riffed from just requires the oven and a blender. Bonus it had a measly amount of sugar — 1/3 cup for 8 pounds of apples!
I have been loving it in the morning on my steel-cut oats, with a smidge of peanut or almond butter too.
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In the past couple of weeks, I have said good-bye to summery nails and went straight to dark plum for fall. I am usually not terribly adventurous here, but the french manicure (which I generally loathe) with black tips seemed fun. A little bit fun but still perfectly safe for me — just basically black and white stripes — and plus, it’s just polish!
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One huge bonus of having parties in my opinion, is the abundance of flowers around the house after. I usually have a few blooms here and there, but nothing like the flowers perched on every open spot. Thanks again k o r o v i l a s ladies…it was fun!
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This week also brought (and is bringing) a few family visits. My cousin Hunter, who lives in New York, was in town for work, and it was such a treat to catch up. He came over Wednesday night, we made roast chicken & bread salad (surprise! but there was a chicken in the fridge waiting to be cooked) and some roasted cauliflower. Hunter is in the music business, so we had some chuckles about my lack of knowledge there, but it was super sun getting band (and book) recs. Hopefully he will have more trips out here soon.
And this weekend is the USC-Stanford game, so my dad is coming up for the game. I’m not sure if I will make it to the game, but I am super excited to see him … and sneak in a fun dinner tonight too!
Apologies for these last two pics, but I didn’t snap any while Hunter was over, but had to be sure and show him off — and for the one of me and pops, yes, it is a few (+) years old, but I don’t have anything current in Cardinal & Gold, and felt it fitting.
Hope you had a great week, and have some fun plans for the weekend too!
xx
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Images via my instagram (@caitlindentino), except the last two – Hunter via johngilesphotography.com (and my uncle) and the last one an old snapshot around the house.
For months, I would met a friend for an early morning walk – sometimes through the marina and Chrissy field, sometimes up the hills – taking in the views, catching up and getting our heart rate up all while we used to sleep. Unfortunately job and schedule changes put it on hiatus for a bit, so I am so excited to have this back in my routine (albeit with a different, but equally lovely friend). I snapped this pic yesterday as they were setting up for America’s Cup World Series here in SF– should be quite a show!
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I have made no secret for my love of Captain Mike’s smoked fish and the tartines they have at the Ferry Building farmer’s market. But for weekends when I can’t make it down there, this homemade version isn’t too bad.
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Thanks to Cup of Jo, I have fallen deep in the Everlane trap. Perfectly soft and luxurious Ts for a song … I haven’t stopped wearing them since my package arrived earlier in the week. In fact, I ran into Caitlin Flemming (from Sacramento Street) last night and the first thing she said (after “hello” obviously) was “Is that Everlane!?!”
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Sometimes San Francisco can seem like a delighfully small town – running into friends at every turn. Not sure if it has do with living here a bit longer now and getting my bearings, or just the gods were in my favor last night — I was in fact wearing lipstick rather than gym clothes … so there’s my answer. But it was such a treat to run into friends both old and new. And that it happened at a favorite spot while dining with one of my favorite peeps, all the better!
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Sunday night was family dinner at Catie’s and since she had the meal taken care of (expertly, might I add), I thought it would be fun to bring her some flowers. I am loving the cone hydrangeas… I should’ve picked up a second arrangement for myself!
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Cotogna is for sure one of my most loved spots in the city, and particularly excited to have lunch there today. This pic is from a few weeks ago, but I hope the squash blossoms are still on the menu, as I think I may need to sample them at least once more before summer ends. But as good as the lunch will be, excited for the company … it has been much too long since I will have seen this dear friend!
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Hope you had some lovely little things to enjoy this past week — and lots of excitement (or relaxation or both!) for the weekend. My grandfather is visiting, which is such a treat, I am so excited to wander through the streets with him. What are your plans?
xx
When I spied these cornflowers at the market, I couldn’t help but throw a bunch in the cart. The bright blue flowers with the wild stems seem like the perfect embodiement of the overgrowth of summer.
I’m not usually too matchy-matchy, but I particularly love them in this blue and white vase … they were made for each other!
Vase: Spode Blue Italian 8″ Square Vase
A few weekends ago, This past weekend, I co-hosted a baby shower for one of my dearest girlfriends. It was a co-ed shower, so it was light on bottles & games, heavy on burger and beers. (We say b/c it was co-ed, but truth is we all prefer burgers to cucumber sandwiches…). But it still needed a dash of pretty, so Katy and I tackled the flowers.
If you have time, I love doing the flowers on your own — you get a lot more bang for your buck, and you would be surprised how easy it is! A few basic supplies (vases/glasses in several sizes and good shears are all I really need, but oasis, twine, tape, etc. can help), good tunes, lots of flowers, and you are on your way!
One little tip if you are making more than a couple arrangements — prep and separate all the flowers first, so once you start arranging, you don’t have to stop for leaves and thorns.
Do you like to do-it-yourself for floral arrangements?
What’s your limit — For the home? A small party? A wedding?
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And for some real floral prowess, check out my constant favorite Saipua. She makes mean magic with flowers!
As spring has truly sprung, I am really starting to dig this backyard business. It isn’t laid out and “styled” in a way that it gets much use {yet}, but it is fun seeing things come into bloom.
First we had camellias, and now these awesome huge pink clustery-flowers, rhododendrons. A quick google search leads me to believe they are from a Pink Trumpet Tree, but if you know for sure what they are, please let me know.
Regardless of the name, they make me happy … and that’s all that matters, no? Who knows, I may even be inspired to start planting something.
Anything growing in your garden? For beginning gardeners, where is a good place to start?
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As much as I love flowers, blooming branches may be my favorite. Extra height and stature makes them err naturally on the side of dramatic, but couldn’t be simpler to keep or “arrange.”
When I spied these spiraea branches at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, I couldn’t help but snatch up a bundle.
Spring naturally has lots of pretty branches, but these white flowers may win my heart. For now, at least…
And as the blooms fall, they leave the prettiest little confetti – which makes even midweek feel like a party!
What are your favorite spring branches?
I am embarrassed to admit that I often only think of buying flowers, never picking them. Years of city living will do that to you – mentally train you to forget about things in their natural state.
But our current apartment has a cute little backyard with a few camellia bushes, that have been blooming in full force lately. So I am happy to say that I have flowers all over the house from our.own.yard. This, for me, is quite a treat!
Anything fun growing in your yard? Street? Neighborhood? Anything is fair game!
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I wish I could say my home was always teeming with beautiful blooms, but alas that is not the case. I pick up flowers from my favorite florist entirely too rarely, occasionally make it to the flower mart, and truth be told, many days they only thing living here is eucalyptus that seems to hold on forever.
But I do notice that I simply feel better, and the house obviously looks better, when fresh flowers abound. Most often I pick up stems at the farmer’s market or grocery store and do little to style them up.
I thought it would make for a fun series to check in now and again to see what’s blooming in our home.
This week brings some gorgeous purpley-blue hyacinths (picked up at Trader Joe’s) – and are the perfect precursor to spring (which feels close, at least here is SF).
Any fun flowers in your home right now?
