Color Challenge: Red and Blue

The challenge: photograph one color for a month. The results: nowhere near a photo a day featuring the color blue, but almost photo a day of still lifes. By taking more purposeful photographs on a more regular basis I'm well on way to achieving one of my New Year's resolutions: continue to improve photography skills.

Today's the last day of January, so my last day of purposefully shooting the color blue. Tomorrow is February and I'm on to the color red.

How are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Tuesday Shoesday: Fun in the Sun

A few weeks ago a bunch of our friends headed down to the British Virgin Islands to go sailing. As we're dining with two of them tonight, all I've been thinking of lately is sailing away. Today's shoe pick and outfit have a fun nautical look.

The Finds: Laundry Sun Hat, Ink Blot/Daisy, Shelli Segal, $68; Fair Trade Bead Bracelets, Set of 3, $14.98; Striped Adette Dress, True Navy/Prosecco, Kate Spade, $498; Norah Large Satchel, Canyon (pictured), Lemon, Indian Elephant, Black, Tory Burch, $525; Colourcode Platform Pumps, Yellow/White (pictured), Natural/Dark Natural, Light Gold, Green/Navy Leather, Blue/Red Leather, Black/White Leather, Nine West, $89

Too many stripes? Or just enough?

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective sellers: Kate Spade NY, Nine West, Nordstrom, Organic Stores, and Tory Burch. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Type Tuesday: Words and Letters in the Living Room

As with color, I believe an accent or two of type can add personality to a space. In our apartment, we have two paintings that include type, one in our living room and another in our kitchen.

The Finds (top clockwise): 11 1/2" x 11 1/8" A-Z Letterpress Collage, $85, Top Block Type; 18" x 18" Typewriter Series Pillow Cover, $32; My Adobe Cottage, Faux Metal Letter, $8, Turnbow Designs; Alphabet Decals, $46, Tasty Suite; Typewriter Keys Vinyl Decals, $25, Street Wall Icing.

Offerings from five Etsy sellers caught my attention this week for variation in texture, weight, and nods to old manual typewriters. The letterpress collage from Top Block Type reminded me of the screened fabric that my mom had designed; she had chosen a warm palette with browns, reds, and oranges. While her design was two dimensional, I really like the textures of this collage. The alphabet decals from Tasty Suite have similar sense of texture for me with the varying font weights.

In our hallway, we have a working typewriter. When it's not covered by piles of clean laundry or items destined for Goodwill, cubes and I type notes to each other on it. The pillow case cover from My Adobe Cottage reminded me of our notes. The typewriter key decals seemed a great way to add design symmetry to a wall without adding nail holes.

Next week I'll move on to the office. There's lots of possibilities for type in that room!

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: My Adobe Cottage, Street Wall Icing, Tasty Suite, Top Block Type, and Turnbow Designs. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

In the Nursery: Beginning to Nest

Shopping for baby is not as easy as just popping into your neighborhood Baby Emporium. This makes creating a baby registry more complicated than it needs be. Curious as to why? Pick up a copy of Baby Bargains and page through it. You'll quickly find that the Good, Better, and Best picks for individual baby needs aren't available in the same place.

The Finds (far left clockwise): Nest by El Greco, Solid Maple, $699, Rating: A; Naturepedic Waterproof Fitted Crib Pad 52" x 28", $59; 2 - Quickzip Crib Sheet Sets, Ecru, $32.99; 2 - QuickZip Zipper Sheets, Sage, $16.99 ea.; Innerspring Crib Mattress 52" x 27" x 5" by Restwell, $199; Naturepedic Organic Cotton Contoured Changing Pad 33" x 16.5" x 4", $99; 3 - Naturepedic Contoured Changing Pad Covers 33" x 16.4" x 4" $29 ea.; 2 - Marquisette Swaddling Blanket, Lavender with Mocha Mod Circles, $15 ea.; 2 - Marquisette Swaddling Blanket, Lavender with Mocha Mod Circles, $11.03 ea.; Air-O-Swiss 7135 AOS Ultrasonic Humidifier, $179.99; Philips Avent DECT Baby Monitor SCD510, $105, Rating: A; Diaper Dekor Disposable System, $30, Rating: A.

Last Tuesday after work, cubes and I stopped by Room and Board. We confirmed the crib would fit in Gates' nursery (the space originally planned to be cubes' office that never transformed from storage closet) and ordered it and the mattress. Gates' bed will now be arriving next Saturday, giving us one weekend to clear out the rest of the items.

Sunday we had breakfast with my parents and spent a couple of hours sorting through baby items that my sister and I had growing up. I'll share these treasures in another post, but suffice it to say, we're covered when it comes to blankets and quilts. Most have little to no pink! And all coordinate with our color palette.

I'm attacking what we need for Gates in phases. So far I've gotten through Bedding and Diapering needs and am slowly working my way through Eating and Bathing needs. As I finish my research, I'll share what's on our wishlist. I promise to space out the In the Nursery posts so that the blog doesn't turn into "All Baby, All the Time." To see whether or not other items pictured above have been purchased, check out our baby registry.

Something that you won't see anywhere in Gates' nursery or on our baby registry are bumpers. While they complete the look of a crib, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against using them; currently bumpers are banned in the city of Chicago and state of Maryland.

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective sellers: Amazon and Room and Board. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Beyond Passive Consumption of Technology

Technology surrounds us. We use it every day without thinking.

Yet, rarely do we stop and think about its effect on us.

Today I consider how I view technology and how I perceive it being viewed by others.
 

This reflection was spurred by a friend asking the following question:

For you, what does it mean to be an active technologist who started in the Web 1.0 era?

Here's my answer to that question.

In the Nursery: Choosing a Color Palette

This weekend I assembled key items from Gates nursery that represented the color palette I had in mind for her nursery. I snapped a photo, manipulated true black and the midtones, and then generated a palette using the Color Palette Generator by Jeff Minard.

One color that's noticeably absent from a little girl's nursery is pink. While I love pink and pink was a secondary color in our wedding palette, I don't want Gates enveloped in a pink cocoon. Note that pink wasn't always reserved just for girls, in 1918, the trade recommended pink for boys and blue for girls:

“The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls.
The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color,
is more suitable for the boy,
while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”
Source: Smithsonian Magazine

How did you chose the colors for your child's nursery?

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Finding a Mad Men-Style Font: Kelmscott Roman

I'm still excited about Mad Men's return, so today's font is retro. To find my pick, I took inspiration from 1960s print advertisements, specifically a 1963 Heublein Cocktails advertisement photographed by Darren Mcgavin.

Kelmscott Roman was designed by Nick's Fonts and is available for personal use from Font Squirrel.

Happy Designing!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Picking Period-Appropriate Decor for the March 25th Mad Men Premiere

After an 18-month break, one of my favorite TV shows returns! Luckily I haven't had to wait 18 months. cubes and I have only been waiting since August after enjoying a Mad Men marathon.

The Finds (top clockwise):Relish Tray, $6, The Porcelain Owl; Casserole and Chafing Dish Set, $74, ReFindery; Relish Tray, $16, Mrs. Rekamepip; Footed Candy Dish, $6, Old Time 4 You.

I'm sure devoted fans across the U.S. and around the world will be throwing premier parties. While Mad Men is set in the 1960s, I can't imagine that all households threw out their 1950s housewares. As I love the look of 1950s Fire King that's how I'll be serving up my canapes and casserole.

What are you doing to celebrate the return of Mad Men?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: Mad Men Season 5 Premier Poster via Huffington Post. All images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: Mrs. Rekamepip, Old Time 4 You, ReFindery, The Porcelain Owl. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Dining Out: Destino for Dinner

Destino is my go to spot when I'm craving ceviche and lomo saltado. Now that I'm pregnant (and they have a refreshed menu), we're branching out. Dishes we fell in love with in Puerto Rico such as Mofongo and Ropa Vieja can now be had.

Destino, like Mission Beach Cafe, now requires advance planning on our part. Too often just dropping by yields a wait of an hour or more; reservations are definitely recommended. After being disappointed last Thursday night, we made plans to dine at Destino on Sunday.

Our mission has been to sample everything on the refreshed menu. (Some items sadly are currently off limits for me, but cubes obligingly describes the flavors dancing on his tongue.) A few full-size photos from our dinner are up on Flickr.

We ordered two new tapas to try: the Tamal de Alcachofa and the Chile Relleno. The other tapas we selected were the Ropa Vieja and the Tacos de Pescado. The Ropa Vieja continued to amaze: rich flavors, moist, tender beef paired with crisp cornmeal biscuits filled with melted Fontina cheese. This tapas should be everyone's must have list when dining at Destino. Our other favorite was the Chile Relleno (top right in the collage above); again rich, balanced flavors.

The Tacos de Pescado (bottom right in the collage above) continues to be inconsistent - some snapper cooked through and some on the rare side. The flavors are good, but I'm just not sure what's happening with the snapper, maybe uneven pan heat? Needless to say, it won't be a dish we'll be ordering again. The taste is as close as I can get to ceviche while pregnant, but I'm content to wait another 8 weeks for my ceviche fix.

The other tapas that needs work is the Tamal (bottom left in the collage above). With the piquillo pepper reduction I was expecting a little heat that the artichoke and lima bean would balance. Unfortunately the overall flavor profile was bland. It's new to their menu, so we'll give it another try in a month or so after they've had time to work on it some more.

When it came time for dessert, we had a hard time choosing. Luckily Destino offers a sampler plate where you can choose three desserts. We selected the Chocolate Panna Cotta, the Rompope Bread Pudding (top left in the collage above), and the Triple Chocolate Bunuelos. All three were delicious. Our favorite was the Chocolate Panna Cotta - it was hard to share!

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Type Tuesday: Alphabet Soup and Words for Baby

I enjoyed last Tuesday's Etsy Tuesday Focus on Type post so much that I've decided to make Type Tuesday an ongoing weekly series. Today I'm going to showcase alphabet presentations and words for babies.

The Finds (top clockwise): Alphabet Blocks, $63, Little Sapling Toys; Type Baby Bib, $20, Schoolyard; 30" x 30" Dick and Jane Reader Baby Blanket, $66, Superfly Lullabies; 40" Round Portable Play Mat, $175, The Punky Monkey.

Our elementary school had Dick and Jane readers so I love the variety of blankets and bibs sporting text and images from them. (Almost all of my textbooks were 10 to 20 years old, they were handmedowns from the public schools. It wouldn't be until I was in 8th grade that our school got new textbooks.)

How are you introducing the alphabet and words to your little one?

If you love type, be sure to come back next Tuesday, when we move into the living room.

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: Little Sapling Toys, The Punky Monkey, Schoolyard, Superfly Lullabies. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Groceries: Fresh Organic Fruit

Before I got pregnant, breakfast would typically consist of a cup of coffee. Now with a variety of prenatal vitamins requiring food to be consumed with them, organic fruit and/or toast joins my coffee.

At the beginning of my pregnancy I was enjoying cherries, nectarines, peaches, pluots, and plums. Then, it was apples, pears, and persimmon. (Cantaloupe, one of my favorite melons, was off limits due to a listeria outbreak.) Now it's raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries.

What do you eat for breakfast?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

In the Moment: Gates at 30 Weeks

On Tuesday, we went in for our 30 week ultrasound; everything looks good. Here's a 3-D rendering of Gates from that appointment.

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: Ultrasound taken at San Francisco Perinatal Associates, Inc. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Font Fun: Impact Label

Ever since I received the latest Pottery Barn catalog, I've been thinking about how to label storage as we move things around and put them away into vintage luggage, baskets, and crates. So today's font - Impact Label - takes it's inspiration from the Dymo Label Makers of the 1970s.

I loved the sound our Dymo Label Maker made as letters clicked into place and formed words on the tape. After recording a movie or TV show, my dad painstaking labeled each case of our Beta and VHS tapes with the names of each program contained within. I was never as rigorous, and episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine often got mixed up with TV shows I had no interest in keeping.

Impact Label, an all caps font, was designed by Tension Type in 2008 and comes in two styles: Regular (195 glyphs) and Reversed (198 glyphs). The font family is available for free from Font Squirrel.

How do you keep your stuff organized?

Happy Designing!

Eden

 

Credits: Organized storage ideas from Pottery Barn. Collages created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life. Font Fun is a monthly series showcasing a roundup of free fonts or featuring a free printable with a favorite font.

In the Nursery: Repurposed Objects

Living in a rented apartment, one's choices for a nursery's color palette are somewhat limited. Having a room with no windows for the nursery adds further restrictions. Yesterday, I finally stumbled upon a color scheme for Gates' nursery.

My childhood bedroom sported many colors. If memory serves correctly, I initially chose a deep dark purple for the walls - a color near impossible to paint over at a later date. In place of purple, I had my parents paint each wall a different color: one blue, one green, one yellow, and one pink. (In college, I'd repaint the room all in blue.)

When contemplating Gates' nursery, one thing was certain: pink would not be a dominant color. I forget which friend said it, but I totally agree, "Purple is the new Pink." I can get behind purple. Purple is my favorite color (according to PANTONE Colorstrology Persian Violet is my birthday color and Sheer Lilac is the color for the month of February). Purple was one of our primary wedding colors.

As much as I love purple, I couldn't see Gates' nursery all in purple; the room would be too dark. Until yesterday when I stumbled across these vintage French game boards I wasn't sure what other colors we'd be using. I was immediately drawn to the bright cheery yellow of the Snakes and Ladders game and began searching for two other items to finish out the artwork for the room. The color palette complements the 1950s Golden Books and 1950s - 1960s toys that I've already picked up for Gates (I promise I'll share those in future In the Nursery posts; right now they're still packed away). What do you think?

How did you choose the colors for your baby's nursery?

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: French Game Boards from My Vintage Avenue and 1949 Clue Game Board from Outsider Art Supply. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Details to Love: Lace and Eyelet

Growing up I was somewhat of a tomboy. I say somewhat, because while you'd frequently find me scaling pine trees or playing tackle football with the boys, I loved to dress up. And dress up I did, often choosing evening gowns or dress designs that channeled the South or Victorian eras.

Often if my outfit doesn't have lace embellishment, you can bet that my petticoats do. In the collage above, the top row (left to right) shows lace details from my Toni Lynn cocktail dress that I wore to cubes' holiday party and my Hannah Troy evening gown that I was originally going to wear (pre-pregnancy news). The bottom row (left to right) reveals the detailing on a few of my petticoats, "simple" cotton petticoats from the 1950s and 1960s as well as an Anne Fogarty petticoat from the 1950s.

Are you a fan of lace and eyelet?

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

 

Details to Love is a monthly series, published on the second Monday of each month. Posts from April 2011 to December 2011 are available at A Timeless Affair - Life with a Vintage Touch.

Etsy Tuesday: Letters and Words in the Kitchen

Growing up I was surrounding by letters. One of my mom's screenprints which featured all of the alphabet in various typefaces hung in my bedroom along with poems and wooden letters. It's been awhile since my last Etsy Tuesday post, so today I highlight some of my favorite type finds for the kitchen or bar.

The Finds (top left clockwise) : Table Napkins, Set of 2, $20, Schoolyard; 3-12" Wooden Letters, $75, sERINa's Custom Shop; Types of Wine, $70, Country Workshop; Vintage Letter Magnets, $14.75, MagpieMagnets.

Do you like type?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: Country Workshop, MagpieMagnets, Schoolyard, and sERINa's Custom Shop. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Mixed Review of Zappos.com's Response to Breach of Their Data

I'm used to data breaches; the company I work for sells Network Forensics solutions that if in place before a breach occurs allows you to figure out what happened. I lost access to my student loan when Citibank was attacked earlier this summer, so I'm used to companies not being upfront about what's going on and suffering penalties. What I'm surprised about today, is how a company known for customer service - Zappos.com - has responded to a data breach of their own.

I learned of the data breach from my husband. While I receive Zappos Digests every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I didn't receive the email from Zappos's CEO regarding the compromise of my data. (I checked my SPAM/Junk folder to be sure it hadn't been snagged, it wasn't there.)

This morning as I made my daily walk from the bedroom to the kitchen to make coffee, I noticed how cold the floor was. While my coffee was brewing, I went to Zappos.com to get a pair of cozy slippers. I expected to see a notice on their home page about how to re-access my account. Nothing. I added the slippers to my shopping cart and proceeded to check out. First I received a disturbing message that they had no record of my email address. I went to my email to verify which email address I received communications from Zappos from. Sure enough it was the one they couldn't find. I tried another email address that had gotten a Zappos advertisement, with this email address (not one I'd used to make a purchase from) I received a message about a security update - no mention of the data breach.

After a quick search I found the letter from Zappos's CEO posted on Naked Security. Note that this letter should be readily accessible from the Zappos.com website. Unfortunately that didn't help me as it appears my account was deleted during the breach.

Without answers and still slipperless, I moved to Twitter. @Zappos_Service gets points here for providing an answer within minutes; email help@Zappos.com. As they're experiencing an unusually high volume of email at this time, their response will take longer than normal. I'll post an update as to whether they're able to recover my account when they respond to my inquiry.

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Bedside Reading: Blueberry Girl

When we first started trying to get pregnant, a friend, knowing I liked Neil Gaiman, forwarded me this link to a narration and video adaptation of one of his poems, Blueberry Girl.

I hadn't listened to the poem since we got pregnant. I thought of it again this morning when I was photographing blueberries (Flickr) for the 2012 Color Challenge. After rehearing the story, and crying during this reading, I wondered what inspired the prayer and wandered over to Neil Gaiman's blog to find out. "It's a book for mothers and for mothers-to-be. It's a book for anyone who has, or is, a daughter."

Today, Blueberry Girl, was a reminder that everything would be ok. Gates will battle sexism and small minds but she'll survive; she'll be supported and nurtured by incredibly strong, innovative, outspoken women who I'm lucky to have as friends. The path for a girl is still hard, but unlike when I grew up, she won't be one in a sea of men who view her as an interloper, she'll have other females standing with her and she'll have males who see her as an equal - not an outsider - willing to support her right to be there. And with Gaiman's words, I saw hope, I saw progress.

Ciao Bella!
Eden!

 

Bedside Reading is a monthly series, published the first week of each month (Monday for family-related picks, Tuesday for fashion, Wednesday for home, Thursday for food, and Friday for design), featuring books, magazines, or blogs that I enjoy.

In the Nursery: Nowhere Near Ready for Baby

Progress has been made towards getting ready for Gates. However, it's too easy to see everything that still needs to be done.

Stuff from our wedding still fills corners of the bedroom (pillow forms we never used) and takes up space on the living room floor (printer we misplaced the power cord for until we bought and started using a new printer). Gear from Priceless has yet to make it back down to the garage. Most of my pre-maternity wardrobe that doesn't fit sits ready to be packed up and stored, the containers still in the garage and still covered with playa.

It's overwhelming. Today and tomorrow I'm just going to try to power through it. It needs to be done and we're running out of time. Only 9 weeks remain until our delivery date. Wish me luck!

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Working with Fonts: Otama e.p.

Earlier this week the Editorial Team over at Smashing Magazine shared 25 fresh, free, high-quality fonts. The font that caught my eye was Otama.

Otama's designer, Tim Donaldson of New Zealand, describes Otama e.p. as:

[a] quiet but confident typeface for selling expensive and fashionable things.

Happy Designing!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life. Font Fun is a monthly series showcasing a roundup of free fonts or featuring a free printable with a favorite font.

Breaking Down Online Influence and Impact

Today I'm focusing on influence and impact measurements. No, I'm not talking about Klout or PeerIndex - they aggregate influence. I'm looking at two other tools - Vizify TweetSheet and bit.ly - that can help you finetune your message and improve your marketing.

NOTE: Tools that enable a deep dive into your content's effectiveness come and go quickly. One such tool, BackType that showed the impact of your blog posts across Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit, and more was acquired by Twitter in July 2011 and shuttered.

Bit.ly

One of the oldest ways to measure your content's impact across multiple channels, including Twitter or Facebook, is bit.ly. With bit.ly, you can shorten URLs and track how many people click through. You can look at your total clicks for the past 30 days, past 14 days, past 7 days, past 24 hours, or past hour. In this time frame, bit.ly shows where the clicks came from by site and country.

For a given link, you can also view how many of the total clicks for a given URL were a result of your tweet or Facebook update, whether any conversations were started, which sites referred your link, and what countries the referrals came from. By reviewing this information for all of your links, you can get an idea of which content does better on what channels.

NOTE: If you're using Google Analytics, don't expect bit.ly to show up as a traffic source - Twitter, Facebook, etc are still the traffic source.

Vizify TweetSheet

A better tool for measuring your impact on Twitter, is Vizify TweetSheet. A quick disclosure is needed before I proceed, my brother-in-law is one of the founders of Vizify. For the past 12 months, up to 3,200 tweets, Vizify shows your volume and the number of retweets in a bar chart. Vizify then breaks this information down further, identifying the most re-tweeted posts (something you have to dig for with bit.ly), your geographical impact, and your best followers.

What tools are you using to analyze the influence and impact of your content?

Happy Analyzing!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Dining Out: Mission Beach Cafe - January Menu

Good news for anyone who missed New Year's Eve dinner at Mission Beach Cafe; their January menu features three of their NYE courses!

cubes and I decided we'd get a plethora of starters and appetizers for our meal. We both started with the soup of the day, a cream of mushroom topped with truffles and truffle oil. The soup was delicate, not heavy like some cream-based soups can be, and rich. I love mushrooms and enjoy when their flavors are allowed to shine; this soup did just that.

For our appetizers, we chose four: Beet Salad (bottom right photo in the collage above), Brussel Sprouts (bottom left photo in the collage above), Braised Lamb, and Dungeness Crab Cake (top right photo in the collage above). The Beet Salad, the Braised Lamb, and the Dungeness Crab Cake were the courses from New Year's Eve that we couldn't pass up. (Because the menu is seasonal, you never know what might not be there on your next visit. We opted for getting everything, which for me turned out to be too much food, but means I'll have an amazing lunch!) The Beet Salad was a more refined presentation of the NYE course. Sour and sweet tones were in harmony, and the creme fraiche (not included in this preparation) was not needed to cut the sugar. Definitely a dish I'll have again. The Dungeness Crab Cake lived up to the high expectations set on NYE, moist and flavorful. I was disappointed that I was too stuffed to have more than one bite. (My portion of Brussel Sprouts and Braised Lamb were taken home for me to enjoy at lunch.)

Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to dinner last night, so no full-size photos on Flickr today. If you love Dungeness Crab cakes, you won't want to miss Mission Beach Cafe's appetizer.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Color Challenge: Blue Type

Love color? Want to hone your photography skills? Join me as I take the 2012 Color Challenge! My color for January is blue. What's yours?

On January 10th, Trevor Carpenter challenged photographers near and far to pick a color and shoot that color as much as they want for a month (I'm going to aim for every day for a month). For more details about the 2012 Photo Challenge, visit their blog. I'll be posting my daily shots on Flickr and occasionally posting some of my favorite shots here in Seen Today posts.

Happy Shooting!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Dining Out: Christmas Eve Dinner at C Restaurant + Bar

On Christmas Eve, cubes and I dined at the C Restaurant + Bar. The C Restaurant + Bar is the second Intercontinental Hotel restaurant we've eaten at - Luce in San Francisco was the first. Let me say this is not your typical hotel experience: the quality of food and level of service are amazing.

cubes ordered the three-course Chef's menu, while I ordered an appetizer and an entree. (Full-size photos of our meal are up on Flickr.) Our first courses were a Lobster Bisque (top left photo in the collage) and Monterey Bay Red Abalone (top right photo in the collage). I'd originally wanted the Lobster Bisque - which isn't available unless you order the Chef's menu, but after one taste of my appetizer I lost all interest in the bisque. The preparation of the abalone and pasta was simple - the chef let the fresh ingredients speak for themselves. The abalone was beautifully pan fried and the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes and oven roasted tomato complimented it nicely.

For my entree, I had the Caramelized Day Boat Scallops (bottom left photo in the collage). The scallops were cooked to perfection, even sear on top and bottom and cooked through. While I have yet to master the technique for cooking scallops, mine almost always arrive at the table rubbery, I've seen enough scallops go into the garbage on Hell's Kitchen to recognize how they should be cooked. The Porcini-Leek stew was well seasoned. However, the stew needed to be paired with a heartier protein - like a steak. The stew overpowered the delicate preparation of the scallops. The scallops would have been better served with the pasta and tomatoes from the abalone dish.

One tip: every table has a view of the Monterey Bay. We dined after the sun had gone down. I'd highly recommend checking when sunset is during your stay and reserving around then.

The meal was very reasonably priced, $161.51 before tip, which included a Scotch, the three-course Chef's menu with wine pairing, an appetizer, an entree, and another glass of wine. The C Restaurant + Bar makes it onto our list of places to return to.

Where did you dine over the holidays?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Groceries: Fresh Bread, Cheese, and more!

Yesterday on his way back from Mission Dolores Park, cubes stopped at three of our favorite local shops: Bi-Rite Creamery, Bi-Rite Market, and Tartine Bakery.

Knowing he'd be so close to the creamery, I put in an order before he left for Mint Chip and Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel Swirl ice cream. I wasn't expecting him to come home laden with more goodies. He picked up two of my favorite cheeses - Benning Goat Gouda and Ewephoria - plus a new cheese made from Buffalo's milk to try, as well as olives, guacamole, marinara sauce, and eggs from happy chickens.

The best surprise came from his stop at Tartine Bakery. At the end of the day, one does not hope to score fresh-from-the-oven bread; typically they've long run out. Luckily the person in line before cubes asked hopefully and everyone was rewarded when the baker responded we just made another batch. In the entire time we've lived in The Mission and waited patiently in line at Tartine, we've never scored fresh from the oven bread; our timing has always been off. Now fresh Tartine bread is my absolute favorite San Francisco bread (fresh from the oven or made just that morning); I love the crisp crunchy crust and the soft center. But bread that has just come out of their oven is sheer heaven. (It almost makes me want to start baking bread again just for that experience.)

The goodies did not stop there though. cubes also unwrapped Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies and Coconut Macaroons. Yum! (Full-size photos are on Flickr.)

What are your favorite local treats?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Font Fun: Schoolbell

While organizing some of Gates' things, cubes remarked that I'm going to be a good mother. Of course, I inquired why? The reason? Because I was taking great care to think about toys that were both educational and fun. (At the time I was organizing vintage Playskool Match Up Games.)

Credits (top clockwise): My Picture Dictionary, Ginn and Company, 1963, $6.75; White Chalk, $5; 9" x 11.75" Chalkboard, $12; Boys and Girls of the World School Crayons, American Lead Pencil Co., $4, School Days Desk, Fisher Price Toys, 1972, $47.99.

Maybe it's because most of the women in my family are educators that I'm concerned about stimulating Gates' mind while she plays. Or maybe it's because I've found a bunch of the games I had when I was a kid and I'm feeling nostalgic. Either way, Gates her very own Fisher Price School Days Desk (one of my absolute favorite toys as a kid), a collection of flashcards (prehistoric animals as well as the ABCs), and matching games.

As I had chalk and chalkboards on my mind, I chose a fun font that reminded me of grammar school: Schoolbell. Hope you like it! You can download Schoolbell, a 225-character font from 2010 designed by Font Diner, free from FontSpace.com.

Happy Designing!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: Finicky Finds 'more'; Godo, PnutBnJelli, RetroClassics, and Robin's Roost. Collage created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life. Font Fun is a monthly series showcasing a roundup of free fonts or featuring a free printable with a favorite font.

Thursday Tools: Pinterest

How do you keep track of your electronic inspiration? Copying images to your computer? Or printing images and sticking in a scrapbook or folder? I use Pinterest - a virtual pinboard (or scrapbook).

On Pinterest, I collect vintage clothes from my favorite female designers - Anne Fogarty, Toni Lynn, Helen Rose, Hannah Troy. I pin furniture and rooms from my dream house - My Dream Bedroom, My Dream Dining Room, My Dream Kitchen, My Dream Living Room, My Dream Office. I organize projects - Let's Make, Let's Entertain, Let's Get Organized.

What do you pin?

Tips for Pinning Images

A few etiquette guidelines to keep in mind if a website, blog, or online magazine doesn't have a Pin It button when you're pinning:

• Check the site's permissions or sharing guidelines. If the site's guidelines aren't clear - don't pin just yet, contact the owner first.
  For example, on Decor8, you can find this in the footer on every page, "Please do not use anything without permission or without noting its origins on your blog or website." More detailed guidelines are listed on a separate The Disclaimer page. Creature Comforts also notes their guidelines in their footers, "Sharing of information from this site is acceptable for non-commercial purposes provided that proper crediting links are included." You can find guidelines, titled "My Photographs," for A Creative Mint at the bottom of the right hand column of each page. "Feel free to blog my photos but please link back to this page." Frolic! also places their guidelines, titled "Blog Policy," at the bottom of the right hand column of each page. "[P]lease always credit the original source when re-posting to your blog, Pinterest, Tumblr, or any other site. You can find the original sources at the bottom of each post in italics. Please also credit with a link back to Frolic!."
  
• For original content, if the guidelines permit sharing, pin away. Remember to link to the source and credit photographer, stylist, etc. in your pin.
• For content by others, reviewed or discussed on the site you're viewing, visit the website, blog, or online magazine where the original came from. If the guidelines permit sharing, pin from the original, crediting photographer, stylist, etc., and optionally, include a note about where you found the work initially.
• On Flickr, always check the license first - even if Share this preferences are turned on (you'll see icons for Email, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr).
  • If the license is Attribution, Attribution-ShareAlike, or Attribution-NoDerivs, pin away.
  • If the license is anything else - don't pin just yet, contact the owner first.

Happy Pinning!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Around Our Home: Vintage Details

Tuesday's mail brought the latest catalog from Pottery Barn - one of my favorite home decor stores. Almost every page was filled with baskets or luggage storage pieces which got me to thinking about my baskets, candy jars, canning jars, and train cases.

Since we started reorganizing our apartment in anticipation of a newborn, I've been transferring collections of shells, rocks, and minerals from open containers to canning jars (less stuff to have to dust) and putting out of reach. We've also been rearranging unstable furniture, for example moving a bookcase that Gates could push over from the living room to our bedroom.

This rearranging has been the perfect excuse to revisit and edit collections, keeping only items that I absolutely adore or frequently refer to or use. The collections pictured in the collage above are ones that "made the cut." In the photos, you see part of my book collection, a couple of train cases from my collection of retro luggage, and all of my shell and mineral collections. The books are a mix of books my grandmother read in high school - Ivanhoe, Robin Crusoe, Works of Tolstoy - and Home Economics and Interior Design References from the 1940s and 1950s that I've collected. The shells are a mix of shells I picked up on local beaches when I was a child or from beaches I visited on vacations as well as more exotic shells that I purchased from The Shell Shop in Morro Bay, CA. The rocks and minerals are a mix of rocks I pocketed from local beaches and fossils or crystals purchased at The Academy of Science or various national park gift shops. The basket is an antique and used to be my Great Grandmother's. The Geisha is older than I am and was given to my Grandfather by a colleague in the travel industry when tourism to Japan from the US was initiated after World War II.

How do you display and store your collections or crafting supplies?

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life. Around Our Home is a monthly series, published the last Wednesday of each month, offering peeks into our home and sharing the decorators, products, and companies that inspire me.