Candle light in Capay

The wedding in Capay was absolutely beautiful. I'm still recovering from all the setup and festivities, but couldn't resist posting some photos now. More to come shortly. All photos by Ben Lau.

Freshly printed

Freshly printed muslin bags waiting to be stuffed with fresh lavender picked by the bride from the Capay Farm. We stuffed half last weekend and the scent was heavenly. I love that everything for the Capay wedding is locally grown, from the flowers to the food to the favors. It's only a week away, so this may be my last post until next week, when I'll be back with tons of photos of the big event. And probably a sunburn.

I heart my Pinking Sheers

My house is full of linens right now, and that's the way I like it. If you've ever seen my mom's linen closets (yes, plural), you'd know where I get this from. While other parents sent their college kids care packages of cookies, my mom sent me towels and sheets.

For table decor at the wedding reception, I've been loading up on vintage sheets, which is much cheaper than buying fabric by the yard. The sheets have all been dyed in the cornflower blue signature color, with some nice variation. My trusty pinking sheers have been doing their part to get through the stacks, and after a run through the iron, these will be nice and crisp for the picnic tables. I gave up on my pinking blade rotary cutter a while back, as it just doesn't stay sharp enough. Anyone have recommendations for a good rotary pinking blade?

2 Weeks and Counting

We went out to Capay this weekend to finalize decor plans for the wedding, 2 weeks away. This is the crazy old chicken coop, which has been cleaned out and repainted (on the inside) to serve as the bar/saloon. Guests will line up along this side (by the flower beds I'm standing in to take this shot), enter through the front door, and then go out the back entrance. We have big plans for this small and magical space.


Kristi and her Aunt Rie working on the bunting for the front porch of the house. Aunt Rie is the fastest seamstress I've ever seen. We put this project to her on Saturday evening, and by end of Sunday she was nearly finished. She also sewed Kristi's dress and embroidered Blair's shirt. Details of those to come after the wedding--wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.


The large pecan tree that the head table will be in front of. I'm working on a wreath idea for the trunk, but not sure if it will work out exactly as planned in my sketchbook. It never quite does, but hopefully it will be something interesting to personalize this beautiful scene. Orange groves in the background.


An old, rusty wheel barrow along the back to the saloon. Not sure what we'll stick inside (ice with cold beer, flowers, wedding favors), but somehow this old beaut will be used.

Fashion on a Saturday morning

I woke up early this morning and have spent the last hour flipping through my new favorite website, HEL LOOKS, a Helsinki-based street fashion blog, a'la Fruits. I love street fashion books, and used to flip through Teen Vogue for their feature "Street Fashion around the World". Here are my two other favorite sites for street fashion:


Street Pepper
Covering street fashion from Amsterdam to Zurich, with 22 cities in between. I love that you can easily compare hipsters from Seoul to Berlin. Whenever I browse this site, I find myself wishing for different weather in my own town.


The Sartorialist
Covering street fashion in NY, Paris, and Milan, this site is much less "those crazy kids", and much more "walking Vogue spread". Just as it's my goal one day to be featured on Design*Sponge, my best friend Kathy's goal is to be featured on The Sartorialist. I think we're gonna make it after all.

A breather

This weekend was wonderfully quiet. Farmer's market, lazy dinners, and just hanging out. I wish I could say next weekend will be the same, but with the Capay wedding fast approaching, I doubt that. Photos to come soon as I prep for the event.

Capsule Design Show, May 2008

Hawkeye served as the welcome wagon for the Miss table @ Capsule. He did pretty good for the first couple hours, until some big poodles started to invade his space. He got sent to work in the back room after that. I think he has a bit of a Napoleon complex.

Our orange zest oatmeal raisin cookies were a hit (and cheap lure) with customers. Never underestimate the power of a cookie to make someone walk towards you. This show was of particular importance because it marked my one year anniversary of launching Miss Natalie. Capsule SF was the very first show I did with my good friend Jocelyn (of Nous Savons), and man, oh man, have we come a long way since then. Thanks to all our new and old friends for the support and encouragement to start this wild adventure. Ok, end of my oscar speech, I swear.

Places to hide your thoughts

Hand painted wooden apple boxes that debuted at the Capsule show. These lovely 4 ladies have been shipped off to my friends at Rare Device, and I'm working on a big new batch to add to the shop soon.