Ring Mountain Hike

This weekend was bright, breezy, and beautiful - a nice contrast to the usual fog and cold.  After a relaxing day of shopping for necessaries (and birthday presents for all those September-born friends and family!), we decided to go for a hike in Marin County on Sunday.  We picked an "Easy/Moderate"-designated 4.5 mile hike out of our trusty Bay Area hikes guidebook.  The Phyllis Ellman/ Loop Trail traverses Ring Mountain in the town of Corte Madera.  It is a spectacular place surrounded on both sides by glistening expanses of sea dotted with islands large and small, the port of Tiburon bristling with sailboats below, and the sun-baked skyline of San Francisco far away in the distance.  My camera ran out of batteries and Todd's was missing it's memory stick, so I found some great photos of our hike on the web!

The beginning of the trail: live oaks, and plank bridges over trickling streams.

At the top of Ring Mountain, there are several huge boulders, some of which have petroglyphs on them from the Native Americans that lived in the area over 3,000 years ago.  We saw some amateur mountain climbers practicing on a few of the rocks :-)
What's wonderful about Ring Mountain for two (let's face it) directionally-challenged people like us is that except for a few groves of oaks, the whole expanse of the preserve is just low, honey-colored grass, making it very difficult to get lost (and therefore very difficult to have another death-defying experience - as on our last hiking excursion!).
It was such a magnificent feeling walking together, not saying much, holding hands and feeling the wind blow through us.  There were some pretty challenging uphills but the payoffs at the top were great.  On one summit, we could see the low-slung clouds on the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance and it felt like we were looking down from Everest on the Himalayas (albeit much warmer...).

Once the hike was finished, we drove to Sausalito and had a lovely eggs benedict lunch at the nautically-themed Winship Tavern.  We wandered around the town, enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, and got home in time to unwind as the weekend came to an end and another week opened up  before us.

Wildflower Seed Packet Favors

Since we want the feel of a garden wedding (even at the reception!), one of the favors Todd and I have been considering are flower seed packets.  There are a staggering variety of different styles of packet design, personalization, types of flowers and mixes, and creative DIY seed packet projects.

Below are a few of them.

Beautiful, hand-watercolored-looking packets which may be attached to placecards (what a great two-in-one that adds interest to the presentation!).  The placecards may be clear and adorned with ribbons (can you tell I love ribbons and bows?!) or solid, with a line to write each guest's table on.

Small wax bags, hole-punched and threaded with personalized ribbon.  The packets are filled with a thoughtful message and lavender seeds.
There are several commercial nurseries that offer this type of personalized seed packet.  Basically, one can order any of a number of flowers or flower mixes (forget-me-knots; wildflower mixes; bouquet mixes; poppies) and then ask the nursery to print the couple's names and wedding date above and below the photo of the flowers on the front of the packet.  This is a quick, neat, and affordable option.

First Day of 2L or, the Deluge Begins Again!

Below is a lovely, solid cherrywood gavel which Todd found for me while we were browsing in a 37 dealer antiques loft on Main Street in Alameda, a little island on the Bay near Oakland this past weekend.  Someday (fingers crossed) maybe I'll actually get to use it on the Bench.  At least that's what Todd said when he saw my eyes gleam as they rested on it in the shop!  For now, it will be a good reminder that success will only come with hard work and perseverance (and not much sleep!).

Here's my schedule for the next half year:

Mondays: Family Law, Trial Advocacy, Evidence

Tuesdays: Constitutional Law, Professional Responsibility, Criminal Law & Theory

**TRIAL TEAM FROM 6:30 - ?**

Wednesdays: Family Law, Professional Responsibility, Trial Advocacy, Evidence

Thursdays: Constitutional Law, Evidence

**TRIAL TEAM FROM 6:30 - ?**

Fridays: Constitutional Law, Professional Responsibility

Am excited to hit the ground running!

Stationery Samples - RexCraft

The samples from RexCraft arrived today!

Option 1: Heavy weight creamy blue middle fold invites with thick silk bow tie.  Awful pics, but in the bottom right hand corner, there's space for the couple's name and wedding date.  Love these!

Option 2: Medium weight white middle fold invites with thin silk bow tie and italicized initials in upper left hand corner and wedding date in bottom right hand corner.  Love the initials, but the paper's a little light.
Option 3: Medium weight white side fold invites with single initial in a double-framed square at center and medium width ribbon tie at side.  Love the clean, sophisticated look of these.
There are so many thousands of wedding invitation choices, it's quite daunting.  At least we have a while before we have to make a decision!

Stationery Samples - Now & Forever

Just to get a sense of what kinds of wedding invitations there are to choose from online, I went to a couple of popular companies: Now & Forever and Rexcraft.  Both sites let you order samples of invitations so you can evaluate them before you buy.  When I got back to San Francisco, I was delighted to find the Now & Forever samples waiting!  

#2:

A double-layered, ribbon-tied invite with two monogrammed initials which comes in many colors.  Liked it, but didn't love it.  The letters looked a bit clunky.

#1

A single layer, medium weight invite with sketched roses and embossed lettering, also available in many colors. We both really liked this one.

#4

A pocketed invite with an envelope body opening to reveal a single contrast-color sheet inside.  Liked the style, but thought it was a bit standard.

#3

A double-layered invite with an opaque outer envelope and shimmery insert.  Liked the papers used, but thought it could have used some ribbon or other detail on the front.

Peabody Essex Museum - Weddings Exhibit

Two weekends ago, Mom and I drove to Salem, MA for an exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum called "Wedded Bliss: The Marriage of Art and Ceremony."

The beginning was decorated to look like the entrance to a wedding - white banners and all!
There was a huge poster for the exhibition in the foyer.
Some of the paintings included Marc Chagall's "Bride with Fan."  

In addition to painted representations of weddings, there were wedding dresses from two hundred years ago to the present (I have to say, kind of liked the ones from the 1800s!), displays exploring weddings in different cultures such as Indian, Native American, and Chinese, a staggering three foot wedding cake created entirely from royal icing in the shape of hundreds of meticulously executed flowers, wedding jewelry and presents, chests which contained brides' trousseaux, and in depth videos and explanations of where many contemporary American wedding traditions come from. It was an amazing show.  At the end, there's even a white quilted guest book to sign - just like at a wedding!

Here's a link to a slideshow where you can see more of the objects in the exhibition:

http://pem.org/exhibitions/exhibition.php?id=64

The Dress!

So - out of the three places below, and the three I visited in San Francisco - there was only one dress that really stood out. There were a bunch that looked fine, and would do, but none that made me feel quite like myself, save the one. At the beginning of the search, I think I was still shocked to see myself in the big white dress of a bride (Mom said the same thing when we went looking). It's just bizarre standing up on a platform, with a heavy or light, slinky or fitted, but very fancy white dress, and trying to imagine how it will feel on one's wedding day. Honestly, I don't think I'll be pondering my dress for one minute on the actual day. In the general scheme of things, it's just not that important.

That said, the dress we picked at Vows is below. (Todd, if you're reading this, which I highly suspect that you're not, stop now!)

It is a Carolina Herrera dress, made of ivory silk with an overlay of tulle, a fitted bodice, and a full skirt. It is strapless and has a pleated bust (which I love!). Underneath the bust, and at the hips, there are two gorgeous strips of satin ribbon. What I love most about it is that on the tulle of the skirt, there are small daisies. The back has a beautiful grosgrain ribbon bow (another must-have!). The dress is not nearly as light and airy as some that I tried on but it is also not nearly as heavy and constraining as others. It is medium weight. It also has a long and flowing chapel-length train. While expensive, it was not ruinously so :-). When I put it on, it just felt different than all the others, even though it was only the fourth I'd tried on with Mom! I put it back on at the end of the appointment and the feeling continued. It is perfect - for me.


Here's the closest photo I could find to it on the Web:

One of the things I was struggling with in finding a dress was seeing all the photos in magazines of models as brides looking glamorous and sophisticated. While glamour and sophistication are all well and good, they're just not me. For my wedding day, I want to look sweet and happy and somewhat traditional - like a more joyful version of my everyday self. I think the dress we chose accomplishes that - it fits my personality. Sure hope Todd likes it!

A Day of Dresses, Continued

After "lunch," our next stop was Allegria in Belmont. It had been recommended by several people as a fabulous boutique, and we weren't disappointed. The price range of dresses at Allegria is from $1,500 to about $6,000 and there were many gowns to choose from. However, since I'd already found "the One" at Vows earlier that day, Mom and I were both just there to have some more mother-daughter bonding and fun :-). Allegria doesn't allow pictures (as our consultant said, "because the designers would mind") so I just have some exterior shots below:

Allegria also has a full range of bridesmaids and flower girl (though not Mother-of-the-Bride) dresses. (fun fact: It is also next to one favorite high school hangout, Rancatore's Ice Cream. It's strange how I never noticed anything wedding-related until I became engaged!)
Final wedding dress stop of the day: the famous (some might say infamous!) Yolanda's:
Yolanda's is a full-service bridal salon and it has everything from dresses for the wedding party and mother-of-the-bride to an in-house cake company (a representative of whom gives people free samples of cake as they leave!), a gym, a hair and makeup salon, and a pool. It even had a section for "getaway outfits," expensive suits to wear on the plane to one's honeymoon in paradise (or Paris!). Our consultant, Darlene, led us to our own changing room (very white!), asked me about my preferences (and looked at magazine photos I had brought) and headed off to select the first round of dresses. After trying on three rounds of dresses in the "under $4,000" range, I really liked these two, below:
Yolanda's doesn't allow photos so I snuck this pic while Darlene had stepped out! Bad karma, I know...The first dress is a Monique Lluihilier (sp?) with a beautiful strapless alencon lace bodice and full tulle skirt. The second is a "fit and flare" Paloma Blanca, on which I loved the raw silk deep green ribbon with brooch! There was also an Amsale duchesse silk trumpet-style dress with a strapless sweetheart neckline that (surprisingly!) looked great on me, and that Darlene asked me to try on just for fun. It made me feel very proportionate! However, that one dress at Vows was the dress to beat, and none of these came close!

We ended our delightful trip to Yolanda's (Darlene was so sweet and genuine, and none of the horror stories about snobbery came true in our experience there!) with a view of the beautiful wing of flower girl dresses (though there is still no flower girl possibility for the wedding!). Aren't the dresses beautiful?

A Day of Dresses

First Stop: Vows Bridal, in Nonantum (a village of Newton), Mass.

We had a great experience at Vows. As the first appointment of the day, we had the store virtually to ourselves for the first forty-five minutes, which was wonderful since the selection is a bit daunting. Plus, the store allows photos! I tried on about seventeen dresses, ranging from a dreamy champagne Vera Wang with her signature berries detail (reminding me of Queen Victoria's trendsetting orange blossoms!) to a floaty, beaded Reem Acra to the Amsale below, with a nicely fitted bodice and flower-filled skirt.


There are many accessories to play with too - from sashes and bows in all different colors to tiaras, veils, and shoes! At the end of the visit to Vows, there was one dress that stood out from all the rest, which you'll see in the next post. So I paid a 10% deposit for Vows to hold the dress when we left at nearly noon, and I called this morning to confirm that I wanted it. I'm so excited!

Next stop: a nutritious and light lunch, of course. And where else but Dairy Joy, near Walden Pond on the outskirts of Concord!
Mmmm, Mom had a chocolate dipped coffee ice cream cone and I went for a dish of marble ice cream. Hope the dresses will fit for the rest of the day!

The Boston Public Library and Mom's Vespa!!

My favorite place in Boston, hands down: The Public Library (am such a nerd!). It's magnificent exterior, with tourists galore:

The view from the front steps, with a nice coupling of historical and modern architecture:
Gorgeous murals, lions rampant, and honey-colored marble inside:
The interior courtyard, which reminds me an awful lot of the inner peristyle at the Getty Villa (or any Roman-style villa, to be honest...):
Mom, riding her sky blue Vespa home from work (Go Mom!):

Boston in the Summertime - Part 1

A couture bridal salon on the posh Newbury Street, L'elite Bridal. I always think that wedding gowns displayed in windows look a little like Emily Dickinson would, gazing from the upstairs window, as a recluse in Amherst (except without a head!)...

Boston Common, and the Swan Boats, with their peddlers working very hard under the hot sun.

City Hall, one of the most stately of its kind, and right on the Freedom Trail.
Can you believe the Big Dig is actually over? Living in Boston all through high school and hearing about the interminable delays, expenses, and accidents, it seemed like the project would never be finished - but lo and behold, it is! This is a stretch of park covering the new tunnel near the North End. (fun fact: It was in a restaurant in the North End last Christmas that Todd told Mom he was going to propose to me. When I came back from the restroom, I suspected nothing!)

Art, Comedy, and...More Comedy

This past weekend, Todd and I went to see the new Women Impressionists exhibit at the Legion of Honor.  It featured two well-known artists - Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt - and two lesser known artists - Eva Gonzales and Mary Braquemonde.  It was wonderful to become acquainted with the paintings of the latter since for some reason (probably just arty snobbery), they find scant mention in most art history books.

The Palace of the Legion of Honor is at Lincoln Park, which is just north of Golden Gate Park.  It has panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay on the other.  There's also a public golf course in the park.

The Palace itself is a grand old building, with thick swathes of vibrant marigolds flanking the front entrance.
In the inner courtyard, there was some modern art, like this enormous glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly...

And some more traditional works, like one of Rodin's many sculptures of "The Thinker."  The museum also has a quite large gallery filled with other Rodin sculptures.
But sometimes art's best inspiration is found in nature, like these clown poppies growing across the street from the museum.  They look so delicate but, believe me, they can stand substantial San Francisco-in-the-summer-style winds!
After the Legion of Honor, we explored Fillmore Street and had a late lunch at (fittingly) La Boulange, following several hours of mostly-French art gazing.  Then we headed over to Cobb's Comedy Club, down in North Beach, where we saw the hilarious Kevin Nealon, of Saturday Night Live and (most recently) Weeds fame.

Sunday was luxuriously relaxed.  We saw Stepbrothers, I got a new wallet at Vera Bradley (here's hoping this one doesn't go anywhere for a while!), and we ended the weekend with hot bowls of chocolate chip bread.  All in all, a very positive conclusion to a stressful week.

Flowers and Chocolate Chip Beer Bread (in a bowl)

Last week was a hard week.  Not only did I lose my wallet on Monday (to be posted about later...), but there were so matters in court every day that there wasn't much time to even breathe.  I wonder if more people decide to litigate in the summer for some reason? It must have to do with fighting about where their child will go to school in the fall...

Anyway, it was a lovely surprise on Thursday night to come home to a huge bouquet of irises and lilies (very much like the one from a few months ago), already put in a vase and filling the apartment with a lovely fragrance.  Todd was working that night, but leaving the flowers for me to come home to was such a thoughtful gesture after such a rotten week.  It reminded me of all those times last year, nomadically living between our two apartments in Los Angeles, that Todd would have to leave disastrously early, or I'd get home late, and there'd be a sweet, loving message written on a yellow legal pad there to greet me.  

Our weekend ended with the crashing success of Chocolate Chip Beer Bread.  We had bought a huge hunk of chocolate and then Todd used a hammer to smash it into smaller chunks (although some were as big as a quarter of a bar of chocolate!).  There was so much chocolate in the bread that it kind of all fell apart when we removed the loaf from its pan.  And proceeded to ooze a river of chocolate all over everything...  So we laughed, I remarked upon my habit of making the most mangled looking (but delicious!) pancakes in the world (to make Todd feel better), and we scooped utterly mouthwatering, steaming pieces of bread into bowls which we devoured in about three minutes flat. Mmmm.  I think CCBB in a bowl may just become a Rosenfelt-Hoag tradition!

Highlight Pics from Alison's Wedding

At Waffle House, on our drive from Georgia to Prattville, Alabama.

Alison walking down the aisle with her dad.
The happy couple, just before they cut the cake!
James, Suzi, Todd, and I...in descending order of height :-)
In the Tasting Room at World of Coke in Atlanta.  See how I got the ring in?  This is definitely going in our guest book!