Happy Weekend

01/ Why Tea Is So Very Magical.
02/ World’s Best Father!
03/ NYC’s Hamburger Alley all mapped out.
04/ Love these Bad Girls Throughout History postcards.
05/ Bath Boat!
06/ Wonderful Life with the Elements, an illustrated book about chemistry.
07/ This glass sculpture looks like cotton candy.
08/ Geometric painted walls.
09/ Tree Ring Lights.
10/ What do you measure? Measuring the Universe.

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September

Bought my first fall bouquet.
Started fostering a chiweenie named HOT DOG!
Spotted the first pumpkins and gourds.
Read a lot of books.

 

Saw redwoods for the first time.
Did a lot of traveling and earned some serious dark circles (and maybe one crossed eye).
Made the first pumpkin bread of the year.
Visited Marimekko.

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Call Me, Maybe

I’m sorry, I had to. That song is too damn catchy for its own good (but you already know that). I’m not getting a new iPhone 5 just yet, but I am in the market for a fresh look for fall and winter. Really feeling the leather backed one, lower right.

 

Clockwise from Top Left: Playground by Vasare Nar, Mini Basketweave by Chilewich, Isabel by DANNIJO, Adventure Island by Leah Flores, brandy leather from Valentine Goods, Colors 201 by Jen Ramos, Scallop by Case 822, Dahlia by Kirna Zabete

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Penguin Drop Cap Series

 

I think we can all agree that Jessica Hische is a pretty big badass in the hand-drawn type world. If you’ve been following her Daily Drop Cap blog (since 2009) you’ll be just as excited as I am to know that Hische has partnered with Penguin’s art director, Paul Buckley, in the eventual release of a series of 26 hardcover classics. Each book will feature a drop cap unique to the series, the first six of which will go on sale November 27th. I love the gradient that’s apparent in these first releases and I hope it continues on throughout the series. And yes, I’ll need every last one so it’s a good thing they’re available for pre-order right here.

 

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Pumpkin Bread with Dried Cranberries

Sunday morning I celebrated fall’s arrival by baking some pumpkin bread. I’m always looking for tried and true family recipes, so I jumped at the chance to make this recipe from longtime Twitter acquaintance Sarah Rosenthal. She told me it was her mom’s most requested recipe and that was as good as gold for me. I added dried orange-infused cranberries because I happened to have some, and it was a great call. The recipe makes three loaves so I kept one, gave one away, and popped one in the freezer for later (you know, next week).

 

Pumpkin Bread with Dried Cranberries

• 3 1/3 C sifted flour
• 1 C oil
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 C water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 C canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 3 C granulated sugar
• 1 C dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour three loaf pans. Sift dry ingredients together and make a well in the middle. Add remaining ingredients and mix until just combined (by hand or low-speed mixer). Pour batter into loaf pans until half-full, then bake for 1 hour (check at 50 minutes). Remove from oven and place loaf pans on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pans and continue to cool entirely on wire rack.

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Mighty Summit 2012

A few weeks ago I flew from NYC – and the HP Designer Matchup reveal – to San Francisco for Mighty Summit. Midway across the country I had an allergic reaction to something in the plane’s air system and spent most of the time gathering tissues from the restroom and hoarding them like a small squirrel. I showed up at SFO to meet a few of my fellow summit goers with rubbed off makeup, a runny nose, and red eyes. HI, I’M KELLY.

Me showing up in dire need of antihistamines and the four of them immediately jumping into action let me know what an incredible group of carefully selected women I was about to spend the next few days with. Go-getters, helpers, doers, sympathizers. We stopped in downtown San Francisco at a Walgreens for tissues, allergy meds, and snacks and drove two hours north to a small town in the Russian River Valley called Guerneville and made our way to Boon Hotel + Spa.

 

We were the last car to arrive (thanks in part to me) and showed up to a bawdy group of ladies enjoying margaritas and a taco truck that had driven right up into the middle of the resort. Fiesta! Sombreros, handmade piñatas, and Mexican food is now in my Top 10 Welcomes for sure. We were even highly encouraged to grab a “room burrito” for a midnight snack. My kind of people.

 

Boon itself is gorgeous, tucked into the bottom of a hillside climbing with redwoods and palm trees. All of the rooms surround a common area with a pool, hot tub, and cabana. This is where the majority of time was spent talking, making plans, and wining. Tough to beat considering the always clean orange beach towels and stacks of magazines.

We were paired up in our rooms with someone who was most likely a stranger on Friday and a good friend come Monday. My roommate was Kristin Appenbrink of Real Simple, a girl with a plan that one.

 

Besides the hotel and spa, the owners of Boon are also proprietors of Boon Eat + Drink and Big Bottom Market. They provided almost all of our food and it was incredible. For real. As in there wasn’t one thing I shoved into my pie hole that wasn’t an A+++. Ask me about the yogurt that was more like custard some time. Or the curry chicken salad sandwich. Or the polenta lasagna. Or just visit and try it all yourself.

 

After a pajama-filled breakfast around the pool Saturday morning, we headed to Moshin Vineyards to get a little insight into winemaking and tasting. We saw the sorting process, tried the grapes (SUPER sweet), and witnessed some bottling in the works.

 

Then we stood outside on a gorgeous day trying about six different wines for ourselves. All before noon.

 

But everyone knows that one winery isn’t nearly enough, so we headed down the road to VML. To say the grounds were well manicured would be an understatement, there were flowers literally everywhere you turned. And lawn Jenga. We settled in at picnic tables mere feet from a lilypad-covered pond for lunch. And a little more wine tasting, naturally.

 

This is what I look like while listening. And this is what I look like with Rena Tom.

 

After some down time (or work time or nap time, depending on who you might ask), we gathered for a relaxed dinner.

 

Nights and mornings were downright cold, and a well-stoked fire was welcome. There were even s’mores, but I think everyone was too stuffed with food and alcohol to enjoy any.

 

 

Boon was actually named after the owners’ dog, a nine year old boxer/lab/pit bull mix who made his rounds daily to say hello to all of the ladies before retiring to the chaise of his choosing. A rough life by any standards.

 

Sunday was the big day, the punctuation mark on the trip. After walking the trails through Armstrong Redwoods we gathered for lunch and Life Lists. Before we ever made our way to Mighty Summit we were all tasked with creating our own list of goals, everything from the easily attainable (plant a lilac bush) to the extreme (hug Oprah). Now we were asked to choose five items off our list that we wanted to accomplish in the next 12 months, asking the group for help achieving one of them.

There’s a reason this is one of the last activities, after having a few days to get to know one another. I’d liken it to a verbal trust fall. You’re putting a lot on the table and it can get emotional. And afterwards? You feel drained and exhausted and awesome.

 

And a lot like you just entered the best club ever. And then you risk your lives climbing on a fallen centuries old redwood tree and you do evil laughs for the sake of photography.

 

Sunday night we all gathered for our celebratory farewell dinner in downtown Guerneville at Big Bottom Market. Our hosts, Maggie Mason and Laura Mayes , said a few words about Mighty Summit and why they put it on every year and then we each received a necklace with five small gold rings on it. One for each of our goals.

 

I left Might Summit with a better sense of self than I’ve had in quite some time. Goals clearly outlined, plans written down, proposals in the works. All thanks to Maggie and Laura who thought it would be a great idea to start an annual retreat for women in media, who might combine their awesome powers when together and create something bigger.

If all of this sounds amazing, you should definitely consider attending the on steroids version – Camp Mighty – that’s taking place November 15-17 in Palm Springs, CA.

Also? We took lots of good free stuff home, you can try your hand at winning a bag full of it too!

 

Attendees: Amber Doty – The Daily Doty | Anne Sage – The City Sage | Catie Nienaber – Cuffington | Christine Koh – Boston Mamas | Dana LaRue – The Broke-Ass Bride | Elizabeth Stark – Brooklyn Supper | Fiona Tang | Jessica Zollman | Jessie Char – Char* | Jordan Ferney – Oh Happy Day! | Kate Nicholson – Modern Baby | Katherine Stone – Postpartum Progress | Kathleen Shannon – Jeremy and Kathleen | Kristin Appenbrink – Real Simple | Lily Stockman – bigBANG Studio | Maggie Shipstead – author | Maile Wilson – Epiphanie Bags | Meg Biram – MIMI + MEG | Meredith Sinclair – HOO-DEE-HOO | Rena Tom | Sarah Bryden-Brown – blogstarSarah Lane | Sarah Urquhart  – Alt Summit | Stephanie Brubaker – stephmodo | Tiffani Jones Brown

Sponsors: Lands’ End, boon hotel + spa, Mixed Bag Designs, Tieks, Lemonade Handmade Jewelry, fiestyelleEpiphanie, Wine Sisterhood

Photos by Kelly Beall: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
Photos by Maile Wilson: 10, 13, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

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Autumn Brights + Neutrals

Oh hey, Autumn. Did you know you’re my favorite? Your moderately warm days and chilly nights are the perfect combination. And your colors? Don’t even get me started. You make me miss the northeast like mad and count your numbered days from the start. You also make me a layering fool who’s obsessed with creating her own autumnal palette, this year I’m seeing a brilliant mix of brights and neutrals all playing together like a bunch of falling leaves.

 

Clockwise from top left: Love Quotes Italian Linen Scarf in Coral Reef, Gorjana Taner Shimmer Double Necklace, Nikki Montoya DRUID Necklace, Tucker Blouse in green, Religion SEJ18 Popper Jew Black Coat, Joie Clutch in beige, Essie polish in A List, Current/Elliott Ankle Skinny Jean in mustard, Bonny Boot in tan and black, Brook&Lyn Circle Cuff, Gold Women’s Nixon Watch, Dark Geode Earrings from LEIF

 

This post is sponsored by eBay. From the new to the hard to find, when it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay.

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