Sea lions, artisan-residence and sunrise on Mt. Tam

And the fog. That magical, magical beast.

But I should start at the beginning, yes?

My cousin Bridget came to visit without a plan (hurray for mystery!) and hopes to see the sun rise from a mountain top. So, after an amazing night playing bocce and eating Italian-family-style with all our adults, we bent our minds on an overnight to Marin County.


First up : kayaking the Tomales Bay. We both crave the quiet of the water and weren't in any hurry to cross, so we paddled up as close as we could get to the crowd of sea lions lounging on the deck of an obliging sailboat.


The kayak outfitter told us that the sea lions have Shrek ears, but he also told us we should check out an abandoned "artists colony" at Laird's Landing. There was a couple walking amongst the cabins when we pulled up our boats and they transformed our stop with a pretty amazing story. Bob was bringing Mary to see the cabins for the first time. He's an artist and used to live in Marshall, the town we paddled from, back when the buildings belonged to Clayton Lewis. In advanced apology to my artist & architect friends, I had never heard of him before, but I am now fully enchanted.

good food & great friends @ Eat Real

We started talking when the gates opened and barely noticed 3 o'clock rolled around. That's how you know they're friends for Real.


Jen, Pepper and I always seem to come together around good food. We met as garden volunteers and have been trading invites to picnics, potlucks and festivals ever since. This time it was the Eat Real Festival in Oakland. 3 days of street food and micro-beers made with local, organic ingredients - I can't even begin to recount the variety! There was ice cream and Korean BBQ and crunch salsa in a cone. We all managed to grab something different, and left full and happy.


Two bits I had to share : Liberty and Lina Bo Bardi (or at least her influence).