happy holidays!

(photo by Ericka McConnell. wardrobe stylist: Jane Black. hair & makeup: Lisa Strutz)

lotsa new pix

...on my website. Go look!

(photos by Eric Zepeda left and Heather Sourwine right)

poppy creative

my new agency

cheese & nuts & instagram

Marshall Gordon and I were playing around with cheese and nuts today...

new work for prevention magazine

(photos by Stephanie Rausser. wardrobe stylist: Shannon Dunn. hair & makeup: Tricia Turner left and Yvette Swallow right)

crazy flowers!

I had all these crazy flowers left over from a photo shoot and I decided to make a crazy floral arrangement.

 

tuesday in st. helena

little flower school comes to oakland

Thursday night, I joined the company of 20 flower lovers at the Starline Social Club, for the Little Flower School. I'm not sure how accustomed Sarah Ryhanen and Nicolette Owen are to receiving praise, but most of the attendees admitted to being fully obsessed with them and several women traveled a long distance to get to the class (one flew in from Colorado and two came up from Long Beach, separately). It's funny to have an e-crush on someone who doesn't know you. I was a little too giddy to find out that Sarah and I have the same birthday.

The class was great. Sarah and Nicolette gave a floral arranging demo and then let us loose on about 35 buckets of flowers, which covered the Starline stage. They suggested we start with the flowers we were most drawn to, then try to find ways to work in varying colors and heights. My tendency is to keep things rather compact and on the same level, even though it is my dream to be able to arrange flowers that sprawl. I got lots of direction from Nicolette and Max Gill (also there for guidance). My house smells delicious!

I also made a new friend in Samin Nosrat, whom I'd first seen in Martha Stewart Living last fall (she hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in Oakland). She is a chef and a writer and is rather spectacular. She is about to start teaching a new series of cooking classes called Home Ec at Pizzaiolo. You should sign up.

My only regret of the evening was not getting my hands on Nicolette's new book in time for the class (it's back-ordered on Amazon).

a bit of warmth this winter

I just got a surprise from Caroline Schiff, a photographer I worked with in July. She put together a 'behind the scenes' video of the shoot we did at Spring Mansion. It was fun to get this reminder of summer, especially since it will be so cold and rainy this week. Thanks, Caroline!

(directed by Caroline Schiff)