Katie’s Loves During Shelter-in-Place

Thanks to my dear friend from Stanford, Katie, who wrote today’s post on what she is loving during quarantine. Not only is she brilliant and smart, the best cook ever, interesting and interested, but she has great taste and style, too. Thank you, Katie, for sharing with us your top 10 best finds during COVID — love you loads! Check out Katie’s other contribution to this blog years ago with her Ice Cream Flower Pots post.  Take it away!

_____

 

While in quarantine, some people have mastered making sourdough starter from scratch, planted a vegetable garden, or otherwise lived their #bestlife, I have chosen in many ways to slow down. Yep. Slow. Way. Down. Being tucked in, cozy at home, can be calming and comforting in so many ways if you choose to see it that way. In these insane past few months, I have found a variety of things that make my life a little easier, a lot happier, and definitely more fun. I am happy to share the best of them in hopes that it might bring a little bit of ease, happiness and fun to your life too. Here are my Top Ten Best finds, thanks to sheltering in place and slowing way down:

 

Sourdough starter.

Continue Reading

Happy Holidays! – 2016

Hi all-

 

Wishing you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays as we wrap up an interesting year.

 

Thank you for reading the blog and for all of your support.

 

Hi there

Hi there- the front of our holiday card

 

Our laughing munchkins

Our laughing munchkins

 

We are still on the other side of the world with Ken’s extended family in the Philippines.  Wishing you the best.

Anika Yael Natori, aka, The Josie Girl

Blog Home Page

Photo Tips with Kate Seward

Ken and I are just back from Norway and one of the most amazing wedding celebrations/weekends we have ever been a part of.   There are some Norwegian themed posts to come, but in the meantime, Ali Berlin, Contributing Editor, to the rescue! Take it away!

___

My dear friend Kate Seward is a cool, brilliant captor of beauty.  Street style photographer, pro blogger and wordsmith, her way of witnessing the world stirs my insides.  Kate and I met through our mutual BFF Carrie when we all lived in San Francisco, and I was instantly intrigued by her choices: lifestyle, clothing, books, words, perspective and humility (yes, I believe humility is a choice).  Her talent is profound, her self-expression exquisite.

Kate started her blog The Styley in March 2011, and since then the New York Times has featured 25 of her streetstyle photos.

Since I am a wannabe amateur photographer (Bixby, my dog, is my main subject), I went straight to KS with my questions on how to snap better.  Thought we could all use a few tips so here are her responses, along with some images which are individually labeled with the Hipstamatic film, lens and flash used on each one.

Kate Seward

Kate Seward, Mistress of Light and Lens.

Continue Reading

Happy Anniversary!

It’s hard to believe the blog is a year old!  It all started with this post.  A year later,  I am amazed at how much fun (and time consuming) this has been.  Of course, a blog is nothing without its readers, and I thank all of you for taking the time to check in. Means so much to me. Thank you!

To celebrate our year anniversary, we are going to do a week of giveaways of some of my favorite things!

Melting. Best cookies in the world. Can I win?

Today’s giveaway: 12 of my FAVORITE cookies in the world from Levain Bakery.  (Yes, they deliver around the country.)  The official rules are here, but basically, you can enter by joining our email list, which you can do by putting your email address in that red box on the top of the right sidebar.  Good luck!  If you haven’t had Levain cookies yet, you are missing out on one of the best things in the world!

To celebrate the blog’s first birthday, below are my favorite posts over the past year.  Of course, in the form of a top 10, because as you know, I love lists almost as much as I love my children. DRUM ROLL…..

Continue Reading