the beauty of unemployment

though i did just land myself a small part-time gig with where traveler-san francisco (!!), i'm still very unemployed. blech.

in the meantime, i should be taking advantage of my free time! (please note: "free time" = time when i'm not emailing and researching jobs). though i often get down on myself and feel rather guilty about my situation, it's helpful for me to think of a few things: a. i am in san francisco at the peak of their good weather (yesterday was a bad example for it was rather gloomy and drizzly). b. i have a decent amount of savings and it's not time to fear bankruptcy. c. when's the next time i'll have this time?! once a job comes, and it will come, i will be a busy bee, jealously smiling at the memories of when i first moved to the bay and had to come up with daily outings and adventures. 

yesterday was a perfect example: after getting some work done, i went to meet a friend at samovar tea lounge. assuming the bus would take longer than it did, i arrived at the place 30 minutes before our date and had time to stroll. i google-phoned my local and discovered i was within blocks of the main part of hayes valley - a chic, preppy neighborhood with cute boutiques, cafes and fancy furniture shops. some fun findings:

fabulous table, chairs and chandelier from cisco home

cute holiday sculptures from lavish

antique pie safe from zonal home

thought this was a neat, easy way to display sunglasses - them too at lavish.

another neat way found here.

i love a good neighborhood tour. 

book ends

i've been in need of a good pair of book ends for a while. not sure how i didn't think of etsy as a search engine but of course, there are a million great finds. a few of my top picks:

anchor book ends from kimms attic

ram bookends from tales of time

bronze book bookends from IDKlare

bronze duck bookends from old classic vintage

metal floral bookends from cheerful owl

the cheese school of san francisco

how awesome is this!? i just discovered the cheese school of san francisco -- for those wanting to learn everything cheese, not only does the school teach intensive cheesemonger programs but they also offer some really neat, one-time evening courses. i'd love to sign up for either (or both!) of these classes: diy holiday cheese platter or mediterranean cheeses. wish i hadn't missed october's whiskey & cheese or  cheeses of the pacific northwest! 

super cute name and logo design, too. aaaand they offer two paid internships a year -- how cool!

{photos from cheese school of sf}

ticket: check!

a follow up to my post about waking early to wait in line for martha's new entertaining book...

as planned, i took an early bus this morning to macy's downtown. expecting a bit of craze, i found myself alone at the front door. luckily, there is a boudin bakery just next door, so i sat with my 3rd hunger games and a cup of coffee and tried to read while keeping a watchful eye on the door -- just in case the hordes start lining up all of a sudden. i'm still alone and about an hour later, i fear the worst has happened: maybe there is another entrance around the block and people are lining up there! gathered my things, walked around the block and there waiting out front are 5...only 5 people! where are the devoted martha fans out here?! i peeked a look through the locked doors which in turn, triggered the friendly 5 to say "here for martha??" my people! yes, they certainly are. friendly, funny, excited they were -- one had even gotten to the store front at 6:30am expecting a mad-house. de-vo-tion. 

needless to say, we were all certainly well within the 200 persons cap. phew! we as a collective martha fan group have a tentative plan to get there early again to get the best seats in the house for the cooking demo. i will be bringing a delish, martha breakfast treat. 

travel map

children's book author and illustrator, oliver jeffers, has made a limited edition map of the world that looks just awesome hung up on the wall. love the simple and stylized line drawing -- makes me want to stick it with everywhere i've been! the print comes with 4 bulldog clips, nails and a box of 50 orange pins plus one red and one blue (for where you live now and where you plan to live next). cute, no?

side note: after my post the other week about interesting ways to display art, i've started noticing how others are doing it and i really love this idea of using bulldog clips. i saw a large print hung by the same method at the sf center for the book and i think that it's going to be the perfect way to hang my moroccan rugs. 

{found via hither and thither. pictures and purchase from here at you and me the royal me}

martha in sf

wish me luck, for tomorrow i will be waking up early to wait in line at macy's to buy the queen's new book, martha's entertaining: a year of celebrations. the book acts as a ticket for her cooking demonstration and appearance at macy's a few days later. i must be one of the first 200 people to buy the book to get a seat to the event!

is it crazy to plan to be at the door at 8am and wait until 10am when they open to ensure my place? i know i can't be the only martha devotee here in the bay...plenty of other domestic goddesses in training will be waiting out front too, right?! 

{photo via marthastewart}

notebook tee

what a great idea! liz over at say yes! to hoboken came up with this easy diy project. she created this lined notebook tee for her tot but obviously any size will do. get her step by step instructions here.

it'd be just as easy to use black fabric paint and create a staff music tee or if you wanted to get a little crazy, use several colors and stencil out squares with the tape to create a rubix cube tee! 

{photos via say yes! to hoboken}