in like a lamb ...

With all due respect to my readers, family and friends who don't live in San Diego ... I'm loving this So. Cal weather (especially in light of the freak snowstorms in the South).

fleur de lys

The fleur de lys (or fleur de lis, in English) motif is near and dear to my heart because of my French roots. Fun fact: when my mom became an American citizen she wore fleur de lys earrings! I took the photo in San Francisco on my last trip. I can't remember the building, but I do remember it was a column and I love the watery celadon background color paired with the stone.

lunch table: la boulange

photos by delphine

One of my favorite spots in San Francisco: La Boulange. The exterior of the building is so inviting with its bright leaf green accents. I love that they stenciled the name onto the building with paint: they didn't have to spend a lot of money on expensive signage to create an effective storefront.

party on a plane

Mood lit cabins. Seriously. John and I flew Virgin America to San Francisco. Upon boarding the plane I felt the need for a wicked cocktail and suffered an "am I cool enough to be here" moment. 

After an initial shock (a fellow passenger tried to text me via the screen on the seat back in front of me) ... loved it! If they had a nonstop from San Diego to New York I might betray my beloved JetBlue.

public art and press room visit

photo by delphine photo of the macarthur muni station

Last week John and I had a chance to visit with the super fabulous Cardstore.com peeps in Emeryville, California, and get a tour of their facilities. We loved seeing their press rooms, their fulfillment/shipping center, and their fun loft-like workspace. The press rooms were pretty quiet (we visited in late afternoon), but we were told that all the presses run nearly 24 hours a day around the holidays in order to keep up with all their orders! We were also beyond thrilled to find out that one of our holiday photo cards was one of their top sellers this holiday season.

One of the greatest moments of the tour was seeing their Heidelberg press, which they have converted into a die-cutting machine. It was completely surrounded by bright yellow safety bars. Our tour guide seemed wary of the machine and gasped when we told him that delphine uses the same type of machine to letterpress (only without all the safety modifications)! Many thanks to Matt and all the peeps at Cardstore for the fun tour!

inspiration: california

photos by delphine -- San Francisco, California

inspiration: california

far west fungi

Yesterday John and I strolled around the Ferry Building (San Francisco, California) while killing some time between meetings. I loved seeing so much great graphic design in one place. (and the food and goodies looked delicious, too). The Far West Fungi stall was by far my favorite stall. Beautiful and interesting goods, amazing merchandising, and welcoming vibe overall. J does NOT like mushrooms, so I had to quickly snap a few photos while he powered by. We are taking the ferry tonight, so I will to sneak back while J waits (I think I can bribe him with a gelato) so I can buy some infused oils to take home for my dad. I bought a little surprise for my Mom at the Miette confiserie.

travel: san francisco

Today I'm traveling to San Francisco for a quick work/fun trip. One of the things I am most looking forward to (besides visiting my cousins, of course) is a visit to La Boulange for a cannelle and café au lait. Thank goodness nobody in my neighborhood makes these or my pants would never fit again.

logo crush: jin patisserie

la vie revee tea gift set and orientchic tea tins from jin patisserie

While driving around Venice on my way to visit a client a few years back I spotted the lovely Jin Patisserie logo and have been ever smitten with it ever since. It's such a lovely logo--especially when blown up. The simplicity of the mum is really pretty, and I love any logo using the color orange! I've never had the time to stop into the patisserie, but I've found a few teas that I would buy for the packaging alone on their website: I'd love to try the Orient Blends Orient Chic tea. It's a blend of green and black teas, scented with Osmanthus, lotus and jasmine flowers, combined with pepper. Sounds so romantic, doesn't it? I love teas scented with pepper and with jasmine, but have never tried them both in one tea. But the tin is so gorgeous (and my very favorite shade of green), so even if the tea stinks I'd be happy to just look at the package!

road trip

photos: delphine

This weekend J and I drove to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon with our son and some friends. The hours on the road reminded me how huge (and beautiful) this country is.

another reason to visit manhattan

bouchon bakery

Oh, how I wish there were a Bouchon Bakery in my neighborhood (Rancho Santa Fe, California). I was initially drawn to Bouchon because of their fabulous graphic design, but became a big fan due to their perfect pastries. Sigh.

trend: crackle metallic

metallic ballet flats: J. Crew

"Soul of the Underground," by Jean Dubuffet at MOMA

Trend I'm loving: aged, crackled, and colored metallic, like these cool ballet flats from J.Crew.

"Soul of the Underground," by Jean Dubuffet, is an oil painting over aluminum foil. I stood in front of it for a looooong time. Hard to tell from this pic, but it's 3-dimensional and totally mesmerizing!

van gogh & the colors of the night

the sower, by van gogh (now on exhibit at moma)

I had the great pleasure over the weekend to visit MOMA in NYC and was lucky to snag a ticket to see the Van Gogh exhibit: Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night. I had seen some of the paintings (from the MOMA's permanent collection and at Musée D'Orsay in Paris) but never before had I seen so many Van Gogh works in one place. Walking through the exhibit felt like walking through one of his paintings--it seemed like all the walls were painted colors taken directly from Van Gogh's color palette.

What I found most remarkable was that all day I had been walking around the museum and had been confronted with sadness, loneliness and pain. So many pieces at MOMA are depressing! (Or maybe that's just me projecting???). BUT, I found Van Gogh's paintings quite the opposite. Here's a man who is known to have had serious psychological problems (he did cut off his own ear and all), and most of his paintings depict evening/night scenes, yet I found his paintings to be the most joyful in the entire museum: a celebration of life.

I highly recommend visiting MOMA's online exhibit (and of course the real one if you're in NYC)--the audio clips are great.

The painting shown above, "The Sower," is much (much!) brighter in real life. The setting sun is super bright lemon yellow and the green sky seems electrified. Loved it!

inspiration: stamped concrete in Paris

Loving the stamped concrete detail on this home's exterior, as well as the reflection of the chestnut tree in the window. The location is divine, too: the banks of the Seine River in Paris.

sierra nevada national park

Bull Buck Tree • Photo: wikipedia

Bull Buck Tree • photo: webshots outdoors

photo: delphine

Today we're hanging out in the Sierras ... a little hiking, a little bird watching, a little sketching. Perfection. Yesterday we picnicked near the Bull Buck Tree, a giant sequoia, in Nelder Grove. Our four-year-old screamed "that tree is ginormous" when he saw it. He's right: it is more than 250 feet tall and about 90 feet in girth at the ground! Click here for info about visiting the trail.

ooooooooh ... Orla!

travel bag by Orla Kiely

I'm about to pack for a trip to Fresno, and then on to the lovely Oakhurst, California ("the Gateway to Yosemite") ... wish I had this PERFECT bag by Orla Kiely to pack my stuff!

extraordinary desserts

photos from www.extraordinarydesserts.com

Today I am headed downtown to pick up a friend at the airport, which is a very good excuse (in my opinion) to head to Extraordinary Desserts in Little Italy (in downtown San Diego) for a celebratory, um, snack. My friend is a confessed dessert-junkie, so I think this will be the perfect introduction to a fabulous weekend.

shop we love: lesesne

lesesne

The very best thing about trade shows is all the fun people we meet! A few years ago we met Barbara and Bryte at the National Stationery Show. They were shopping for their fabulous store in Charleston, South Carolina: Lesesne. Every time we go back to Charleston we hang out with Barbara and Bryte and have such a blast. Of course I can never help myself from buying goodies in their Upper King Street store, either. This time I bought that little green vase (lower right photo) and a gorgeous two-tone torchon (kitchen towel).

donuts at the montage

view of the Pacific Ocean from our table at The Loft at the Montage

photos: delphine

A few weeks ago I hopped up to the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, California to have lunch with a friend. We were both blown away by this amazing dessert: beignets and a marshmallow mud pie made with homemade marshmallow, chicory ice cream, and chocolate. The little round cup was full of warm chocolate sauce. Yum.

inspired by charleston

photo and stationery: delphine

I designed this rehearsal invitation a few months ago, when I was feeling quite homesick for Charleston, South Carolina. The warm grey and spring yellow inks are the same color as the beach sand and the marsh sweetgrass where I grew up on the Isle of Palms. The restaurant on the invite, High Cotton, is known for its superb Lowcountry cuisine. Each time I visit I fall in love with this city all over again and wonder why in the world I ever left.