Flea Market Resolutions

Adam and I are taking one last day off, not so much for vacation, but rather for everything that we avoided during our vacation. There are two cats overdue for a bath, two stockings waiting to be tucked away until next year, what looks like two weeks worth of mess to tackle, and two people who need to get a good night's sleep before returning to work tomorrow.

Why are we yawning? Well, we may have procrastinated on chores, but we got an early start on our resolutions. Very, very early. We watched the first sunrise of 2012 as we arrived at the flea market! I wrote about my goals for a new year of antiquing in this month's issue of The Point, the official magazine for the Alameda Point Antiques Faire.  

It is awfully fun to see my photographs on glossy paper! If you couldn't pick up a copy at the Flea, you can access the digital version of The Point here. 

We added some choice vintage prints to our ever-growing pile of loot (both scavenged and gifted) that has yet to be shared on this blog. If the sun comes out today, I'll add a photo shoot to my to-do list. Right after my nap.

Happy New Year, friends.

Dare to Dream: Camera Bag

With the all of the excitement approaching this summer, I had just about forgotten that I had a birthday coming up (really, I think that post-25th, there just aren't any birthdays worth remembering). But then I came across Nicole's post on stylish camera bags at Making it Lovely... and I suppose I have to have a birthday to create a birthday wish list, right?

At first glance, Kelly Moore's Mimi Bag is an attractive handbag with handsome brass detailing. But it's so much more. It is magic. It is downright Mary Poppins.

A bag that can handle my hobbies and match my style? I guess that's worth turning 25 again. 

Pinterest Escapism

It seems like everyone I know is jetting out for a glamorous summer holiday on the coast of somewhere far away. Not I. Luckily I have Pinterest for a daily visual vacation. These pins popped up right next to each other last night- and it was like taking a trip to Mediterranean without having to calculate currency exchange rates. 

Images: Brian Ferry found via Pinterest, Blogged here found via Pinterest

Products: Necklace from Karma Loop via Pinterest, Bags from Beklina via Pinterest, Scarves from Method Home via Pinterest

Quite a departure from my usual style, but these cool colors could tempt even the palest little blogger out of her daytime pajamas and into something breezily bohemian. After all, that zig-zagged bag looks plenty big for a laptop, and I'm sure they have wifi by the pool.

Are you on Pinterest yet?

A Bright & Busy Friday

It's a bright Friday in Berkeley, the kind that will tempt cubicled workers to sneak out and start the weekend just a few hours earlier. I'm impatient for the afternoon too- not to escape work, but to get to it! At about 3:45 the sunlight through our bay windows will turn a white dining table into my photographic studio for Rappaccini's Garden. Today I'll be styling new jewelry and vintage finds with a Spring Green theme. 

Many thanks to those of you who have participated in the Reader Survey that I posted yesterday. Your responses thus far have been illuminating! And, if you haven't already...

Enjoy your weekend friends- when you return here on Monday, there will be a giveaway waiting!

xoxo,

Elizabeth

Things Are Looking Up

Here are two pictures from a weekend ramble through Berkeley that made for an amusing diptych. A few similarities, I'd say.

300th Post!

Indeed, this is the 300th post on Shock the Bourgeois! I have to type this rather sheepishly, as a blogger who has neglected her readers for two weeks...

From flitting between wedding appointments in rainy Seattle to flickering power in stormy Berkeley, March has blown the blog off course. It's been a productive month for the wedding and my design projects, but today's clear skies and clear schedule were a welcome relief! Finally, time to edit photos and wade through my inbox. To those of you who emailed such sentiments as, "I am having blog withdrawl!  FIX!!!" please allow this to serve as my response: I'm back, I promise!

Yes, the butterfly is real. I found him outside my apartment, unable to fly and looking bedraggled on a particularly wet and fiercely windy morning. I haven't seen any other swallowtail butterflies yet, so perhaps he too was blown off course by this wild Spring weather. I had a Stephen Maturin moment (nerd alert!) and brought him in, where he seemed content to sit on my hand and be photographed. The last picture, however, was all the bug's idea. As unnerving as it was to have a giant insect suddenly decide to climb up my hair and perch, I suppose I can't complain about how it turned out.

Tomorrow I'll be truly back to blogging with an honest-to-goodness decor post: my new naturalist themed art arrangement, as inspired by this butterfly!

Dare to Dream: E for Elizabeth

Wouldn't it be nice to put your name on your door, like so?

Photo by Bundscherer on Flickr

Here & Now: A Study of Matilda

We should have known better than to pick out the cat with a question mark on her face. Matilda insists on doing what she oughtn't, using her considerable cleverness for wicked purposes, and conversing only in sarcastic meows. She is ever the contrarian. But she did very graciously pose for this dignified portrait.

Rainy Day

I missed out on the last Alameda Flea when I was out of town, so I had been looking forward to November 7th for months. We pulled into the lot to find it largely empty (I had a fleeting moment of elation thinking of the prime parking spot we were going to score), but we soon realized that the Flea had been canceled! Drat! California clearly has a looser notion of "rain or shine" than we Seattleites are accustomed to.

We headed over to the auction house instead. We didn't get involved in the bidding, but I thought this hand-colored etching was awfully fun...

Sorry for the glare on the photo- I haven't been able to find an image of this print online. 

(Though, in googling I discovered that the artist, Thomas Rowlandson, was a bit better known for his xxx-rated etchings... so search with care!)

Our extra hour was spent puddle-jumping and leaf-kicking up on College Avenue, where we stumbled upon an estate sale and visited a few favorite shops (where I scored an excellent find, which I'll show off later!). I was glad I'd brought my camera, because everything was Autumn-colored and glistening... and it almost felt like home.

What did you do with your extra hour?

Here & Now: Fading into Fall

Hello Readers: I'm experiencing some technical difficulties, so Adam's Kitchen Chemistry will go live tomorrow morning! For now, I offer you tomorrow's post today...

Autumn seems to come with its own photographic filter, tinting everything with pale silver and antique gold. My camera is full of Fall. The pumpkin on my doorstep, a basket of apples, foamy caramel lattes, leaves kicked and scattered on long walks.

Re-Acclimating

I'm back from my visit to Seattle and taking some time to get over a cold and get used to the heat! It's 80º here. Forget about 900 miles, I feel like I got transported back in time to, say, July. Quite unnatural.

Next week I'll resume daily posting, and I've got quite the lineup. Adam will rejoin us with his second Autumnal Soup recipe, I'll share some of my adventures in the greater Seattle area, and (best of all) I'll redefine what it means to go all out for Halloween. Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha! (<--- Evil laugh.)

Take a look at my Mom's spooky decor. I have a lot to live up to!

Summer-Fall Shift

In only a week I'll be visiting my family in Seattle. My mother informs me (with a grumble) that I should pack my raincoat. I'm actually looking forward to true Autumn weather!

I've discovered pluots this week, and it occurs to me that they're the perfect symbol for the Bay Area September, a Summer-Fall hybrid. Super ripe, deeply sweet, exactly the color of dappled red leaves. 

Thank you for your wonderful comments on my dining room! I'll be taking advantage of the lovely filtered sunlight this weekend so I can give you more images of my home next week...

Until then,

xoxo Elizabeth

Chomp!

Yesterday I visited Chomp, the carnivorous plant exhibit at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers. It was fun to tour as an adult, but it made me wish I was still a nanny! The exhibit was definitely geared towards kids with comic book styling, displays outfitted with magnifying glasses, and of course, the "ewww, gross!" factor. I was hoping to capture a venus flytrap in action, but they apparently weren't hungry. I did, however, get beautiful shots of strangely alien pitcher plants.

As cute as the Chomp feature was, I fell in love with the more traditional Victorian aesthetic of the main Conservatory exhibits. I can imagine spending several hours there with a macro lens, and the steamy greenhouse climate would be a welcome vacation from blustery winter weather!

My favorite part was a pond dotted with enormous lily pads, touted as strong enough to hold my weight. I can't tell you how tempted I was to test that claim.

A Glass Half Full Weekend

Monday already? It can't be. Adam and I spent our weekend in the company of amazing people and many glasses of wine, and I can't believe it all went by so quickly (especially the wine).

It's not often that we've got such a full social calendar, with two separate visits from college friends in one weekend! On Sunday we drove up to Sonoma for lunch at the Coppola winery and a taste (or two) of what wine country has to offer.

Naturally I'd like to take an extra day off to recuperate. Today I'm enjoying a quiet house, catching up on the shop, putting the finishing touches on some blog posts for the week... and eyeing the bottle of port that we brought home as a souvenir...

Berkeley Flora (and Fauna)

In a past life I was a Victorian Era naturalist- the sort with the straw hat and sketchbook who traipsed around the countryside in a poufy skirt to collect specimens for her cabinet of curiosities. I'm fairly certain of this, because I'm doing pretty much the same thing here in 21st century Berkeley (with a camera and a slightly more practical wardrobe). I figure old habits die hard.

Adam and I visited the Berkeley Rose Garden over our long weekend. There were varieties in every color, and I can't even imagine how intense the park must have been in its prime Spring months.

There are days when I crave the lush Northwest- the smell of rich soil and evergreens, and so many shades of green. The California landscape still feels foreign to me with its spiky and untouchable succulents. I am very often homesick. I've noticed though, that since getting my new camera, I've had a new appreciation for my surroundings. There's something about peering through the lens that reminds me that things are beautiful, and that this is an adventure.

I took this photo in a moment of unusual bravery.
Anyone who knows me will understand what I mean.

Darkly Romantic

As I prepare for my grand opening I've been utterly immersed in the haunting and beautiful garden of Dr. Rappaccini. Perhaps that explains my obsession with vibrant flowers against inky black...

Photograph from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Scanned by Shock the Bourgeois

There's something transformative about the combination. 

Modern interiors get moody.

Home of Abigail Turin & Jon Gans Photographed by David Duncan Livingston, Scanned by Shock the Bourgeois

Pale peonies show a sultry side.

Photograph by Bonnie Tsang via Snippet & Ink, Floral Design by Flowerwild

And even the simplest dresses seem to mimic works of art.

Never a Wallflower Dress from ModCloth, Still Life Painting by Antoine Berjon

Oh, so romantic! Makes me want to transform myself- maybe with a box of black hair dye and one of these.