For Father’s Day morning, our friends invited us to come along on an Apricot-picking excursion. Mike and Diane Madison, who are the makers of the delicious Yolo Press Olive Oil (here I am, pregnant, with my first bottle–it’s green and spicy!) have an Apricot orchard on Putah Creek and hosted us all on their property (where we even took a dip in the cool creek).

Like Sal, very few pieces of my fruit made it into my basket; but fortunately Aron was wise enough to grab a dozen or so slightly less ripe specimens, perfect for making a tart.

Hudson was my sous-chef and did all of the taste-tests along the way. I made the same savory pastry dough as the one I used for my mushroom and leek tart. I like the way the cracked pepper in the crust stands up to a sweeter filling. The recipe (here) is quite simple, and you don’t need to use a food processor. This time I used a hand-held pastry blender.

I pre-baked the crust for about 20 or so minutes at 375-degrees in a 9-inch tart pan, and then made the decision to dirty up the food-processor after-all so that I could make an almond paste: about 1/4 cup of almonds to a 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar and a little water to get it smooth. I smeared the almond paste on the slightly cooled crust and then added the apricot slices before baking it all another 30 minutes or so (your nose can usually be the guide, but just be sure the edges don’t burn). A little more confectioner’s sugar at the end and it was all set! I’m definitely going to be doing this with a mix of stone fruit this summer, but I loved how this easy tart featured our freshly-picked apricots.

Almost as delicious as the memory of picking apricots on Father’s Day, and looking for crawfish in Putah Creek.

While walking in the 2e arrondissement on our recent trip to Paris, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of this vertical garden.

This past April, on the rue des Petits-Carreaux, Patrick Blanc installed “L’Oasis d’Aboukir.” I did a little digging around and found this collection of press about the French botanist’s projects, as well as a hardcover book, The Vertical Garden: From Nature to the City

Amazing, isn’t it?

Here are some other things catching my eye of late:

Abbey’s cheat sheet to Paris with a 4-year-old. (Confession: with major caveats, on the whole, we found Paris to be pretty toddler-unfriendly. More on that another time.) We actually met up with Abbey while there!
Loving the cacti images in this roundup. I think this is more-or-less the aesthetic vision I have for our home. (Maybe we should go shopping at this store, which looks similarly lovely.)
This Skincom Solartent looks perfect for protecting baby-fresh skin at the beach. Thanks for the tip, Bridget!
Lovely branding work for a bed & breakfast in Cape Cod. Makes me want to go. (Or rather, go back!)
I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, but I’d love something from this collection.
Love finding brilliant picnic bag design. (Now we just need the bicycle bar cart!)
While I’m still most looking forward to seeing new releases Before Midnight and This is the End right now, I love it when Sofia Coppola comes out with a new film–if only because we get to see more interviews and pretty photos. (And yes, I appreciate the irony of saying that about a film/filmmaker trying to comment on celebrity obsessed culture.)
This video of Kids Trying New Foods is pretty awesome.
And finally, I got the date of Manhattanhenge wrong again, if you happened to catch my briefly posted post yesterday. Whoops. (I think I do nearly every year). But you can see why I think you need to check it out.

Happy Father’s Day to you and yours! And congratulations to all of the graduates! Have a great weekend!

These photos from Laura & Nick’s elopement, set in the Cascade Mountains just east of Seattle and captured by photographer Benj Haisch, made my jaw drop. Everything from the setting to the emotion captured to the bride’s gorgeous dress is beautiful.

Apparently, after the ceremony (officiated by a close friend), the newlyweds hiked an hour up to a clearing on the rock and then, suddenly, the skies opened up and there was a thunderstorm. In a post on Green Wedding Shoes, Laura says: “The exact moment we reached the top, a thunderstorm broke out and large raindrops began to fall from the sky… like that scene from the Notebook, only better. Yes we got drenched, but it was worth it! It was as if the mountains surrounding us had broken out into a standing ovation—a truly spectacular moment that was a perfect gift from God.”

Would you ever elope? I don’t think I could re-imagine my day without all of our close friends and family, but I can imagine it for others and see how it could be beautiful. (And so practical… hello, fortune!)

P.S. Wedding shoes, Our wedding, and celebrating the first anniversary.

[All images by Benj Haisch]

While in Paris, Aron and I both fell in love with this bag we were gifted from Sons of Trade. The Tactical Tote is designed for men by the same company behind the Petunia Pickle Bottom bags. And it’s big, maybe a little too large on my frame, but it makes a great gender-neutral diaper bag (it’s attractive, wipeable, durable, has tons of pockets, and converts from tote to backpack with a couple of snaps and the company sells a separate diaper pad/case to put inside), but we loved it as a travel bag, too.

The tote can be snapped shut on its own, but because the tote handles fold over and snap in place, we felt especially confident that no one was easily reaching into the sack. I loved the confidence that adds. Seriously: I felt like Vanna White when it arrived, showing Aron all of the bells and whistles.

You can order directly from the company and find accessories at Sons of Trade.

However, I also added the Tactical Tote to my Luvocracy page (sign up for an account here), where I created a Father’s Day Gift Collection. Here’s a few of the other picks you’ll find there…

Just in case you’re doing some last minute shopping.

P.S. Other gift guides for him. And him.