sparrow & urchin

Life: Deciding to revamp this here blog... maybe

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 22:38:00 +0000

Salut! C'est moi Lauren! Haven't seen me in a awhile! Well here's my face again.

One thing I've missed over the past few years was this little blog. I had been a way to keep track of my life and something I still look back on frequently to remember outings, outfits, and where I was at in my life. So why not try again! I've come back to this post often, trying to re-write it.

Since last I wrote lot's have changed, but I can feel that I'm headed down the path to become my true self more and more.

1. The biggest visual change is I've adorned my body with some amazing tattoos. I'm at 12 right now, which isn't a huge number, but they are large and I have traveled for them. Since last blogging I've gotten a Magnolia on my back from a traveling artist named Ellen, I chose a magnolia because I have a beautiful tree outside my house in Oakland, I also got it when I became a manager of the design team at WU. After I got an amazing blackwork piece of acorns and oak leaves on my arm by the amazing Lawrence Edwards. Next I got a large thigh piece of my dog Tripp, while traveling with him on a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. It was a literal road trip I planned to get a trip tattoo of Tripp... say that three times fast. It was done by the ever so talented Shawn Hebrank, whom I can't wait to get more from. I went with my best friend Marlee before she moved to the UK to get tattoos from Regina in Oakland and I got a silver millennium crystal and time key on my sternum. Then I made my way to Europe for the first time alone and was able to snag a spot with the goddess of ink Kate Mackay-Gill and got a whimsical white squirrel circling my knee and interacting with my Tripp tattoo. I have a shoulder piece by Jessica Zed of a bouquet of flowers representing some women in my life, peonies for my mom, roses for my grandma, forget-me-nots for my alaskan family, and fireweed for in general the women who were there for me during my summer in Alaska years ago. I received a beautiful rib tattoo of blueberries and moth by the incredible Ella Coose, who is amazing and so young, she will become a major famous artist I can feel it. I got an amazing Pacific Dogwood and Coastal Redwood tattoo on my forearm by Annelise before she moved to Portland, OR. And started a huge floral back piece with Cecelia! Soon I will be covered in beautiful flowers and animals. Oh also I fulfilled a desire I've had since jr. high and got my septum pierced, and have icy purple hair.

2. Travel, I've done tons of travel and mostly alone. I never thought I'd like the solo travel aspect but I love it especially for road trips. You can stop anywhere, listen to anything, have your own schedule... I love it. I did two long roadtrips alone (well with Tripp dog of course) and stayed in so many places, met up with old friends and met some interesting people along the way. Last year I finally went to Europe, I spent a week in Scotland with my friend Marlee traipsing about the Orkney Islands and Edinburgh, then hopped over to Paris where I spent 5 days alone in a country where I didn't speak the language... It was fine! haha! I stayed in a hip hostel and made friends immediately. I can't wait to do more foreign travel! I also went on a girls trip to New Orleans!! I definitely want to go back there too.

My most recent solo trip was to India to see my dear friend Sonali get married! It was an overwhelming once in a lifetime trip and I saw so many amazing sites, and it was really really hot... Then went over to Amsterdam to see an old highschool friend from Brasil!

Pictures from India and Amsterdam.

3. The most important thing... I've become an avid costumer and vintage/antique clothing collector. As anyone knows who knows me, I LOVE dressing up. I always have. I love vintage clothing. I love history. I was obsessed with American Girl dolls as a child, I loved history and dress. I remember telling my mom I wish Colonial Williamsburg forced the tourists to wear costumes because people in shorts and fanny packs among the history made me angry. I have made myself many costumes, and my mom taught me how to sew and care about authenticity when she went thru pains to make the American Doll clothes she made and sold accurate looking. Slowly and surely through art friends here I was exposed more an more to the costume community here. And that has lead me to now being on the board of the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild, attending and attend Costume College, a costuming convention in LA, yearly. But most importantly I have made friends so deeply that I didn't know I'd have those type of friends after college. Everyone is so wonderful, helpful and supportive. What this has also taught me is how to mend clothes better and make clothes with less waste. Old techniques of creating clothes is fabulous to use in modern sewing and mending.

Here's some quick pics of the past 6 months of costume.

4. The biggest challenge in my life is I've started again to really concentrate on creating a lifestyle that I consume less and create more. Currently where I focus on for this challenge is my backyard garden, my food cycle, and also through my style. 80% of my closet is USA made, me-made or vintage/used. I've started preserving food again and only growing or buying from the farmers markets. My partner and I have built an amazing garden in the backyard and discuss when we will have a small homestead and live more off the land. I've started making another effort to cut plastic out of my life and reuse as much as I can. We also have two forms of composting, worms and a tumbler. My goals is practicing more different food creation and how to process it. François works at an urban farm in San Francisco so we get lot's of food to experiment with preserving and processing, currently as I type he's figuring out how to best hull his millet harvest. I'm really excited to learn more and more how to be self sustainable and also appreciate what I do consume and buy that I don't make.

Flowers from my garden. Bells of Ireland, Yarrow, and Snapdragons.

What I've now found, I'm living what I loved as a child. Tattoos, dressing up like a real life American Girl doll, gardening, doing handicrafts, just making and solving the question, how was that dress made? And learning how to live fully on my own and grow and make everything.

Alaska: Seward

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 00:55:00 +0000

A couple months ago we had the pleasure of visiting my family in Alaska. In 2009 I lived there for a summer with my cousin, not knowing my future after college I spent time up there contemplating, painting, crying, and biking. I was excited to go back to see it again as a different more secure woman and also have a car! We managed to pack so much in in our week and a half and I wanted to share our travels, there's so much to show so I'm breaking it up into different posts about the area we went to, starting with going from Anchorage to Seward and our time in Seward.

We flew in very late at night, and fell right asleep after being picked up from my cousin. The funny thing flying up there in the summer is we saw sunset twice. I watched the sunset in Seattle as we boarded the flight and then as we flew further and further north the sun peeked up over the horizon again for a few more hours before setting again around midnight in the far north.

Bright and early we woke up and were greeted by my cousin, while waiting for my Aunt and cousin's daughter to get ready we got a quick coffee and breakfast at Fireisland Bread, we had the breakfast sandwich which was awesome. Once everyone was ready we drove down the Seward highway along turnagain arm and first stopped at Indian Valley Mine where we panned for gold. It was Mike and Brailyn's (My cousin's daughter) first time so we all had lots of fun. We got a piece of granite, copper, fools gold, some gold flecks in our tub of dirt. The place itself was really great, had some awesome souvenirs and great skulls and decor. The owners were so great and very helpful and patient with teaching all the kids there how to pan for gold, great place to stop for anyone.

After panning for gold we drove a bit further and had lunch at Chair 5 in Girdwood. The restaurant had fun taxidermy and posters all over the place. The food was good, but nothing special. Girdwood is a nice little town and a good place to stop at, once a year they have a fair there in the woods which was really fun when I went there in '09. Finishing lunch we headed to the wild animal park.

Alaska Wild Animal Park
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is a really amazing place and is a definite stop for anyone traveling to Alaska. The center rescues hurt animals and helps grow populations of herding animals, such as the Alaska Wood Bison. They have caribou, moose, lynx, a bald eagle, bison, black and brown bears, porcupine, and deer. You can get really close to the animals and there's many signs to learn about the animals. The park itself is a driving park or walking park, and also has an amazing gift shop. At the end we bid farewell to my cousin and aunt and started down the highway to Seward.

On our way down to Seward we encountered a couple rain showers which we were excited about not seeing rain for almost a year. We made it down to our cabin, which was amazing. It was right on a creek with salmon running up stream, the porch hung over the stream and the door opened to that so we felt very secluded with a beautiful view from the window. Our cabin was the smallest and called the Trapper cabin, it was perfect size and the owner was awesome, if you're in Seward look into this place, Alaska Creekside Cabins.

Exit Glacier
Once settled in we started to drive towards Seward. We accidentally took a wrong turn but ended up at Exit Glacier so that wasn't a bad thing. Exit Glacier is a part of Kenai Fjords National Park and one of the glaciers that's easiest to access. It comes down from the Harding Ice Field, we wanted to hike up to the ice field but unfortunately didn't have time. The glacier of course really just makes you sad, it's receded 187 ft in 2013, half of it's recession in the past 150 years has happened in just the past 10 years. It's so sad watching these amazing things retreat so rapidly and watch people at the park deface rocks and such and not care... Come on!

Anyway, after walking around the glacier we made our way to downtown Seward. Seward is a small old port town with certain areas you drive thru that smelled so strongly of rotten fish, but what do expect from a fishing town. The downtown is just a few blocks with more bars then you'd expect. We had dinner at a good brewery called the Seward Brewing Company, we had the lamb fries, and reindeer hot dog which was all amazing. This was the first time we realized how different the time was, I forgot that when you're here you loose complete track of time. By the time it started getting to sunset we realized we hadn't eaten in hours then looked at the time and it was almost 9pm. It's surprising how much you depend on the sun to know when you should eat and relax. It only felt like it was around 5 at that point. After stuffing ourselves and watching the sun finally set at 11pm, we made it back to our cabin and fell asleep listening to salmon swimming up the shallow stream.

Resurrection Bay

We got up super early and made our way back down to Seward to go kayaking on Resurrection Bay and a great place called, Sunny Cove Kayaking. It was a great small group led by two experienced kayakers and we were out for 3 hours. Luckily it was the morning, so the bay was like glass and super easy to kayak in. While we were out we saw some amazing views, Resurrection Bay is ENORMOUS! All around you are massive mountains that you really can't comprehend and glaciers peeking over the tops and valleys of them. I wish we were able to see some of the glaciers up close, but the bay is just too huge. We saw so much wildlife, we saw silver salmon jumping, a couple almost jumped into some of the kayaks, there were bay seals, and lots of eagles. One bald eagle we saw flying around with a fish in it's talons before dropping the fish off to it's partner bald eagle in the trees then swooping back down over us. I absolutely fell in love with kayaking and can't wait to do it again, and I was super happy that I had my foul weather pants on so I didn't have a wet butt afterwards :)

Seward Sea Life Center

The Seward Sea Life Center was incredible. It's a working center the takes in Alaskan animals, and supports rehabilitation. It had so many amazing things, I could've spent many more hours there! The Stellar Sea Lions that they had there were amazing, and it's a part of a breeding program to better understand the impacts on the huge guys. They really are massive the female sea lions are larger than the male California Sea Lions AND their breeding male has lost some weight cause it wasn't breeding season, he's only 2200lbs! Down from 2700lbs! We at first thought maybe he was a type of walrus he was so large.

They had some really neat exhibits on salmon too of course. I thoroughly enjoyed how the Sea Life Center was focused on native ocean life unlike most aquariums that have species that aren't local. It definitely worth a visit and the gift shop was awesome!

The Kenai Penninsula

On our way back up to Anchorage we made a few stops after Seward, this map was super helpful in finding cool places to stop at, http://www.alaska.org/guide/seward-highway. First was a salmon spawning platform at Moose creek north of Seward, we almost missed it but I'm so happy we didn't. The trail went through the woods to a shallow stream. As we walked up it was full of bright red spawning sockeye salmon. The platform beside the stream allowed us to watch without disturbing them. We even saw a female salmon building a nest called a redd. It's incredible to think these fish started in this exact spot, survived to get to the ocean, lived in the ocean for years, then swam upstream/up water falls without being caught to spawn and die in the same spot they were born. It's incredible.

A woman soon joined us at the viewing platform and told us that she had been here a few years ago but about two or three weeks later, she said the the stream smelled terrible and was full of dead salmon, we all were happy that we had made it at the perfect moment and didn't see the aftermath.

On our way up we also drove to an old stop along the Alaskan rail line at mile 23. It was called Alaska Nellie's Homestead in Lawing and was a restaurant, and lodge, trophy room and with many out buildings. The '64 earthquake damaged much of the property but stayed running until it was vacated in the 70's. Now it was just a bunch of abandoned buildings, once a great stop for tourists along the railway has become a part of the forest.

As we headed toward Turnagain arm we drove to the west towards Hope, AK. It's a town I had seen from the other side of the bay but never had been.

Next post, Hope, AK! Then Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali, and final post Anchorage! Make sure to visit Alaska.org for really good historical travel info, that's how I found lot's of stops on the highway.

Travel: Red Rock Island

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 20:15:00 +0000

While driving on the Richmond Bridge one might not notice a little red island on the south side of the bridge... You can hardly see it, the bridge is almost on top of it. It's the only privately owned island in San Francisco bay and has been on and off the market tons of times. But no one has ever bought it.

It used to be a Magnesium mine, but now there's only scars on one side from it. There's a teeny beach full of beach glass on the north side. I had never been, last time we tried going there we almost sailed into the bridge, so I was excited to sail up there earlier this year. This proved to be the last trip on our small sailboat, but alas we have a newer bigger one now.

While there another boat showed up and it's party went to climb up to the top. I didn't partake in that activity cause the only thing you win from getting to the top in poison oak. Both times my friends have climbed the crumbling rocks all the way up have become miserable itchy dudes the next day. I don't really think it's worth it.

So I spent my time walking around the island on the beach and rocks, picking up sea glass (remnants of abandoned island parties) and taking pictures. Of course there was a beautiful sunset that framed the mountains to the west beautifully.

It's absolutely beautiful, I hope it stays remote and full of poison oak.

Huggles,
Lauren

Travel: Going back to AK

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 07:00:00 +0000

Right now I'm flying to Alaska, I haven't been since I lived there for a short time in 2009 when that picture was taken... I can't wait for the adventures I'm about to have and to see my twin cousin. :)

GO: Flower Farm Ladies

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 05:56:00 +0000

Last weekend I had the amazing privilege of spending a creative, relaxing filled weekend with some of my best girlfriends. It was my neighbor and friend, Stephanie's birthday and we went to our friend's Aunt's house up in the Sierra foothills outside of Nevada City.

I arrived on Saturday a bit later than everyone else, I had painting class that day, and came upon the loveliest scene... beautiful house overflowing with plants and my ladies (and John, Stephanie's boy, he was a lady for the weekend) making flower crowns. We soon sat down to an amazing steak dinner with all the fixings. After the fill of dinner we got our sleeping bags all set up by the pond and under an arbor covered with vines, which would be our cover for the night.

After watching the amazing sunset dip below the hills we made our ways back to the house to make desserts and just relax. Stephanie and Lizzie played old folk music while we all sat around an sang along, we all had brought crafts and books to occupy our time whilst listening to old timey music being played. I luckily had some macrame projects and was able to work on them.

Filling up on music and relaxing we went back to our little hillside and hunkered down to get ready for sleep. First though we all laid out on the dock and watched the stars. The moon had set early in the evening so the night sky was filled with stars and the milky way with no other light hindering us seeing them. I don't know how many shooting stars I counted but I got in lot's of wishes. Soon we all were lured to bed by sleepiness and slept to the sounds of frogs and far off coyote calls.

The next day started bright and early with the hot sun pouring over us. I'm so used to the chilly bay I forgot that its warm in the mornings some places. Of course breakfast was amazing, and after a couple of hours lounging and exploring the grounds and barn, we packed up a car and piled in to go relax in the Yuba River.

We got there before noon and scored a prime spot on some rocks near some little waterfalls. This was absolutely amazing. I haven't done any summertime activity in so long because it's so chilly here in the summers you have to go far to get somewhere warm enough to even wear a swimsuit. This was perfect. Cold water, warm sun. We sat around a had drinks and floated and read magazines and talked and napped. Best thing too is I didn't get sunburnt, win! I did however slip on some mossy rocks and scraped my bum.

After relaxing and then getting annoyed at how many more people had come to the river we left and back at the house prepared an amazing dinner. There was kabobs, potatoes, bread, wine... ah so much good stuff.

Then just like that it was sunday evening and I was driving home watching the sunset over Mt Tam. Why can't every weekend be like this?

DIY: Eastlake Chair Reupholstery

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 04:57:00 +0000

A couple years ago I bought this nice little carved wood chair with ripped upholstery for a steal at the White Elephant Sale that happens in Oakland every year. I also got a bunch of upholstery fabric there too that looked good with the chair. After doing a little research I found out that this was an Eastlake Chair from the Eastlake Movement which was a design reform started by Charles Eastlake, the pieces all feature carved wood. After doing research to my surprise and delight it seemed the fabric went with the period of the chair.

Fast forward a couple years the stained re-upholstery job in a thin cotton fabric that was on the chair when I got it ripped more and more. So I finally took the time to reupholster it with the nice new thick fabric. First I pulled off all the old gross double welt (double welt is the detailing bordering the upholstery and covering the staples, you can also use gimp instead, but welt looks more professional). Then I slowly removed the fabric so then I can use the pieces as a pattern.

I started with the back of the chair since it was flat. I stapled the fabric on like stretching a canvas, after lining up the fabric I started in the middles of each side then stapled out to the corners. Then I did the front of the chair in the same fashion. For the bottom cushion it was a bit more complicated. I took the matted batting off the bottom cushion and the muslin and springs were in a good condition so I didn't have to replace them. I cut out new batting and just placed it over the cushion, didn't staple it or spray glue it in place. Then I took my bottom piece which I kinda had a rough pattern for. I draped the fabric piece, lining the pattern up to the back pattern and then cut it to make a perfect fit, turning under the edges that go around the wood back and side rails so that there were no raw edges. I first stapled the back then pulled it to the front and then the sides, then filled in the staples to the corners. This took a lot of trial and error. I pulled a lot of staples out and redid them many times. Just have patience! Then trim all the excess.

The next step is to make all the double welt for the edging. Measure around all the edges and then double that to get the amount of cord you need. I got a 1/4"-3/16" cotton cord for mine because the fabric was so thick. After getting the cord you need a double welt foot for your sewing machine. I know for single welt cord you can use a zipper foot, but the easiest way to make double welt I could find is to get a special foot. It cost me around $12 and I ordered it from the local sewing shop, but seems definitely worth it. If you don't have a sewing machine you can contact a local upholsterer and see if they will make it. Next step is to cut biased strips for the cording. Cutting on the bias means to cut at a diagonal so that the fabric bends around the edges smoothly and it has a bit of stretch to it. I first started with a square then used a rotary cutter and ruler to cut 2"-ish strips, I found out later that that was a little too small, I should've cut more like 4" strips.

Then I sewed the strips together, place the strips face to face perpendicular to each other on the edges. After ironing the strips I was ready to welt! I'll write how I did it, but this site has a way better explanation, (http://www.prettyprudent.com/2010/09/prudent-home/how-to-make-double-welt-cord-2/).

I first laid both cords in the fabric like they were hotdogs in a bun and had a bit more overlap of fabric on the top than bottom. I lined everything up with my double welt foot with the open fabric to the right of the foot, and started stitching a straight line. That first stitch sews in the the left cord. As I sewed I made sure everything was tight. When I took the open side of the fabric and wrapped the open edges from the right to the left and then sewed a straight line down the center again with my trusty welt foot. This than sewed in the right cord into the bundle. When I was done I trimmed the back and got it ready to hot glue!

First to get the ends of the double cord ready, pull the cord out of the fabric a bit and trim it, then pull the fabric back over the cords and fold it over, that'll make a nice edge for you to start putting the welt on. With you trusty hot glue gun start in the bottom middle of the front or back of the chair. You want your cording seams to be on the bottom in the middle. When you come to the end, do the same trick where you cut the piece a bit longer than you need, then pull the cord out a bit and trim it to fit, then fold the fabric under and you have a nice clean edge. The front of the the chair bottom was a bit more difficult, and again take you time and go slowly!

And then TA-DA! Finished chair! Well a little more than that, but look it's finally finished! I learned so much and can't wait for my next upholstery project! I have the mid century bucket chair but Mike just found me another easier upholstery project on the curb! So I'll do that before I get into the hard bucket chair reupholstery. I'm so excited!

Travel: Yosemite with Mom pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:51:00 +0000

Ok, I know it’s been some weeks since pt. 1 was posted, but here’s pt 2!

Mom and I work up bright and early so we could head north from Oakhurst to the south entrance of Yosemite NP. It was a fairly quick drive and were soon greeted by the park gates and the sign, it’s always exciting to see those things.

After entering the park we chose to bypass going to the Mariposa Grove since we had just been in other sequoia groves and made our way to the Wawona Hotel. We rushed into the building seeing they had a restaurant and just made it in time for breakfast, our stomachs thanked us for getting yummy food. The Wawona Hotel was built in 1876 and reminded me of many historic hotels in National Parks and the military buildings around San Francisco. It had a more basic victorian retreat look, not too flashy but not rustic. It reminded me of the hotel in Dirty Dancing, I can imagine all the fun dances and parties this place has seen. The dining room in the Wawona is also so adorable. It had custom chandeliers with woods painted on the shade and little sequoia cones hanging from the bottom. It was the perfect amount of cheese and classy. There were fireplaces in the dining room and sitting room with nice big chairs to lounge around in. The big front porch also had chairs to lounge in and look over the grounds and fountain. The main building is surrounded by other different sized and similar styled buildings, little cottages, another bigger hotel building and the Thomas Hill studio. All the buildings, with their wood siding and wood shingled roofs blended perfectly with the surrounding woods.

Beside the hotel is the Thomas Hill Studio which is now the visitor center in Wawona. Don’t know who Thomas Hill is? Well he’s the guy in the 1800’s that painted those huge, vast, beautiful landscapes of the United States landscape, mainly concentrating on the landscapes of Yosemite. Still no? See if the art museum near you has his work, which they probably do, and go be in awe at his amazing ability. Ok, now that I’m done with that the studio was quaint and had a lot about his history in it, and a nice vignette of what the studio looked like. After reading and being jealous of his artistic ability, we got our directions from the park ranger there and were on our way!

Our first stop as we traveled to the Yosemite valley was to Glacier Point. We drove the windy roads all the way to the top to be greeted with breathtaking views. The first major turnoff was near the top to our right. It overlooked Half Dome, Liberty Cap and the Vernal and Nevada Falls. Beyond those you just could see the land stretch out forever. After taking loads of pictures we headed all the way to Glacier Point overlook.

Glacier Point sits 3,200ft above the Yosemite Valley and has an elevation of 7,214ft. The viewshed of the overlook was incredible, having almost a 270º view of the Valley, Tenaya Canyon, all the famous granite monoliths and at least a dozen waterfalls. It was like you were in a Tolkien novel looking down at some wondrous new land.

From Glacier Point we drove back down to the main road and towards the Valley. You wind down and down lowering elevation then come to a long tunnel borring through the mountainside. As you go through and hit the end you are struck by an amazingly spectacular view. Light baked valley, El Capitan glowing, Half dome looking over everything and waterfalls flowing (at this point, unfortunately with the drought they will soon dry up). There’s a shimmering to the valley.

After stopping for a quick photo we made our way past Bridalveil falls, and walked the quick walk to be sprayed with waterfall mist then continued on to Yosemite Village. At this point the shuttles weren’t fully running so after a lot of walking we went to the store, museum, main visitor center, and the post office (which surprised Mike when we were there last week, but to me I’m like “Of course National Parks have post offices.” I guess that’s not common knowledge). After filling up on knowledge, presents for everyone and snacks we headed back to the car.

Leaving the park we followed the Merced river winding through the canyons as we headed back to the central valley. A few hours later we were home and relaxing. It’s amazing to know that I’m close by such beauty and can make a weekend trip out there.

If you only have a day and don’t have time or can’t hike, there’s so many beautiful things to see. Stopping at Wawona is a must and learning about Thomas Hill. Glacier Point is breathtaking and I’m sad I didn’t go back last week, just didn’t have time. Going into the valley stop after the tunnel and get a picture, it’s one of the most photogenic locations. Parking in the Valley and taking the shuttle around is a must just so you can see all the villages and buildings there. On your way out stop and see the Upper and Lower Yosemite falls. You can also go down to the Merced river and skip stones or dip your toes in or something. The best time to go to Yosemite is in the spring and early summer, the waterfalls are flowing and it’s not yet too warm.

Growing up my parents took me and my sisters to so many amazing National Parks and made me fall in love with the NPS. I still dream of becoming a ranger and exploring the wilds of our country. I’m so happy that I got to experience these two parks with my mom, and share the first time experience together.

Fun thing is Mike and I got to go back to Yosemite this past week, I’ve been bitten with the Yosemite bug… We stayed there for two nights, and got some hikes in. More on that later!

Art: Newest Pet Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:08:00 +0000

I need to get some of my sketches and such online, but in the meantime here's a couple pet portraits I recently did for my friend Marlee and my friend Rochelle.

There you have it. I have some more coming down the pipeline! Yay for pets!

Huggles,
Lauren

Travel: Sequoia with Mom, pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 24 May 2015 03:04:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago I had the awesome privilege of having just my mom come out and visit for a full week. Life had been really busy with so many people visiting and tight deadlines at work so I hadn't really planned what we would do. This was the second time my mom had been here so she wanted to get more of an everyday sense of living here rather than doing all the touristy SF stuff she did last time she was here. Talking to her on the phone a couple days before she came we only had the High Line show on our schedule when she said, "You know I've always wanted to see the sequoias, one of them is named the 'General'" Well then, plan made, we will see the sequoias.

The first day she was here though she went on a day long tour bus to keep herself occupied while i had an 8-hour meeting (THE WORSE THING EVER). So she got her fill of touristy stuff. The next day we went to the Legion of Honor to see the show "High Line" which is a show of the Met's clothing collection. My mom being a seamstress loved it... And I'll post those pics later.

Then the next couple days we were going to go to Sequoia and Yosemite but a storm was passing through so we pushed back the plans and just hung around the house and drove/walked around Oakland. It was nice just having her hang out at my house.

Then Sunday came around and we got up early, packed our stuff, and headed to Sequoia National Park. We drove for 3 hours through dry grassy hills, and almond tree fields before coming up to the mountains. Driving along a little windy river we came up to the park. It at first just was dry deserty looking plants and I was a little confused, this looks nothing like what I expected. And then we just started driving up a mountain, and kept going up and up and up. What I didn't realize that sequoias grow really really high up, like 7000ft elevation.

I also learned at the park headquarters that Sequoia is the second National Park right after Yellowstone. So on every park ranger in the US they have sequoia cones on their hat and belts, and the NPS badge has a sequoia on it, right behind the bison. Sequoia cones are also like redwoods, they're much smaller than expected. Redwood cones are like a pistachio to cherry size, and sequoia cones are the size of a small egg.

Back to the climbing up a mountain side... My car is a hybrid, and one thing about them is they're really heavy cause of the batteries. So you can imagine they don't have much power for climbing 7000ft in just a few miles. So to our surprise (but shouldn't have been) my mom and I watched our gas milage drop faster and faster until it said we only had about 30 miles left in our tank, in a park with no gas stations. Being a bit worried and embarrassed we drove up to the park museum and confessed our gas shortage to a ranger. He was nice and told us there was a gas station right outside the park in the direction we were going and it was only about 20 miles away... and the best part, we were at the top of the hill, all down hill from there. Phew.

After the worry about gas we started enjoying the change in environment. As we climbed up the mountainside we went from dry grass to pines to SEQUOIAS. Having just been in the redwoods a week prior I was ready to see giant trees. But me oh my, these trees were way bigger than I imagined. Although not as tall as the coastal redwoods, they are massive around. They didn't evenly taper to the top like pines just went straight up and then stopped at the top with a few arm like branches at the top. And the giant sequoias were fewer and far between compared to the redwoods. There would be regular pines and smaller sequoias the BAM a huge giant. It was incredible.

Our second stop after the museum was to the General Sherman tree. This is the largest tree by volume in the WORLD. This tree is dead on top but is still growing wider. I'm not sure how that's possible but it is. It's largest branch was 7ft in diameter before falling off. The base of the tree has a diameter of 36.5" and a circumference of 102.6"... yeah it's big. And photos do it no justice. It is also a young 2,300–2,700 years and 275 ft tall.

Eventually we made our way then to General Grant grove actually located in Kings Canyon NP (the two parks join together). The Grant tree is the second largest tree in the world. Surprisingly I learned visiting that tree that the sizes are not indicative of the trees age. The size is based more on the conditions they live in. Grant tree is only 1,650 years old, I also learned the sequoias can stay relatively small for long periods of time as well if the growing conditions aren't perfect. The Grant tree is the "National Christmas Tree" and decorated with a wreath every year. It has a larger circumference, 107.6", then the Sherman tree so for a long time it was thought to be larger.

After lots of tree photos we then drove down the mountain side back into the central valley chasing the sun. We drove for another hour or so before ending up in Oakhurst a small tourist town directly south of Yosemite, and got some rest before our big adventure the next day in... YOSEMITE.

Have you been to Sequoia?

Huggles,
Lauren

Travel: Avenue of the Giants

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 17 May 2015 07:10:00 +0000

In the past couple weeks I've actually been able to cross a couple things off my 30 before 30 list. So here's the first I did, I ran a 10k!

The Avenue of the Giants marathon is one of the most sought after marathons in the state, and now I know why. I've driven the Avenue before but we stayed the entire weekend up there and got to do all the fun kitschy touristy stuff before running on Sunday. And man oh man it was THE MOST beautiful run I've ever done.

We drove up on Friday afternoon getting to the campground late in the evening, thanks traffic. Our tent spot was amazing and right on the river which was lovely to wake up to. First we stopped in Garberville and had breakfast at a great little greasy spoon. It was a teeny town, but had a lot of charm and cute store signs.

In the morning we woke up bright and early and got started on all the fun 1950's kitschy touristy stuff! We first stopped by the One Log House and the Grandfather Tree. Unfortunately the grandfather tree but you could see it from the road! It's a redwood that has a circumference of 55ft and 245ft tall, and it's over 1800 years old!

Then we walked over to the One-Log House! It's so cute, is was made from a hallowed out log in 1947 which is sad to know it was from a super old tree... hopefully it was a fallen tree :( Anyway inside the Log house it had a kitchen area, a bedroom area with two twin beds, and a living room. I wish you could rent it, it reminded me of a little log house we had for my calico critter toys I played with as a kid!

Next was Confusion Hill which is a good ole' mystery spot and roadside attraction! I know there's lot's of mystery spots all over in Kentucky, Oregon, Santa Cruz, and lotsa places. There were little kid things, a train ride, a shoe house, and other fun stuff. Their main attraction was the defying gravity house! Water and balls go up hill, and you swing to the side... one can't even standup straight!

In actuality it's just a crooked house. The weird thing is that actually all the weird angles and such made me feel a little sick and lightheaded. The floors were all at an angle and it was a little dizzying.

After we drove back towards our campsite and to the Shrine Drive-thru Tree! It's of course like any drive-thru tree, EXCEPT it's a naturally split tree. It was cheap to get in and even though it's really only a loop you drive thru, stop and get your picture, it still was really fun. Driving through the tree was a little worrisome though! Next now I need to go through the Chandelier Tree!! Around the little park was a little walk-thru house, a group of trees and two little houses carved from stumps. It was pretty cute!

We spent the rest of our Saturday we hung around and walked around. There were so many grove that I'd love to explore, but we only walked around a couple. The most amazing one was Founder's Grove. It was a small looped walk where the founders tree is, an albino tree, and tons of gigantic fallen trees. I swear the fallen trees were larger then the ones standing, they were incredibly huge and beautiful, the patterns the root systems looked like beautiful flowers.

We went to bed early so we got lot's of rest before Sunday's race. We got up extra early on Sunday so we could park by this grove near the race. Then we napped a bit before walking to the starting line. I'm really glad we did cause there were cars parked beyond ours when we walked down. When we got to the start there were quite a lot of people but no where near as many people as big city marathons, which is how this marathon tries to be, more small and intimate. The marathoners had already started so we all had to just wait for the half marathon to start then the 10k. I hope that maybe next year I can do the half marathon! I was so proud of myself running this 10k. And I think it was actually an easier run because of how amazingly gorgeous it was. Whenever you got tired or mad at running, all you had to do was look up and see the beautiful trees surrounding you. I was able to run two miles without stopping which doesn't sound like much I know, but I'm more of a run walk kind of gal. After that I only stopped for 10 seconds after every mile. Mike only took one walk I think, but he is a runner, so he of course didn't need as much walking as me :) But it wasn't bad cause look I'm kinda smiling in my pictures! I finished in 1:07 and Mike finished in :59, I'm really proud of my time, I beat my goal and Mike made his, YAY!

Before and After the run!

Running with other people really helped, I soon started pacing with a few women and that kept me pushing myself. With all my rowing I found that it helped me so much with breathing, I didn't have any breathing issues. The only thing that hurt was my middle toe and my knees were a little sore. Overall I can't wait for my next race! And I hope to make the Avenue of the Giants a yearly endeavor!

If you ever have the chance to visit Northern California, you have to stop and drive the Avenue of the Giants. It really is the most beautiful drive I've experienced (and I've driven lots of places!) and has the best redwoods. Better that Redwood National Park, John Muir, anywhere, it's absolutely breathtaking.

Life: What's up?

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 02:54:00 +0000

So what's up with you? My life has just been puting along. My 30 before 30 goals are still going strong.

~~1. Go to Europe- Instead of my goal going to Europe we decided to go to Alaska to visit family and explore a bunch. I still need to go to Europe soon hopefully.~~

2. Get Invisalign: Got a good deal through my old dentist but unfortunately tax season (having worked as a contractor) derailed me but I think I'm still on track for the end of the year.

3. Double my savings: Saving every paycheck!

4. Build another plant box: I haven't built a third planter box but my green thumb has been going crazy, we have so many peaches coming in, and I'm growing a potato bucket which has been doing well.

~~5. Go to Yosemite: Mike and I have a reservation to camp in Yosemite, and I'm taking my mom there too.~~

6. Row 3x a week and get on the water: I row twice a week and will bump it up to three times once my race is over, my arms are getting quite muscle-y. I've also got all the info to join the rowing club on Lake Merritt near my house!

7. Paint 6 paintings: I'm slow to start on this

8. Submit to a gallery: I need paintings to do this :(

9. Sew a complete outfit: I have the fabric and patterns!

~~10. Reupholster my awesome chair: I am reupholstering a smaller chair first!~~

11. Go skiing again in the Sierras (not on the smallest bunny hill): I don't think I'll be going skiing this year with the drought and all, but I'm ok with missing that goal. It's crazy how dry it's been here.

~~12. Take an art class: I start a still life painting class next month which is major cause I hate still life painting. I think then I'm signing up for a wheel throwing class then :)~~

13. Learn to cure meats: I'll get there.

14. Go to Mt. Shasta: In the plans!

15. Expand my illustration business: Not sure where to start here.

16. Go back country camping: I've talked to a few friends and I think there will be something!

17. Learn to do a handstand: Luckily my circus training coworker said she'd help me!

~~18. Run a half marathon: I run a 10k through the Avenue of the Giants in Redwood next weekend, it's no half marathon but it's a start of course with one of the most beautiful runs in the US.~~

~~19. Get another tattoo: Trying to book with my favorite artists now!~~

20. Go to Alcatraz: still lame and haven't gone

21. Learn to really ride a motorcycle: Dad's in town, sooooo....

22. Record a song: Mike started writing a song for us!

23. Bike part of the Bay Trail: Although I bike to work everyday I have not done this.

24. Hike at least twice a month: I've gotten like three hikes in, soooo not succeeding.

25. Have another craft party: I haven't hosted a craft party but I've gone to many already! My friend stephanie has now hosted two shibori dyeing parties which have been amazing!

26. Learn Archery: I think we're going next month!

27. Explore the Bay area more: Although we haven't done this extensively I am getting to know more of my neighbors and exploring my neighborhood a lot more.

28. Make Wine: Wine stomping starts in August and I've already got a group of friends interested in getting a group reservation.

~~29. Go Kayaking: Kayaking we plan on kayaking and camping in Kenai Fjords in AK.~~

30. BE HAPPY! The past few months have been up and down. I'm really proud of the work I'm doing for Weather Underground, I did a round of the Whole 30 and lost 15lbs, my best friend Jen visited me and we had a staycation in SF (more on that later), At work we launch this awesome poster campaign, Tripp is doing training again and doing well, my dad fixed my kitchen light and is visiting, Mike's sister visited, I managed our Earth Day project and did artwork for it (I'm going to share some later), I got Mike to watch anime with me... So I think things are going pretty well.

On that last note here is the song that's been inspiring me and making me the most happiest.

Life: 2014 Favorites & 2015 Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:38:00 +0000

2015 Goals

Well let's start with the goals... well my 30 before 30 covers most all of my big goals, but other than that I want to grow more of my own food, and cut out as much food with preservatives as possible as told to me by my doc.
What else... hmmm, actually get up and dress nice for work, my work is alright with jeans and hoodies but that doesn't make me feel good about myself, so let's get dressed nicer again!
- Walk my dog more, duh.
- Finish projects.
- And this song "Thirteen" by Big Star is more inspiration for the 2015; lovely, simple and oh so heartfelt.

2014 Favorites

Lets just do something real simple... a top ten list.

10. Managed some great projects at work
9. Went to my 10 year high school reunion.
8. Grew an edible garden.
7. Furnished my flat with mainly thrift store or free antiques.
6. Started really giving into my old nerdiness, um hello Anime Conventions, maker fairs, comics, and toys.
5. Went on a few big & mini roadtrips and camped; Steep cliff ravine, Tahoe, Henry Coe State Park, Big Basin, Pebble Beach/Carmel, Portland/Southern Oregon.
4. Went home to Ohio twice.
3. Allyson and Brandon visited.
2. Went to Philly and TURKS & CAICOS.

And drumroll please... number 1 is...
1. Lived through a pretty good year.

Hope your year was great, and I'm sure 2015 will be even better. Happy New Year!

Work: Just another Pet Portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 20:00:00 +0000

Over the holidays I always end up doing custom watercolor pet portraits, and this year I was featured in House Beautiful so I got even more orders! I had to say no to people, that was saddening... But here's a quick look at the pets this season!

Happy Howl-idays!

Travel: Tripp Trips

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 02:46:00 +0000

After years of not going home for the past three Christmases, this year I decided to go home, and not only bring myself and Mike, but also bring the dog along. I was soooo nervous, cause if any of you have met my dog, he can be a barker. But I bought the carrier months in advance and trained him to go lay in his "travel case" and also made him sleep in it at night a few times so he'd get used to the case, we also got him a soft fabric muzzle which when he wears it he kinda submits and doesn't get too whiny. Also my vet was able to prescribe him a light sedative so that he wouldn't get too anxious. Before going to the airport, we stuffed his carrier with a blanket and a used pillow case so he had our smell with him, and lots of stuff to lay on, and gave him his meds. Driving to the airport Tripp cried in hi little carrier and I was so nervous, I didn't want to be the person on a red eye flight with a barking dog... sound worse than having a crying baby. But as soon as we stepped foot in the airport I think the sedatives hit him. The front counter people inspected him, his carrier and his documents, which Tripp just laid there and didn't care. Then I had to carry him through a the old school metal detector and the TSA agents thought he was so cute.

The first flight he got a little whiny cause our flight was delayed but he soon got quiet once I carried him around. When we got onto the flight he quietly yelped a bit when people were boarding and the flight attendants were over the loud speaker but I had the carrier on my lap and petted him, when ready for takeoff I put the carrier under the seat in front of me, which the carrier fit perfectly, I was really afraid of that since this was a small plane going from SF to LA.

After that flight we had a short layover in LAX then were off again. Tripp didn't make a peep the entire time and was so good. I'm really impressed. I let him stick his head out of the carrier when we were getting off the final flight, and the woman beside us was surprised when he popped his head out! We had to hang out in the Indianapolis airport for a couple hours waiting to be picked up (for some reason flying to Indy was WAY cheaper than any Ohio flight) which we got Tripp out and walked him around the front and baggage claim. There were so many dogs I saw in all the airports, I saw more than 6, and these weren't all small dogs. I guess the holidays is the time for pet travel!

Here's some quick pics I took while traveling. I'd suggest that if you've been thinking about taking your dog, try it. But remember there's lots of prep work getting him used to the carrier and getting his medical paperwork. Every airline has their own rules, and there's only so many dogs allowed each flight, so you have to call the airline ahead of time. But Tripp is not a perfect dog, some might say he's annoying, but he was able to make a flight without any disturbance or too much anxiety (he was a bit shaky the first flight cause it was so loud), of coarse he had some medical help ;)

Happy Holidays,

Lauren

Life: 30 before 30

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 21:00:00 +0000

I know the notion of making a list before your 30th birthday is very cliche, but that's kinda why I love it too. My 20's have had huge highs and huge lows which I'm ready to be done with. But I want my last year of my 20's to go out with a bang... I really can't believe I'm 29, it feels like yesterday I moved here and celebrated my 26th birthday with Mike, Adam, Jim and Marlee. How much has changed since then; falling for my best friend; finding a job not knowing anyone to now managing projects for the third largest weather website, and largest weather network; buying a car; having a savings account; getting my own flat... Things that are totally adulty. Weird. So here it is my list!

1. Go to Europe (or now maybe Cuba!): I've been to Asia and lived in South America, but have yet to go the one place that so many people go to, Europe. I'd love to plan a trip with friends or Mike since he lived there, but who knows, maybe I'll just go by myself. The main thing is I really want to go.

2. Get Invisalign: I know this is a weird one, I've known about needing this for awhile I have a deep bite, the sucky part of this is paying out of pocket for it... But it would be amazing to have my teeth even more perfect and not chipping each other. (though I think they're pretty perfect already)

3. Double my savings: I started really earnestly saving this past year and did pretty well in the beginning of the year. Now I need to step that game up again and try to double it, especially in my 401k. I want a nice nest egg for when I do decide to buy a house (unfortunately here may not ever happen).

4. Build another plant box: This spring my dad helped build two raised beds in my backyard for a veggie garden, we have found over the past two growing seasons we need more room! Right now our cabbage and lettuce are the size of my dog! It's great discovering that I do have a green thumb and amazing being able to walk into your backyard and gather ingredients for dinner. I also need to prune my peach tree to get a better yield this summer!

5. Go to Yosemite: I live a few hours away but silly me haven't gone yet... It's one of the last major National Parks I haven't been to... After that I feel like I've hit all the MUST National Parks :)

6. Row 3x a week and get on the water: I've been going to a rowing gym for the past few months about 2 times a week, but I need to go more often. Of course this is only erging (I go to Ducks, which I helped redo their website! I love the guys there!) and I need to get on the water soon in a sculling boat, and luckily there are three places to row nearby me and even more places in San Francisco.

7. Paint 6 paintings: Other than watercolor paintings, I haven't done anything in oil in a year. That's unacceptable.

8. Submit to a gallery: I still have contacts at galleries around here and I need to get back into submitting to group shows.

9. Sew a complete outfit: I love sewing, but have never sewn anything specifically for my wardrobe. I'd like to sew an outfit; blouse, skirt/pants, and a jacket... maybe even make a hat and socks or something! I have all these vintage silks and cottons I need to use!

10. Reupholster my awesome chair: I got this amazing mid century bucket chair from my neighbors when they were moving out. It was going to be a reupholstery project for them but never got around to it. Now it's my reupholstery project... The best thing about this chair is how much Tripp loves it.

11. Go skiing again in the Sierras (not on the smallest bunny hill): A bunch of us went last year on the only weekend it got a good amount of snow. It was absolutely beautiful. We were staying in Squaw Valley which was the Olympic Village for the 1960 Olympics. I want to go back and snow shoe this time, last time I took a beginners skiing class and it was so fun, but so scary... I'm not used to going fast like that. Squaw Valley was so cool, it's has a huge tram that goes to the top of one of the peaks, and there's a hot tub bar at the top. Classy. Also I love Mike's dumb face in this picture.

12. Take an art class: I really miss art school, so I need to take a class... maybe a painting or bookbinding or screen printing class.

13. Learn to cure meats: Between Mike and I we've become quite the homesteaders, making booze and canning things from our garden. Since a new health diagnosis I can't eat anything with certain preservatives in it so I need to learn to preserve things myself. I'm proud of my ability to can almost anything in a waterbath method but now I want to try curing meats, maybe I'll start with bacon.

14. Go to Mt. Shasta: Mike and I passed by the volcano on the way back from Portland, but it was dark yet you could still see the snow capped mountain in the night. It was so massive!

15. Expand my illustration business: With being featured in House Beautiful magazine this past November, I'd like to harness that momentum and actually do something I've wanted to do for soooo long yet didn't have the self confidence for. Start building my illustration business... right now it's mainly just custom pet portraits... and I've now done hundreds of them over the past couple years, but what else can I do? I want to try to get 5 pet prints, and a holiday card in the store by next December.

16. Go back country camping: I did faux back country camping this year, it was only a 2-3ish mile hike to the group camp site for Cara's 30th b-day. But it was fun! I'd love to do a small group weekend in Mendocino or somewhere north, maybe start small and only have a few mile hike in. There are a few places to that you can only canoe to the campsites.... that could be sweet too.

17. Learn to do a handstand: With rowing I've become so much stronger and one thing I've never been able to do is a handstand. Now I feel like I have the upper body strength and balance to actually pull it off... I'd love to be able to do that :)

18. Run a half marathon: Now this may be a stretch, maybe I'll only do a couple 10k... But Mike and I both want to try to do a half marathon sometime, now which one... the SF one, San Luis Obispo, Avenue of the Giants, Big Sur... so many to choose from with such gorgeous views... I ran a 10k at the Ave of the Giants, and then immediately signed up for the half marathon next year!

19. Get another tattoo: It's been two years since my last tattoo. I have a few ideas and a few artists that I'm trying to get booked with... I've got the itch! I can't have only two tattoos!

20. Go to Alcatraz: I know I know... I've lived here for over three years and I haven't gone there yet. I'm lame.

21. Learn to really ride a motorcycle: I've scooted around on my dad's scooter and moved slowly on my dad's motorcycles, but I think properly learning to ride a motorcycle would be awesome, and Mike's wants to get his license too :)

22. Record a song: With all the instruments we have and all the reel to reel recording equipment I want to record something. Mike records music quite often so I want to try my hand, and if I don't write anything luckily Mike writes beautiful songs all the time... Here's a sampling of some of his music he's written and recorded.

23. Bike part of the Bay Trail: The bay trail is HUGE... But I'd like to bike some of the South Bay part and maybe up thru Sausalito.

24. Hike at least twice a month: I've gone on some great day hikes with the doggy, and I need to make it a more often occurrence.

25. Have another craft party: At my last house I hosted two craft parties, and I want to do another one at my house... now what will the craft be?

26. Learn Archery: My friends Adam and Brittany have bows, and I want to go to Golden Gate Park and practice archery!

27. Explore the Bay area food more: I'd like to try a new restaurant or bar maybe like twice a month (24).
1. Little Skillet, San Francisco
2. Iron Pan, Oakland
3. Perbacco, San Francisco
4. Kushido, Oakland
5. The Hog's Apocathery, Oakland
6. Clove and Hoof, Oakland
7. Crepevine, Oakland
8. Gather, Berkeley

28. Make Wine: I want to live in the I Love Lucy episode where she stomps the grapes :)

29. Go Kayaking: I've never really been kayaking, and there's tons of beautiful lakes around northern California to go to!

30. BE HAPPY! I know that seems silly, but I have the tendency to allow all the little things at work or home bring me down. I need to figure out my new mantra for when things get messy to just let it roll off my shoulders. I have an amazing house, great friends, and a challenging and rewarding sciency job... What more could I ask for?

Huggles,
Lauren

Work: Radar, Halloween, & a Launch Party

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 00:10:00 +0000

At work I learn a lot about weather and weather gadgets. One thing I've been spending the last few months on was a redesign of static mapping, mainly radar products. One main thing I did was research and user test what radar images meant to people more specifically what the colors meant to them. Our former radar palette had complaints of making storms looks more intense than they were with the gradual color change from dark green to yellow, people couldn't pick out the strong cells in the storm. So with research and lot's Meteorologist and user input, I created a new palette that also was more legible on a multitude of different base maps (like google, our own, apple, etc.) So far it's been received well and I couldn't be more proud of everyone that helped me get all the code together and implement it, it went through without a hitch! Learn more about the palette change here.

A couple weeks after we launched the radar color palette (and a new infrared satellite palette) we also launched a new static radar mapping experience that I helped design. We tied together our single site and regional radar products to create a better user experience. I also redesigned the base map to better suite our website stylization and improved the resolution and sharability. Learn more about that here, and try out our new radar maps.

So as you can see radar has been on my brain which is why for Halloween this year I decided to keep with the nerdy theme (cause well I am a nerd). Last year I was Dr. Ellie Satler from Jurassic Park, the year before Mike and I were the Apollo 11 mission, me being the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) and Mike being the Command Module. Yep nerdy. Soooo this year I was a RADAR STATION! Pretty obscure but I think I did quite a good job if I do say so myself. I dressed up in the parking garage then proceeded to ride the elevator with some odd glances. I then walked around the office handing out radar images, I even went into a developer meeting while my boss was yelling "Watch out Radar interruption!" Oh man we are all nerds, I love it! I even got a radar selfie while everyone else carved pumpkins. :)

Which now leads me to my last radar story of the past couple months. With launching our new radar products and palette I decided to have a party in the office to celebrate everone's hard work! I made radar palette cupcakes (the color corresponded with the weather condition cupcake topper), some lime sherbert punch (thought it looked like clouds!) and reusing my radar costume into a PINATA! I'm pretty proud of making a radar themed party, haha eat your heart out pinterest!

Hope you enjoyed this lengthy post about Radar which has been my obsession for months now! I'm excited to move onto other user experience projects at work, but I guess I'll forever be the radar queen there!

Huggles,
Lauren

Travel: Oregon & Portland

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 04:35:00 +0000

Over Thanksgiving weekend Mike, the dog and I took a mini road trip up to Portland, and to visit some of his old high school friends in Southern Oregon. We drove up the coast and first stopped and camped at Fort Bragg. The ride up was kinda the worse, We were training Tripp in his carrier case for our flight home this winter. Of course he got sick, so that was a fun drive... Then after really winding roads up the coast we finally got to Fort Bragg in the dark. It was interesting where we camped... not somewhere I'd want to go again, but an interesting none the less.

After a night of Tripp puking again on Mike while he was sleeping we woke up bright and early and got the heck out of that campground. First stop was the glass beach which actually used to be where the city dumped their trash in the early century, and now it's a beach full of sea glass. Really pretty but kinda a weird tourist attraction, hey see where our trash used to be! Make a necklace out of it! hehe.

Soon we were off up the coast on the 1 and soon driving on the Avenue of Giants, which I drove when I first moved out here, but it was still so beautiful! We even stopped by Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox... unfortunately he wasn't talking this time, But it was good to get another picture with him. We then headed up to Grant's Pass, OR for one of the best Thanksgiving feasts I've had in so long, we spent it with some of Mike's old highschool friends that now live up there, and the food they prepared was amazing. I'm a little ashamed that we didn't have anything other than wine to contribute.

We stayed over for the night and in the morning Vikki and Adam took us on a drive up some mountains so we could see all of Williams Valley. Of course it was raining but living in the drought and working at a weather station I can't ever complain about it, I now welcome the rain I hardly see. After our goodbyes we started up to Portland, grabbed lunch in Eugene then got to our AirBNB in the early evening. The Airbnb was soooo adorable, it was a little basement studio decorated perfectly, I kinda wish I could steal everything... or at least steal all their ideas :)

After settling in we headed out for the evening and went into downtown Portland. After walking around for awhile in the freezing cold (I swear my body can't take it anymore) we ended up having dinner at Picnic House, I think I was "mmmming" every bite, it was SO good, and their cocktails were equally delicious. I had the pork chop and bread pudding..... mmmmmmmm.... Unfortunately we stuffed ourselves so we couldn't try dessert.

The next morning we packed our stuff up and headed to SE Hawthorn to meetup with blogger buddy Meg at Blue Star Donuts. It was so awesome to meet Meg in real life, we've now known each other through the internet for awhile and it was so naturally hanging out. We stopped in a few stores, and spent the most time in the book store, nerding out over comics and she gave me some new suggestions, namely Rocket Girl, which looks awesome, I can't wait to read it all... I'm actually half way through already. We hugged and said our goodbyes just in time on the way back to the car it started sleeting. Man I really don't know how to handle winter.

My favorite "I didn't realize I took a photo" photo

From Portland we crossed over into Washington for a bit, got some coffee then headed back down to Oakland... Yep we drove the entire 9+ hours that day, of course it was raining like crazy but that's alright, and it was a good test for Tripp in his carrier for that long, he only yelped a couple times.

Anyway it was a fun little quick trip, and I'm so excited to go back to Portland, I hope to go back over the summer and go hiking in the mountains!

Travel: Turks & Caicos

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 05:55:00 +0000

Oh Turks and Caicos, a country I never really had heard of, but ended up being the most amazing place. Granted I have never been to the Caribbean nor anywhere really tropical (Florida doesn't count). So I'm sure there are other fantastic places, but these little islands were exactly what I wanted. A few days on the touristy island of Provo, and then spending a quiet few days in a cabin on the hardly inhabited North Caicos island. Also this was months ago during the summer, the dark days have made me want to relive this experience and blog about it... Also I'm lazy, haven't you noticed this yet?

Mike has been to a few different places in the Caribbean, all filled with tourism and annoyances. So he suggested after Philadelphia we go to Turks & Caicos, he had never been and it's not owned by the US... you need a passport. It was between that and Iceland... next time Iceland. We left Philadelphia and flew down to Provo the main island in a airplane full of screaming babies... It made me a little skeptical. Luckily though we went in the beginning of Hurricane season, where the tourism dies down but the big storms haven't quite started. While driving around Provo reminded me of Brasil to a degree with the stucco and tiled buildings.

The first night we stayed in a lovely hotel in Grace Bay and walked around the touristy area, getting acquainted with the area surrounding the hotel. We also went grocery shopping since we were told that there were no grocery stores on the other islands.But first we went straight down to the beach across the street and jumped in. The water was so incredibly blue and warm, but also surprisingly salty, I was told that the Caribbean is saltier cause it's shallow... I have not verified this though.

The next day we woke up bright and early and went to the beach to rent a small catamaran and sail it around Grace Bay. Those little cats are so fast and it was fun but only for about 30 minutes because we couldn't really go anywhere. Just back and forth in the bay. If we had it on the north and middle islands (I will get to this) having it would be super fun sailing around the islands. So we floated around afterwards in the water until we got our bags from the hotel and taxied to Turtle Cove area to pick up our keys to the Airbnb and car that we rented (from Scooter Bob's, they were so awesome there). We met the cabin owners son who was awesome, he had grown up on the islands though was originally from Canada, so of course he was super nice.

We had a couple hours before our ferry left so we went to a bar called The Tiki Hut to watch the Argentina vs. Nigeria world cup game (yes that's how long it's taken me to write this) while drinking some Turks Head Beer. It was so amazing, the bar/restaurant was open and airy and had a great view of the marina. After a couple hours we were off to the ferry on the north side of the island.

Riding the ferry was quite and adventure. It wasn't like the ferries I'm used to in the US, it was just a big boat with 4 250hp engines on the back. We got on board with mainly only locals, and then zipped around mangrove forests and reefs while thunderstorms rumbled in the ocean. It would be a lie if I sad I wasn't nervous... The entire time we were going so fast and turning so sharply, I kept thinking "ok we're not too far from shore I can swim that, who will I help, should i try to get my suitcase", but soon enough we were at North Caicos Island safe and sound, those guys totally knew what they were doing, I should've never doubted.

We picked up the rental car from the dock and then drove (on the "wrong" side of the road) to our amazing cabin, of course after getting lost many times. We realized that what we were told was true, there really was no grocery stores on the island. The was a small liquor store in a complex being rebuilt after it was destroyed in a hurricane, and a little grocery store with chips and snack down the road. I'm happy we had packed sandwich making stuff or we would have been starving. We spent the rest of the day just driving around the island and over to Middle Caicos Island getting a feel for the place. And the evening playing anagrams and settlers of catan dice game.

The next couple of days were spent driving around, down bumpy dirt roads and snorkling. I had never snorkled before and it was so fun! The best was at Bambarra beach out to a little island, on the outside of it it had amazing coral and fish to look at, I wish I had gotten clear shots with the gopro camera, but I had the wrong lens on it :( The worse takeaway from that snorkling trip was a burned butt... I didn't think about how snorkling totally makes your butt out there for sunburns. After we went to a little cafe called Daniels, where Daniel fed us cracked conch and Turk's Head beer, while tell us all about his life. He was pretty awesome, I wish we had gone back the next day and hung out some more.

See that pinkish line in the water? That's thousands of flamingos... yeah.

There was also an area called Flamingo point, without binoculars you couldn't really see anything just a pinkish blob in the pond... which with aide you can see that it was hundreds or thousands of flamingos. I've never really seen them outside zoos, it was incredible seeing so many together.

Three Mary Cays was another point on North Caicos we went to go snorkling. There wasn't as much fish as the last place but there was an amazing little boat wreck right under the water. We could see lot's of boats off in the distance near good scuba-diving spots... Soon I will have to try that! I was also smart this time and wore a t-shirt and shorts while snorkling... no burned back and butt this time!It was a great way to spend our last day.

Another amazing thing about the islands was the vegetation, it was so dense and short, no towering trees, just close together bushy trees making it so you couldn't go more than a few feet into the woods. The entire island was like this, flat with little dense forests, there was an area near Middle Caicos bridge that had a few native pine trees which looked a little like Dr. Seuss trees.

After three days at the cabin we packed up and took the ferry back to Provo, had an amazing conch dinner and swam the next morning before being herded in the airport onto the tarmac to our plane from the most crazy airport I've ever been in.

The place was amazing, I wish we had kayaks cause there were so many islands I wanted to explore. I want to go back so badly. I suggest if you go, go in the late season, the place was almost deserted and you got to interact with local people more. I'm not very into tourist families so this worked out perfectly. The one thing that was amazing is that everyone knew each other, it's a very small country of islands and many families have been there since the British went there. And everyone was sooo friendly, I thought it was funny that all the stores and markets usually had a tag line like "Where the friendly people shop" or "Owned by friendly people" but we found out by getting to know people that that is their actual motto, The Friendly People. It couldn't have been more true. Most countries I've been to people are very friendly, but Turks and Caicos had by far the nicest, friendliest people around.

Have you guys ever gone to the Caribbean? Where at?

Environment: Drought Infographic

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:23:00 +0000

Great infographic that my coworker Jerimiah created for our company, Weather Underground. If you don't know us in California is in an Exceptional Drought, which is the worse on the scale, 0-2% soil moisture. This is a crazy huge problem for the rest of the country since the majority of lettuces and many other fruits and veggies are farmed in the California central valley and around. We're still hoping for an El Nino year in order to bring some more rain this winter, but it's looking dismal. Everyone not only in California should learn how to collect and conserve water, it's just the nice thing to do for our planet. I'm planning on building some rain barrels for this winter, and I also reuse water from canning adventures, and use pasta water to quench my plants thirst. Anyway you can use "grey water" helps everyone :)

I think I want to include more weather, climate, environment posts on this blog. I have always been a advocate for cleaning up pollution, being apart of the ecology club, doing river and woods cleanups and I remember buying a WWF membership in 3rd grade. It's also something that I learn about and deal with daily at work, which is upsetting and sometimes frustrating watching and hearing about what's happening on an international scale. What do you guys think? Do you do anything to help conserve or try to be less carbon reliant?

- Lauren

Travel: Philadelphia Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 19:30:00 +0000

This summer (A couple months ago, I'm slow at photo editing) Mike and I headed across the country to his hometown Philadelphia. We were traveling for a wedding of a mutual friend and decided to piggy back another vacation on the end of this one, more on that later. This is now the second time visiting the city that I've heard countless stories about from Mike, Adam and their friend group so I was excited to explore it more.

First we went to the Penn Archeology Museum, and walked around the campus and neighborhood between there and his sister's house in West Philly. The best thing about that walk was that it was sprinkling, and the rain was warm, I've missed walking on a hot summer day in the rain, rain out here is sparse and freezing. Anyway, the museum was amazing and had a vast collection spanning from ancient cultures all around the world. They even had a lab you could walk into and see what archeologists are working on, that was really really neat, and very cold :) In the basement of the museum they had a sphinx, which was way cool, looking back through my pictures it seemed I was obsessed with mainly the Egyptian stuff they had. The building it was housed in was also amazing with a wonderful lily pond in front. On the way back to W. Philly we stopped and ate at a well known little sandwich/deli shop, Koch's.

The next few days in Philadelphia was driving and walking around, meeting friends for lunch, eating my first Philly Cheese Steak (with cheez-wiz), going to an amazing dinner at City Tavern, and witnessing Billy and Leah get married on her families land out near Lancaster.

The wedding was absolutely the most beautiful wedding I've been to. The ceremony was held by the tree line and butterflies were released, the reception was right by under big tents with paper umbrellas and lights hanging from the top, and long tables set with mismatched vintage plates, glasses and serving-ware. The meal was all finger food and brought out one by one from family friends who also prepared it. Around the premise, in the gardens, near the pasture were little stations, some with homemade beet wine from an Amish neighbor (and other wines, but I loved the beet wine), a beer cart with a table filled with vintage beer glasses, and fruits/cheese/crackers... Everywhere you looked there was something to see and marvel at. And everything was thrifted/antiqued by Leah and her mom over the past year. It's even overwhelming just trying to figure out how to describe the eyecandy. After dinner we danced a TON, and I witnessed my first bouquet toss and caught it, snatched it right as Brittany was about to get it. Haha. At the end of the night we all went to the little grove where we had already set up tents and slept the night away with the sounds of bullfrogs in the distance.

Mike's sisters' and their significant others, and moi. Such a silly, funny group.

On one of the last days Mike and I did one last walk around the cathedral, the Art Museum, tried to get pictures of people doing the Rocky stance at the top of the stairs, and down to city hall before heading back to his sister's and getting ready for the second leg of our trip, down to Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.

I love that the frieze is painted in bright colors like they were in ancient Greece, we're so used to thinking all the ancient Greek buildings were all white marble but at the time they were painted very brightly.

The exterior and courtyard of the Philadelphia City Hall is absolutely breathtaking. The architecture is amazing and it's one of the largest city buildings in the country, and the tallest masonry building in the world. On top stands city founder, William Penn.

Masonic Temple, my father and g-pa and many others before were all Scottish Rite, I would love to become a mason sometime, but I have to wait until I have the fight to become one b/c I can't cause I'm a girl... I digress.

This airplane sculpture is outside the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts building in Lenfest Plaza, It was amazing to get up close to. It's entitled "Grumman Greenhouse" by Jordan Griska, the piece is made from a decommissioned cold war naval plane a Grumman Tracker II, looks like it just crashed into the ground, and parts of it have been turned into a greenhouse.

Next time you'll see an overload of pictures from one the most beautiful places I've ever been, Turks and Caicos

Making: Prickle Pear Cactus Jam

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 01:36:00 +0000

I guest blogged over at the Libby's Urban Homestead about making jam out of the prickle pear cactus fruit. These grow all over California and the Southwest, are easy to harvest, and make an amazing tasting jam!

Head over to check it out!

Housing DIY: Regrouting tiled kitchen counter

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 05:24:00 +0000

When I first saw my kitchen I thought about how adorable the light yellow and black tile was with the vintage shallow sink. Once moving in I saw that the tile work was in desperate need for a face lift. One side of the counter the tile is in wonderful condition, the other is pretty pitiful, it looks as though people throughout the 100 year history have put many a hot pot on the tile, resulting in pitting on the tile. And don't even mention the grout... oh the grout... it could probably tell a decades of cooking stories and those were stories that I really didn't want to know. So I decided to take it upon myself to re-grout! I know I know, it's a rental, but things like this is such a cheap fix that you can do it in one evening. (I also always buy a new toilet seat at rentals... it's the best $15 you can spend).

So first I read as many how to's and watched many youtube videos! Here's the one that was the most helpful.

First I went to the hardware store, got non-sanded grout (sanded if the space between the tiles is more than a 1/4"), a screwdriver, a grout float, a big sponge, cheesecloth, and tile chaulk for around the sink (not included in this tutorial)

Anyway so my tiles started out with this.... dark grout hiding the loveliness of the yellow tilework.

I used an old flat head screwdriver and a leather punch to scrap all the grout out, I'm not going to lie, it was pretty gross.

Then I vacuumed all the gunk away, brushed the counter top off real well and wiped it down with a towel. I waited till the next day to start the grout to make sure the tile was dry.

Follow the instructions on your grout and mix it together, scoop the grout on the counter and spread over it the tile with the float at an angle pushing the grout into the tile. Go over many times making sure that there is grout between all the tiles and putting more grout when needed. Do not push too hard where you are pulling grout out from inbetween the tiles, try to spread the grout at an angle to the tile.

Let the grout dry for what the instructions say, about 20 minutes for mine. It'll start to set and after the alloted time wipe the counter down with the clean, wet sponge. Again don't press too hard, and don't have a wet sponge just damp you don't want to be dripping water. After this let the grout set even more my instructions were for 2hrs.

After those hours your tiles will appear cloudy, use your cheese cloth to buff the haze off. And voila! Wait a full 24hrs before putting things on the counter or you seal the grout to prevent staining. Overall I'm so happy I did this, it really just makes everything looks so fresh and so clean clean.

PS: Sorry for the poor quality pictures, my nice camera was out of commission. :)

Yay New Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 17:48:00 +0000

My friend and beautiful mama, Grace is starting a new blog, The Libby’s Urban Homestead! I "met" Grace years ago through blogging, and when I moved out to Oakland, we found out we were neighbors! I've been so lucky to watch her belly grow and meet her daughter Harry, witness her and Pat wed in an amazing location, and now they're expecting their second! I'm so excited for her! So she launching a website launch party on August 25th! There will be giveaways daily, including something from me, and to hear about the giveaways first you can sign up for her newsletter now! Link for it is here (http://eepurl.com/0xj8T).

Here's a brief description of the new site "The Libby’s Urban Homestead is a new blog and website dedicated to PAGAN MYSTICISM - HOLISTIC LIVING - RADICAL PARENTING - VEGAN COOKING/NUTRITION - DIY ETHICS - EARTH MAGICK - TAROT & INTUITIVE READING - GYPSY STYLE - HOMESTEADING Are you intrigued yet??? Sign up for The Libby’s Urban Homestead’s Newsletter for sneak peeks into what to expect during the launch party! Subscribers will also get an exclusive discount code to the Wild Weeds Tarot shop on Etsy!"

I'm really excited, since Mike and I have really gotten into homesteading. I've preserved and canned all of the peaches from our tree in multiple forms (peach salsa, jam, canned in bourbon, and peach brandy), we have been eating lots of veggies from our garden, and I've even started neighborhood foraging, so far only got limes/lemons from my awesome neighbors, and prickle pear cactus fruit from a friends yard. This area is amazing, there's so many fruit trees that are established and don't need watering like a veggie garden. Anyway I'm getting carried away, all that stuff is for another post. So yeah, this site will be awesome-sauce, cause it will!

Follow Grace on instagram! #libbyshomesteadgiveaway @wildweedstarot @rosemaryx

Exploring: Big Basin State Park

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:59:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I drove down to San Jose to meet up with my friends Elle, Clark, and Alex to drive to Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains. The drive was crazy, hair pin turns up and down side of the mountain, then down to a non-divided road going into Big Basin... So the inside car had to get close to allow the outside car to pass. All in Elle's manual car. Damn. The views on the ridge were incredible, I'd almost say way cooler than in Big Basin, I mean once you've seen a redwood they all look the same yaknowwhaddimeen? I kid. Seriously the only time I've seen the mountains look like this was in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Absolutely gorgeous with the blue backgrounds and the golden foreground.

We all weren't feeling incredibly adventurous since we all had never been there so we chose a 2 mile loop near the visitor center. It might've been short but the inclines were brutal... well for us four tech workers.

There was an incredible bridge over a ravine made with a fallen tree, it was so cool. Seemed like something from a movie about childhood... that makes perfect sense, trust me. I was surprised comparing this redwood forest to others in the area. There were so many more fallen trees then anywhere else I've been, and a lot more undergrowth. You had to be real careful with all the poison oak around the paths too.

After our hike/walk we went to the visitor center where I bought some knickknacks, cause I like that stuff. They had these cute little cabins by it that were surrounded by redwoods, it was out of a fairy tale, I wonder if they were built like that or built before the trees were large. Next thing to find out if you can stay in them.

All in all it was a wonderful day. The park has a skyline to shore path with camping along the way which could be an amazing two day hike. I'd like to try that sometime... when I have a moment that isn't already taken over by household chores or existing plans... or laying around being lazy.

Till next time I remember to post a blog,
Lauren

My Apartment: Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:28:00 +0000

So I've now been in my apartment for over 6 months... I know I know, and I haven't shared it. I'm living in a amazing duplex just a block from my former house. The house itself was built in 1910 and I'm on the first floor with all the original detailing.

The entry hall has massive crown molding, the living room has a cove ceiling, and there's beams over head in the dining room. I also have a teeny yellow tile kitchen with original cabinets and sink, and a wood burning fireplace in the dining room (although it hasn't been used in sometime, I probably won't use it). I also love the pocket french doors! The one odd thing is that the bathroom is through the bedroom, but I've lived in a place like that before, so for me it isn't a big deal.

Moving into this place has made me so happy, but it wasn't without it's problems. The house itself was empty for almost a year because of an illness the landlord had, so of course upon move in there were many things not working. They had to get a new (to me) fridge, stove and water heater, along with fixing the main heat.

Since then some of the original pipes have cracked and leaked, and since it's a California house there's no insulation so I can hear my upstairs neighbors and people on the street really well through these wood and plaster walls. Luckily the landlord has been great and helped with it all, any small fixes I've done with rental deductions. This house I just love and it has so much potential... the floors need refinishing to show off their inlays... The back yard and front could use beautiful flowers... the glass pocket doors could be stripped... So much more that I want to do, but I don't own the house. I dream about buying it all the time and bringing this pink building to a glory that it might've never had.

So here are some photos I took before I moved in to give some idea of the place, with it's amazing south light... I'll try to update more and more what I do with each space. I've already furnished the place with great furniture found off the street, craigslist, and from back home, along with all of Mike's instruments and recording stuff. The place definitely has an old vibe with all our used things, which fits the old house.

Thanks for looking!
Lauren