Q. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Carol. I live near San Francisco with my husband, 3 children and far more books, stuffed animals and Legos than any one family should own. I like old things and amaze my husband by how often I will go to the grocery store but return with a carload of mid-century chairs, tables, shelves or some other crazy piece in need of refurbishing which I found for free on a street corner. I’m weak that way. I like to goof around with my kids, exercise a lot and enjoy exploring local parks and trails with my family.

I worked for many years as Director of Stores and Retail Operations for Esprit (U.S.) and the experience was amazing. I left when I had my son and decided to take time to nurture all of my creative interests. It has been an incredible journey of discovery and I have learned so much about myself and what I am capable of accomplishing. Most importantly, I am so happy each day to do this work that I do.

Q. How did Yorktown Road get started?
Previous to yorktown road, I had an accessory line of very structured, functional bags made using industrial fabrics but had to put that business on hold due to some changes in our family. All of my equipment was put into storage and I did not sew for 2 years. Once I was reunited with my sewing machines I found myself playing with linen and was fascinated. I loved how one stitch or pleat caused such a beautiful rhythm and movement in the fabric. It was as though the linen was directing where the next pleat or fold should go, then the next, and so on. I realized that I didn’t need to add a lot of outside elements to the fabric, the linen itself was interesting and I was hooked on finding new methods to enhance its natural beauty. Plans of continuing with those structured bags were set aside and I founded yorktown road.

Q. Your shop is so gorgeous! What is your creative process like?
My process is very freeform. I work with each piece of fabric and just sew. I never try to force a piece to be an exact size or shape. If I did, it would hinder the flow and visual impact of the texture. I make a lot of mistakes, but some of my best pieces and designs come from those mistakes. Whenever I mess up a texture, I save the piece and know that someday it might become something really interesting. Since I work without patterns, my designs are constantly evolving and my techniques are always improving. It’s both exciting and challenging

The colors are developed from several base colors of fiber reactive dyes. I mix them until I find the color that captures my attention or evokes a certain feeling or mood. My children use such interesting color combinations in their artwork and I have used several of their pieces as my color inspiration.

Q. What’s a normal day in your life like?
Every day is so different but there are a few constants. I sleep as late as I possibly can then head over to Peet’s coffee where I watch my 5 year old play chess with an older gentleman we know and I chat with other work at home folks who use Peet’s as their office watercooler. After chess and catching up on the daily chat we head home and start our day. My daytime is always some haphazard mix of putting finishing touches on product, packaging, shipping, laundry, email, checking my online sites, laundry, kids activities, cleaning, ordering work supplies, cooking, watering my vegetable garden, exercise, more laundry (the laundry is endless!). The bulk of my work is done after the kids are in bed. I usually turn on the music and start sewing or dyeing fabric around 9pm and work until the wee hours of the morning. I always get this extreme burst of energy around midnight that keeps me energized.

Q. What inspires you most of all?
Things that others might describe as ugly, imperfect, awkward or broken. A crumpled piece of paper on the ground can reveal such amazing texture. Broken fence slats or a hanging gate can show an interesting angle. A fallen twisted up twig can show me a new line pattern. The wrinkled face of an elderly person can show me strength and character. Inspiration surrounds me every day.

Giveaway: linen or repurposed leather zip or clutch of the winners choice!

To enter just visit Yorktown road and leave a comment here about your favorite item. The giveaway will be open until August 4th. Good luck!

It seems like the perfect time of day to share some of my favorite pretty things with you!

First up, Poketo’s new line for Target. It’s so lovely and I just love their cute promo photos!

poketo for target

poketo for target

As soon as I saw this photo I just fell in love with this stairway! I love the white, the beautiful dark steps, the lines, but especially that dainty row of dala horses!

via emma's design blog

I very much want one of these…

cute bike by Public

These beautiful new confetti garlands from Kristina Marie are so sweet! And they come in a bunch of different color combinations. (This set is my favorite!)

This pretty kitchen looks like it was made with mornings spent drinking coffee and listening to records in mind:

via House of Turquois

I’ve always loved colored pencils. As soon as I see a fresh pack I’m instantly back in my parents house sorting through my purple pencil box hunting for that perfect shade, usually a green or a blue. This pencil display makes me so happy! It makes me want to grab some paper and drawing some flowers and puppies and other designs that I filled my high school notebooks with.

pretty colored pencil display

Those are some of the things I’m loving today.

photo by elsie*cake

A few odds and ends about my list: 1) I tried to write down both things I could probably do this year and things that are more life time goal-like.  2) It’s a list of things that  want to do and if they sound silly or selfish (no making fun!), and 3) If it sounds like fun jump in and write a list of your own!

1. Travel to India
2. Learn how to make baklava
3. Learn how to screen print
4. Take a letterpress class
5. Live in a foreign country
6. Build a dream house
7. Read a book in French (it’s okay if it’s a short one)
8. Get my MFA
9. Make a quilt from scratch
10. Take Joel to Maine

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse - Pemaquid, ME (click photo for credit)

11. Weave a rug
12. Write a book (a good one)
13. Plant a raise kitchen garden
14. Adopt a shelter dog
15. Go stargazing
16. Have a booth at an art/craft/trunk show
17. Buy Joel an expensive surprise
18. Spin my own yarn
19. Open a coffee shop
20. Paint my nails with Chanel nail polish

21. Wear dresses everyday for 1 month
22. Make a home dark room
23. Develop my own film
24. Write a magical children’s book
25. Learn at least one dance
26. Learn how to make one latte art design
27.Get crazy, fun highlights (like purple or something!)
28. Take a yoga class on a beach
29. Throw a dressy dinner party
30. Bake a cake from scratch (must be a good one!)

almond raspberry layer cake by smitten kitchen

31. Read The Royal Tennenbaum’s book
32. Plan a pretty photo shoot in the snow
33. Decorate a room completely in paper lanterns
34. Address Christmas cards in fancy calligraphy
35. Own 1 thing from Burberry (other than perfume)
36. Plan and plant a killer bulb garden
37. Learn how to make things in Photoshop
38. Have a Christmas with just Joel and Cors and me
39. Learn one song on my mandolin
40. Have a coffee and a pastry in Paris

photo by little brown pen

41. Work someplace that Cors can visit regularly
42. Make 1 painting everyday for a week
43. Help out with a community garden
44. Remember to call my grandmas every week
45. Have a real live Christmas tree (a little one that can be planted outside after the holidays)
46. Take Cors to the lake
47. Make aloo gobi
48. Drive from Oregon to Mexico (and stop to take lots of photos!)
49. Go to a farmer’s market
50. Leave behind a favorite book and a note for whoever finds it

click photo for credit

Thanks for reading my whole list! Let me know if you play along!

So here are a few photos from my little wonder around…

tree bokeh

Blue skies!

I like how the queens lace looks like a snowflake. How do you escape silly days?

Well, Friday I got my two fab mixes from Kara complete with lovely packaging…

…and so far I have about four playlists started and none finished. I don’t have any excuses other than being too much of a perfectionist and trying to make the best mix ever. So tonight I decided it was time to sit down with a cup of coffee and whip up two great mixes!

click for credit

I put together a list of music-y things for you to check out while I’m working on my dj skills. Enjoy!

Three sites with free tunes:

Urban Outfitters - five free tracks every Monday

la Blogotheque – beautiful music and beautiful videos

Levi’s Pioneer Sessions – two free tracks each week during the summer

One crazy, fun music video

Three pretty movies, with great soundtracks:

Happy Monday!

*credit for front page photo

I love almonds and plums and I kept seeing so many fab looking plums in the stores lately that I decided it was finally time to pull out a recipe from this book that I’d been wanting to try for ages! I gathered up three different types of plums and a bunch of almonds and made a Bakewell plum and almond tart. I think it’s the tastiest thing I’ve ever made!

The first step was to make the crust and freeze it.  After the crust had been in the freezer for an hour I rolled it out and lined my tart pan with the dough. After I “crinkled” the sides, the crust went back into the freezer for 30 minutes.

While the crust was chilling made the almond filling by combining the blanched almonds, flour, butter, eggs, and just a bit of vanilla in the food processor. Then it was time to make the plum jam. By the way, I am totally hooked on making jam now! It’s so easy and delicious!

When the 30 minutes were up the crust went into the oven until golden. Then I layered the plum jam, almond filling, halved plums into the crust and then sprinkled on the flaked almonds. The house smelled amazing and we could hardly wait for the tart to cool so we could taste it!

the tart pre-oven

I forgot to take a photo of the tart once it was finished, I was too busy enjoying it! It’s the perfect thing for a summer night. Toss in a dollop of homemade whip cream and a mug of coffee and you can’t go wrong.

Update: I finally got a photo of just one slice!

In other weekend news, Cors had a bit of a misadventure on Friday and we had to take the poor little guy to the vets. The vet fixed up the hurt paw and he’s doing so much better!  I think he’s even forgotten it happened. He does have some meds that we have to make sure he takes twice a day. Pups are the smartest at figuring out you’re trying to fed them a pill even if it’s disgusted in tasty cheese!

our little guy

green leaves in the garden, can't wait for them to be orange and red!

The rest of the weekend weekend was a wonderful mix of thunderstorms and bits of sunshine and reading, painting fingernails, and working on the new little Etsy shop I’m planning to open in the fall. I can’t wait for fall to get here!

I thought you could use a bit of pretty to get you through that last and slowest part of the work day or maybe you could just use a little more sweetness in your free time!

via bookshelf porn

via bookshelf porn

photo by coco cake cupcakes

photo by {manda}

photo by little brown pen

photo by auntlorivintage

Happy almost the weekend!

Nicole’s writing is so witty that I pretty much always end up laughing at the stories she shares of her daily life. And I’m constantly tempted to heart her entire flickr photostream, which full of wonderful shots of Paris. (I just hearted this sweet shot today!) I am so excited that she was up for adding a post of her own to the My Hometown guest blogger series!

I grew up in bucolic Lancaster, County, PA, but it took years of living in NYC and other urban environments for me to appreciate its charm.

My parents still live there, and these days we find every excuse to go back. As soon as I see my favorite rolling hill, I feel at home. Much of my time there revolves around regional food and backyard time, so my typical day is pretty high on the gluttony scale.

Here’s my ideal day:

Breakfast at the Lyndon Diner. The diner I frequented at 3am when I was a younger adult is now the diner I frequent with my parents and kids at 7am. Their hash browns are soaked in butter. Lots of butter.

A stroll through Long’s Park. There’s a large path, a sweet pond and lots of ducks, but really it’s about exercise in the name of  minimizing the pancake damage.

photo by little brown pen

Shopping at the farmer’s market. The Lancaster farmer’s market is one of my favorite things about going home. The food is all local, cheap (especially compared to NYC and NJ farmer’s market prices), and this is where I pick up some of my beloved whoopie pies. In the summer, I could eat dozens of ears of local corn.

photo by little brown pen

Lunch comprised of random things I bought at the farmer’s market. I’m known to eat a motley assortment of whoopie pies, chili and spring rolls. I can’t resist any of them, and think nothing of chasing one with the other.

Driving. Lancaster is my favorite place to drive. I do some great thinking on those roads.

photo by little brown pen

Dinner at El Serrano. I go here for the salsa. We often order three or more. Also, the pork chops are moist and flavorful.

Ice cream at the Creamery. Kind of a drive, but worth it. The ice cream is homemade, but most of the fun is had in the old time candy/general store. Don’t miss it!

- nichole robertson

Can you believe July is more than halfway over? I hardly can! It’s still super hot here and our once bright green grass is more of a crispy brown. Everyday I rush home from work to give our poor little garden a good drink. Just watering in the morning isn’t enough these days.

I must be secretly wishing for fall, because all the things I’ve been “hearting” and bookmarking seem to have warm colors and be made for making chilly evenings more cozy.

leaves from my favorite maple at our old house

So here are some of the pretty, cozy things I am loving today, starting with a woodsy engagement shoot. The shots are very sweet and kind of look like album art for a folksy duo record, but what I like best are the colors.

I’m secretly jealous of all the gorgeous, sweet, etc engagement photos floating around these, because I never thought about having any taken. I’m not really that jealous; I get to admire all the pretty ones!

I call Cors “foxy face” all the time because he has such cute big ears.  Now I’m a sucker for all foxy animals and I couldn’t resist showing you this adorable fennec fox photo. Isn’t it the sweetest? What a cute little guy!

photo by floridapfe

This might sound a little silly, but my new dream bedroom would have a wall painted with chalkboard paint (the wall against the headboard), some of these wonderful prints, and this pretty bedding.

Speaking of chalkboard paint, I love how Elsie used it on the doors in her new home!

I think these catchall baskets (crocheted out of rubber, no less!) are genius and I love this bird pillow too, both are by Gretel.

These dresses by Andreas Murkudis are just amazing! Each one is sheer and they’re meant to be layered and layered and layered.

The color spectrum display makes me so happy! I would probably walk out of the store with lots of greens and peach tones! Which shades would you pick?

As much as I like color, I also really love pretty, monochromatic things like a chilly beach with a warm, plaid blanket…

…and this gorgeous geometric quilt. I want to make something like it soon!

It’s been so slow at work these past few weeks. (I guess it makes sense. I mean I do work at a university and none of my undergrads are here.) Most days I make lists of things I want to do when I get home and I have so much pent up “doing energy” that I’ve actually accomplished a lot!

Tonight my plan is to get a little organizing done, get back into doing pilates on a regular basis, and make a ham and spinach tart. Yeah, I really am ready for fall or at least some cooler weather!

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If you’re ever visiting, do yourself a favor and rent a convertible (or help a city out and pick a hybrid), throw on your hipster shades, and plan some stops at a few tried and true places, genuine, interesting places that don’t cost a whole lot of moolah to enjoy.

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morning
Los Feliz is an absolute gem of a neighborhood in LA. Nestled at the foot of Griffith Park and the Hollywood Hills, it’s a fairly hip (but still totally genuine) area of town…and it’s the home of my favorite lovely hideaway, Alcove Cafe. There is no better place to enjoy brunch grub, soak in some rays, and sip on a good cup of coffee. I highly recommend the turkey pesto panini above. Omnomnom.

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midday
What kind of a Californian would I be without giving you a beach recommendation? Well, not a very good one. While Venice is exciting for its eccentricities, and Santa Monica has the famous pier, my favorite spot for soaking in rays is Manhattan Beach. It’s quieter, less crowded, and just outside of the city. The adorable town surrounding it is the perfect beach town — ideal for strolling, window shopping, and breathing the fresh air.

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afternoon
While LA has many fab art museums, my favorite to recommend is the Getty. The grounds are gorgeous, the only cost of admission is a flat parking fee, and the collections focus on older, more classic pieces (which, if you’re not an art afficiando, the older stuff can be much less intimidating and way more enjoyable to engage with). An entire day could be spent here, so leave yourself plenty of time to walk around and enjoy. And make sure to take the architecture tour! It’s absolutely fascinating.

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evening
Guys, this is where my geeky side comes out. I am cuh-razy for astronomy stuff. The science, the conceptual thoughts, dark matter, it all just totally floats my boat. If you want to get outdoors, take a hike through Griffith Park, and end with a visit to the observatory. It offers some incredible views of Los Angeles, and if you want your visit to be the bee’s knees, plan to arrive a little before dusk. It’s the best place to watch the sun set into the ocean, and to watch the lights of the city glow into life. And before you leave, make sure to see the main planetarium show (cost is about $7 per ticket, be sure to buy early), and head downstairs into the far reaches of space. And just TRY to not have your mind blown by something you learn about this crazy universe we live in. Seriously.

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night
For those looking for a dose of laughter, I’m currently loving the shows put on at the Groundlings. Lots of famous faces have gotten their start in this tiny club in the heart of Hollywood. If you’re only going to see one show, go for one with the seasoned pros, like the Crazy Uncle Joe Show.

And for a super interesting bar experience, the Edison is my fav. It’s a downtown bar built in an old Edison power plant. It’s loud, crowded, and off the chain in an utterly, vintage-ly swank way. Old silent movies play on walls throughout the multi-story bar (the last time I was there, it was a CRAZY pre-ratings version of Faust). All the drinks are fabulous golden-age-of-Hollywood-inspired, and there’s a green fairy who wanders around with an absinthe cart. Yes, it is a totally bamf bar.

afterhours
And at the end of a really full day of the crazies, what could be better than sinking into a comfy couch with a few good friends? This, of course, would be at my bungalow just outside of the city: my home, the heart of my hometown. Come give a visit, and we’ll sit out on the porch enjoying the beautiful night air and each other’s company.