yountville + some Life thoughts

Just some thoughts that have been keeping my mind occupied. On the tails of a wildly creative, hilarious, life changing weekend {more on that in a sec}. I walked with a dear friend who shared some insight that is rocking my world. She told me that at my age, I am at the apex of my creativity. When she was younger she was overflowing with creative ideas, desires and energy. Now at 67 those thoughts are not as abundant. She has been a mentor of mine {a guiding light} since I was 10. She is a brilliant artist with a bright spirit. Wrapping my head around her creative juices "slowing down" has given me a new perspective on seizing. the. moment.

With that thought in mind I feel so incredibly thankful that I was able to have three days in Yountville to talk about everything from favorite recipes, creating art, favorite poets, growing children, growing herbs and plenty of things totally inappropriate for the world wide web. I have been given a gift of four women whose paths have crossed mine through a cyber web of happenstance. Estelle, Kim, Mel and Jeanne filled my cup in so many ways it would be hard to write them all down. In my "apex of creativity" I am grateful.

San Elijo Campout

After 3 days of fevers it is hard for me to even believe that this happened this weekend. Poor little Conrad has had a super high fever since Sunday morning and finally after two trips to see a doctor has been diagnosed with an ear infection and teething. But before fever-ville we were at San Elijo Campgrounds having the best time. It couldn't have been more beautiful and it was so much fun to have friends get dirty around the camp fire with us.

*I keep meaning to tell you all that I am a Guest Curator over at Jenny Doh's site Crescendoh... she has asked me to tell how "Art Saves", I also am sharing 2 links a day that have inspired me for the next week...check it out.

adventure numero uno

This was the most spontaneous adventure in years and it felt so good. We met a bunch of families in the middle of the desert for some dune buggy, pinata, carne asada, juice box drinking fun {we called it Burning Toddler}. I think it is safe to say that it was the best 24 hours of Henry's life. I can't wait for our next adventure {this weekend!}.

Are we there yet?

After many years of dreaming, we did it. This weekend we bought a VW van. Ross and I have been analyzing this decision for many years. A couple weeks ago we had a talk about how fast life is passing us by, I told Ross that we have about 10-12 years until our kids will be over us. So if that is our time line we need to do everything that we want to do with our boys RIGHT NOW.

On Sunday morning I woke up at 5:30am to make Conrad a bottle and Henry was sitting on the sofa looking out the window. I asked him what he was doing and he said "checking out the van". Let the "Are we there yets?" begin!

So I have to do a little plug for the place that we got our Van. Pop Top Heaven. These guys RULE. They were so low key, there was no haggling and it was a totally enjoyable experience. While we were waiting for paper work and new tires Ross and I went for a drive around Yuciapa. Ross got a $13 hair cut and we did a little thrifting, such a good day.

France: Woad fabric + LA workshop

One of the most magical days on my trip to France was the day we dyed fabric with woad. It is a very old way of dying fabrics that dates back to Napoleon and is what we think of as the eponymous French Blue. The same french woman who taught us the technique is actually flying to French General in LA and is going to be teaching the same class!!! I think there are a couple spots left and I KNOW it will be another magical day. The lucky people who are participating will all meet at the fabulous French General, have a coffee and then will all head to the historic field in Elysian Park. Lunch will be served in the park during the workshop and then everyone is invited back to French General for a glass of Lillet... This is the closest that you could get to a day in France without getting on a flight. Sign up here.

Cloud Nine Reunion

In college I lived in a house called Cloud Nine and every other year we have been getting together for a reunion, this year the destination was the Parker in Palm Springs. Girls came from NYC, San Francisco, LA and San Diego for a weekend together. It was the best. Oh the stories!! Our house was notoriously fun. Some of the hallmarks of Cloud Nine were the costume box... we would wear costumes to most parties {even if there wasn't a theme}, I was reminded this weekend that our number was 985-SEXY, 3 girls to a room {9 girls total}, shared clothes, a closet full of broken vacuums... the list goes on but my family reads this and I don't want them to regret sending me to college ;).
Well girls here is to 2013! I love you all dearly!

To commemorate our trip we all got the most divine little bracelets that say "On Cloud Nine" go to Kate Spade to see all of the adorable ones they make.

weekend part 2 {French General}

For Christmas I was given a day of crafting at French General {thank you Gigi!}. Until this weekend I had never seen Kaari's shop in LA. I went to France site unseen. It was everything I had hoped for and more. The store is filled with the most beautiful French ribbons and curiosities. And the classes I took were wonderful. One was how to make a box out of an old book taught by the O-so fabulous Molly {plus a pair of earrings for inside the box... haven't taken mine off}. And the second class was kind of a fabric, sewing collage. Both wonderfully fun. A highlight was that I sat next to Cathy who I adore and met in France. She has a company called Summerland Mercantile which I am sure you will hear me talking about more {I am determined to go up for one of their sales}. Between Alt a couple weeks ago and now this last weekend I have reconnected with 5 of the amazing ladies I met in France... what fun!

Kaari, me, Molly, Kick {Kaari and Molly's mom... and the sweetest lady in the world} and Cathy.

off on an adventure... Alt!

Here I go... off to be inspired! There will be some fun dinners, amazing speakers, a calligraphy class {which I am so excited for} AND! I get to spend time with two friends {Melissa and Jeanne}. Melissa and I clicked at first email. She is such a beautiful spirit and I feel so lucky to have her as a friend. Plus we get to work together, she sells my elephants at her lovely boutique Reverie~Daydream! Jeanne's friendship is my favorite treasure found this summer in France. The last time we saw each other was at the Montauban train station. I can not wait to see both of these ladies in baggage claim! yeah!

See you all Monday for a full recap.

love & light, Alexis

PS. the photo above is Jeanne in France.
PPS. Ross thank you for supporting my dreams and ambitions. I love you so much. Have fun with H!

the art of tapestry

One afternoon our group went into town to meet a tapestrier. This is a profession that takes years and years of training and years of apprenticeship. This particular woman was schooled for 10 years. Out of school her first job was to make tapestries that lined the first class coaches of trains. She said the seats, walls and ceilings would all be covered in tapestry. Now she has a studio on the 1st floor of her house. It sits on the street and has a store front. Forty percent of the room is dedicated to a huge loom which she sits at from 8am to 5pm {with a break in the middle}. One tapestry can take 18 months working on it everyday. One of the things that really stuck with me is the lost art of mastering something, she has dedicated her life to tapestry. She said that there are only 5 other people in France that do tapestry by hand anymore, now it is all done by machine. What a gift to have met her and see her masterpieces.
Oh one more thing... she talked about the power of color. Imagine the tapestries she works on can be 12 feet long and 12 feet tall so she could be working with one color for days, weeks. She said that she hated working with orange and purple. She said that they make her angry and irritable. When her mother died she took a year off to make a tapestry for herself. It was an image of a still waters set in nature. The colors she choose were all muted, tan, cream, light blue... she said that these colors helped her grieve her mothers passing. They were calming and comforting for her.

weekend in LA {brought to you by iphone}

This weekend was Surfer's Journal's Holiday Party and since this is their 20th anniversary they totally spoiled us. We all stayed at the Huntley in Santa Monica and we had a beautiful dinner at Jiraffe. Ross and I took advantage of every moment away and had a blast in LA. Not sure what those Santa's were doing but they were covering the street for at least 4 blocks {it was totally hilarious}. We had lunch at my new favorite spot Bottega Louie. The food was incredible and the simple design was gorgeous. After brunch we headed to the Renegade Craft Fair where I was totally inspired and found a bunch of little businesses that you must check out {see below}. Now our weekend is over and we are the sick house. Ross, Henry and I are all in bad shape I forgot what it is like to be really sick :(...

My list of standouts from Renegade:
The Postage Service ~ Pre-stamped with vintage postage stamps... that actually work {there is a photo above}
I Made You a Beard
Ribbit Stopit
Couch Guitar Straps ~ I especially liked their camera straps