Last month my friend Jessica launched a collection of handprinted produce bags. Perfect for the farmer’s market or the grocery store, they feature her illustrations of some favorite veggies and other characters.
Jessica totally walks the talk of food and farm loving, works at farmers’ markets all around the Bay Area, and crafts like nobody’s business–so I was extra excited to see her creations online. Go say hello at Painted Apple Printworks!
One night recently, Mischa and I decided to take an impromptu and long-overdue trip over to San Francisco’s Chinatown. (Granted, it’s less than 10 minutes away by bike, but we still hadn’t been there since moving to the city!)
And as fortune would have it, that particular night was the city’s celebration of Chinese New Year—complete with a huge parade, wild firecrackers, and hundreds of people in the streets. What a fun and colorful night to stumble into!
We wandered through the festivities, found a bustling hole-in-the-wall vegetarian restaurant (Lucky Creation) for dinner, and bought moon cakes and chocolate-covered fortune cookies at a neighborhood bakery (Eastern Bakery) to end the night!
The past weeks have been flying by, crowded with work and home projects and a mix of little adventures. There’s has been no shortage of inspiration in the world and on the web! My online notebook lillieinthecity [finds] is a running list of images, words, and thoughts that have captured my attention. Here’s a few things that have caught my eye recently…
+ This little illustrated guide to DIY sustainable living at home: Make Your Place: affordable, sustainable nesting skills
+ Inspiring invocations and weekly goodness from white hot truth: We are here now to give witness to a shared truth / that absolutely everything is progress / that we have all that we need / that brilliance is unfolding. Here and now.
+ A lovely illustration by Ann and a quote to live by: One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. – virginia woolf
+ Reading about Heidi’s process for cookbook writing.
+ Inspired by Wayne Thiebaud‘s brilliantly simple sketches.
+ Agreeing, yes: All artists are entrepeneurs, all entrepeneurs are artists. – linchpin
+ Feeling this: There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other’s cooking & say it was good. – storypeople
+ Hungry for Tempeh Curry or anything involving tempeh or curry.
Spring always seems to be brimming with inspiration and possibilities. I’m looking forward to the new season’s energy and anticipating lots of new things in the next few months.
What, who, or where has been inspiring you lately?
listening to: On A Good Day by Joanna Newsom (listen)
When I’m working from home these days, I’m most often found at my desk by the windows. My workspace is slowly evolving, including functional additions like this and this. I’ve downsized my calendar from the enormous Typography Calendar by Pentagram to the wholesome illustrated calendar by Nikki McClure. It’s a good change for the new year.
My inspiration board changes with the seasons (remember it back in November?). The month of February is all about bringing love into the middle of winter–so I’m warming up and smiling with thoughts of sweet peaches and hearts and glowing suns, lots of reds and oranges. Spring will be here soon enough!
hello summer!
There’s been a lot of growing + moving + shifting in the past few months with spring energy pushing us along. And now it’s suddenly summertime, and the sun is up, and the weeks feel a little more open-ended, and possibilities are expanding.
Last month Mischa + I moved out of our bright studio in San Francisco, saying goodbye to daily walks in Alamo Square Park and coffee shops on every corner. And we crossed the bridge to Marin (San Rafael, to be exact) to settle into a one-bedroom with a mountain view and lots of biking and hiking out the backdoor. For all my love of The City, I really love this not-so-big city life right now.
So summertime is looking good with this new apartment home to grow into and plenty of big and little adventures in the works. More hours in the day to get creative and get outside. Plus ever-more farmer’s markets, sweet peaches and sliced watermelon, and lots of sunshine and birds chirping out the window. Yes yes, this season will always be a favorite of mine.
listening to: Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show (listen)