update. libby is cuter than ever

phewwww. I'm always a little relieved once christmas day is finally over and we can all get on with our lives!  I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Libby says hi from kentfield, CA

christmas at the beach

happy holidays everyone! we are about to embark on nearly a week of quality time with the stillmans.  Mo and Jim have rented a house at Stinson Beach for the week (with no dogs allowed. preposterous) and Mike, mimoun, lucy and I will be out there on Saturday to celebrate with them.  can't wait to share pictures from whatever adventure my siblings + mimoun and I seek out on our customary christmas day hike to a magical place. Here are some christmas day photos from the past...  



yoga with mo

gotta warm up. matt davis trail head behind stinson beach fire department



about to head to sugarloaf ridge state park for christmas day hike last year




stinson beach after a wild storm




mike sitting in on our dad's stamp collecting. golden hills in the background



I've missed you, my lovely home and blog and friends and libby!

As you could probably tell from my series of emo tweets over the weekend, I am SO happy to be back from my work conference in San Antonio. It was fun to talk with our colorful EPGP PIs and spend time with my awesome boss, but other than that, I was counting down the hours to be back in my beloved SF. 

On the plane, I worked on this little collage (thank you for the idea, other blog) of the stillmans + friends visit to Lake Tahoe last summer. 

I guess it's a little difficult to read... woops! the next one will be better :)

 

lucy's birthday celebration

After a slow morning of Taylor Swift music videos (I might as well be honest!), Mike, Lucy, and I started at Indian Camp in the Tilden Park nature area and hiked up up up the Peak Trail to an awesome panoramic view.  We're talking about trying to do a once a month sibling hike - there seem to be an endless amount of epic trails.

san pablo reservoir

looking north

lucy and mike in the "Peace Grove"

Finally, a delicious picnic in the free tilden botanic gardens.

baclava desserts! my favorite thing on earth

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

birthday gift...

Lulu is finally entering her 20s!  Seems like she's been about 25 forever, but she ends her teen years on November 24th.  We're having an early celebration this Saturday at the berkely botanical gardens, and I want to have an extra special and useful gift to give her.



the herb garden



I think I'll be able to find something on Etsy, where you can shop by color. How clever!

asparagus, magenta, ochre, midnight blue...



SF pumpkins

In anticipation of the Giants winning the world series, lucy, della, and I had an awesome day carving pumpkins. how orange, how festive! It poured non stop in kentfield, so we had a cosy pumpkin seed munching, movie watching kind of a day.

turkey and moo-cows joined in the fun. lucy provided an awesome former award-winning-radio-show-playlist




eek! the Rangers



   

Meanwhile libby went g-d overboard on cuteness...

and it rained, and rained, and rained 

Sad news for the Stillmans. We found out yesterday that the experimental cancer treatment my dad was trying for 8 weeks did not work.  In fact, it made his cancer levels shoot way up.  There was only a 1 and 7 chance that it would work, but I think we were all hoping that he would be a special case.  When you have a sick family member, how do you create boundaries between your every day life and the sinking knowledge that you will lose him or her so much sooner than you should have to? who knows.

the stillman's fridge.  Can you find.... President Reagan on the ranch, mike's busted knee, buster posey's jersey, Timmy throwing a pitch, and the traditional birthday breakfast dining room table? 



big basin redwood forest

The camping trip to Big Basin Redwood Forest was a success!  Lucy and I, camping novices, remembered flash lights and utensils this time. We went for a stunning day hike through old growth redwood forests, roasted tomatoes and fresh cloves of garlic, and drank a sampling of sam adams seasonal beers. Della provided the veteran camping knowledge and taught lulu and I to build a fire. The end of October means the end of Indian summer. I'd love to squeeze in one more camping trip before the rain starts.

lucy's pretty hiking braid

single adventures

Mimoun, the jet setter that he is, has left our little SF apartment for a month split between Israel and the CMJ music festival in Brooklyn, NY (ps check out the UP show that week).  While I miss having my lover around, I enjoy finding ways to fill up the extra time, usually by hanging out with my awesome siblings. Hopefully, next Tuesday Mike S. and I can grab a $3 pint at the marin brew co.  First though, Lulu and I are going camping this weekend in Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

Our last camping trip in Big Sur, for the Woodsist Festival, was a blast! The stillmans were thrilled to see some of our favorite bands all in one show - Kurt Vile, Woods, our Real Estate buddies, and the Mantles.  Before going to the cosy festival at the Henry Miller Library, we set up our tent, had an avocado sandwich lunch, and walked through this heavenly looking tunnel out to a colorful bay where we could see kelp forests growing.

Ahhh how relaxing. What more could we need?

wonderful sunday

Oh the excitement! (MLB please don't sue me for using this exuberant image.)  Sunday started out at Rosamunde yet again, where stef, gio and I gave ourselves panic attacks watching the giants hold on to their lead for 6 innings, then went and bought champagne when they finally won!  I rode home smiling for some delicious avocado toast, coffee, and a quick SVU episode. Later that day we drove to marin for lucy's Fall Harvest Dinner Party.  Thanks to the unchanging san francisco weather, I really needed a dinner of pumpkin soup, spiced lentils with apples and spinach, and a seasonal Harvest Moon pumpkin ale for me to feel like the seasons are changing.

how lovely - two kinds of hot sauce, fresh flowers from our garden, and candles

Lucy used this heavy cast iron mold for corn bread, in the shape of little corn cobs!  After dinner, we sat outside together under the stars and pondered this funny upside down big dipper we all saw on the horizon, but was not the big dipper.  I was so happy to introduce Stef and Oliver to my home and to Libby, most imporantly.  Thanks Lucy, Mike, and Jonathan Sanchez for a great day!

pool party

the Stillman's back yard

As I usually do on Wednesdays, I've been thinking about mind blowing-ly fun activities for the upcoming weekend. Two words came to mind = pool. party. What a throwback! A traditional marco-polo playing, sun tanning, fruit salad eating gathering for old friends, new friends, the Stillmans (minus Mike because he's with Ann in Michigan), and obviously Libby! Delicious gazpacho and refreshing drinks for all who make the trip out of SF.

gazpacho pics and recipe at cup and table