birthday boy

Happy Birthday to the greatest man I know, I feel so lucky to be able to call you both my husband and my best friend.  I know you are less than excited about saying goodbye to your 20's... but I for one think the next decade will be even better than the last, and I am so happy to be able to spend it with you.  Happy 30!  Ich liebe dich!

top photo by me  bottom photo by davina + daniel

Bell Jar | Gorgeous Little Things

Cydney's pup Ace is the sweetest and most well behaved dog I know.  She loves Bell Jar too :)

While I was in San Francisco I was able to spend some time at Bell Jar, a darling Mission boutique managed by my dear friend Cydney.  It feels a bit like Anthropologie's more stylish, and a bit darker, older sister... With lots of amazing vintage furniture, taxidermy, and gorgeous jewelry and accessories by local designers.  I fell in love and wanted one of everything they sell, and I drooled over the decor (I wanted to move it there) - that taxidermy peacock?!?  AMAZING!  If you are in the city I highly recommend a visit to Bell Jar and if Cydney is there, say hello and tell her I sent you!

Bell Jar    |    3187 16th Street (at Guerrero Street)   |    San Francisco, CA

california via instagram

I arrived in California determined to document my trip and have lots of photos to share, but unfortunately I got a nasty American flu on top of the German bug I had been fighting for a few weeks... and I didn't get to take my camera out as much as I hoped, due to the fact that I spend two of my days at home in bed watching bad American TV with my mama.  And somehow I have become obsessed with this season of the bachelor, Courtney is so cray cray.   I did manage to capture a bit of my travels with my iPhone- and now looking back at these I am  realizing most of what I shared was food I ate and my best friends' dogs.  Although they also happen to be a couple of my favorite things :)  and I could really go for some of that frozen yogurt right now....

you can follow me on instagram here

from the top  (left to right)

St. Francis potato thing on my first morning in San Francisco.  potatoes covered with salsa + cheese?  amazing.

Flying business spoils me every time... but I always want to enjoy my time there and never sleep very much, which totally defeats the purpose of flying business.

frozen yogurt with berries and mochi.  yumm yumm and yumm.

one of the most incredible sunsets I have ever seen in the city.

ace.  & me, cyda and ace.

i joined my friend alissa to ceramics lab at her college and pretended i was a student.  i used to be pretty good on the wheel, and even debated majoring in ceramics instead of photography... but now i really need some practice.

travis, randall and sickie moi in santa barbara.

emmy lou is a really crazy dog.  but so damn cute.

travis jay and i playing with his new computer.

emmy lou at the beach.

winter on california's central coast.  not bad, eh?

my idea of heaven.  salsa bar.

breakfast my sister in law made me and my brother when we were sick with the flu.  she is amazing.

an la sunrise on our way out of town.

post office boxes made me want to get a post office box, or find a way to buy these and put them in my house.

a frozen city

When I left Berlin three weeks ago, the city was frozen and it was -15 Celsius.  I love winter, probably because I never had real seasons growing up in California, but it was so damn cold in Berlin I didn't even want to go outside.  But since it was snowing and i LOVE snow, before I took the train to catch my flight to San Francisco, we decided to venture out into the cold.  We explored the snow covered Tiergarten, where we discovered that the lakes had frozen over and people were ice skating on them.  I had never seen this in real life before and was pretty terrified walking around on a frozen lake- obviously I think I have heard one too many stories about the ice cracking and people falling in. We have had a funky winter here in Europe with hardly any snow, it was nice to finally have a bit of winter wonderland before I escaped the cold and enjoyed a California winter, aka Spring:

lots more to come from California this week!

wayfare magazine

Have you heard of Wayfare Magazine?  The new travel online mag launched this week, and I was totally captivated by the first issue.  It is no surprise as it I am a big fan of travel magazines, but I was really impressed and it certainly made me want to book a flight and explore somewhere new! Good thing my suitcase is already packed (or not yet un-packed from my trip stateside :)  I definitely recommend you check out the first issue- and if you have already read it, what did you think?  The photography is gorgeous!

advice from a rapper

just some positivity from the rap world to start your week off right :)

designed by Jessica Wright on advice from a rapper

via little white whale

Musik für Mittwoch

Lykke Li // Tonight

I have heard a lot about Lykke Li lately and I really love her voice, especially in her slower ballards like this one.  I hope you are all having a lovely week so far!

weekend

 cold weather always brings out my bright red rudolph nose

It may have taken it's sweet time to arrive, but there is no mistaking it now- winter is here.  The Spree is frozen and today had a high of -11C.  I am feeling really fortunate that on a whim I bought myself a J.Crew puffer jacket for Christmas, I think without it I wouldn't leave our warm little apartment.  The bright side is that since the temperatures dropped last week the sun has been out every day, which makes the cold much nicer, and today it snowed almost the entire day (I am a California girl, I LOVE the snow).  I carried my camera around with me most of the week, but yesterday on our furniture search was the only day I actually took it out- I feel like I am finally getting used to these below freezing temps and now I am escaping to California!  It just feels wrong packing my suitcase with dresses and skirts :)
I hope you all had lovely weekends!

Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co.

Have you guys seen the fabulousness that is schoolhouse electric & supply co?  I am dying over everything they sell, and I really wish they were located in Europe so I could buy one of everything and then all my decorating woes would be over.

Finding amazing furniture here in Europe that is not crazy expensive is way more difficult than I thought it would be.  We sold the majority of our furniture when we moved and just kept our favorite pieces, which was a great decision, but living in a sea of boxes is starting to get really old fast.  We ordered a couch we both love, but it won't be here for six more weeks.  Yes, I know it would be so easy to rent a van, drive to Ikea and furnish our entire flat in one day, but I have done that before and am trying to make our new apartment one filled with furniture we cherish and will keep for years.  The antique stores I have visited don't have anything I like and the ones that do, are so out of our price range that I laugh when I look at the price tags.  3,000€ for a desk? yeah, um no.

Anyone have tips for decorating (besides patience that is...), or even better some amazing online shops in europe I should check out?  or fabulous & affordable furniture stores in Berlin?  We are spending another weekend searching the city in hopes of finding something we love- wish us luck, we definitely need it!

denim notebook cover // clocks // wedgwood desk // room // blankets

Musik für Mittwoch

Selah Sue // Mommy

My dear friend Courtney sent me a link to a Selah Sue song ages ago, but it wasn't until this week that I really got around to listening to her music.  To be honest I don't even know how to describe her sound, but I like it.... and this song especially.  Happy Wednesday to all of you :)