Missions and La Playa

Missions • Long overdue on my to-do list was stepping into California's founding history via its remarkable Missions. Walking through their well-landscaped inner courtyards, their frescoed inner sanctums and churches, their impressive museums filled with noteworthy paintings, sculptures, and both Spanish and Native American artifacts; I marveled at this important period in the state's history. The small towns where they are located still vibrate with a calming gentle pace of days gone by - some catering to the tourist throngs, some moving more slowly as though on hold from today's brisk pace.

Ojai • Ventura • Carpinteria • Los Olivos • Pismo Beach • San Luis Obispo • Santa Barbara

- Let me take you on a detour -

• Mission Santa Barbara •

 • Mission Santa Ines • 

 • Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa •

 • Mission San Buenaventura •

Playas • I am not much a beach person. I do not usually linger there. I was smitten this time. Shorelines went on forever. The soft hues of the light made geometric patterns in soft shades of pale creams and faded grays and soft taupes; each pattern caressed by the slow moving ripples of the surf. The morning fog had wrapped the sky as the palm trees stood proud against it. 

• Pismo Beach •

• Carpinteria State Beach •

• Central Valley Twilight •

    Heading back north, the evening sky twirled and twirled away - it was out of this world.

I have been plotting in my mind the next time I go south - most likely a return along the Pacific Highway via Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Morro Bay, Big Sur, Cambria... 

For now, I stayed a bit closer to home - stay tuned for my latest weekend up the coast to Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley - in our turbulent world, these getaways are simply so good for the soul.

Enjoy as always ~ Adeline

Design Comes First • Innovative Design That Is.

Ernest Hemingway said "Cut out the ornamentation and design as straight as you can" - he was speaking of the written word. I see what he meant. I have this thing with clean lines. I have this thing with order. I definitely have a thing with innovative designers who see those lines, who seek risk, who champion ambition, who push beyond the ordinary - whose vision is to draw you in, to startle you into an emotional response that you don't expect. 

I step into a space, and before all else I anchor my feet solidly on the ground. I take it all in. I actually cannot take a seat until I have taken it all in. I take in the vision, the intent, the originality. I take in the beauty, the experimentation, the chance taken, the genius. I relish the moment.
Only after I have this this all in - once I am more than a little dizzy with awe - will I then sit down - or simply continue looking.

Each of the places below stopped me in my tracks. Each one has inspired me from the very moment I stepped on its threshold. Take a road trip, stay close to home - it does not matter. Look. See. Risk. Design. Create. Be the catalyst. Take a chance. And look again.

•  Presqu'île Winery • Orcutt •

ØL Beer Café & Bottle Shop • Walnut Creek •

•  Sans Liège Wine Bar • Pismo Beach •

•  Sir Francis Drake Hotel • San Francisco •

•  Museum of Modern Art • San Francisco •

•  Preserve • Winters •

•  Frank Lloyd Wright Civic Center • San Rafael •

•  Calicraft Brewing Company • Walnut Creek •

• Lincoln Park Wine Bar • San Anselmo •

I have added the links to each place. There are so many stunning spaces that speak to my sense of aesthetics - my curiosity for the unique. My list just wants to grow.

My older daughter has caught the bug. She has a unique way of capturing modern spaces, ageless spaces. I can see that she is moved by them.

Remember to stand still, to look up, to look around - don't just eat the food drink the drink view the art spend the night file the forms. Take it ALL in. You will see very quickly how good it is for the soul. 

Enjoy as always, Adeline

Mendocino County - Springtime on the edge of the ocean

Little River, Big River, Mendocino, Elk, Van Damme, Navarro, Russian Gulch, Cabrillo, Caspar; the list of names goes on... Inviting small towns, historical lighthouses, rugged cliffs and giant Redwood State Parks hug the beautiful northern California coast with scenic wonder at every turn.

It was late April when I ventured back along that magical coast I treasure. We had rented a charming water tower (stay tuned for next blog!) for a few nights along the Navarro River. The magnificence of the redwood forests wrapped us in its fold. The meandering coast greated us with open arms. 

Spring had sprung with faint traces of winter still hoping to cling on. The morning chill was in the air no doubt; the afternoon winds did not let up; the sun's rays desperately wanted to warm the land. I noticed and loved how wild flowers - pink ones at that - lined the edges of the cliffs.

The lazy pace we had opted for that week out of town was a celebration in itself. Here we were taking the sights yet again. The wineries of the Anderson Valley beckoned. Picnic treats and bold sunsets did not disappoint. At Wild Fish, a tiny restaurant easily missed in tinier Little River, we were treated to blackened halibut tacos with spicy cabbage slaw, and Thai fish cakes with watermelon radish salad... Need I say more!

I obviously cannot get enough, as my next trip is just two months away, and back to that northern area I shall return! There is a newly opened trail along the bluffs just north of Mendocino - shall get new hiking shoes  - a must - and off we go, because it is simply so good for the soul...

Enjoy as always, Adeline

California fog blankets the land of Trinidad

It was another memorable long weekend about to etch its beauty in our hearts. 

The picturesque coastal village of Trinidad, on the far northern edge of California, drew us north via a long undulating drive zigzagging between ageless giant redwood trees, a rugged countryside, and a coastline like no other. It welcomed us with open arms. Trinidad Bay, with its picture-perfect pocket beaches, its sheltered working harbor, and its small fleet of fishing boats anchored here and there along its uncrowded pier, brings magic to this historic seaside village sitting atop a rocky bluff with rugged cliff sides.

In the waning evening light of our arrival into town, we literally made a U-turn back to the beach before checking in to our inn. The sky was beckoning us, teasing us in its swirling dance. The clouds exploded, delighted at our return. The deep purples, the vibrant magentas melted into the burnt tangerines, then bounced off the vermillions, and into the dark ambers racing to catch up to the flaming yellows - a sight to behold. We headed to our inn in a daze. 

The next morning, the show was not over! In the night - more magic had occurred. A white blanket, veiled in soft shades of muted grays had drifted in. It now wrapped itself along every nook and cranny of the coves below, swallowing them whole. It lingered around at the softest pace. It gracefully silenced the sounds of the birds peaking from their nests on the edge of the cliffs. It drooped and shrouded and hovered and floated and invaded and sheltered and drifted. The morning had settled into a beautiful damp misty gauze all over the land. We were enchanted.

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Was the fog rising from the sea, or coming down from the sky, or was it stretching itself from beyond the horizon? Was the spectacular sunset of the previous evening eager to return?

 I know they will continue their dance of light, teasing each other with " if you do the soft grays and whites, I shall do the reds and purples and yellows"...

 Together they will color our world... and remind us once again, how good it is for the soul.

Enjoy as always, Adeline