One of my favorite things about traveling is trying new restaurants. I do not enjoy cooking, so anytime I have an excuse to dine out for consecutive days, I'm pretty happy.

In NYC, the culinary highlights included Marea (which recently earned a James Beard award for Best New Restaurant) and ABC Kitchen (Jean-Georges new spot inside ABC Carpet & Home).

ABC Kitchen's mismatched dishes and dishtowels/napkins were a sweet touch.

I was so pleased to find a Grom gelato not too far from our hotel! Speaking of gelato, during one of our many attempts to beat the heat, we devoured Popbars (gelato on a stick!). So good.

And here's a snapshot of a Fluffer Nutter, Thomas Keller-style (from Bouchon):

In London, I became obsessed with the coffee frappes from Paul (it was pretty hot over there). And we had a great meal at The River Cafe, plus *the* best cheese sandwich from Kappacasein at the Borough Market. On our last night in London, we dined at Zuma for dinner. It was delicious — it was awarded a spot on the list of Top 100 restaurants in the world — but waaay too hip for us. On another evening, we went to The Swan before catching A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe Theatre. I love the interior of the restaurant, and the view is pretty nice, too.

That's St. Paul's on the other side of the Thames from The Swan.

One of my favorite food things that we came across was at Heathrow: Pringoooals!

Posted at 08:11 AM | Link
Filed in Food & Drink, Travel

Jon and I are back from vacation. We went to New York for a friend's wedding and figured, "Hey, since we're pretty much halfway there, let's go to London afterwards!" So we did. And it was a ton of fun. Lots of good eating, museum visits, and general hanging out/walking around in both cities. More later — once I get a chance to go through my photos.

Posted at 06:52 PM | Link
Filed in This & That, Travel

Wow. I'm surprised I still remember how to access/update this blog. Even Jon has started giving me a hard time about my lack of posting. Lately, all of my creative energy has been going towards writing for the SF Chronicle or working on my big new yet-to-really-be-announced editorial project.

And I still have a part-time job. And I still try to find time to hang out with Jon and other friends and family.

Like this weekend. We attended the Outstanding in the Field event at Route 1 Farms in Santa Cruz. It was amazing. (I am definitely planning to sign up for another dinner next year.)

After the OITF meal, we spent the night in Bonny Doon at this adorable place (which belongs to a friend's parents):

Other miscellaneous stuff:

• My new thing is to have the local dry cleaners add those little bra-strap holders to my sleeveless tops. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner.
• I recently started subscribing to New York magazine. Two issues ago, there was a big feature about the best sandwiches in the city — just in time for our trip later this month.
• In other food-related news: Buttermilk ice cream does not work. (I'm talking to you, Madera restaurant. Your rhubarb galette, on the other hand, was awesome.)
• I recently discovered the beauty site 3floz, which as its name implies only carries products that are sized just right for TSA approval. Perfect for travelers or people who just want to test out a new product, without committing to a full-sized version.

Posted at 09:58 AM | Link
Filed in Food & Drink, Friends & Family, This & That

Have I shown you one of our more recent acquisitions for the home? A1960s trio of stackable stools:

I was considering buying a set of floor pillows for the living room, but I like these from Nancy Boy even better. You can sit on them individually or, when stacked, they make one regular-height seat.

When we bought the stools, the cushions were covered in a ho-hum fabric. They didn't have any ties on the bottom, so they would slip off the wood bases too easily. We enlisted Madina's help to update them — going with a simple pattern (Betwixt, one of Celerie Kemble's designs for Schumacher) in a colorway that would allow them to fit into pretty much any room in the house. I think they are so cute!

Posted at 11:27 AM | Link
Filed in Casa de Jon-Minh

Twice a week, SFGate.com runs "The Walk-Through" — a feature which highlights "a local home on the market that caught our eye for its architecture, history or character." Usually, the homes actually don't impress me much. But today's tour is a condo in Pacific Heights that includes quite a few lovely wallpaper treatments. (It seems like most people strip this kind of personality from their home when they decide to put it on the market.) I especially like this idea of covering an accent wall PLUS the door panels:

P.S. I've been working on a special editorial project that I'll hopefully be able to share more about really soon!

Posted at 07:32 AM | Link
Filed in Design

So we're nearing the end of April and somehow I managed not to write a single post this month until now. I've been pretty busy with writing-related stuff, as well as a few other things ...

• We went to Mexico. And it was awesome. Nothing but hanging out by the pool and eating churros. Or going into town for mango popsicles and tamales from a lady with a cart. And one day, Jon went out fishing with friends and caught 15 tuna and a mahi mahi.
• Any place that serves beignets and bbq pork buns for breakfast is pretty much my idea of heaven. OTD on Bush Street is my new favorite and I'm on track to becoming a regular at this place.
• I always think that test-driving cars is going to be fun. But you know what? It never is.
• The SF Decorator Showcase is opening this weekend (I've been following the home's progress as part of an article for the SF Chronicle). In case there are still people reading this blog, I thought I'd give a little peek of the Showcase.
  
  Michael Burg

  
  Benjamin Dhong

  
  Gregg De Meza

  
  Darin Geise

  Disclaimer: My photos are not good, not good at all. If you're in SF during the month of May, it's definitely worth checking out for yourself.

  Posted at 05:37 PM | Link
  Filed in Design, Food & Drink, Friends & Family, This & That, Travel

I want a dozen of these lanterns in the chevron pattern:

Available at Jonathan Adler.

Posted at 09:00 PM | Link
Filed in Buy! Buy! Buy!

I know there's a lot of talk about magazines shutting down left and right, but there are still some good ones out there. Here are two that I really like:

• AFAR - A San Francisco-based travel magazine that takes a personal approach to its stories.
• Jamie - Brought to you by chef Jamie Oliver. Meg actually told me about this bi-monthly publication a while back, but I didn't see it on the newsstands myself until today. (Maybe it will become easier to find now that he's got a television show on a major U.S. network.)

Posted at 03:36 PM | Link
Filed in Food & Drink, Reading, Travel

This makes me laugh:

So of course I had to have it. Available at the superb website 20x200.

Posted at 12:27 PM | Link | Comments (1)
Filed in Buy! Buy! Buy!

Instead of exchanging gifts with each other this past holiday season, Jon and I opted to make one big joint purchase. We called it a gift for our house, but obviously, we're the ones who get to enjoy it every day: a gorgeous painting by the very talented Paul Ferney.

Ever since we moved into this house, I knew I wanted a painting above the dining room credenza. And I knew I wanted Paul to paint it. (I was so jealous after reading that Liz' husband gave her a Paul Ferney painting for Valentine's Day last year!) We contacted Paul a few months ago, began a discussion about the subject matter, and he soon got to work on it. We are thrilled with the final result. THRILLED, I tell you!

(I'm not a very good photographer, so I'm not doing Paul's work justice here. And in case you're wondering, that spot of light on the wall is the sunlight coming through the clerestory.)

Posted at 06:27 PM | Link | Comments (5)
Filed in Casa de Jon-Minh

• I have been buying Miette fleur de sel chocolate caramels by the bagful and, no, I do not share them with Jon. They are so good.
• It took me a few weeks, but I finally finished reading the excellent piece on John Hughes in the March issue of Vanity Fair.
• I was in Venice, CA, last week and now I want to learn as much about the history of the area as possible. I just ordered a copy of Cottage in the Sun: Bungalows of Venice, California
• The Jean Paul Gaultier collection at Target launched yesterday and some of the pieces sold out in the middle of the night. I may have to stay up late this weekend when the Liberty of London line comes out.
• Speaking of London! I am planning a trip there this summer. Which I am really really really looking forward to.
• I love the rooms below, which are featured in the "An All-Star Makeover" article in the current issue of Elle Decor. (Nate Berkus and Anne Coyle decorated the place for "Oprah" producer Ellen Rakieten.)

Posted at 09:09 AM | Link | Comments (2)
Filed in This & That

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nate Berkus a couple of years ago (too bad it was just over the phone!) and he comes across EXACTLY as you'd think: warm, friendly, knowledgeable without being condescending. I regularly check his online portfolio because it's constantly getting updated. And even if I've seen a lot of the photos before, I can still sit there for hours looking at them again and again.

Here are some recent additions (I think) that I especially like:

You can also see the apartment in Milan that he designed for boyfriend and accessories designer Brian Atwood here. His own Chicago abode here. And the place he created for an Oprah TV producer here. (All three homes were published in Elle Decor.)

Posted at 11:57 AM | Link | Comments (2)
Filed in Design

I am obsessed with these adorable boot holders sold in cupcakebomb's Etsy shop.

Despite having multiple closets, I have had trouble figuring out how to best organize my boots. I keep some in boxes from the Container Store, and the ones I wear more regularly (at least during the fall/winter) have just been lying around. Now, with my growing collection of these boot holders, I can stand them up in the closet — all in a nice, neat row. No more slouching boots!

Posted at 07:18 AM | Link | Comments (4)
Filed in Buy! Buy! Buy!

Wow. I love this chair, available at Anthropologie.

It's designed by Tord Boonje and designed for outdoor use. Too bad it comes with a $3,000 price tag.

Posted at 05:21 PM | Link | Comments (5)
Filed in Buy! Buy! Buy!, Design

The forecast calls for more rain this week in the Bay Area. Which I am actually looking forward to now that I've got my new Dace raincoat:

I have been searching for the perfect raincoat for quite some time, and I think this is it. I love the look of a trench — I've got a few in my closet — but they usually don't have a hood. And I need a hood because I don't like to carry an umbrella.

So this? This may be the Holy Grail of raincoats for me.

Posted at 05:15 PM | Link | Comments (5)
Filed in Buy! Buy! Buy!, Wearables

Since stepping foot into the bathroom designed by Benjamin Dhong for the 2008 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, I've been coveting this mirror:

I think it would be a great replacement for the mirror currently hanging in our entry:

That wall seems to lend itself better to a vertical, rather than round, mirror. Now I just need to convince Jon!

P.S. I bought the Madeline Weinrib rug on sale at ABC Carpet & Home, which now has an online shop.

Posted at 02:11 PM | Link | Comments (5)
Filed in Casa de Jon-Minh, Design

Are you familiar with Fyndes? It's an online marketplace for dealers, artists and designers. I browse the site regularly, but have yet to make a purchase. I wish I had a place for this chrome lattice headboard:

It looks like the same one in interior designer Jay Jeffers' San Francisco home:

Posted at 01:03 PM | Link | Comments (7)
Filed in Buy! Buy! Buy!, Design