happy labor day

It's my birthday this weekend, so I'm taking a little hiatus from blogging. I plan to spend the weekend picnicking, eating delicious food, and trying to soak up the last bits of summer. Hope you have a great long weekend- go outside and have some fun!


[photo from Trophy Cupcakes & Parties via Scout]

organizing bookshelves by color

I recently reorganized my bookshelves by color and I'm in love with how they turned out! I previously had them organized by category, which made my inner librarian happy, but wasn't very visually appealing. Read on for a glimpse of my organizing process, and the final results:

There's really no way to do this without making a big ol' mess. I sorted all my books into stacks on the floor according to the color of their spine. Since my bookcases only have three shelves (which are not adjustable), I had to further divide each color stack into short books and tall books. Once I saw how many books I had in each color, I decided to put all the colorful books in my larger bookcase, and the black and white books in the smaller case.

There are many ways to organize the layout of your rainbow. Because of the heights of my shelves, I decided to do a full spectrum of color on each shelf. This proved to be a challenge, as I had far too many red and blue books. I had to get creative with some sideways stacks to get everything to fit.

Ta da! The colorful bookshelf in all it's rainbow glory!

The black and white (and a little grey and gold) bookshelf. It's quite orderly, but not nearly as fun. Looks like I have to only buy colorful books from now on!

new cookbooks

I recently got a peak at many of the new cookbooks that will be coming out this fall and can't wait for all of them to arrive in the shop! Here's my top picks for new and soon-to-be-released cookbooks:

Brown Sugar Kitchen: I'm pretty sure everyone in the Bay Area has been eagerly waiting for Tanya Holland to spill the beans on making her ridiculously delicious chicken and waffles.

Josey Baker Bread: Josey Baker, another local fave, has released a beginner's guide to making bread at home. Now devotees of the Mill's thick slabs of toast won't have to trek all the way to NOPA for their artisanal bread fix. 

The Real Food Cookbook: I'm reading Nina Planck's book Real Food for book club this month (which I highly recommend!) and I can't wait to read this accompanying cookbook. Planck encourages eating real, traditional foods like whole milk, eggs, cheese and lard - yes please!

Bar Tartine: The Tartine books always have the most gorgeous photography and food styling, and this one is no exception. Their recipes for curing and pickling are sure to be interesting.

Flourless: This looks like an excellent dessert book, whether or not you're gluten-free. Rather than using funky hard-to-find flour mixes and gums, the author focuses her recipes on ingredients that are naturally free of gluten. Genius!

Plenty More: I guess Yotam Ottolenghi heard the cries of the masses when we all shouted "The recipes in Jerusalam are amazing! We loved Plenty! Give us more! More!"

Dinner: The Playbook: I don't know about you all, but I've been in a dinner rut lately. Does a tomato salad and popcorn count as dinner? Anything to avoid making pasta again, right? I'm couting on this book to solve all my problems. 

Make it Ahead: The Barefoot Contessa is coming to help you this holiday season. Ina Garten's latest book will show you what you can prep and make ahead so you can throw a party and not be stuck in the kitchen all night. 

[Top photo via Bay Area A List]

papillon press dinosaur cards

Jurassic Party

Are dinosaurs the new owl fox hedgehog? I sure hope so! I love dinosaurs, and I love these birthday cards from Papillon Press. The letterpress studio features a variety of dinosaur designs:

Triceratops birthday

T-Rex birthday

If you're not a fan of dinos (what's wrong with you?), they also have some other cute party animals, like a squirrel and moose. As far as I'm concerned, you can never go wrong with animals in party hats. Cards available on their website, or Etsy page.


[All photos from Papillon Press]