And I'm Off

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Hot weather, possible thunder storms and a funky shabby chic home rented from Airbnb. I'm oh so excited. Have an awesome weekend, ya'll!

ps. How cute is this {above} Austin print from the Etsy shop Loose Petals.

Vacation Guide

Dresses: 1, 2   Hats: 1, 2  Drink Recipes: 1, 2   Swimsuits: 1, 2

This weekend I am embarking on a girls trip with my mom and youngest sister to the spectacular city of Austin, Texas. Summers can be rough throughout all of Texas and I'm going to be sure to pack light and airy fashion forward pieces. Sipping cool drinks, taking lots of photos and exploring the city by foot are the main things on the agenda.

Enjoy The Outdoors

photos from my instagram, follow me @DoseofTay

Last night I took some time to relax in my backyard. The birds were chirping, there was a slight breeze and I put my feet up and enjoyed a nice glass of vino. It's the simple things like this, particularly at the end of a long day, that remind me that life is great.

Lusting...

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Wicker has a soft spot in my heart. My entire bedroom as a girl was white wicker and butterflies {so girly, I know}. Anyway, how breathtaking is this wicker furniture, and linens, from The Family Love Tree?!

Solitude

Do you have special spot in your city that you can escape to for some peace and quiet? Well, this is mine. The Golden Arrow of San Francisco. It's a perfect place to ride my bike to, sit down on the benches and take some deep breathes. Perhaps even put some headphones on and listen to some music.

Little Talks- Of Monsters & Men

{a song that I'm loving lately}

Remember When?

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Remember the days before cell phones? The days when you would wait for someone to call in order to make plans. Remember when you would race home to check your answering machine? I always wanted to be the one to press the blinking button and see who had left a message while my family was out. What sparked all these memories you might ask? I was phone-less for a good portion of the weekend {shame on people that steal phones} and it really got me thinking about way back when.

Flowers at the Fair

Theres something about these flowers that totally intrigues onlookers. While at the Haight Street Fair a few weekends ago my girl friends and I were stopped to take mass amounts of photos by various people. Finally someone sent us an email containing these bright beauties. 

An Eclectic Interior

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I'm on an interior design kick lately. One of my go to places for interior inspiration is none other than Design Sponge. This house, owned by a designer and illustrator, caught my eye because of the bright rugs, perfectly placed knick knacks and simple wood details throughout the entire house.

Irregular Elements

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As usual I fell in love with this months issue of Rue Magazine. This old school house turned home is owned by artist Yiva Skerp, and is located in Dalarna, Sweden. This shot of the dining area through to the living room reminds me of what I want my grown-up dining room to be like. Lots of space, natural light and comfortable seating for a large group. I adore this quote by Yiva when talking about the style of her home:

"Some elements may be a bit unexpected, but I can't stand perfection. 

Things need to be a little irregular"

Insagramming

1. watermelon= how you know its summer/ 2. little sprouts/ 3. golden light in Panhandle Park/ 4. little bites of heaven/ 5. Southern Pacific Brewery/ 6. view from our little cottage for the night in Napa

This weekend launched the start of summer, for me at least. I went to a backyard BBQ that had summer written all over it. Complete with bubbles, watermelon and soft blankets in the grass. Here are a few photos from the past week via my instagram. {follow me @doseoftay}

Go out and buy yourself some flowers today, I know I'm planning to. Have a wonderful weekend!

Beachwear

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Fashionable beachwear has a very soft spot in my heart because of growing up in Southern California and living at the beach all summer. I'm totally lusting over this shoot done for Elle France.

Aaron Gautschi Photography

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I adore these photos by photographer Aaron Gautschi taken at the yoga, music and art festival to went to last month. Don't you love when you look through photos of an event and they make you feel like you are reliving it all over again?!

Daily Dose of Inspiration

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Just a little inspiration to get your morning started. Your morning and mine. 

A Old Fashion Diner in Wine Country

awesome typography on the menu 

fresh flowers topped the teal blue picnic tables. J got his favorite milkshake: salted carmel

localy brewed beers in "drinking jars"

the old truck out front and a stool party

So even though we didn't make it off the ground for our hot air balloon ride J and I still went to The Fremont Diner in Sonoma as planned. I have probably driven by this adorable place ten times and knew that it was time I payed a visit. Everything from the menu and the mason jars, down to the old truck outside had a vintage feel to it. It was a breath of fresh air {literally} to dine outside under the shade of a huge umbrella; something that we rarely get to do at the restaurants in SF.

Calm

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Calming my mind is key for today. This past weekend was a whirlwind. You are probably wondering why I'm not posting vibrant photos from the hot air balloon ride... it's because we were unable to fly due to strong winds. Luckily, J and I still made it to Napa and managed to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

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I'm seriously craving the outdoors right now. This being said I'm planning on spending most of my time outside this weekend. I'm looking forward to:

wearing shorts all weekend

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eating at this famous Sonoma diner

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wine tasting

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a hot air ballon ride! 

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The Haight Street Fair

Happiness All Around

I realized that I haven't shared many photos from the yoga, music and art festival that I went to over Memorial Day weekend, so here ya go. This is one of J and I in front of one of the many art installations after we had just done some morning yoga. Side note: I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful guy. I hope you have an awesome Friday and even better weekend!

Kinfolk Dinner Series

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I've been an admirer of the Kinfolk Magazine dinner series for a while now. The concept is to gather a creative group, to share a common place and interact with one another. They use local businesses and artisans for all the supplies which I'm a firm believer of {support local businesses}. I love it, and hope to be a part of their dinner series one day. 

Mermaids

What girl hasn't been obsessed with mermaids at some point in their life? Right when our table of all girls saw these mermaids floating in our mojitos we gasped with delight. The restaurant where we discovered these beauties was one of our favorites while in Mexico. It's called Joe Jack's Fish Shack and besides the mermaids the other highlight, for me, was a wall covered in restaurant menus all from San Francisco!

Up, Up and Away

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Containing my excitement is challenge today. J and I are going on a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley {my happy place} on Sunday. WAHOOOO

Homemade

There is nothing like a homemade baked good. Nothing. I have been making these scones weekly for the past two weeks and sweet or savory they are both a hit at our house.

Out and About

Delicious oysters and discovered this sweet note on the back of a wine bottle
{one of my favorite things to do... read the back label of anything}

Head and the Heart at the beautiful Fillmore. Love them even more now. 

Long walks around the neighborhood

Dreaming of what my backyard might look like someday {this is the Restoration Hardware showroom} and my potted herb garden 

I think I might be ready to admit that I'm a tad obsessed with Instagram {follow me @DoseofTay}. I love the simple fact that they transform a photo from being bland to creatively appealing in seconds. Here are some photos that I snapped over the weekend. 

Daily Dose of This Week

fresh strawberries from our neighborhood farmers market. J walking down the steps of the Corona Heights hike 

a hidden gem of SF that contains a hike that ends at a pretty amazing lookout spot

one of my favorite houses in all of SF. "plant in a bag", a super adorable birthday gift from a close friend

wouldn't it be nice to have that balcony?!

I'm not sure about you but I've been bothered by my lack of personal photos on my blog lately. Hey, we all feel uninspired at times and I'm happy to report that I'm breaking out of the rut that had consumed me. This was the week to start being creative again. In doing so I planted a potted herb garden and brought a camera with me on every outing. What do you do when you are in a rut?! I'm very curious.

a sunset photo I took on an evening hike

Excuse me while I take a deep breath of gratitude. I'm so trilled for whats to come this weekend. Tonight I'm going to eat at Zuni, one of the best restaurants in SF, with J and his marvelous parents. Tomorrow I'm going to see one of favorite bands, Head and the Heart, at The Fillmore with a wonderful group of girls. And on Sunday I'm going to do some hardcore relaxing. Ah life is good.

Listen to some Head and the Heart if you haven't already, here are some of my favorites:

Down in the Valley

Rivers and Roads

Lost in my Mind