Cupcakes and baby feet

Some of us Blue Rose Girls got together this weekend to celebrate a number of birthdays, discuss books and publishing, and eat cupcakes prepared by guess who. This batch of chocolate gluten-free were delicious. It was so lovely to revive our weekend traditions (it has been a full year since I was able to attend a gathering since I was away). Thank you ladies!

This year there were some new attendees, my Tilda and Juniper (daughter of the über-talented Alissa Imre Geis). Juniper has bigger feet, but I believe Tilda has chunkier knees.

Furball Friday

There's a baby behind me isn't there.

A new sketch

A flower picking we will go

Our CSA lets you pick your own flowers. I plan to fill the house with bouquets all summer long.

826 Valencia

I meant to put this post up before I left SF, but didn't, so here it is belatedly. I wanted to share some pictures from my trip to the famous 826 Valencia Pirate Store. In case you haven't heard the story... Dave Eggers co-founded this fabulous writing center, with locations around the country. Each location has its own unique storefront (I used to live near Boston's Bigfoot Research Institute). I'd always wanted to see the Pirate Store in San Francisco and it was well worth the trip. Below are some photos from my adventure there.

There were lots of great activities for kids:

A wall full of drawers that you could pull out and spy inside:

Treasure maps of course:

A wall of mustaches on mirrors:

Lots of pirate paraphernalia:

And these great signs posted here and there (click to enlarge and read):

This is the writing center in the back of the store:

I would have loved to visit a place like this when I was a kid! Wouldn't you?

Furball Friday

Real life old red shoes

Turning old red shoes into planters is not just for kids. Grace's mom made these lovelies: