Nice Toss!

When I was in San Francisco for the Decorator Showcase (more to come on that BTW!), I had to do a little shopping, of course! We headed over to Chestnut Street in the Marina District to browse around and came across THIS gem of a shop!

Toss is a shop with a little of everything a girl wants.....cute bags and totes, cuter shoes, fun belts and hats, perfect tops and colorful scarves.....and lots of gifts perfect for your girlfriends, Mom's, daughters, MIL's and SIL's.There is vibrant color everywhere you turn. I absolutely loved how there were shoes and belts tucked into each color story area in the store.

Toss Design is a San Francisco design house founded in 2004 known for their travel totes and bags in fresh patterns and vibrant colors. There are now tunics and dresses in the same brilliant patterns in the shop.

See those cute orange flats on the shelf below? And I almost took the black sandals above home with me.

One of the nicest things about the shop is that the prices were very do-able. Cute, fun, affordable and lots to love here. What could be better?!

I am all over these sandals with the caning on them.

Hop on over to the Toss Website for a little online shopping if you can't get to the City by the Bay. Summer is a-comin' and a little travel bag might be just the ticket for you or that upcoming grad gift! (I have a grad of my own....so shhh! Don't tell her!)

Barbara Barry: Gumps and Metropolitan Home

There was an afternoon tea in honor of the extraordinary Barbara Barry at Gumps in San Francisco last Thursday, and I was lucky enough to attend. It is quite an experience to meet a design icon that turns out to be as lovely and gracious in person as you imagine her to be. Ms. Barry gave a brief presentation where she discussed the importance of gratitude, and living in the moment....and simply "being". It was a refreshing and inspirational to hear her speak of appreciating every day.

Barbara Barry and right hand, Saana Baker

Barbara Barry and Gumps have teamed together to offer a wonderful mix of Barbara Barry signature designs in the form of fine furniture, lighting, china, flatware, stemware, and home fragrances. Her Wedgwood china collections are outstanding. This is my favorite I think:

Curtain Call China by Wedgwood

You can see the whole collection on the Gumps website here.

The Furniture is produced by Henredon and every detail is so well thought out. Scale and quality are perfection. The fabrics are beautiful and luxurious. You can see Ms. Barry's complete furniture line on her website here.

It was so much fun to see all Ms. Barry's creations and get to hear about how she finds inspiration for the design process. And there were many friends to see at the event as well! :

Barbara Barry and Marta Benson, CEO of Gumps

Chic designer Cheryl Holbein, the dashing designer and blogger Scot Meacham Wood, and the talented designer Lise Stubbs

Shannon K. Fisher and Mike Kazmierczak, sales representative team for Henredon and Maitland Smith

If you are curious to see more pictures of the event, you can go the Drew Altizer Photography website here and view many many more!

Over the weekend, I was so happy to get both my Elle Decor and Metropolitan Home magazines! I was ready for a great double header magazine-fest. And lo and behold, there was a beautiful editorial in Metropolitan Home featuring a home designed by none other than Barbara Barry. She was able to complete a top to bottom renovation in just nine months! This total transformation embodies Ms. Barry's mantra of "luxury, tranquility and pleasure."

Living Room, Metropolitan Home June 2009, Photo by Jeremy Samuelson

The amazing French 1950'2 coffee table is arranged with Barbara Barry furniture pieces as well as a Robert Kuo drum stool and the Bibendum chair by Eileen Grey in the Living Room.

Metropolitan Home June 2009, Photo by Jeremy Samuelson

The Breakfast Room features a vintage Gino Sarfatti chandelier over a custom Barbara Barry table. Charles Eames chairs from Modernica.

Metropolitan Home June 2009, Photo by Jeremy Samuelson

I love this photo of the study with shelves designed by Barbara Barry, and the chair by Phillip Agee:clean, classic and serene.

Metropolitan Home June 2009, Photo by Jeremy Samuelson

This corner of the Master Bedroom Bedroom is luxury in a nutshell. The chair is a Barbara Barry design for Henredon with a Kravet fabric, also by Ms. Barry. The cabinet is from the owner's collection. What a beautiful combination!

Metropolitan Home June 2009, Photo by Jeremy Samuelson

The outdoor patio space just looks so cool and comfortable. And for a young family who spends alot of time outdoors what could be more perfect than this classic redwood picnic table refinished with a high-gloss paint?

Well....I have had a wonderful few days enjoying the brilliance of Barbara Barry. I hope you all have a chance to take a look at the Metropolitan Home article...there is much more to see!

And you can find Henredon Furniture, Wedgwood China, Flatware, and Stemware all designed by Barbara Barry at Gumps.

White Peonies....the perfect embellishment to this Barbara Barry vignette

Beautiful Day for......

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, one block away from Academy of Art

......walking around San Francisco. As I mentioned, we drove to SF on Monday to visit the Academy of Art University. My oldest daughter is going to start applying for colleges in the Fall....so the college crawl is on! My impression of AA was generally quite good! The classes, faculty and the facilities seem amazing. The "campus" is really the city itself with AA buildings scattered throughout SF. The university has their own bus system that transports kids to all of the various buildings. We toured through alot of the various buildings and departments: film, animation, fine art, photography, and visited one of the dorm buildings. There are even more tours you can go on, but we had a pretty good idea of what the school was about after three hours. I must say after touring another SoCal university, this tour was amazingly thorough. The atmosphere was very urban and edgy....very creative, but with a well thought out plan for employment opportunities. I liked it very much. The down side is that it is private, expensive, and lacks the overall education you might find at a State University. If your teen is interested in exploring other fields such as language, writing, sciences, music, etc., this might not be a good fit. But the fact that it is in a city with all of the opportunities that city provides: cultural, jobs, entertainment, beaches, shopping, etc....not a bad "campus"!

Yerba Buena Gardens out side of the Metreon building

Waterfall at Yerba Buena Gardens

We sat outside enjoying tea at the Samovar Tea Lounge to fortify ourselves after our long tour.

More of the Gardens and the sights of the ever expanding city

We always like to fit in a visit to China Town (the largest outside of Asia BTW) whenever we are in the city, so a quick cab ride and here we were. The Gate at Bush and Grant is very close to the Academy of Art Dorm buildings. Their bus goes right past it. Always a fun diversion.

I had to take a few photos of some of the things that caught my eye. Just a sampling:

Carved ivory tusk.

Carved wood column

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory

If you are ever in China Town, ask for directions to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. It is located down a small alley and not easy to find on your own, but all of the shop keepers know where to direct you. The "factory" is really this very sweet woman who sits and folds the delicious smelling cookies as they come off the "presses" picking up a fortune and tucking it in. This tiny space off a tiny alley is always full of onlookers. And there is a man, who I think is her husband, that passes out warm cookie samples. You won't be able to leave without buying a bag. I love the sign behind the woman!

Grant Street, China Town

One of the many colorfully decked out buildings

My daughter loves this bakery where we always get candied ginger and Lotus cakes.

After dinner at a Chinese restaurant of course...we decided to walk back to where the car was parked. It just so happened that we walked through the Union Square shopping district. We passed Gumps....one of my favorite stores, and even though it was closed, I had to stop and stare at these fabulous light fixtures in the window by one of very favorite designers, Andrew Fisher of Fisher Weisman:

There were many more pieces, sculpture, accessories, etc. These were a couple of quick pictures I was able to take as my husband and daughter just kept walking down the block. I could have stood there for quite awhile longer!

To find out a little more about this brilliant exhibit, click here. And blogger Grant Gibson got to see alot more up close and personal here.