Own Personal Coffee Table

own personal coffee table

Italy Coffee Tables

Italy Coffee Tables

Land Park Garden Tour - Elements

Things have been a whirlwind around here! I am in hunter gatherer mode as I have been pulling things together for the garden I am staging for Land Park Garden Tour this Saturday (tomorrow!).  

The garden I am working on is highlighting the upcoming exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum, Transcending Vision: American Impressionism, 1870-1940 which opens at the Crocker May 14. It is soon to be followed by Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism which opens June 11. This second exhibit includes works by Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet, as well as American impressionists, John Singer Sargent and Frederick Childe Hassam.

Working with the home owners garden as well as the Impressionist art theme, I pulled together fabrics that looked "painterly" and hand crafted in navies and turquoise blues. I added a bit of green as well. Artists easels, straw hats and blue skies are what is in store this Saturday! I will be taking lots of pictures which I will post soon!

The Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. It is home to William Land Park, which includes the Sacramento Zoo, the Land Park Golf Course, two children's parks where my kids spent many a weekend growing up: Fairytale Town and Funderland. William Land Park is also home to the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival , a small fishing lake, ballparks and acres of tree shaded park area. The park is surrounded by stately homes which were built in the early 1900's ranging in style from Tudor to Monterey, Bungalow, Colonial with even a few Streamline Modern thrown in. The streets are lined with huge Sycamore trees making it one of the most beautiful areas in the city.

Proceeds from the Land Park Garden Tour benefit the School Arts Program at Holy Spirit School in Land Park as well as the Mustard Seed School arts education program.

For more information about the Land Park Garden Tour and Afternoon Tea be sure to check

 HERE!

I hope to see you there!

Coffee Table With Storage

Coffee Table With Storage

Modern Coffee Table

Modern Coffee Table

10,000 People

Last Saturday, after visiting all of the homes that were on the Curtis Park Home Tour (More on that next up!!) we were a tad hungry and decided to take the light rail to Midtown Sacramento and get a bite to eat at the Sacto MoFo . What is THAT you might ask. Well, let me  tell you! Sacto Mofo stands for Sacramento Mobile Food....ahem...not what you might have been thinking. Sacramento has an ordinance restricting the amount of time that a mobile food truck can stay in one area. They can only park for 30 minutes at a time, which means they can feed perhaps 6 customers at a shot before they have to move on. Even with Facebook and Twitter updates on their locations....it is a ridiculous arrangement for a purveyor to have to get up and move just when people realize they are  ready for business.

 Many other large cities have a thriving gourmet mobile food business atmosphere, and Sacto MoFo has organized to get Sacramento "mobilized" to get the ordinance changed. They planned an event at Midtown Freemont Park where mobile trucks parked all around the perimeter. They were expecting a nice day with people strolling by snacking on all of the yummy offerings....from Indian Curry to French Baguettes and Brie, to Tacos and Mini Burgers. 

......... What they got was a crowd of 10,000 supporters all willing to stand in lines as long as two to three hours for lunch.

 It is apparent that the dining public was sending a message.....we are people on the go, but we still want great food and lots of variety! We would like to see lots of bright, colorful trucks with gourmet offerings parked all over in Sacramento!

 Mobile Food trucks made the trek to Sacramento from the Bay Area in support of the ordinance change. There are many who would argue that mobile food trucks offer aspiring restaurateurs a venue to show their stuff without the costly overhead of a brick and mortar location. Smart thinking in the present economy, yes?

 On the flip side, local restaurateurs who have invested in such things argue that their business might be hurt. A valid argument perhaps. However, many brick and mortar owners are jumping on the "band wagon" and buying their own mobile food trucks to join the party. For example, Whole Foods was in attendance.

 I say, let the public decide, and let the sweet potato"chips" fall where they may! What do you think?

Here are some of the trucks in attendance: 

This truck had so many customers they had to close up early....they ran out of food!

The lines snaked back and forth through the park....and waits were long. But everyone seemed determined to get a meal.

For more information about Sacto MoFo, check out their website HERE!

Get your Food on!

Prologue: SPORTS MATTERS... more than you might imagine - PART 1 (ACHTUNG Series!)

The power of sports cannot and should never be underestimated!!!  Sadly, I believe many people do undervalue it.  Possibly seeing it only as just some extracurricular activity, while the true issues at hand (in Canada at least) are health and education.  What many fail to realize is just HOW and WHY sports is the solution to the major problems facing health and education! 

I got a reminder of this the other day, when someone dared to deny any benefit in the Olympic Games, with the exception of aristocrat gains and that Canada should not be trying to host the games.  This isn’t the first time I’ve heard such archaic claims. 

In fact, in our recent bid to host the Pan-American Games in Toronto, there were many who protested against Canada hosting such games.  Some politicians and people will scream the loudest of their disapproval for Canada to bid on hosting a major game, yet they will be the first in line to sing with Canadian pride as Olympians attempt to Own the Podium.

Many protestors will site the significant cost of hosting a major game as their primary reason…. However, what people fail to realize is that in fact the benefits of hosting a major games is so far reaching that the costs are negligible.  ACHTUNG THAT!

This is a topic I’m quite passionate about and cannot believe it’s taken me so long to finally blog on it.  However, I must thank my agitator for directing my future blogs on this topic.  Over the next few blogs, I will discuss the value of sports, our need to make it a priority, how it IS the cornerstone for health & education, the cost versus benefits of hosting the Olympic Games, and just why now more than ever Canada needs to take a second look at sports.

Oh, yah!  I’m not holding back on these next set of blogs…. Buckle up and hold on tight ... Another week of serious Achtung blogs are coming!

Something to chew on in the mean time.... (and while I am a MIZUNO girl and this is an ad from our competitor, in this case I think the message at hand is most important and universal to all.)

Achtunging,
Nicole