the perfect everything (in the bag)...

part two...

So it was on the quest for The Perfect

that I found myself
in a quiet neighborhood
on a PERFECT

San Francisco day.
I already had a big smile on my face 
after a great breakfast with my girlfriends,
and meeting a new friend who was 2 weeks old,
plus I was walking the streets of San Francisco
and the NorCal Sun was shining down on me~
I wasn't sure my day could get any better,
it was already pretty darn great.

the Perfect Everything...

part one...

I have this thing I do.

It's called

looking for the PERFECT Everything.

I also have this thing I do.

It's called

multitasking to the highest level of efficiency.

That can lead to a tall order

when a gal
who bicycles
who travels
who goes to business meetings
who knows a thing or two about textiles and manufacturing
and who likes unique style,
is looking for the perfect bag.

home...

I have been to my fare share of cheesy Scandinavian Festivals,

And I am a recovering Museum Professional,

so I have lived many a day inside an Art Museum.

It takes a lot to impress me on either front.

So it was with slight reluctance

that I found myself 

on a cold February day a few years ago

at the American Swedish Institute

looking for something new

something special

something to take me away.

I fell in love instantly.

who'd of thought?...

image from Trek

I'm a bit in shock.

I remember 5 years ago when I dreamed of this day.
In fact, the other day I was still bemoaning the fact
that no one had made a Dutch-style bicycle
in aluminum.

always...

All images courtesy of Chronicle Books.  Link HERE.

For those of you who have followed my hyggelig

because of my obsessive love of bicycling and good design,

but mourn the fact that I have moved away from this as a sole topic,

don't you worry.

My love for bicycling will never waiver.

In fact, as I age, the topic takes on more and more interesting turns.

Stay with me,

but please enjoy all of the other things I have to share as well...

With that said...

I am of fan of Chronicle Books,

they do good work.

On my recent visit to San Francisco

I was so pleased to see that with all of the independent book store closures in the City,

Chronicle is alive, and well, and thriving.

What I particularly fell in love with this week 

is this blog post from Chronicle

about their employees and their bicycle stories.

Quite fitting for my hyggelig don't you think?

I love it.

I have commented on this before,

when I worked in SOMA I was one of the few bicyclists commuting in the city.

Bicycling was under an unfortunate stronghold during my tenure.

I am so pleased each time I return to see all of the wonderful bicycling changes

making the City what it fully deserves to be ~

a place for everyone, including people on bicycles.

Thanks for sharing this Chronicle!

Palm Springs: The Truths...

I have some things to say about Palm Springs,
Truths about Palm Springs,
that I hope will be helpful to those of you thinking of going
sort out fact from fiction.
You see, Palm Springs gets pretty hyped up
on some of the popular blogs and magazines,
but I felt the reality was far different than the hype.

Palm Springs: Prologue...

There are two things I love.
The Sun and Mid-Century Modern.

When we lived in Denver
we owned our dream home.
It was the late 90's/early 2000's
and no one was really paying any attention
to Mid-Century Modern.
But we were,
and we loved it.
Our house was like nothing we had ever seen before,
we were beyond excited to own such a gem.
Despite the fact that the house had not been cared for
and needed all sorts of work,
we loved her
and we began to dive in on making her our own.

okay...

so that mini post turned into about 3 weeks of silence.
once again i question this space.
thinking a lot right now about some upcoming fun,
more about being there right now than here.
we'll see.
for now, this has inspired me.

still thinking...

I can feel it,
I am starting to wind down
for my January Hiatus...
But I might have one more
mini-series in me
before then.

I will consider this the start.

Night Shot: Me and Lexa To and Fro

This Autumn I found myself riding Lexa
to a number of bikish meetings.
We had a lot of fun together,
Even in the cool and darkness.
What I determined
Is that I do not like the
Po Campo Pilsen
solution I have been trying.
It's a great bag,
but not for going to and fro from meetings
with the stuff I need to haul.
I found my items overflowing into a second bag to carry,
and eventually a backpack, which I am not a fan of.
The one thing that really sets me over the edge,
is that I carry two locks.
I just do.
And so,
as one who is always looking for the perfect solution,
I began to think....
and think....
and think...

still thinking...

booked...

Now to begin the fun part,
research...

Better get reading.

love it...

cheers to beautiful shoes and bicycles...

I LOVE these shoes.
Oh YES I do.
I started stalking them before my NY trip,
it didn't work out to get them then.
Then...there was a brief moment in time
when they were available online.
And a few short days later
these beauties were on my feet.

What I like about the new shoes
is not only do they LOOK good,
but (wo)man oh (wo)man are they COMFORTABLE.
And comfort is my middle name.

And some of you may have given up on me
thinking I run around in lycra all of the time
and lost all my sense and love of good design.
Not so fast....
That will NEVER happen.

In fact, I'm such a freak about good design and beautiful moments,
that I had this photo shoot planned for the last three weeks
and was waiting for the perfect moment to execute.
Today was that day.
How boring would a picture of just a pair of shoes be?
You've got to accessorize those feet!

AND ~ Here's the Pashley again for you who keep thinking
she has gone into bicycle never never land.
The Pash is the perfect accessory (I know I should say bicycle...)
She is patiently sitting and waiting for me to
slow down
get bored with all this lycra business
and tool around the neighborhood.
I think she may be waiting a loooong time.

Cheer's to beautiful shoes and beautiful bicycles.
And Sun and Lovely Lovely Autumn.

ps ~ yup, that's the top I made all by myself.

i do bikey things...

i do bikey things...
one of my recent bikey things
has been coordinating the launch of
the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition's very first t-shirt.

shameless plug:
the MBC has a membership deal going on right now
join
and get one of our t's for free.
sounds good eh?
if you live in Minneapolis -
do it
if you live anywhere else -
do it

it takes a lot to get a successful organization off the ground and running
i am proud to count myself as part of this group
i hope you will be too.

now back to regularly scheduled programming...

good things make life better...

Late Summer Nights: Sunny on the way there. Dark on the way home.

we have had a LOVELY string of late SUMMER weather.
I had put on our schedules awhile ago a lecture I wanted to attend.
so I arrived home from work,
put on my favorite cycling skirt,
and off H and I went.

easy peasy parking - dusk to dark

there are many reasons why we rode our bicycles:
1. We live about 4 miles from the destination, an easy peddle on over.
2. Parking at the University is a pain and expensive, not so with a bicycle.
3. I needed to move my body.
4. It is a fun thing to do together, much more fun than sitting in the car.
5. With this gorgeous weather, how could one not want to get out and enjoy it?

I realized later that it was fitting I wore my favorite Japanese fabric skirt.
I want to make more of these skirts,
the waist is a little higher and I shortened the pattern to the perfect length,
both work swell when I feel the need to slip on bicycle shorts underneath
(like on a hot Summer's night going to a lecture when I didn't want sweat stains).

If you haven't noticed on this blog,
I have a thing for art, design, and architecture.
I also have a thing that's been brewing for awhile
for Japan.
I hope to continue to focus on those things here
because they are what make me me,
make my days more interesting,
stretch my brain,
and make the world a better place.

photo: Atelier Bow-Wow "Pony Garden"

Atelier Bow-Wow is my new favorite.
I learned so much at this lecture.
Most of all I appreciate their approach to architecture and space.
What a wonderful thing when the spaces we move in
change our behaviors for the better.
If we all could be so lucky to spend time in one of their spaces,
what a better place the world would be...

pretty big things...

night life...

We have never been much for nightlife,
but we do enjoy a good evening walk around the lake on warm summer nights.
Is this picture of the pup awesome or what? He looks like a strange alien super creature.
Photography surprises are fun.

We also found a nice little spot on a Holiday Sunday night to discuss

art, life, us.

I hate to say it, but sometimes Minneapolis just gets under my skin.

On another note, does anyone else out there use the new blogger posting template and dashboard interface?
I have stuck to the old blogger templates for the longest time, especially for posting, but I am trying to finally go with the new modern age. My beef with the posting templates in blogger (old and new) is that when you preview what you have done, they never look like they did in the draft. You have to monkey around with a lot of weird formatting to actually get it to look like it does when you are writing your post. Like for example in the new posting template, the text aligns to the right of my pictures, I want it underneath - I can't find a way to do that, so I have to return about 30 times and then return some more to get it to look right in the preview and then there are HUGE white space gaps in the preview. Then in the old blogger posting template, it doesn't read returns at the end of my lines correctly, so I have to go in and return on every line AGAIN. wtf?

Also, formatting pictures is more rigid with the new posting template. I can't be a free spirit, I am limited to small, medium, large, right, center, left. I HATE that.

Maybe I need to go to some blogger 101 after 5 years?! Any advice is appreciated.
I just had to go back to the old old blogger posting template and interface to get this to look how I wanted it to! Gurr!!!
I have been a loyal blogger for 5 years, but this is getting really annoying...

hus&hem inspiration...

I have been drooling over
Hus&Hem
all morning whilst drinking my coffee.
Inspired for my patio rework,
inspired for a new kitchen someday,
inspired for a privacy solution for my backyard,
and inspired to go to my hyggelig.
Oh how I love Scandinavia
and good
clean
simple
honest
design.

and thank you
google translator!

Summer's evening ~ new york

The area surrounding the High Line
on a delicately warm
Summer's Evening
is my new favorite.
Especially Chelsea Market.

New York,
when one isn't working,
could be oh so much fun...

I should say that I took that picture of the coffee shop exclusively because of the bicycle in the background. Visually a great accent to an already cool vibe. Yup, I'm bikey like that...

This...

It was a long day.
NY was wearing thin on me,
and so was not having any alone time.

But this...
This...
was worth it.
I made it at last.

i've fallen...

Out of Stock?!!!
Seriously?!!!!
But you JUST arrived.
OH Camper,
WHAT are you trying to DO to me?
I fall hard
and now I am left with nothing
but a broken heart.

PS I am in New York next week
I have mapped it ~ .9 walking miles
from my hotel
to the Camper store.
Don't think if I can break away from meetings,
I won't come looking for you...