valentine's day I Heart "Heart Rock Herb and Spice Co."!

Moroccan Spice Blend

Yesterday, I promised to tell you what I received from my girlfriends on the trip to Lake Tahoe. One of the gifts was finding out that my friend Diane (the Master Gardener friend) is starting up a brand new company of hand blended herbs and spices!

Herbs de Provence

Diane has a spectacular garden, which I have blogged about before HERE. She has been collecting rocks in the shape of hearts ever since moving to the lake.....so it was only natural that the name for her new company would be Heart Rock Herb and Spice Co.

Diane surprised us with a little herb and spice blending party of our own! We are all big "foodies" and cook a big dinner whenever we visit, so this was right up our alley. We got to recreate some of her recipes for ourselves! SO cool! Diane let us choose the blends, so we picked her Moroccan blend, her Herbs de Provence blend, the Malaysian blend and we had to try the Tahoe blend, of course.

Diane has sourced herbs and spices specifically for their freshness and is blending the spices per order right before they are shipped so that they are at their peak of fragrant flavor.

Fresh Herbs and Spices

It was so much fun getting to play with all of the ingredients....like the rose petals and lavender, which we used in the Moroccan blend, and the lemon grass and dill we used in the Tahoe blend.

There is so much information on Diane's website HERE about all of the herbs and spices, and about how you can take advantage of all of the goodness yourselves! Diane not only has an array of cooking herbs and spices, but she has put together a delicious collection of room fragrance blends as well. (Part of our gift was a blend of the month club.....yes.....that means we are getting a new blend every month!!! Lucky or what?!)

Diane is donating 10% of her profits to two non-profit organizations she is passionate about:

Bread and Broth, a food program for the hungry of South Lake Tahoe where Diane is the Director, donating her cooking talents and direction, and also to the Thunderbird Gardens, where Diane is the Master Gardener/Garden Coordinator. Yes....Diane is one busy woman. She puts me to shame.....while at the same time inspiring me to do even more.

These are what I brought home with me!

Diane I "heart" you too! You are my favorite Spice Girl!!!

A heart rock we found on our picnic at Thunderbird Lodge. Our Girl's Weekend could not have held any more wonderful and coincidental little surprises!

valentine's day Girls' Weekend, Lake Tahoe

I have been away a bit.....perhaps you have noticed? It has been a busy summer working with wonderful clients, weekend getaways and a vacation thrown in for good measure

A couple of weeks ago, I made a yearly jaunt with my friend Lori to spend the weekend with our long time friend, Diane at her Lake Tahoe home. On Saturday, we headed over to the Thunderbird Lodge, where Diane is the Master Gardener, for a picnic on the beach. Old Omar Khayyam had it right:

"A book of verses underneath the Bough

A jug of wine, a Loaf of Bread - and Thou

Beside me singing in the wilderness-

O Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

Lake Tahoe is known for is crystal clear waters, and Lori and I took full advantage jumping right in for a swim. Meanwhile, Diane uncorked the wine and got the party started.

After a couple of glasses of wine, it was obvious to us that the clouds had formed into a giant Thunderbird in honor of our visit. Can you see the full wingspread? And then there is the head at center.

Here's a little help...this is the Thunderbird plaque above the door at the lodge....can you see it now?

Not more than a few minutes later, we saw original lodge owner's, George Whittell Jr.'s, yacht, also named the "Thunderbird" motor up to the boathouse. It had been out ferrying people back from the Oscar de la Renta fashion show that had been taking place on the North shore of the Lake. If you want to see more about that fabulous show, check out Tartanscot's blog HERE for another Lake Tahoe chic affair! (Although our little tete a tete was pretty chic, if I do say so!)

When we finished lunch we sauntered on over to check out the gardens and just happened to pass by the boathouse. Luckily, the captain and his mates were still there and let us in to have a closer look at this gem of a yacht. Truly a beauty to behold....all varnished wood and chrome buffed to a brilliant shine. Sigh.....it conjures visions of movie stars making their way across the lake to the infamous poker parties thrown by George in the 30's and 40's.


It is only fitting that this stunning bird should have just come from Oscar's party! (Although I did hear that Oscar did not make an appearance! Ah..C'est la vie! There were still gift bags with sunny yellow umbrella's and stationary!)


After our well deserved "Oh"ing and "Aw"ing, we said goodbye and headed up the hill for a garden tour and a visit to the Lodge.


There is always another thing of beauty to see on the grounds, some occur all by themselves:
And others are the result of Diane and her volunteers' talented efforts.

There were also a couple rooms inside the lodge that had been re-decorated to better reflect the life and times of George Whittell Jr. and his wife Elia.

Front Door at Thunderbird Lodge

Great Room at Thunderbird Lodge

George's Bedroom

A brass bed was added in George's Room, along with a photo of George with one of his many pets. ( Some of which included lions and other wild animals.)

Elia's Room

Elia is pictured in her more feminine room with her pet cheetah.

A brilliant day to be sure.

On Sunday, Diane gave us a tour of her own beautiful Sierra Mountain garden. Diane carried every granite paving stone herself, creating a courtyard which overlooks the Lake.

This sprightly sculpture appears to emerge straight from the earth to breath in deeply the fragrant flowers in Diane's garden.

One of our traditions every year is to exchange gifts since we all have summer birthdays. It is always a fun challenge because we set a price limit on the gifts. This year I found these cute straw bags and paired them with pretty scarves from Cost Plus World Market. (I have to say....LOVE that store!) I will show you what I received in my next post! Stay tuned.

After our gift exchange, we headed out for lunch on the Lake...it was another beautiful day, and we gorged on Hamburgers, Cobb Salad and Rum Runners at the Beacon Bar and Grill in historic Camp Richardson.

Fat and happy, we were all ready to head over to our favorite Plant Nursery, Aspen Hollow, to buy a few things before heading back home. The sky started to get a bit dark for a summer afternoon....and it started to sprinkle a little. As we got a little closer to the Nursery, we heard thunder. As we pulled into the parking lot.....it hit! A HUGE hail storm with hail the size of moth balls and golf balls. We were stuck in the car hoping that the windows would not crack. This was our afternoon of winter in the middle of summer.

The hail eventually died down and we ventured into the Nursery. Sadly, they had a bit of damage and decided to close for the day. We will have to wait for next year.

valentine's day Diane and I seeking shelter in the Nursery Hut at Aspen Hollow.

Another beautiful and adventurous trip to the Lake. Thank you to Diane, Phil and Lori for such a wonderful weekend!

valentine's day Get Outta Town!

valentine's day Weekend hike on Mt. Rose near Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks ago

No really...

As much as I love design, or maybe because I appreciate it as much as I do, I think it is necessary to recharge and find inspiration in things that at first glance seem unrelated. It gives us a chance to clear the cobwebs, get out of a rut and perhaps think of projects we are working on in new ways. That sky might just be the perfect shade of blue for the pillows on the bed...the green of the pines, brilliant for the curtains....

The meadows were spectacular...cool and intensely green

Getting out of the city, either alone or with family or friends, gives us a chance to reconnect with other parts of our lives. Turn off the Blackberry or iPhone (but having it on hand for emergencies...maybe not so bad). I overheard a friend say something to her daughter recently that struck me. The daughter was texting away on her phone while my friend was trying to get her attention, and the daughter was just not "present". My friend said, "love the one your with". Apparently, this was a sort of code between them for "Put down that flippin' phone and listen to what I am saying." But what a perfect way to tell someone to be "here" and enjoy what is happening with the people who are in front of you.

The wildflowers were out in force

We are heading out of town again this weekend to go to Santa Cruz for our oldest daughter's college orientation. It is not only a fun getaway, but a time for us to prepare to "let go". It is a sort of a new path we are heading down on this journey that is our family. I hope to be "present" for every minute.

Have a wonderful weekend.

And don't forget to .....

Love the one you're with.

valentine's day New paths

valentine's day Tagged: Five Things to Love About My State

I have been tagged by the stylish Callie Grayson of the Grayson: A Different Shade of Grey blog. Thanks Callie! The subject is five things I love about my state. After reading her post, I realized it was not about my state of confusion, or even the continual state of chaos in my house....I had to find five things to love about my state of California.

Well....I must say, I think I have a slight advantage here. So here goes:

1) I love the weird stuff we have in California like:

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The Devil's Postpile

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The Tufas at Mono Lake

Stalagmites and Stalactites in the California Caves in the Gold Country

2) I love the extremes, like:

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Mt. Whitney, the highest Peak in the contiguous United States

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Death Valley, The lowest place on earth, and the hottest in the United States valentine's day

The Redwood Trees, the biggest trees on earth valentine's day

Lake Tahoe, the biggest Alpine Lake in the United States

3) I love the varied architecture and architects, like:

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Frank Lloyd Wright's Walker Residence in Carmel

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Greene and Greene's Gamble House in Pasadena (where I grew up), a prime example of Bungalow Style Architecture

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Frank Gehry's Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles

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Julia Morgan's Hearst Castle

4) I love that we can do all this within a few hours drive:

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Horseback ride in the Mammoth Mountains in the Eastern Sierras

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Fish at Lake George
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Cross Country Ski in Bear Valley

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Play wave tag in Newport Beach


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Hang out at the beach in Laguna

5) I love that California has a Cuisine named after it and world famous wine country:

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Alice Waters, co-founder of the esteemed restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California is usually credited with originating "California Cuisine". The emphasis on using fresh ingredients in season grown by local farms garnered her reputation as the proprietress of one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.

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Photo by Brent Miller, WineCountry.com

Then there is the Napa Valley, or what I like to call "the Valley of the Gods". It is stunningly beautiful and produces some of the best wine in the world.

OK....that is my five things.

But, as much as I have tried, I cannot wittle it down to five. I have to add:

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What would we do without it?

And this:

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California, the home of The Happiest Place on Earth

Kay....I'm done now. And I am tagging:

Pigtown

Cote de Texas

Lime in the Coconut

The House of Edward

Visual Vamp