Real Life :: California Kiddo’s Fresno 4th of July

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San Francisco has crazy weather. It’ll be hot and sunny three days in a row and then on the fourth the wind is so cold you’re wearing a wool scarf. In July. I’m not kidding. So when the Fourth of July rolls around we high tail it outta here and head down south to visit some of our very best friends, Dan & Lisa, who live in Fresno. Now you may be thinking, “Wow, Fresno….pretty posh Alix!” but lemme tell ya, WE LOVE IT THERE! Besides getting to spend quality time relaxin’ with special friends, they live in a terrific neighborhood on this awesome cul de sac. It reminds me of that famous Bill Owens’ photo from his amazing 70s SUBURBIA book. Where this woman is leading a parade down her block, waving a big American flag. Our Fresno getaway is on a very retro cool block. Our friend’s have a pool and we swim and BBQ and just totally relax. (Lisa and I always manage to sneak away for some fun girlie time…either a pedicure or some high quality movie viewing involving something classy like, you know, vampires) One of my favorite parts is how the whole neighborhood gets involved on the Fourth of July—there is a kid’s parade, bouncey house, and of course fireworks and sparklers at night. Here are some pictures of our crazy fun weekend:

We forgot about the bike parade and had to do some quickie SUPER DOWN AND DIRTY homemade decorations for Wolfie’s bike.

I feel like I should make a joke about my hubbie’s bangin’ booty. Pop pop pop!

Oh my god it was over 100 degrees and I looked like a HOT MESS (literally)  the entire day. This is a testament to how I luv ya—I’m showing you me in all my beet-faced glory. Hewww….of course Wolfie looks rosey cheeked and cute. Damn kids.

Of course there’s always a cakewalk. Greg and Lisa both won on their first try.

The liddle kiddle parade is my fave though….it’s super cute and the kids really get into it. Our friend Flo is down there on the right pushing her lil man Alastair. She made homemade ice cream sammies with home made peach ice cream and they were DEEEEEE-lishus!!

Aw yeah! The pink Malibu Barbie car was back! Whooo hoo! This little girl is there every year. She almost ran me down, but she’s so fab I forgave her.

Our neighborhood doesn’t really have sidewalks, so we’ve been slow on the bike riding dealie with Wolfie. He finally got a little cruiser with training wheels and he was totally into it! The training wheels have that wibble wobble thing where the bike suddenly leans to one side, making Wolfie shriek (in a manly way) and totally reminded me of being a kid….remember how the training wheels would bobble and you thought for SURE you were gonna wipe out?

So that’s part of our weekend! I’ll spare you photos of us looking awesomely sweaty (but then jumping in the pool a zillion times to cool off). We came back to San Francisco and, as predicted, there was a chill in the air. Oh well, it was nice to get a lil taste of summer—even if it was just for a weekend.

What did you guys do? Did you stay close to home or did you go someplace fun?? Hope you all had a fun time too! (PS UPDATE: Greg is leaving for work and WEARING A SWEATER. I’m seriously contemplating tights with my dress. IT’S JULY SAN FRANCISCO!!! *sigh* Always the rebel….)

The Perfection of POLKA

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Waiter, I’ll have what they are having!

I know I usually don’t start a post off with the designers, but c’mon these ladies look like they are having a blast. And who wouldn’t when the are creating such joyous clothes as these?

I’m mean really! I want to shrink myself to fit into these goodies! But how could I not love them for starting a clothing line called Polka (as in DOT).  And of course they hail from the land of Pilgrim–Australia, so that just makes them even more super spectacular in my little ole book.

Get a load of this bucket of cuteness for boys:

Oh and they do clothes for babies too. Really really stinky cute stuff for babies. Like  hide yer wallet cute. The knee patch cuteness of it all.

I know, right?

The sassiness that comes out of the minds of Jo and Marika, the two ladies above, who are the masterminds behind Polka is just amazing.

In their own words:

“Our Polka took off like a Rocket and we’ve been chasing it ever since! We design what we like, which is a lot of things really! It’s no wonder each collection doesn’t end up looking like a dog’s breakfast (apologies to overseas readers – if that is one of those kooky Australian sayings?). We are Australian – though Jo is from Canada originally, and we kind of wish we were Danish, and perhaps should have be living in the 60’s or 70’s. We are lovers of  Tokyo & Scandinavian street fashion, and both vintage retro and modern futuristic. Bohemian Folk & Blacks and Brights. Pattern & Prints are king, and pastels are passé. We love kids and their boundless energy, which is why their fashions are just so much fun.”

Alix, are these are new best Aussie friends? After Pilgrim, of course! I can be the Dot to their polka!  Tee hee!

Real Life: Bicycling with Baby

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Hi hi everyone!

Did you have a grand fourth? Was is filled with red, white and blue cupcakes and fireworks? And maybe even a widge of sleeping in? GOOD FOR YOU!

For my little family it was a chance to go for a bike ride. My first date with my sweetie was supposed to be a bike ride. I’ve even received vintage bicycles from him twice as presents.  Even though the Bay Area is known for hills, our neighborhood is wonderfully pancake flat and perfect for bike riding. It even inspired me to splurge on one last bike.  Well, I did sell my fancy road bike from when I used to race. But I think my Electra Gypsy is much more my speed these days and it is admittedly more reliable than my old vintage ones.

We knew that as soon as the Peach was old enough we were going to incorporate bike trips into our lives.  After some online research on bike seats for babies, we settled on the Co-Pilot brand that attached to the back of the seat. And we found the perfect helmet from Nutcase to protect her little noggin.

And because the Peach likes to hydrate as much as her Mama, we attached her little water bottle and a teething toy to her little  seat.

Doesn’t she look comfy in the bike seat with her helmet on? Just kicking it old school up there, like she was born to ride.  Please note that this was after her first five minute bike ride where we just walked the bike and she cried hysterically from her little bike seat. But the next time, she was very happy to hop on the back of the bike. This proves that you just have to try stuff at least once with a kid. And we are so glad we tried again, because these summer rides with her have been wonderful.

We go on hour rides at least once every weekend. We found a beautiful and almost empty path near our house that wends its way across the island and through this old Naval base.

Around some not necessarily abandoned, but not open buildings that would make amazing lofts—look at those windows…

We get some grand views of the city.

And the Oakland cranes.  Did you know that they were supposedly were the inspiration for the AT-AT walkers in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back? I think you can see the connection, personally.

The naval base has some nice old houses where soldiers lived with their families in the forties and fifties.  This sign I think is original and from that time.  I love the little girl’s bow in her hair.

It’s a perfect way to take advantage of summer weather. What have you been doing this summer with your kiddos?

Yay! It’s a new feature!

Vintage Books

A few years before Wolfie was born, I started collecting vintage kid’s books at the thrift stores. I had been thrifting for ages, but it had never really occured to me to look at the kid’s books—but once I discovered them I was hooked! The stories are clever and charming and most of the illustrations are just brilliant! I have a pretty big collection of cool books and I thought it would be a fun, new weekly feature to share them with you guys. Most of my books are from the 60s and 70s.

This week’s book is by French author and illustrator, Alain Grée. His images are so fantastic—bold punchy colors and really great characters. I especially love all the little mod clothing on all the people. He wrote lots of little storybooks and a whole collection of wonderful quasi-encyclopedia books on various topics. This one is called La Mer—The Sea!

I love when illustrators mix photography with their art work….so cool.

Even the coral looks charming….just look at those little sweet daisies shapes!

Ship ahoy! That’s it for this edition of my vintage bookshelf…I hope you like this new feature! I’ll have boat loads (heh) of lovely illustrations for you in the coming weeks. Oh and I’ll be back this afternoon with a little Real Life post about our trip to Michigan!

Link Lovin’ Friday.

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Oh Friday Friday, one of my bestest days of the week! So glad you are here my friend…and so glad YOU are here too, lovely readers. Just wanted to share some fun things with you that caught my eye this past week:

Summer has kicked into high gear and I’m sure many of you have little roadtrips and family outtings planned. I loved this sweet USA cork board that the lovely Grace over at ever-inspiring design*sponge created as a fun way to map out your travels. I think it would be really fun to make one shaped like your state (HOLLA MICHIGAN!).

To find out how to make one of these for yourself, swing by design*sponge.

My friend Jenny turned me on to her sweet pal Andrea of Hula Seventy. She’s officially on the top of my list of “Girlies I Need to Know Better”. Her photography is so dreamy and these snaps from their summer of Road Trippin’ makes me smile.

Find more awesomeness over at Hula 70.

Our sweet pals Jamie and Jacinda at Prudent Baby always have such fun crafty ideas. I love these red, white and blue jelly beans pouches.

Complete instructions over at Prudent Baby. Or, you know, bribe someone crafty like Dottie to help you out.

Speaking of my Crafty Gal Pal, THIS ONE GOES OUT TO YOU MISS DOTTIE! You are a little slice of heaven, lady. Thanks for being such an awesome travel buddy last weekend! *mwuah!*

Found on Scissoring via Grosgrain Fabulous.

One of my other favorites is the brilliant Teri over at Giddy Giddy. Look at this adorable Fourth of July romper she made! Yeah. Vintage Rhino fabric?? So good.

Find even more inspiration over at Giddy Giddy.

My darling girl Pilgrim is so thoughtful. Even though she’s an Aussie, she did this bang up 4th of July Etsy roundup just for her State-side pals! As usual, she has read my mind and procured a charming collection of EVERYTHING I LOVE. Sigh.

Don’t forget we have an AMAZING $50 Gift Certificate giveaway happening for Draw! Pilgrim. Enter today!

One of my new favorite finds is Make Something Happy, from the ladies of Rock, Scissor, Paper. I loved this flashback post they did on last Fourth of July where they had a CAKE vs PIE throw down party! What a cool idea, huh.



Just in case you were wondering….CAKE WON! Check out the full Cake vs Pie Battle over at Make Something Happy. It’s awesome.

And finally….a little Fourth of July Sweet Treat for you to watch with the Kiddos. This little short from animation rockstars PES just makes me smile. Fireworks + Peeps= AWESOMENESS. Hope you dig it!

Have a super duper HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY my friends! We will be in a BBQ induced food coma on Monday and taking the day off. We’ll be back again on Tuesday and will expect a full report on yer weekend. Over and out!