Helpful Plants

I love plants and am looking for plants that will improve air quality and are safe for kids (because you know the babe will try a leaf or two if he can to it!). Right now we only have a few plants in the house, and only a peace lily in the baby's room. I'm hoping to add at least one more to his room soon. 

Here's a helpful excerpt from Inhabitots:

If you want to get serious about air filtering flora, there are five plants that top both NASA’s air purifying and Parent Center’s child-safe lists:

1. Chlorophytum Comosum aka Spider Plant

2. Sansevieria aka Snake Plant

3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana’ aka Corn Plant

4. Epipiremnum Aureum aka Golden Pothos

5. Aglaonema Modestum aka Chinese Evergreen

(forget about English Ivy and the others, as they can be poisonous)

I've found some contradicting info on this subject. Here are a few additional links. Wiki page on air-filtering plants with NASA information.

Child & pet-safe houseplant article by S. Elliott.

List of non-toxic plants from the Poison Control Center and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

My Birthday

My birthday is next week and my mom is wondering what to get me. I hadn't given it much thought until I saw this J.Crew sweater... how lovely! Sweaters are a year-round must in San Francisco (brr, August). I decided to put together this little post to talk about things I want. We'll start with the irresistible sweater... top photo!

Hometown heroes (that's Athens, for those keeping track) Satisfactory Printing are pumping out the jams in screenprinting! I have know Nick Canada (top dog at Satisfactory) for 10+ years and am so glad that he's doing so well. I love this lightweight yellow scarf!

My Dansko clogs have been on my feet for 6 straight years. I take them off only to sleep! I love the high arch, their all-day-long comfort, and the extra two inches of height they give me! But after 6 years, they're wearing out. I polish them weekly, but the color is really fading. The staple stitches are coming out and there is a hole in the bottom.

I used to love to give and receive magazine subscriptions, but everything is online these days! I hate to see the decline in beautiful print magazines, but it's better than a decline in trees, right? Right.

You can't go wrong with simple black picture frames, vases (with flowers as a bonus), Gift cards to H&M, Forever 21, Borders, Home Depot (for plants!!), Anthropologie or In-Town Antiques are always welcome.

Hotel Durant

I just got back from a relaxing weekend across the Bay. I kicked on over to Berkeley to get away from city & mom life. Of course I missed the boy & husband terribly, but it was nice to get a few things done and attempt to catch up on sleep.

Hotel Durant is a great little find in downtown and right next to the UC Berkeley campus. The collegiate theme was perfect. Tailored and crisp without being obnoxious. Student id cards were hotel key cards and a vocab shower curtain were two of my favorite details in the academic accommodations.

Unfortunately, it was wildly hot this weekend and the hotel doesn't have a/c. I was able to make do with the windows and ceiling fan.

Presidio Auction... update

I packed up the babe yesterday morning and headed up to the Presidio Auction. I didn't get there in time to bid on the 40 clocks, but that's probably a good thing; can you imagine the sound of 40 TICKING clocks in the house? Anxiety would surely set in.

We spent about an hour watching the auction. The prices seemed pretty reasonable. Everything I saw went for less than $500 (grammar question: should it be "fewer than $500" because $500 is a quantity?) It was nice and low key; the babe could roll around on the floor (it was cleanish). I only bid on a few cabinets, but didn't win any of them.

Interestingly, I was interviewed and photographed by the San Francisco Chronicle. We made the beginning and end of the article. Click here for the full article.

And guess what? People still read the newspaper! My aunt just called to let me know that my name was in the paper (no photo in the print edition). 

Photo by Paul Chinn & article by Meredith May