In the Company of Women Book Tour: Corte Madera, CA

Hi Friends! I just wanted to share that I'll be part of a panel to celebrate Design*Sponge's new book, In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs. The event is on Friday, October 28th at 7 p.m. at Book Passage in Corte Madera. I’ve been asked by my friend, design icon and ultimate boss lady Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge to speak on a panel alongside Flora Grubb and Emi Grannis. I'm excited, honored (shocked?!) and totally nervous! 

Here's a link to the event:
http://www.bookpassage.com/event/grace-bonney-contributors-company-women-corte-madera
Each ticket includes a copy of the book, the panel discussion, and a book signing after, and, while supplies last, an illustrated tote designed by Libby VanderPloeg.

Pre-order the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579655971/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

Hope to see some of you there! :)

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Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my favorite things to bake. I usually have a bunch of super ripe bananas in the freezer that are perfect for making sweet and moist banana bread. I decided to use my usual recipe from Flour bakery but adding healthy raw cacao powder, cacao nibs and making it gluten free with brown rice flour. Keep in mind this is the healthy version and not super sweet or chocolatey. If you want to go that route, I would swirl some melted chocolate chips into the batter. Yum! Check out these other gluten recipes for Citrus Ricotta Mini Cakes, Cardamom Coffee Cake, Carrot Muffins, Spiced Lentil Soup, and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes.

+ Full recipe for Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread
+ I get my cacao nibs and brown rice flour from Thrive Market. Get 15% off using my referral link.
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Favorites: New Tea Collection / JAPAN

I love the latest Tea Collection line inspired by travels to Japan. Remember Lucas and Theo rocking last season's collection inspired by Italy and the season before that inspired by India? As a Tea Ambassador, I was asked where I would take my family if I could travel anywhere and guess where I chose? JAPAN. Yep! I was super excited when the latest collection was inspired by Japan--I love Japanese food and would probably choose it over any other kind of food to eat for the rest of my life.

Check out the entire Tea Collection and get 20% off EVERYTHING with FREE SHIPPING during the Labor Day Sale with code HELLOFALL.

What better way to kick of the Japanese inspired collection with the Mount Fuji Graphic Tee and a game of Pokemon.

I took Lucas on a day date to San Francisco's Japantown. I hadn't been there in years and I thought it would be a fun place to explore with Lucas and get a giant bowl of udon. Our first stop was the Kinokuniya Bookstore. With hundreds of books about art and culture, gifts, and everything Pokemon related, Lucas was in heaven. Needless to say, there was a lot of, "Mama, can I get this? How about that?" We were both a little overwhelmed so I gave Lucas a budget that he had to stick to. He spent it on a Pokemon encyclopedia, a box of Pocky sticks and a water gun. Go figure!

There were so many little shops in the mall and so much stuff to touch! 

Secretly glad this video game shop with the giant Pikachu was closed.

Pocky sticks are a MUST.

A giant bowl of noodles are my comfort food. For lunch, we went to Udon Mugizo, one of the best spots in the city for hand pulled udon. This dimly lit small restaurant inside the Japantown mall was the perfect spot to take a break and recharge.

Believe it or not, Lucas pretty much finished his entire bowl of noodles, tofu sheet, and fish cakes. Being a true Asian, I took the broth home. The next night I heated up the broth and added udon and some greens. Easy dinner done!

Lucas wears the Udon Graphic Tee.

I took Theo out in his Rice Graphic Tee to get some delicious savory porridge (pink and brown rice, red quinoa, amaranth, sesame oil and gomasio), avocado toast and hot chocolate at Bartavelle in Berkeley.

Lucas wears the Kasai Zip Hoodie.

+ Check out the entire Tea Collection and get 20% off EVERYTHING with FREE SHIPPING during the Labor Day Sale with code HELLOFALL. Ends Tuesday, 9/6/2016.

+ This post is in partnership with Tea Collection and contains affiliate links. All words and opinions are my own.

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Theo's 4th Birthday Party

A few weekends ago we celebrated Theo's 4th birthday party. Remember his music-themed 3rd birthday party last year? About four months before his party I asked Theo what kind of party he wanted. He said, "A chocolate party!" Two months later he said the same thing. Admittedly, I was a bit stumped. I mean, how awesome would a chocolate party be!? But then again, every parent would kill me if all I served was chocolate everything. So then I came up with the idea of "Theo's Chocolate Waffle Bar Party" that would incorporate his love for chocolate AND waffles--plus, give everyone different options including savory ones.

Inspired by my trip to Dinette in L.A., I decided to use metal trays lined with a custom kraft liner. The whole look was made even cuter with these bear face party napkins from my friends at Harlow & Grey. I vowed to never cook all the food for a birthday party again (Lucas' round-themed 2nd birthday party nearly killed me) but this waffle bar was pretty easy. I ordered scrambled eggs and popcorn chicken from the Whole Foods catering department in Berkeley, made a few batches of chocolate waffles in advance and froze them, made some syrups in advance, and just cut some fruit and baked tater tots the morning of. Oh, and you know what saved me was this little guy from Amazon.

Ready for a heart melt? Lucas made Theo this birthday hat out of paper, tape and string--one for Theo and another tiny one for Theo's "baby" stuffie.

Organic fruit and syrups with custom labels ;)

Homemade chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I really need/want to take a cake decorating class.

A family tradition!!!

Somewhere along the way Theo transformed into a ninja. Haha!

We hired the best kids band ever Your Song My Song. They were taking requests and Theo wanted "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. So they figured out how to play it! High five!

This is the face of a happy birthday boy!

The party favors were delicious butter waffle cookies from Trader Joe's hand dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with rainbow nonpareils. I packaged them in glassine bags and sealed each one with a custom label.

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Sunset Magazine Idea House Tour

I have always wanted to tour one of Sunset Magazine's Idea Houses--the 2012 Breezehouse Prefab was one of my faves and a total inspiration for our home. Earlier this week I had the privilege of touring the brand new 2016 Sunset Magazine Idea House. Nestled in the premier hilltop neighborhood of Claremont Hills, bordering Oakland and Berkeley, the 4,000 square-foot home boasts four bedrooms, four and half bathrooms, a game room, wine cellar, and artist studio and a total of five decks overlooking the entire San Francisco Bay.

Sunset Magazine will open the doors to the public for six consecutive weekends starting August 19th. In collaboration with some of the Bay Area’s most sought-after design talent including Geremia Design, Robert Nebolon Architects, landscape designer Michelle Derviss, and builder Landmark Development Corporation, Sunset has brought together an award-winning team to create an ultra-modern home with an interior comprised of fine details and artisan materials to provide warmth to its contemporary architecture.

Geremia Design, whose award-winning interior design has been honored by Forbes "30 Under 30" and as Architectural Digest's "Ones to Watch," incorporated a collection of wares and furnishings made by friends and local fabricators to connect the Idea House back to the community, creating a modern space that feels well-loved and well lived in.

Dark charcoal bathroom with hand gold paint splattered walls.

I'll do dishes here any day!

Love this art piece by Lena Wolff.

Beautiful artwork by Megan Donegan.

Ombre ceiling!!!

I loved all the unique plants around the house by http://www.livinggreen.com/.

One of my favorite rooms in the Idea House is the master bathroom--it's covered in Heath Ceramics tiles in the most calming shade.

Here's the kids' room. I need that bunk bed!

All the bedding by Coyuchi (heart eyes!)

Kids' bathroom details

Love how Geremia Design mixed and matched different styles in this game room.

These kinds of details capture my eye.

Heading down to the next level where you'll find the guest bedroom and entertainment room.

I noticed a lot of jute and sisal rugs layered with a smaller rug on top. Loving this look.

Texture love!

Okay, how cute is Chantal Lamers, Sunset Magazine's Home Editor? We've been following each other on Instagram! ;)

My favorite art piece is this one from Lena Wolff.

Entertainment room! Long sofa covered in Sunbrella fabric. Chantal said a lot of people are starting to use Sunbrella fabric indoors as well for its durability.

Lady bosses lunching--Bianca Sotelo, Caitlin Flemming, Erin Hiemstra and Ana Kamin.

Lovely wines (too bad I couldn't find out for myself!) provided by J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines.

One of the challenges for landscape designer Michelle Derviss was the slope. Inspired by M.C. Escher, she created the most beautiful viewing garden using steel boxes and stair stepping them in an elegant way to create a piece of sculpture. Low maintenance plants with colorful foliage filled the garden.

The Sunset Idea House, located at 540 Gravatt Road, Berkeley, CA, will be available to tour from 10 am to 5 pm as follows:
● Friday, August 19 Sunday, August 21
● Friday, August 26 Sunday, August 28
● Friday, September 2 Sunday, September 4
● Friday, September 9 Sunday, September 11
● Friday, September 16 Sunday, September 18
● Friday, September 23 Sunday, September 25

Tickets can be purchased for $25 and are available online at Eventbrite or onsite
during tour hours. A portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the Oakland Public Education Fund. Sponsors of the Sunset Idea House include ATGStores.com, AZEK Building Products, Belgard, DXV American Standard, InSinkErator, J.Lohr Vineyard & Wines, James Hardie, Lamps Plus, Maui Jim, Sunset Western Garden Collection, Torani, and Western Window Systems.
Stay up-to-date on the Sunset 2016 Idea House by liking Sunset on Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/sunsetmagazine), and following @SunsetMag on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, #sunsetideahouse. Or, go to http://www.sunset.com/ideahouse for more details.

 

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Easy Summer Meze Platter for Kids

When Lucas and Theo get off school or summer camp they are usually ravenous. I always make sure to bring them a simple snack like grapes, pretzels or cut up apples when I pick them up. I was at Target the other day and found these new Chobani Meze Dips made with Greek yogurt. It inspired me to make a kid-friendly meze platter--carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, pretzels, crackers, sliced cucumbers and simple chicken tenders. My kids usually don't love hummus so I thought they might like these savory yogurt dips instead and they devoured them. It was great because adding the chicken tenders basically made this an easy dinner they could eat with their hands.

+ Please note this is not a sponsored post.

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Baking with an 8-year old

Have you ever met a kid (not your own) who reminds you of yourself when you were their age? For me, that's my friend Lisa's daughter Zoya because she loves to bake. Remember when I baked with her when she was only 6 years old? Now Zoya is 8 and she still loves to bake as much as she did two years ago. When I was little, I loved to bake all kinds of things, but it was usually from a Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines (whichever was on sale) box where all I did was add eggs and oil to the mix.

A few weeks ago I invited Zoya to come over to bake. She chose to bake a carrot cake and used this recipe from a DIY post I did for Oh Happy Day. It was fun and messy and perfectly imperfect!

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Back to School Morning Hacks with Red Tricycle and Keen Kids

Can I just tell you the morning hustle around here is crazy! Lucas and Theo are professional dilly-dalliers and after a lot of trial and error, there are a few morning hacks that seem to work most days. I partnered with Red Tricycle and Keen Kids to let you in on one of our Back to School Morning Hacks. I generally like to give my kids choices (typically two options that I'm also happy with and that I stick to). To keep things running as smoothly as possible in the morning, I would give them a choice of what to get done. i.e. get dressed or eat breakfast first? (Lucas usually chooses getting dressed first and Theo always eats in his jammies) or brush teeth or put sunscreen on? There are really only 5 things they have to do before we head out the door and if I give them a choice of the order they're completed in, they're more likely to quickly choose and get it done. Win Win!

Lucas has been wanting high tops and his favorite color is red! How cute are these high tops from Keen Kids' new Encanto Collection? I love durable Keen shoes are and this urban style fits Lucas' active lifestyle. :)

Check out these Red Tricycle articles with tips from me and other mamas:
The Secret to Stress-Free Mornings From the Country's Most Savvy Moms
School Lunch Survival Hacks and and Tips to Live By
10 of the Internet's Most Stylish Moms Dish on Keen's New Encanto Shoes

 

Back to School Morning Hacks with Red Tricycle and Keen Kids / www.goodonpaperdesign.com/blog/2016/8/3/back-to-school-morning-hacks / @good_on_paper

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Special thanks to Red Tricycle and Keen Kids for sponsoring this post. All content, ideas, and words are my own.

Recipe: Tomato Corn Salad

When I first had this Tomato Corn Salad at my friend Anne's house over 10 years ago, I just had to have the recipe. It's simple, fresh, always a crowd pleaser and best of all, super easy to make (like, throw-everything-into-a-bowl-and-mix style). Lucas likes the tomatoes and Theo sneaks the mozzarella balls while I'm making it. Try it as a side with Grilled Pizza or Lemon Olive Chicken. Enjoy!

+ Full Recipe for Tomato Corn Salad
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