Things are crazy or maybe I’m crazy? The house hasn’t sold yet, I have no income, the hubs is in Utah, I’m packing - enough said, it’s hot as balls, I’ve got a sinus infection, I’m obsessing over this election, and the world is going haywire!!
Maybe I should consult an astrologer? I’m sure it’s in the stars why all of this is happening and hopefully they can tell me it will all be over soon, like maybe starting on November 5th

Sadly with the house not selling I will need to find work pronto while we try to find someone to rent the house to cover a portion of our mortgage.  I’ve already started looking for a job and I’ve decided I’m going to apply to any and all jobs that sound fun and see what happens, I’ve got nothing to lose, oh wait just my savings account! Thankfully the cost of living will be less in Utah and with not as many social activities we’re hoping we can start being more fiscally responsible, which seems to be the way the tide is turning for everyone.

But now on to the good stuff: We are off to Tahoe this weekend for one last hurrah with friends and then Monday the movers show up and Tuesday we pack up George and head to the Great Salt Lake. Honestly, I can’t wait! This has been the longest move in the making ever! We’ve rented a huge 3 bedroom Victorian in SLC in a great neighborhood, walking distance to our friends. And by great, I mean diverse, and by that I mean that there are Obama signs everywhere! I am confident I will be able to find some cool folks in the most conservative state in the nation and this neighborhood seems like a good place to start. Also the hubs has been working hard for the money and he LOVES his job which is good considering that is why we are moving there. In the end I’ve got to think that not selling the house might be a blessing. We get to hold onto a piece of California which will make it much easier to come back here someday. I feel very lucky that we get to make this change and I hope we can soon start a family. What better place than Family City, Utah!

I will get back to blogging very soon I promise. You can add my blog to your RSS feed if you scroll down on the right hand side and as soon as I start writing consistently again you’ll be notified first! I miss all of you bloggers who have commented and think of you often. I hope everything is stable as can be in your worlds. Very Truly Yours, Larkyn

PS: This picture was taken last week from the Princeville overlooking Hanalei Bay in Kauai - on our much deserved and appreciated vacation from this madness.

I am so sorry I have been absent for the past month. There has been so much going on with our move to Utah; we’re trying to sell our house, I’m leaving my job of 5 years, training my replacement and trying to squeeze in time with friends. Some days I just don’t feel like I can accomplish anything simply because there is so much to do. Isn’t there some saying about divorce, death and moving being the most stressful things in life? On a positive note, as of this Friday I won’t be working, at least for the foreseeable future, and therefore will have lots of time on my hands to spend on Lil Will. Oh and then there’s a little thing called our six year anniversary and a long awaited trip to Kauai happening in 3 weeks! I’m looking forward to some much needed relaxation and to things slowing down for a bit. So keep checking back for some fun stuff I want to share with you!

The skies have parted and I can finally see the light! This selling your house business is no joke!

With a long to-do list from our agent these last few weeks have been a little nuts. While the hubs has been working in Utah, I’ve been managing a very sweet and sincere contractor through an interpreter, one stubborn know-it-all Italian tile guy and one stoney landscaper. This past weekend with the hubs home for a few days we painted and de-cluttered the house and cleaned out our frighteningly messy garage. Our savior Haley was coerced into painting both bathrooms which gave us the freedom to get tons of stuff done and ultimately saved our marriage I am happy to report the work is almost complete and so far the house looks AMAZING!

I would like to publicly thank my Mom and Dad who sold all of our houses while we were still living in them. They prepared for open houses while cleaning up after five kids and then packed up a house full of all of our crap with hardly any help from us as far as I can remember. You guys are my hero’s.

I haven’t been posting much lately due to a new development in our life…we’re moving….to Utah! The hubs got an exciting job opportunity with a company called Omniture that just happens to be out there and we’ve decided to just go for it. I will be living here while he commutes back and forth for the next couple of months and then we plan to pack up and move in September.

It will be an exciting new chapter in our lives and we’ll get to check out a whole new part of the country, not to mention some world class skiing. The good news is the hubs’ BFF from childhood moved to Salt Lake City about four years ago with his wife. They are like family to us so we’ll have close friends from the moment we land. The best part for me is that I finally get to leave my crappy real estate job. We’ll be able to afford for me to take some time to figure out my next step and I’ll have lots of free time to spend on my blogging here at Little Willow and with Ecosalon.

That said, this decision was not an easy one and I am terrified to leave the Bay Area and our life out here. We moved to San Francisco right after college to start our adult lives and so much has happened in the past 12 years. I could spend days reminiscing over all we have done and the friends we have made out here but then I might drown in a puddle of tears. Our friends here have made this time in our lives unforgettable and I will miss them immensely.

In December 2007 I wrote that 2008 would be The Year of Yes, so just as we said to yes to San Francisco 12 years ago and what has led to a life I feel enormously blessed to have lived so far, it feels like the time is right to say yes again. I’ll keep you updated on our happenings but in the meantime please wish us well!

Love, Larkyn

Wow, we had a blast! There is truly no place like New Orleans, especially during Jazz Fest! We saw more music than I can remember. Not only did we have an incredibly talented and diverse musical smorgasbord to choose from at the festival but then at night we had a huge selection of music at the clubs. Standouts from the festival were Kermit Ruffins, Widespread Panic, the all female brass band The Pinettes, John Butler Trio (blew me away!), Stevie Wonder and local SF fave Michale Franti & Spearhead.

At night, The Howlin Wolf became home base mostly because the fierce musical showdowns they hosted every night. We saw a mash-up of musicians including Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore, Garage-A-Trois, Russell Batiste, Karl Denson, Paige McConnell and DJ Logic. We caught the late night show at the House of Blues - when I say late night I mean Greyboy Allstars didn’t take the stage until 2AM! We boogied to The Lee Boys at Chickie Wah Wah’s and lastly caught Galactic at Tipitina’s, a legendary music venue where my feet ached from dancing in flip flops for three days.

I made sure to hit Cafe Du Monde for amazing beignets and we grabbed a late night pulled pork po’boy that knocked my flops off. We dove right into a steaming hot bowl of crawfish Monica at the fairgrounds and ate our weight in gumbo. We didn’t tour around too much but we did spend time in the French Quarter - but avoided Bourbon Street, too many tourists in tacky t-shirts. One of our best meals of the trip was at the memorable Tujaques. The place is so old school, set menu, best Pimm’s cup in town, tons of celebrity photo’s on the wall, not a waiter under 45 years old. We couldn’t resist our own photo with the chef - hey Tubbs and Crockett were proudly featured, why not us!

New Orleans is still a beautiful city despite the wreckage Katrina brought. The people were really warm, the food is incredible, the music is like nowhere else on earth and the spirit of the city is very much alive. I can’t recommend enough a trip down there. We are definitely going back, there is still so much I need to see….and eat!

Forgive me if I am a little distracted today but we leave for Jazz Fest in New Orleans tomorrow and I am so excited I can’t focus! I’m looking forward to soaking up the New Orleans vibe, hearing some funky beats and gobbling up some tasty treats!

Things I want to see, eat and hear in no particular order:

Stevie Wonder, Crawfish Monica, Kermit Ruffins, Beignets, Po’boys, Muffuletta Sandwich, John Butler Trio, The Gospel Tent and maybe this guy! If you have any suggestions for a New Orleans newbie please comment!

(thanks to photographer Monica L. Shulman for letting me use your photo’s!)

I love this mumm printed wall sconce from Design Public. The shade is silk and comes in a variety of cheery patterns. When we bought our house, the seller had installed all new light fixtures. Unfortunately he bought the Home Depot generic special so over time I want to replace all of them, but you’d be amazed how expensive new lighting can be. In our living room he installed these faux alabaster 1/2 shell looking sconces. They’re nice and we can totally live with them, but these are much more my style! $110-$150 depending on size.

I recently convinced the hubs that we needed to upgrade our second-hand Urban Ore kitchen table - I promised it would be the only thing I put on the credit card and I would pay it off in 6 months (wish me luck with that). I decided on this beauty from Sundance and I waited until it was 20% off so I got a decent deal on it (yes that is me still justifying my purchase). Unfortunately it doesn’t look right with the Depot chandelier over it so of course that means we need a new kitchen light.

Any one of these ceiling lights from Rejuvenation, the amazing repro lighting company, would look fab over this retro table and would be a nice addition to our future remodeled kitchen.

It turns out the hubs is not invincible after all. He had minor surgery yesterday to remove his appendix. His pain started on Thursday when we were up in Napa. He was in so much pain by Friday that he went to the DR who ruled out appendicitis because his pain was not in the lower right quadrant of his abdomen. By Saturday he was barely able to get off the couch and we spent the day calling all the DR’s and nurses in our families and researching online. Early Sunday we decided it was time to head to the ER.

After a CAT scan it was definitive, he had appendicitis and was going to have surgery. It turned out his appendix, for whatever reason wasn’t in the normal spot so they missed it on the initial exam. Neither one of us has ever had surgery or been admitted to a hospital so I was surprised that I felt scared. My fear came out in the strangest way though, I got the giggles! I felt bad that every time the DR came in to talk to the hubs I had to stifle my laughter.

The surgery only took about 45 minutes and went great. Turns out his appendix was super infected and was on the verge of bursting so it was a good thing they took it out when they did. He’s still in quite a bit of pain but they are taking really good care of him ie. lots of pain meds. I have to say our experience at Kaiser overall has been really positive. But I’ll be glad to take the hubs home tomorrow.

Back at work today after playing hooky yesterday. The hubs had a business conference at The Carneros Inn up in Napa and the client put us up for two nights. It was swanky! We had our own little cottage, with a private deck, a heat lamp and an outdoor shower! I knew he’d be in meetings all day so I made a massage appointment in the morning at their amazing spa and then after some cheese for breakfast (yum!), I made my way to the pool for a long lazy day of swimming and sunning. The Inn is surrounded by vineyards and at times I felt like I might have been in Greece or Italy. It is such a beautiful setting, and surprisingly private. I would highly recommend splurging for a romantic get away up there. I can’t wait to go back, better start saving my dough.

As 2007 comes to an end I wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who have been reading this blog, sharing your thoughts and cheering me on. I truly believe that seeing beauty daily in art or in nature can have healing effects on a person. I want to salute all of the talented artists out there who have the power to create beauty and to make someone feel better by having a visual experience with their creation. It has given me so much joy to share with you what makes me feel happy and has helped me heal this year. Thank you for making Little Willow a success in 2007

(photo courtesy of jammyjampack)

Now on to 2008. On my birthday (December 1st), I woke up and said to Billy (aka the hubs) that this year I won’t hold back, that I want to say YES to everything. I then shared this idea with our friends Mike and Leah who took it one step further by explaining that the fundamental word in Improv Theater is “Yes, and…” I love the simple addition of “and” because it forces you to put into words what you want. It made me think that life is pretty much an improvisation: you create it and you build on it. Where ever you are now and where ever you end up is exactly where you’re supposed to be, so go with it.

Happy 2008! The Year of Yes, and I hope all of your dreams come true!

glen plaid barware $100, herringbone vest $98, low ride boot $295, Gonzo $20, hand screened surf bag $220, ticket stub diary $12

Coolest gift ever! The Googs gave the hubs this awesome video camera as a gift (he’s a client of theirs) and we spent the weekend making ridiculous videos. The Flip Video is so easy, you literally plug it into your USB port and upload your vids. Starting at $119 for the 30 min or $149 for the 60 min it’s an awesome gift especially for your family members with new babies on the East coast that you are dying to see footage of.

I went a little crazy with the stocking selection, enjoy!!

Tree Skirts

anthropologie skirt $128, pottery barn skirt $89 , Wisteria retro skirt $259, Wisteria linen skirt $289, Wisteria red felt skirt $119

A World of Stockings

ho ho ho garland $48, embroidered stocking $48, dangle ball stocking $32

Garnet Hill goodness $8, $14, $42

Hable Construction awesome stockings $96

I have had such a nice response to the chairs Haley and I reupholstered this year and now my favorite design blogger Design Sponge posted them!

the other day larkyn from little willow left a comment with a link to this fantastic chair re-do project. 5 years ago she and her sister bought these chairs at an antique shop in california. larkyn says, “they had been languishing in my garage for the past 2 years until haley [her sister] finally took charge and got the project started. she deserves all the credit since it was she who decided to paint them white, do two different fabrics, one for the front and one for the back and she found an inexpensive ulpholstery guy to put it all together. we both used pink as a starting point. haley’s fabric came from designer etsuko furuya at purlsoho and mine is vanessa arbuthnott from her sky collection. i am thrilled with the outcome!” i think the before and after is fantastic- and all that pink- they’d be so pretty in a little girl’s room. larkyn and her sister used a professional but if you’re not scared to take things apart this is a project that some of you might be able to do on your own. otherwise, don’t be afraid to call your local upholsterer and bring in your favorite fabrics for a project like this. i’m still looking for a good local resource in brooklyn so i’m glad these guys found someone in mill valley. click here for more information on little willow. great work larkyn and haley!

gorilla pillow $28, love sick melamine plate set $56, lomo camera $60

doe tray $59, egg planter $85, owl lamp $110

wall mounted bottle opener $32, deadly squirrel oven mitt $25, vintage apron $20

For the Little Ones

emma cooper jackets $89, play date cards $30

puck $36, flights of fancy mobile $180

purple bird baby bowl $30, misha lulu dress $50

I’ve taken the Handmade Pledge and therefore if I am your Secret Santa, your friend or your family member you will be getting a really cool handmade gift for Christmas. I should probably mention it won’t be handmade by me, lucky you. I’m really excited because the greatest craft fair of all is headed my way just in time for the holidays.  The Bazaar Bizarre, the hippest of all hipster craft fairs! From their website: The Bazaar Bizarre began in 2001 in the Boston-area as a hodge-podge of friends and acquaintances cobbling together their handcrafted DIY wares to sell and staging an offbeat entertainment extravaganza. The San Francisco Bazaar Bizarre will be December 15th 11AM-6PM at the SF County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park ($1 admission).

George soaking up some October rays on Sunday.

I just wanted to give a shout out to the hubs who played in a golf-putt competition this week where he won an iPhone, which he gallantly gave to me, his very lucky wife! I will miss my old Nokia. He’s been good to me all these years, but I’m moving up to the big leagues. So from now on if you call or email or text me I will gladly respond from my most handsome Mr. Phone. RIP Nokes.

Sorry peeps, super duper swamp-o-rama at the “real” job this week. Check back next week for updates.  Have A Great Weekend!

Sorry readers I’ve been away in beautiful Isle of Palms, South Carolina for my youngest sister Quinn’s wedding to Dr. Gabe Hillegass! He literally just graduated so not sure if he is a certified doc just yet. It was a beautiful wedding and a relaxing vacation. I will be updating the site this week so check back Friday for a slew of new goods.

The hubs just told me he’s whisking me off to Vegas on Saturday!! We’re staying at the Mirage, dining at the Wynn then going to see The Beatles, Love Cirque du Soleil show!!

I’m ecstatic, because I love surprise trips and I love Vegas and I love the Beatles and I love the hubs!

So I would love a designer handbag but I can’t really afford to swing it right now since I’d rather have new windows and doors on my house. I was searching ebay and wondering how I could make it work when I stumbled on the site Bag Borrow or Steal. They have all the big designer names from Kooba to Fendi and you can borrow the bag for as long as you want. The catch is that its still pricey at $95 a week or $275 a month for the big names. But they also have the option to buy the bag which if you’re paying $275 a month you might as well own it. It’s also a good idea if you need a fancy handbag for a fancy party and you can’t afford $1200 for a Chanel clutch, $95 a week doesn’t sound so bad.

Someday I hope to own a Dirk Westphal fish photograph.

Little Willow has changed for the better!

This is just the beginning of a new phase for this site. I am still figuring out where this is going but there’s lots of room to grow and I’m open to your ideas as well as suggestions for posts.

I just wanted to say THANKS to the magnificent Paula Stringfellow over at Stringer Press for designing my new site. Here are a couple samples of her letterpress invitations.

Lastly, THANKS to Shoshanna at Aeolidia for working on all the technical changes to the site!