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Bay Area Adventures Part 5: Wendy, Lulu and Flowerland
Next up was my lunch with Wendelonia. You might know her from her books on bento boxes for kids. We met when we both worked together for alphamom.com. You know when I said all the best artsy people live in the Bay Area? Well, Wendy is definitely representing in that department. Look where she took me for lunch: Lulu on Solano! Is it art or is it food? Is it art you can eat?? Yes!
I was swooning over the wallpaper and wondering why I never got into textile design, and then the food came, and I lost my mind. Forget bad manners, I interrupted our conversation, whipped out my phone, and had to take photos immediately. It was almost too pretty to eat. And guess what? It was so flavorful and delicious too! Everything was vegetarian and gorgeous. Sadly, some of the spices disagreed with me, and I found out later explosive flavors also like to explode in my gut but it was kinda worth it.
Wendy and I walked around Solano Avenue for a bit, and then she sent me on my way to Flowerland. Flowerland is my new favorite nursery. It blows doors off Roger’s Gardens back home. It is so aesthetically pleasing that I wanted to buy a tiny Airstream and move in. I wanted to set up tables and host a wedding there. It’s just so beautiful. The healthy plants thriving everywhere in layers and layers of leafy textures and colors. The little shop with all the cutest things I couldn’t afford to buy, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. I took photos and stored notes away in my brain for future gift ideas.
Everywhere I look, I see adorable, pretty things. I never saw anything like this back home, where Walmart reigns supreme. Do people in the Bay Area just have better taste? I think they do. Maybe there are more artists here—more affluent artists, artisans, and craft makers with better supplies and better budgets supported by people who really appreciate them.
I appreciated every moment. I wandered around soaking it all in. You either have time or money and I’ve got time so I just lived in the experience of exploring such a beautiful place. I took photos like a hoarder taking things.
I definitely want to come back here. I wish I could have bought plants and gardened in Matt’s little slice of a side yard, but I also didn’t want to give him more responsibilities since he doesn’t have a green thumb like I do. So I just stored all the ideas away and dreamt of my home desert garden. I can’t grow plants like this, but I can make my desert a wonderland if I try hard enough
Look at those shadows!
I bought a strawberry milk latte at the HighWire counter and petted a cat. It was a very nice day to be out and about!
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Bay Area Adventures Part 4: Coyote Hills with Jackie
When I first got here, I sent a blast to all my Bay Area friends. I have a lot of friends here, partly because I went to college here, partly because I used to have family here, and mostly because all the cool artsy people live here. It’s probably one of the most incredible places to live. I think if I had to choose, only Paris and the South of France might even come close. It is beautiful.
My blast turned into a bunch of meet-ups, and one of those meet-ups was with Jackie, a childhood friend. My grandma used to live in San Leandro, and I used to go to Sunday School with Jackie in Oakland. I went to Sunday School with a lot of people here. There’s a whole crew of kids who grew up together and I was lucky enough to join them once a year or so when my parents shipped me off to my grandma’s.
Jackie suggested we meet up in Coyote Hills for a walk-and-talk date. It was the perfect day. We both love photography, so we talked up a storm and went off to find all the pretty things to take pictures of.
Spring is beautiful here. The air is crisp and you can walk and walk without getting too hot. Wildflowers were popping up everywhere.
Jackie is a birder, and funny story: we came across a group of second or third-graders on the path guided by a local ranger. The ranger was teaching the group about leaves of three, let them be, and leaves of five, stay alive, etc., when we suddenly spotted an owl way up in an oak tree. Jackie then turned to the group of children and said, Look, there’s an owl! and the whole class turned in our direction, hijacking the rangers’ lesson. The ranger looked annoyed, but the kids were overjoyed. What can I say? Jackie is just that kind of disruptor, in the very best way!
I’m not a birder, but after seeing her photographs of that owl with her big, fancy camera, I can see the appeal!
