If I had it to do over... and over... and over...

Sometimes I think I'd like to get married to Mr. C again and again, each time we'd be in a new location and I'd wear a different dress. I would get married 3 times over just to wear each of these lovely frocks by the Portland based designer sarahseven.

I am enamored with her creations and wish that I had an occasion glamorous enough to wear one. They are classic yet whimsical, modern with a touch of silver screen drama. Check out more saraseven designs in her Etsy shop.

{all photos were taken from the saraseven Etsy shop}

Love is a Chocolate Strawberry Pie

Two of the edibles I love most in this world are chocolate and strawberries. I really love them. I would marry them if it was legal in the state of California.* So it's only natural that I would fall in love with a pie that includes both these things. This might be my most extravagant creation yet with a graham cracker crust, chocolate cream cheese filling, fresh strawberries and dark chocolate drizzles. It tasted as fancy as it looked. Mmmm. Yummm.

*I love being married to my husband far more than I could ever love a marriage to chocolate OR strawberries.

Wishes for Kids' Art

A few blocks from the beach there's a fantastic old barn surrounded by fruit trees and pink jasmine. Every Saturday it fills up with children from preschool through high school, and together with grown up Ventura artists, these children create. They dance and paint, tell stories and make sun prints.

Kids' Art opens its barn doors to all these children for free and thus relies on fundraisers and donations. Now, like too many other valuable community programs, it's lost some of it's funding. So Little City Designs new "Making Wishes" shirt is especially for Kids' Art. It's 100% organic cotton and hand silk screened with eco-friendly water based ink. Besides being excessively stylish and undeniably comfortable, this shirt is just damn cool because half of all the profits are being donated to Kids' Art.

{click here to buy a Little City Designs shirt and to find our more about Kids' Art}

Sunday Treasures

Today seems relatively quiet without a flea market across the street from our house. Last Sunday we strolled through sunny aisles of treasure. I found these old brass buttons and fabulous pink gloves. Even though it was sweltering, I couldn't help but put on my new gloves immediately and wear them as I walked down Main St.

Have you found any good treasure lately?

Music for You Afternoon

I'd rather just go dancing

Fridays are for lovers, dance halls and vintage movies that shaped your childhood. I can so vividly remember listening to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack with my cousins and making up our own routines. Thank you Johnny and Baby for teaching us the moves.

{image found at the Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club website}

Fashionably Late Summer Pie

Oh dear blog readers, it feels like a million years since my last post. The changing weather and the dwindling days have got me pretty busy. My pie baking is mostly restricted to the weekends now.

Nectarines are some of the last summer fruits at our farmer's market.




Before a few days ago, I'd never had nectarines in a pie. It turns out they make a deliciously lovely desert. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Besides the mid September fruit filling, this pie gets it name from the fashionable activities of our Sunday. We found fantastic flea market treasure, were serenaded by a Spanish guitarist while we ate fresh tortillas AND saw The September Issue at Santa Barbara's beautiful Riviera Theater.

Friday I'm in Love

Happy Friday everyone. Hope your weekend is all sunny day glamour and sultry September nights. And I hope that some one hangs the moon for you.

{drawing is a Mia Bortolussi original from my series called Stick Figure Love}

Will & Beck... irresistibly irrelevant

Oh the things that you can do with a RadioShack tape recorder. From what I gather, that is what Beck uses to record his conversations with people on Irrelevant Topics. His chat with Will Ferrell had me laughing out loud today.

That Mr. Hansen is so prolific and I love that he is using his website, beck.com, to share his creations. Besides Irrelevent Topics and the Record Club (which I already admitted my love for in a previous post), he's responsible for Planned Obsolescence where he creates and posts a new mix every week. I love the title and tune of this one called Sapphire Metallic And Silicone For Michael Jackson.

No. 9: Sapphire Metallic And Silicone For Michael Jackson by planned_obsolescence

{photo found at beck.com}

Guy Webster, American Photographer

{Ansel Adams by Guy Webster}

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a talk given by Guy Webster, presented by Ventura's Focus on the Masters. It was amazing to see this man as a celebrity after knowing him so long as a teacher and mentor. I love hearing him tell the grand stories of his life and career in his humble and honest tone.

These are some pieces from his impressive body of work...

{Liza Minelli}

{Truman Capote}

{Simon & Garfunkle}

{Natalie Wood}

{for the Monterey Pop Festival poster}

I especially love this one because it's of an old highschool friend and I'm almost certain I was there when it was taken. I remember it from a class sometime near Halloween when we all wore costumes to Guy's Ojai studio and took pictures.

{all photos from this post are by Guy Webster}

Happy Labor Day

Here's to fresh summer watermelon and rolled up shirt sleeves. Hope you all have a glorious day.

{This image is from the 1955 sultry Americana classic 'Picnic' with William Holden and Kim Novak. If you've never seen this film, you simply must. And there's no better time to watch it than Labor Day.}

Fire Sale!

No, it's not because Los Angeles is on fire that we are having this sale (though those flaming mountains have certainly been on my mind). It's because these last days of summer have been hotter than hell and we think you all should be wearing stylish t-shirts.

Check our Etsy shop to get the skinny on Little City Designs "End of Summer Sale."

{click on any of the images to see more details}

set the cruise control

Happy Friday everyone and happy Labor Day weekend. This sweltering holiday, with it's melancholy end-of-summer tone, always seems to sneak up on me. Just when school is back in session and our Ventura thermometers have hit their peak, it's time for a little Americana vacation. Time to celebrate the working man and woman by taking a day off.

Amidst the parties and picnics and beach BBQs of the long weekend, I think I'd like to go for a drive with my sweetheart. What are you all going to do for the next 3 days?

midnight pluot pie

Named for the hour when we ate it, this pie was made from farmer fresh pluots.

Here it is half baked and ready for it's oatmeal walnut crumb topping.

Hours later it has fully baked, cooled and set. This slice disappeared soon after it was photographed along with at least one other. Yum.

she & him

Some more disarming cuteness starring Zooey Deschanel.

I've listened to just a handful of songs by She & Him, but so far I like what I hear. Have you all heard the duo yet?

Zooey wears cotton

Could cotton possible get any cuter than this?

what time is it?

Time to get a clock.

I love these time pieces from uncommom with their classic shapes and modern simplicity. I love them all the more knowing they are made by a stylish husband and wife design team (reminds me of my own partner in marriage and t-shirt design). Etsy has posted a very sweet and thoughtful interview of the two that has some nice insights about the creative process. And do check out all the lovely things in uncommon's Etsy shop.

{images are from uncommon's Etsy shop}