Loving Out Loud: Pickwick Weller …

There is something to be said for the laid back approach that most Californian men take to style.  Jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt are the basis for many of my male friend’s wardrobe, present company included.  However, as I have gotten older, the appeal of a 3-pack of Hanes white tees is lost on me.  My t-shirts serve multiple duties from casual to work, so I need a work horse — something that I could throw on in a rush but just as easily throw a blazer on and present to a client in a pinch, so I was excited to be introduced to a new player in the tee market, Pickwick Weller. . .

The concept is simple; tees made from beautiful fabrics, cut to drape the body. Insane right?  The brand recently opened up a showroom in San Francisco and I was able to tour the space and get a better idea of the quality of the pieces…..

For men, they have divided their Fall collection in several different fits but my favorite is the cashmere Stuart tee.  It is a combination of lightweight cashmere & cotton, aside from feeling luxurious, the design team didn’t miss any details.  The Stuart features an awesome “spine” detail down the back and French seams — perfect for those individuals who tend to get irritated by the seams and tags in their clothing.

Rather than open up a traditional retail space, the brand opted to do a showroom.  Customers can come into the space, try in a variety of tees, get a feel for the fit and quality of each piece and decide which ones to order with the help of the showroom staff.  The space exudes the Pickwick Weller ethos of refined, understated and cool….

The long-sleeve Stuart is what I have my eye on and it I am positive it will become part of my staples come Fall!

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PopSugar Home Profile: San Francisco High Rise….

This week PopSugar Home (formerly Casa Sugar) profiled one of my San Francisco projects.  Over the last two years, I have worked pretty extensively in the One Hawthorne building in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco.  The modern high-rise is completely new construction and has fantastic amenities the least being walking distance all that downtown SF has to offer.

The concept for the space was “Quiet Riot” — the clients loved a variety of different styles and had a few dissimilar pieces they wanted to incorporate into the final design.  I really took cues from how the clients planned to live in the space — they aren’t huge party throwers and lead rather hectic professional lives.  The condo was their place of recoup, reenergize and reconnect.  However, they have great personalities full of humor and wit so I wanted the final design to also reflect that.  Finally, they had two adorable cats that have free reign over the space, so everything we put into the condo had to be cat-tested and approved.  Which on a side note, is NO easy task thanks so their “adorable predisposition” of sharpening their claws on very expensive furniture.  But with a little trial-and-error and some smart material choices, we were able to create a space that feels modern, luxe but approachable…….

For the full story and additional pictures of the space, visit PopSugar Home.  If you are looking for interior design assistance in the Bay Area, please feel free to
contact me to get more information on the services I provide!

I am off for vacation in Hawaii to celebrate a friend’s wedding as well as a few days to of doing nothing.  I say this not to rub it in but I inform that I may be a bit spotty with my blogging next week….you know being how hard it is to balance a packed schedule of drinking, eating pineapple and sunbathing……ALOHA!

[photo credit: photo by Adza]

Check me out on Pinterest, Twitter and Insta.gram for more musings on design, food and just plain randomness.  You can also find me at my online shop for Joy & Revelry.

Play Date: St. George Distillery ….

The Bay Area reminds me of a huge puzzle box.  If you can figure out how to unlock it’s twists and turns you are rewarded with wonderful surprises.  This is the case with the quaint city of Alameda…..well actually the island of Alameda.  The city is on an island in the East Bay off the tip of Oakland and only a ferry ride’s away from San Francisco.  It is home to a variety of beautiful Victorian homes, a quaint downtown and of course the infamous Alameda Flea Market.  However, what alot of people don’t realize is that the city use to be home to a large military base that was decommissioned in the 90s.

What was left was a large swath of barren concrete dotted with large hangers.  It could have easily been taken by nature and left to disrepair but being that “developable” land is at a premium in Northern California, the hangers quickly became home to a multitude of business, both industrial and commercial.  Nestled on the edge of the base is small but impressive distillery called St. George Spirits ……

With friends from out of the country visiting for the weekend, a visit to St. George seemed the perfect alternative to fighting traffic (and costly tasting fees) in wine country.  A 15 minute drive from the house, we arrived at the location and was greeted with a beautiful tasting room in muted greys, dark woods and gleaming copper.  A $15 dollar fee gives you a 30 minute tour of the facilities but a tasting of 7 different spirits at the tasting bar…..

The tour itself was more informative than I imagined yet simple enough for the non-chemists and bio majors in the group (raises my hand….).  The tour takes you through the process that the distillery uses to make their most popular liquors including vodka, gin and whisky.  On a side note, did you know that you can make vodka out of anything?  Vodka is merely a term that means a liquor was distilled to have 95% alcohol.  Interesting huh?

After the tour, we tasted a variety of different spirits all made on premise including their signature Hanger One vodka.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by their wonderful gins – clean with a hint of juniper berry.  This isn’t the gin that we had in college; this is for sipping and for a classic cocktail.  You don’t need to hide these liquors under heavy and sweet mixers …. this is booze for grown-ups (who occasionally act like kids when tipsy)….

As the afternoon tasting ended, I think I scored the perfect trifecta of (1) impressing out-of-town guests with a hidden gem, (2) got to explore and play “tourist” with my guests and (3) score some good booze for the bar!  I think is this is called winning……

[photography: courtney lake – don’t laugh]

Check me out on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Insta.gram for more musings on design, food and just plain randomness.  You can also find me at my online shop for Joy & Revelry.