A Daydream Believer

A disco ball speckles light on an historic house near downtown Petaluma, California

We used to pass through Petaluma on our way to go wine tasting in Sonoma and the Russian River. It's one of those towns that you daydream about moving to, with it's lovely downtown, historical homes and proximity to everything that makes California the geographic paradise that it is. Just on the outskirts of town to the west you find dairy cows grazing on grassy hills, beyond that the craggy coastline of the Pacific ocean. To the East you have the Sonoma and Napa Valley wine regions, to the north the Mendocino forest, and to the south, the most beautiful city in the world, San Francisco, and my beloved, ever-evolving Oakland. Petaluma is a quirky mix of old and new, independent design and local agriculture. There are families that have lived here for generations, and there are transplants like me, looking for that perfect place to put down roots. When my husband suggested we move up here a couple of years ago I was nervous about leaving my urban existence behind, but wanted the opportunity to live in my daydream, where our boys could have a hometown, and we could buy a house to make our own. Last month, after renting downtown for a few years, we finally closed on our first home, a small 1960's fixer, perched high on a hill at the top of a cul-de-sac in an area called Cherry Valley. My daydreams have come true... 

Champion the mechanical horse- Heebe Jeebe on Kentucky Street, downtown Petaluma

We have spent a lot of time exploring this little town. If you are a city transplant like me, you seek out creature comforts like a pour over coffee shop, and a farm to table restaurant with a good wine list.  You also look for things that you can only find in a smaller town, like Champion the beloved mechanical horse, and the slew of parades and oddities like The Rivertown Revival Festival. As a foodie I have come to realize that Petaluma doesn't offer everything that we had in the city, but it does the artisan/farm to table genre better than anyone. For coffee there is Acre. They play my tunes, they make great drinks, and it's where the cool kids hang out. For a night out we have Central Market. I feel at home in one of their booths with a plate farm food and a glass of grassy wine. For beer, an important consideration in this part of the state, it's Taps. We sit at German biergarten tables with friends or at the bar to catch a Giants game. For lunch it's either Topsy's Kitchen, the new fancy fried chicken cafe, and official post-looking-at-houses eatery for our family, or Della Fattoria, the makers and bakers of a rosemary-lemon bread and a white beans on toast that will knock your socks off.  Even newer to P-town than me is Thistle Meats- an ethically sourced, local meat, whole animal butcher.  We just picked up some good looking pork butt for homemade carnitas. And then there's Free Range, a new shop two doors down from Acre, that serves a little nosh and sells local indie housewares and gifts like make-your-own cheese kits. It's just the kind of place I was hoping would come to town. 

Thistle Meats- Petaluma's new whole animal butcher shop, selling ethically sourced, local meats

Taps in it's new location on the river

A midday stop at Acre Coffee, downtown Petaluma

Farm to Table at it's best.  Petaluma's Central Market restaurant 

Buying a home in California was pretty challenging for us, but we had a trusted partner in our REALTOR®. She has since helped my husband's parents purchase a home in Petaluma, and she's in the process of getting our best friends from Oakland to P-town. We kind of love her like family at this point. For this reason, I decided to collaborate with CA Association of REALTORS® on this post. I wanted to show you my beautiful hometown, and spread their message for home ownership, and the idea that it can start with one really competent REALTOR®.

Here's more about their ad campaign: 

What starts with one California REALTOR® benefits all of California. That’s the underlying sentiment of the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR) integrated consumer ad campaign called 'Ripple'.

While highlighting the intrinsic value of REALTORS® as Champions of Home™, the "Ripple" campaign goes beyond the story of the individual REALTOR® and focuses on the powerful positive economic impact that REALTORS®, buyers, and sellers are making throughout California. The facts (Source: National Association of REALTORS®):

• One job is generated for every two home sales
• One home purchase stimulates the economy by $60K
• A homeowner’s net worth is 34 times that of a renter

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Thirtysomething

So I turned 36 last weekend.  I almost kept it a secret, because for the first time in my life, I kind of felt like I was getting a bit old.  But rather than stare at my skin in the mirror and think "I've really got to up my moisturizing game", I headed to the beach with my boys, just outside of Pt.Reyes, away from our little town into the middle of nowhere. We had a picnic and the kids played in the sand while Adam and I laid in the sun and added to our freckle collection.  We hiked down the coastline and searched for shells and other beach curiosities- I found a dozen or so egg-shaped pieces of rock (pictured above) just coated with dried up tiny barnacles.  I don't know what I'll do with them, but I'm sure you will see them again. And on our way back we stopped at Hog Island and picked up a couple of dozen oysters to take home. It was a good day...and then we feasted, first on oysters (both of my boys are slurpers), then on a slow cooked meatloaf ragout that had been stewing all day while we were gone, and then on cupcakes. I had to lie down after all that eating.  Here are some pictures from the day, and the recipe for our delicious supper.  I think 36 is going to be just fine...

 

Meatloaf Ragout

2 lbs meatloaf (from the meat counter)
1 32oz can San Marzono whole plum tomatoes
1 32oz can San Marzono crushed tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil 
1 tbsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper

This is really quite simple.  Form the meatloaf into golf-ball sized rounds, and brown on all sides over medium heat.  Transfer them with a slatted spoon to a slow cooker.  Add the remaining ingredients, breaking the whole tomatoes open while as you put them in, and cook on low for 3 hours.  We ate ours over Riccia pasta drizzled with olive oil.  Decadent and delicious.

Moon Mountain

Atop Moon Mountain in Sonoma there is a tree farm that we have visited for the last two years in an attempt to cultivate a little family tradition. It's incredibly beautiful up there...the grapevines on the surrounding hills are a wash of fall colors. Our favorite tree is the Norway Spruce, a traditional Christmas tree in Europe.  I like it because it has a full shape, with soft, spaced out branches. Because we got it a month before the big day, it will sit unadorned in water to acclimate to the great indoors.  Jasper is so excited for Christmas that he has already decorated the boys room with cast-off lights, nutcrackers and a miniature tinsel tree.  He's a more-is-more kind of guy.

This week I'll be doing a paper tree skirt project and a feature on those thrift store campaign chests I refinished. Have a happy Cyber Monday- don't forget to visit Etsy! There are lots of specials being offered by the independent design community today.

Come Gather 'Round People

It's pretty up here in Sonoma County right now.  The seasons are so much more vivid than by the bay, and it's chilly. With an unexpected weekend with no plans, we busied ourselves with some fun fall projects.  After 2 years of sitting idle in the box, we opened up our grinding attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer and made our first attempt at a handmade whisky-fennel sausage. More on that later.  We also played a mean game of family mud football, complete with a bloody lip, I refinished some campaign chests I found at a thrift store (upcoming feature), and Jasper and I made some wreaths from the shrubs and trees in our back yard.

To make one like ours you'll need gather some olive branches (or sturdy, pliable vines), berry branches, small dark rubber bands and some hot glue. Snip several rubber bands open. Attach the olive branches together, overlapping by about 6 inches. Tie their ends together with the rubber bands, trim to finish. Stretch the wreath to shape. Place berries around wreath, we draped ours to give it more dimension, and hot glue them to the olive wreath.   

   

North By Northwest

After 4 long months, we finally got away to do some wine tasting, this time up in Healdsburg.  Adam and I used to make monthly trips before we had the boys, but even now that we find ourselves at the edge of two wine regions, we tend to visit the grocery store for wine and craft beer.  This obviously needs to change.  To be honest, I really prefer European style wines, and we were in jam jar zinfandel country, but we found a handful of places that knocked my socks off. We began our day at Quivira, a Demeter certified biodynamic winery, with farm grounds nearly as impressive as their wine. I LOVED their Refuge Savingon Blanc, and Grenache.  They sent us to Preston, a family owned and operated biodynamic vineyard.  On Sundays they bake bread in their hearth and pour Guadagni, a Zin blend table wine, into jugs straight from the barrel.  We picked one up for our pumpkin carving party.  Preston is quirky, and all kinds of awesome; a must visit, with tasting room that looks like it was designed by Jonathan Adler's country cousin.  You must try their Cinsault and  GSM.  We stopped off for a bite at the Dry Creek General Store, and made our way to UNTI.  Adjacent to their small tasting room they were processing Montepulciano while rocking out to Modest Mouse. We really enjoyed their Benchland Syrah and Petit Frere GSM. To calm our pre-game jitters (Go Giants) we ended our day lounging with a view of the vines at Ridge. They offer outdoor tastings with more of their Rhone varietals, with the option of tasting their signature Monte Bello Cab blend.  

Antique Roadshow

I spent most of Friday and this weekend solo parenting, finishing up our bathroom, carting kids around to play dates and birthday parties. Fortunately one of those chores landed me in Sebastopol kid-free for 2 hours. I spent my time driving up and down the Gravenstein Hwy exploring the myriad of antique and vintage furnishing shops on the south side of town. I'd noticed them on our way to Sunday Farmer's market, lining the road, dotted in between small farms and hippie coffee shops, but antiquing is considered the most boring of all activities by my children, so this was my very first visit.

I made a quick stop in town to Retrospect, a vintage modern furnishing shop.  Artist in residence/owner, Gregory Odle has a beautiful collection of mid century and large canvas paintings.  The space is quite small, so selection is somewhat limited, but a treasure trove for the mid century enthusiast. 104 Petaluma Avenue. 707-291-7058 

I began my driving tour at Trader Bucks, an antique shop with a bit of a Grandpa's garage feel to it.  I spotted a leather sling chair, slat bench table and some interesting art.  Shop here for vintage flags, mismatched kitchen chairs and curiosity pieces like mounted antlers.1140 Gravenstein Hwy So. (707) 829-7722

My next stop was at Windmill Antiques.  This place had a range of early 20th century furniture, collectibles, and depression era housewares.  I did find a pretty mint colored typewriter, beautiful mixing bowl sets and a blue velvet occasional chair.  The highlight of this pop in was meeting Billie, the owner.  She was so chatty and welcoming. 2830 Gravenstein HWY So. 707-823-7945 

Last stop, and my favorite find, was FFT Antiques. The large space is curated into vignettes by era. I found several mid century pieces I would LOVE to bring home. They had a vast selection of art, tchotches, lighting, and furniture. Shop for good: Proceeds benefit FOOD FOR THOUGHT, the Sonoma County AIDS foodbank. 2701 Gravenstein HWY So. (707)823-3101   

 

 

The Westend: Dillon Beach

It was 1000 degrees today, the first day of October.  We headed out to the coast after school to cool off and watch the sunset. Dillon Beach is where Bodega Bay meets Tomales Bay, due west of Petaluma, a stones throw from Pt.Reyes. It's a quiet town, with colorful vacation rentals sitting atop the cliffs.  Driving out of town you see white barns and black cows dotting the coastline. In a word, it's serene.