Hello! Andrea here. I’m excited to contribute to weekly goods today while Kate is in Seattle. Lucky for me, I got to hang with her and Will yesterday!

1. To get me through this gray winter: a bright red Clare Vivier Clutch. – 2.  An updated houndstooth scarf for the perfect touch of pattern – 3. Is it too early to be thinking about sandals? – 4. Insanely Detailed typographic paintings of  MAPS by Paula Scher. – 5. A lovely but functional salt and pepper cellar; I dig those tiny spoons.

Hi all, Jessica here! Kate was kind enough to invite me on board to contribute some bits from my weekend while she’s away enjoying a real winter outside of sunny Los Angeles. I was a little nervous about having enough interesting things to share with you, but this weekend ended up being pretty action-packed (and particularly art-filled). It started off with a memorable breakfast at Square One that I didn’t capture, but Kate did (see + drool over the previously posted banana french toast), followed by an evening out and an opportunity to get some use out of this vibrant red dress I recently thrifted. Saturday was spent perusing the Art Los Angeles Contemporary show at the Barker Hanger and a trip to a moped shop, the latter of which was surprisingly more fun than I would’ve imagined. Sunday began by purchasing one too many artisanal goods at an underground pop-up market in Venice (read: jalapeño jam, tandoori marinated olives + homemade lemon curd), followed a trip downtown to the LA Art Show and ended with a delightfully slow pre-fixe dinner at Church & State. All-in-all, a lot of fun despite a lot of running around. But sometimes weekends are for adventures, wouldn’t you say?

Today’s guest blogger and I go waaay back. I can’t remember exactly when Kristen and I met online, but it was definitely late highschool/early college, back in the glory days of livejournal. Oh good lord, the things this girl knows about me just from having access to my private livejournal. Embarrassing. Luckily we both grew older on the internet together and managed to stay in touch due to our mutual love of photography. Kristen takes incredible photos that have a beautiful Eggleston-like quality to them that are such a lovely look into her life with her husband and son in Portland, OR. I have one of her prints she sent me ages ago I can’t wait to hang in our new place. Thanks for sharing all this dreamy-ness with us, Kristen.

From Kristen: This was the first weekend of summer in Portland. This was the last weekend of my 31st year. In between naps and washing diapers, we visited my parents and visiting-sister downtown, and with little cousins, making sure they didn’t poke the baby too hard or that Calvin didn’t injure his already-broken arm to which he seemed oblivious. Greg fiddled with our vegetable garden while Dax carefully disassembled the last of the peonies. We watched a b-o-r-i-n-g (spelled out for little ears, shhh) episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, and an equally boring episode of Star Wars (a prequel, blah), children enthralled, adults with wine and homemade pizza in hand. Clella declared that she was 35 and called me by the wrong aunt’s name when necessary. At home, this was the very weekend that Dax mastered climbing on and off our bed (mattress on the floor), and to celebrate we went to bed before the sun went down (as usual).

My latest Bits Of My Weekend guest is the always inspiring Alison of Teenangster! Alison has my dream job working for Etsy, is a fellow cat lady, and always finds the most interesting things on her blog and the very best stuff on Etsy. I highly recommend you stalk her Etsy favorites for pocket-emptying opportunities. I can also attest to the fact that she is just as wonderful in person as she is online. I can totally get down with her weekend involving good food and cats.

From Alison:

This was a weekend of party-time. My boyfriend Jeff and I celebrated our third anniversary with cocktails, photobooth documentation and an old school Italian feast in our neighborhood; lots of seafood was consumed, and the novelty of waiters in tuxedos was not lost on me!  Saturday was a gray day: perfect for movie watching and cat snuggling. I (finally) saw Bill Cunningham New York, and it really resonated with me. His approach to fashion is decidedly democratic — society matron, drag queens and secretaries on break are all fodder for his camera lens — and he’s never sold out. As he so poignantly said, “Seek beauty and you will find it.” After a quick disco nap, Jeff and I headed to whisky bar The Post Office for my friend Jaime’s birthday — a great excuse to drink up. (No photo documentation came out of this, unfortunately. Or fortunately, considering the sloppiness and the fact that we got caught in a downpour.) I ended the weekend with a tasty birthday brunch at Le Barricou with Jaime and friends, then mani/pedis — because we’re girly like that (my toenails are now purple, fingernails a sophisticated nude). A Bridesmaids viewing didn’t come to pass, but it’s gotta happen soon!

Hey friends, welcome to the very first installment of a new monthly guest series where I invite my favorite people from around the web to share their own Bits Of My Weekend! I’m pretty excited about this because there is some seriously endless talent and inspiration out there on the blogs I read. First up is one of my absolute favorite bloggers right now that I know many of you are also majorly in love with: Diana of Miss Moss! I was excited to have her because she rarely posts personal photos, but when she does, I can tell that her talents aren’t just with her impressive curatorial skills. Diana lives in South Africa, a place I admittedly don’t know as much about as I should, so I love seeing and hearing about it. How beautiful are these photos? I’m glad someone around here is getting out of their apartment. Onward!

From Diana:

Every year my entire family heads out to my parent’s holiday house in a little coastal town called Betty’s Bay for the Easter long weekend. I love this time of year because autumn finally arrives in South Africa – and there’s no better place to experience the change in season than being by the sea.

Also, you know, Easter = chocolate. There was so much chocolate. Which meant we had to balance it out by actually being active – going on plenty of bike rides, walking on the beach, trekking through the botanical gardens and scavenging for treasures in local vintage shops. But as soon as the weather turned we’d be drinking red wine, lying in front of the fire and falling asleep in the afternoon (classic holiday behaviour.)

The entire weekend could be summed up by those baboons we came across in the gardens – warming themselves in the sun, having a bit of a nap, getting a head scratch… It was kind of perfect, really.

Happy New Year’s Eve folks! Hope you all have a restful end to 2010.

A few bits of the web that caught my eye this morning:

A laid back Swedish kitchen. Simple and sweet.

A black, white and gray ensemble that made me look. Those heels would make me trip in an instant, but I love them nonetheless.

I’m excited for a little weekend getaway to Portland next week. We’re staying at the Ace and hope to try Clyde Common for dinner. Have you been?

A pretty astrology necklace to celebrate my upcoming birthday, from Kimberly Baker Jewelry.

And with that I’m signing off! A special thank you to Kate for having me back on the blog while she was away on her cross country journey. I so enjoyed sharing with you and photographing bits of my weekend. Thank you for all your lovely comments, you are such kind readers!

Kate will be back with Bits Of My Weekend on Monday!

xo,

Andrea

(click on the photos for more info on flickr)

Our weekend was filled with an epic amount of cooking, feasting, and gift opening. Audrey played with her new dollhouse for hours. And, despite the stormy skies, we managed to get a few neighborhood walks in with Oscar. We also made a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo–aren’t those penguins adorable? I love their waddle.

Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend! Can you believe 2011 is almost here?

xo,
Andrea

Happy Friday and Merry Christmas Eve! I’ll leave you today with a few wintery images from around the web:

Two peacocks from illustrator/designer Lotta Nieminen. There are many more little gems on her site as well.

A Lieke Romeijn photograph (found via Frolic)

A sweet Christmas card from Camilla Engman.

A simple and flawless holiday cookie from Smitten Kitchen.

Tonight we’ll be putting together a dollhouse for Audrey’s second Christmas and I can’t wait to see the look on her face tomorrow morning! I’ll be back on Monday with bits of our weekend.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Today’s Bits Of My Weekend guest blogger is Lily of bigBANG studio. I’ll let her explain more about herself, but I think her photos will explain why every week she has me pining to leave this crazy city behind and move to the desert. Are you with me on this? Sigh. Oh and she totally shares a salad recipe with us at the bottom. She constantly kills me with her awesome.

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Hi chickens! This is Lily from bigBANG studio. I’m a painter living in Joshua Tree, a bohemian whistle-stop of a town located in Southern California’s Mojave Desert. Joshua Tree is a vibrant community of writers, musicians, artists, cowboys, Marines, bikers, rock climbers and a few drunks, all of whom draw inspiration from the austere beauty of the Seussian desert landscape. When I’m not in the studio I’m morselizing every last drop of weekend time making a mess in the kitchen, exploring the vast desert wilderness behind our wee house, entertaining friends, trespassing around abandoned historic homestead shacks, and, on Sunday nights, two-stepping with my man at our beloved, eclectic honky-tonk, Pappy & Harriet’s. We’re only two hours from Los Angeles, but sometimes it seems like a world away.

Joshua Tree Summer Salad
Inspired by New York Times ingredient guru Mark Bittman, this summer salad is not for the Wonder Bread crowd. But for those game for some serious flavor, it will not disappoint. The unusual combination of flavors really pack a punch, and the colors are equally delectable. Enjoy!

Chop good heirloom tomatoes, tart yellow peaches. Add a handful of coarsely chopped basil. A dash of chili flakes. Toss with a little fancy olive oil and lots of fresh lime juice. Zing.

-Lily

Today’s Bits Of My Weekend Guest blogger is Victoria, who has an amazing blog with no name (which I love), but is often mistakenly called “Lost”, so perhaps you know it by that name:) She’s an Australian who lives in London, and I was so lucky to meet her in person when she visited NYC recently (the only one of the guest bloggers I’ve actually met before!) She is just as wonderful in person. Thank you, Vic!

Cider in the sun on the lawn of the Tate Modern with new favourite people, and Persian food and cupcakes from Broadway Market with old favourite people. London Fields, tribute yamwiches, a Central St Martins pop-up store, apple crumble pie and poached eggs and good coffee and good people and sunshine and stars aligning and butterflies and London. Beautiful, beautiful London. All captured on my beloved AE-1.

-Vic