Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Luncheon

I was thrilled to be invited to the Women's Initiative Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards luncheon at the Berkeley City Club. It was a great event, held in a stunning historic hotel to raise money to for the organization so more women can learn to start and run their own businesses. The array of businesses started by W.I. is astounding. The women who attended graciously donated money for the East Bay location. Each of us vendors donated a portion as well. See who won at the end of the post!

The pristine Berkeley City Club entrance.

The view through the courtyard to the outdoor patio from the name tag table.

My table set up! I thought I did a bang up job on the tablecloth arrangement. Wink, wink. 

The view from my booth while the ladies are setting up. Yes, that is a violinist performing in the corner.

Vendors nearly set up outside. It looks so inviting, but it was a really windy day and not so good for tabletop displays!

I fell in love with these handmade wood burned journals by M-Squarepress. The maker was so sweet.

One of two award winners was Tanya Holland. She owns two restaurants in Oakland, writes cookbooks and has appeared on all kinds of national television, including her own show, Melting Pot Soul Kitchen. Go Tanya!

Feels Like It's Getting Busy - Alamere Falls Part Two

Several weeks ago, I returned to Alamere Falls with some friends. I had been hiking in some beautiful places in the North Bay to prepare for backpacking the Skyline-to-Sea trail. This trip has been postponed for a few reasons, but that's okay. We'll do it soon. 

I've been doing some thinking this last week about just how much time art takes up in my life. While I absolutely love it, it turns most weeks into 6-7 work days. I love so many other things as well and it can be difficult to make the time for other things I like to do, especially when adventuring means traveling out of the area for a day or a weekend. This time of the year I get really busy, so I think I am just in the acceptance stage that summer is over, I have a lot of work lined up and deadlines are looming.

For now, I will be sharing Alamare Falls - Part Two. I invited some friends to hike the same trail I had done a couple weeks prior. It was an even prettier not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day.

Friends above the sea

Rope swingers were having a blast. There was a small hillside of my friends and a few strangers, including some nudists on the rope swing. Gotta love California!

This scene was way prettier in person. It felt like we were on a remote island. 

Lovely friends posing after we made it to the first part of the falls. 

Waterfall to the sea

We ate figs, dark chocolate covered coconut, garden vegetable sandwiches and reward beers in this perfect place.

Sunburst  

A classic California sunset on the walk back. 

Alright, back to work! 

Portola Valley Hike

I'm getting ready to hike the Skyline-to-Sea trail in September. I've been hiking a lot lately midst my busy schedule, which is definitely satisfying the lack of camping I've done this year. This hike was from last week in Portola Valley. I wanted to get into the studio for part of the day so we decided not to venture as far as we usually do.

Imagine if this was your work desk view. Lucky rangers!

The ranger station was full of great information about the area. 

Ah, the prices of yesteryear... 

The Coyote Ridge Trail, a fairly steep hike and a good workout.  

The beautiful view along the ridge. These slightly overcast days are always welcome when hiking uphill. 

I was overwhelmed by the yellow green of this drying fern against the layers of blue and green mountains.

Lightning took down some redwoods in this grove. I can't imagine watching this massive trunk fall.

You can't possibly come to this area without stopping at Alice's Restaurant! A classic biker and classic car meetup spot, Alice's has the best food. Do you like garlic fries? Buffalo burgers? Free range? Grass fed?  All the burgers are named after motorcycles and their dessert selection is something else. Oh yes, the staff? So friendly and fun. I've been coming here for years and it is consistently great.

Blackberry pie and black coffee. Agent Dale Cooper would be so proud.  Thank you Alice's for satisfying my appetite.

Alamere Falls

I've noticed a strange phenomena. When I leave San Jose, good things happen. Okay so maybe that's not that strange. When I'm on the road, I'll check my phone and inevitably, I sold some art. This seems to happen when I go to San Francisco and the North Bay. I am getting the feeling that I eventually need to live somewhere else. I also get plenty of new ideas and feel super relaxed when I get back. Although I haven't traveled too far this year, I've managed to get to LA, Gold Country, Mendocino and camped a bit. Luckily in California, you can just travel for the day and feel like you took a vacation. 

In my book, it really doesn't get any better than the Northern California coastline. Ferns, the ocean, fields, creeks, lakes, dense hallways and more peepholes made up the Alamere Falls hike we did this weekend. Although I love Big Sur, the California coast from north of San Francisco to the Oregon border is surreal. I've driven up and down Highway 1 many times and it gets me every time. From Bolinas to Bodega Bay, Salt Point to Gold Bluffs, it's just one grand beach after another.

On Sunday, we did the Alamere Falls trail. Although last week's hike was a stunner, this one had even more variety in terrain. It was incredible, to say the least.

The hike starts in a Eucalyptus grove.  Although these trees seem right at home here, they are not native to California, but Australia.

Just out of the Eucalyptus, a grand view of the sea. 

We stumbled upon a lily pond. 

One of a few hallways on the hike. 

Bryan hiking ahead. 

The first of two lakes we found on the trail. We found a family finishing up swimming. We're going to come back and use that rope swing... or maybe return with thicker rope.

I kept referencing Labyrinth as we walked through walls of ferns, poison oak and more. A little finch was leading us through here and I definitely expected a secret door to open.

We made it to the the falls. This is the first of three tiers.  

Alamere Falls leads right into the sea. You have to scramble down rock wall to get to it. There were hardly any people here, just a nudist and a few couples.  

We'll be back soon.