A ‘Vintage’ 4th of July

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Patty

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair.
– Susan Polis Schutz, American poet

The 4th of July has come and gone, and I’m in recovery mode. A lot of work went into creating the courtyard and preparing for my cousin Janet and her husband Tim’s annual visit for this three-day holiday. First things first, though, was meeting up with them at Oakland Coliseum’s O.co for a date with the Oakland A’s against the Toronto Blue Jays. They got a late start from leaving the Central Valley and finally got to the ballpark in the 5th inning. We got caught up and imbibed – yes, they serve wine at O.co – and cheered the local team to the first win of what would become a four-game sweep by the time the 4th of July weekend ended. For the third year in a row, we enjoyed the fireworks show after the game, but minus Jacob, who celebrated his friend Connor’s birthday by cavorting on the grassy field during the show. As a child, I was never that excited about fireworks, but magic happens when you watch your kids’ faces light up with delight and wonder, and it matters where you are and who you’re with. Magic.

First up for the long weekend – the A’s defeat the Toronto Blue Jays before the fireworks show.

Ready for fireworks!

Colorful cobwebs or lightning – the fireworks are beautiful just the same.

Spectacular fireworks come raining down.

Despite the fog trying to ruin our little parade, the sun came out enough to allow us to enjoy having breakfast, lunch, and dinner (except for Friday evening) in the courtyard. While the evenings were cool, we were protected by the walls and fence, and spent late nights with blankets, music from Frank Sinatra and his gang, and conversations illuminated by candlelight and string of lights surrounding us. Breakfast sandwiches, pancakes and bacon – mornings were especially ripe for relaxing and taking our time. After the flurry of preparation, this is exactly what I needed, but it’s what everyone should be doing on this particular holiday. Enjoy the weather, family and friends, and traditions, and be grateful for what we have. After breakfast, we walked to Cerrito Vista Park for the city’s annual 4th of July celebration. Lots of music, fun booths, and bumping into friends. We listened to a wonderful performance by the El Cerrito High School’s jazz band, which just left to compete in numerous European jazz festivals.

Annual El Cerrito 4th of July celebration at Cerrito Vista Park.

On Saturday, Janet, Isabella, and I foraged for vintage and salvage goods at Ohmega Salvage (2403 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702, 510.843.7368) and Urban Ore (900 Murray Street, Berkeley, CA 94710, 510.841.7283). Urban Ore has been the epicenter of inexpensive (read: $1 to $3 per item) glass vases for my bouquets. It’s always fun to poke around these places, even if you come away empty-handed. It’s the experience that makes these forays so fun. At Ohmega Salvage, we were treated to a spirited performance by Cuban Maestro Fito Reinoso & Clasicos de Cuba while we shopped.

Omega Salvage featured an art and garden show, plus Cuban Maestro Fito Reinoso & Clasicos de Cuba.

After such a fun afternoon, it was easy to lure Janet to the Alameda Flea Market (also known as the Alameda Pointe Antiques Faire), which is the largest antiques show in Northern California. I first attended the flea market (2900 Navy Way, Alameda, CA 94501, 510.522.7500) with my friend Raissa back in March, but our morning was cut short by mist-turned-rain. This time around, the fog burned off easily, but we were constrained by needing to be back by 11AM to take Isabella to her organic farm camp that early afternoon. We made the best of our time, staking out a route and only stopping when something caught our eye.

The fog slowly burned away to reveal a view of San Francisco’s skyline.

It wasn’t easy, and though we covered a lot of territory, I didn’t like feeling so rushed. Next time, I told myself. Janet was going crazy with the sensory overload and the miles of white tents before us. She loves salvaged goods and got lots of DIY ideas from the various wares. Favorite vendor of the day? Williams Antiks (707.332.0890). William was very cheerful and knowledgeable, explaining what some of the contraptions were in his booth. He and his wife travel to France and bring back really high-end beautiful vintage and antique items such as puppets, tiles, mannequins, and furniture. While there were many vendors who bring back fabulous French goods, I was hurting for Italian vendors, given the courtyard’s vibe. I found, however, a wonderful addition to my courtyard, and I’m glad I pulled the trigger on the spot. William had to throw a blanket over it to keep it safe from other interested buyers, and when I wheeled it out and into the parking lot, my little find received many a compliment from an enviable flea market shopper.

One of my favorite booths of the day – Williams Antiks.

I spy a garden cart that wants to come home with me and settle in my courtyard.

There were so many great items for a more expansive back yard, but that will come later. Isabella found her Breyer horses for a song. Janet picked up a mining cart, of all things, which was heavy and beautiful. And I found a pair of architecturally stunning teal iron chairs that I carried around with us and then shoved into the back seat of my car, both no small feat. After we dropped Isabella off at camp and returned home, I clipped back the dripping branches of the peach tree, rearranged the bird houses, and settled the chairs in their new spot. Lovely. It needs either pea gravel or crushed granite instead of dirt. And the other problem, according to Jacob, is that it needs a small table for the food that the people sitting in the chairs will be eating. Well, I told him, I guess I’ll have to venture to the flea market in August. Maybe, fingers crossed, that rusted iron headboard that I knew wouldn’t fit in the car will be there waiting for me. Until then, it’s time to enjoy post-holiday time and the rest of July relaxing in the courtyard.

The new spot for the garden cart, awaiting tea towels, napkins, hanging wine glasses, and fine chocolates to go with the bouquet of flowers.

The new spot for the earthy green iron garden cart, awaiting tea towels, napkins, hanging wine glasses, and fine chocolates to go with the bouquet of flowers.

Come sit under the peach tree and invite birds to join us....

Come sit under the trimmed-up peach tree and invite birds to join us….

Celebrate: a pictorial of joy

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Patty

To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
– Mark Twain, pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American author and humorist

It’s spring. It’s the start of baseball season – MLB and my son’s travel ball team. The watsonias, calla lilies, and tulips are blooming. The dahlias are sprouting. The pink blossoms of the twin magnolia trees in our backyard have all dropped, replaced by shiny leaves slowly unfurling. Isabella has already had two flamenco performances in the past two months. It’s time to celebrate – with a pictorial of joy:

In their only win over the weekend in Fremont, CA, out of four games, the Hornets get shutout pitching the last two innings and in the bottom of their last inning, they score six runs to come from behind, 8-7. The joy, in an otherwise lackluster weekend, is palpable (photo credit: Robert Milton).

Harmonious spring colors of pink and green in our garden of tulips. Duplicate Nature with these colors in your outfits.

Isabella, aka Mini Me to flamenco mentor Tana Hakanson, at their March performance at the YWCA in Berkeley, CA.

Isabella, aka Mini Me to flamenco mentor and friend Tana Hakanson, at their March performance at the YWCA in Berkeley, CA.

Creamy tulip in a bed of green.

Joy is a comfortable spring uniform: blazer abloom with flowers, jeans, and kitten-heel pointy pumps.

Perfect J. Crew Art Deco-style necklace for this floral jacket, accompanied by Carmela Rose drop earrings (Jenny K, El Cerrito, CA), Kate Peterson Design stack of rings (El Cerrito), and Sundance cuff.

Ensemble: Shiny nude patent pumps, dark-rinse jeans, floral jacket, and light lilac camisole.

‘Falling only makes us stronger’

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Patty

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.
– Maya Angelou, American poet, memoirist, actress, and Civil Rights Movement activist

Celebrating the Winter Games with faux fur and velveteen.

It’s the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, and I’m right there watching the events in prime time. I have a special place in my heart for the Olympics, even as I have lost my childhood awe of looking at these athletes as flawless super humans and seeing them as truly human with a driving force that to me is still unimaginable. I admit that I don’t have the courage to commit four years of training for what comes down to a single defining moment for many of these athletes. One one-hundredths of a second could mean the difference between gold, silver, bronze, or nothing. One push, one misstep, one blink of an eye, one nanosecond of lost concentration, one fall could be the end of it all. Or is it?

I have many Olympic memories, but one of the most poignant to me covers two Olympic Games. Dan Jansen, the American speed skater was favored to win gold in the 500 and 1,000 meter races at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, but fell in both races after his older sister, Jane, whom he looked up to, died of leukemia. I can still recall the stunned look on his face, the weight of his grief. My heart ached for him not because he didn’t win, but because he wanted to win for his sister and yet the burden did not buoy him in the way panic or fear can make people push beyond their limits. His grief overwhelmed him. In his final race, at the twilight of his career, at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, not only did Jansen win his first and only gold, he did so in world record style. And he celebrated by skating around the rink with his one-year-old daughter, named in honor of his sister. Not all athletes who fall or “lose” the race get redemption, or even another chance for redemption. Jansen persevered, but for all the others who got up and kept going, no matter the outcome, they also carried on the Olympic spirit.

A peek of lace beneath faux fur and Sundance stack of rings, Anthropologie clear bangle, End of Century vintage chandelier crystal drop necklace (NYC), and crystal earrings.

A peek of lace beneath faux fur and Sundance stack of rings, Lava 9 ring (Berkeley, CA), Anthropologie clear bangle, End of Century vintage chandelier crystal drop necklace (NYC), and crystal earrings.

Through the years, I have enjoyed the human interest aspect of the Olympian athletes, learning about them in the “Up Close and Personal” profiles. For someone who doesn’t watch commercials – considered bathroom break times – I do pay attention to the creative endeavors and admittedly the memorable commercials that pull at the heartstrings. This Olympics, it is the “Thank You, Mom” commercial. It doesn’t matter who the sponsor is because it’s not important as the message itself.

A speckled pointy pump to top it off.

No snub to the dads intended, this commercial pays tribute to the chauffeurs, the nurses, the nurturers, and all the other roles that moms play for their kids who play sports, whether it be recreational or competitive:

“Behind every great athlete is a mom hiding by the sidelines smiling and cheering. She was the one to make hot soup after practice. She was the one to mend their wounds after they fell. She was the one who inspired them to keep pushing.

“For teaching us that falling only makes us stronger. Thank you, Mom.”

My athletes: Isabella on horseback, Santa Rosa, January 2014.

I don’t know if the sponsor of this commercial copied the human-interest story that aired during the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in early January, but the message is of a similar vein. The story was about a skating rink that was built in Brooklyn, serving inner-city kids, most of whom had never figure skated before. I wasn’t quick enough to write the quote verbatim. But one African-American girl, who fell in love with figure skating, shared something really wonderful and beautiful. Whether she goes far with the sport or not, one thing is certain: She will go far in life. She said, with such confidence and exuberance: “When I fall on the ice and get up, my teachers clap. That’s because I know whenever you’ve tried and you fail, failure is the staircase to success.”

My other athlete: Jacob pitching, Millbrae, August 2013 (photo by Robert Milton).

Good season, Oaktown, good night

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Patty

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
– Ernest Hemingway, American novelist

Black is for mourning the end of the season, alas, cut short.

Blessings and curses. It was a blessing perhaps that instead of watching the decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series between the Oakland A’s and the Detroit Tigers, I was at the World Premiere of Lunafest 2013/2014 in San Francisco last night. On the other side of the Bay, however, it was yet another demonstration of the “curious curse of the Oakland A’s,” as laid out in the New York Times.

It’s the end of the season for me. But after a moment of silence for a season cut too soon, I say goodnight to Oaktown and to baseball with poems by Marjorie Maddox and Tom Clark, respectively.

Grand Slam
Dreams brimming over,
childhood stretched out in legs,
this is the moment replayed on winter days
when frost covers the field,
when age steals away wishes.
Glorious sleep that seeps back there
to the glory of our baseball days.

(from Rules of the Game III, 2009)

Antique Edwardian handbag and reclaimed vintage necklace.

Baseball and Classicism
Every day I peruse the box scores for hours
Sometimes I wonder why I do it
Since I am not going to take a test on it
And no one is going to give me money

The pleasure’s something like that of codes
Of deciphering an ancient alphabet say
So as brightly to picturize Eurydice
In the Elysian Fields on her perfect day

The day she went 5 for 5 against Vic Raschi

(from Light and Shade: New and Selected Poems, Coffee House Press, 2006)

M.E. Moore reclaimed vintage necklace against lace (Gorgeous & Green, Berkeley, CA).

When your back’s to the season, it’s time to hang it up. Goodnight, Oaktown! We’ll be back next year!

Cleveland: rock and roll and vintage love in 24 hours

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Patty

In designing this building it was my intention to echo the energy of rock and roll. I have consciously used an architectural vocabulary that is bold and new, and I hope the building will become a dramatic landmark for the city of Cleveland and for fans of rock and roll around the world.
– I.M. Pei, architect of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Rock and roll in Cleveland
When I found out I was going to Cleveland for a business trip, I asked myself, “What is in Cleveland?” I was too busy to do any research before I left, but once I landed, my cab drivers and the concierge at my downtown hotel were quick to point out The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, 44114, 216.781.7625), which wasn’t very far from where I was staying. I scratched my head. In Cleveland? How did that come to be?

Outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

The museum is chockfull of detailed displays, by era, location, artist, and more.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Foundation was founded in April 1983 by Atlanta Records founder and chairman Ahmet Ertegun. Ertegun and his assembled team began inducting artists in 1986 but the hall of fame did not have a permanent venue. Various cities lobbied to be the new home, including Detroit, Memphis, Cincinnati, and New York City, all of which had famous record studios and obvious ties to rock and roll music. Cleveland’s claims were legitimate ones – WJW disc jockey Alan Freed coined the term “rock and roll” and heavily promoted the emerging genre and the first major rock and roll concert – Freed’s Moondog Coronation Ball – was held in Cleveland. Furthermore, its radio station WMMS helped bolster the early careers of several artists in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, including Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie, who began his first U.S. tour in Cleveland. The city pledged $65 million in public funds to build it, 600,000 fans signed a petition to locate it in Cleveland, and in a 1986 USA Today poll, respondents overwhelmingly chose Cleveland. Who knew?

One of Stevie Nicks’ many signature outfits.

Entering the Rolling Stones exhibit!

So there you have it. The pyramid-shaped building is quite striking, designed by architect I.M. Pei, and sits on the shore of Lake Erie, facing the downtown skyline, in the city’s nicely redeveloped North Coast Harbor. Six levels house tons of memorabilia. Given my time constraint, I whizzed through, but you could literally spend a day there, reading all the signs and admiring the instruments, music sheets, costumes, and more. A couple of theaters show this year’s inductees to the Hall of Fame, as well as a permanent exhibit called the Mystery Train, which chronicles the history of rock and roll. If you’re a Rolling Stones fan, you can fully appreciate a very packed, as in artifacts and information, exhibit, “Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction.” It’s a fun place and worth a visit, but plan for at least half a day if not longer. Expect to be overwhelmed and dizzy by the end of your time there.

The impressive inside of the museum.

The Cleveland Shop’s quaint storefront window.

Vintage love in Cleveland
The Cleveland Shop (6511 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, 44102, 216.228.9725), a quality vintage, period costume rental, and consignment shop is the city’s oldest vintage shop. It opened its doors in 1979, but recently moved to its current location, in the west side of the city in Gordon Square. Voted Cleveland’s “best vintage,” the shop is well curated and nicely organized. The racks are divided by type of clothing and more importantly by decade. One half of the shop is vintage and the other half is the rental department where you can find your costume for Halloween or a themed party. They carry a big selection, for instance, of white vinyl go-go boots for those wanting to channel Nancy Sinatra from the 1960s and “walk all over” someone! Vintage to the Cleveland Shop is at least 25 years old, and they look for items from 1900 through 1970s, dipping occasionally into the 1980s. It’s definitely a great vintage shop to spend time in at a leisurely pace.

Racks and racks of vintage clothing.

Display case oozing with vintage costume jewelry.

All’s quiet on an off-night Monday at the Cleveland Indians’ baseball field.

Baseball, good food, buildings with character
If I had fully thought out my trip, I would have stayed an extra night and flown to Raleigh, N.C., my next business destination on Wednesday. Why? The Cleveland Indians were playing tonight and they are in the thick of the American League Wild Card race. They play in a beautiful downtown stadium, Progressive Field – insurance anyone? – that I zipped by about four times in my cab rides in the 27 hours I was in Cleveland. The ballpark, which holds more than 43,000, began construction in 1992. Now that would have been a fun game to watch, especially given that the Indians won, 5-4, and are tied for the two Wild Card slots. I also wish I had time to walk around the downtown area and take artsy photographs of the old buildings and historic statues.

An impressive fairly new stadium for baseball. Oakland, take note!

An impressive fairly new stadium for Cleveland baseball. Oakland, take note!

As for culinary experiences, I attended a business dinner at Table 45 Restaurant and Bar at the InterContinental Hotel (9801 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, 44106, 216.707.4045). For a hotel restaurant (the hotel is owned by the Cleveland Clinic and is on their campus), the food was very flavorful. Our party of nine shared appetizers – homemade tandoori naan with three dipping sauces, vegetable spring rolls, and an assortment of sushi. For my entrée, I ordered wild caught sockeye salmon and steamed coconut sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf with Chinese broccoli and Thai glaze. The salmon was a touch dry, but otherwise a nice combination of flavors. I didn’t get a chance to finish my fresh blueberry crisp topped with sweet oatmeal crumb and lemon gelato because by that time everyone was leaving, which was just as well since I was quite satisfied with everything that had come before.

My room with a view from the downtown Marriott – a beautiful old church and old buildings with lots of character.

Twenty-seven hours later and I’ve already left Cleveland. Will I ever return? I actually hope so.

Just beyond the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is Lake Erie.

Welcome autumn and October ball

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Patty

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.
– Bartlett Giamatti, former President of Yale and Commissioner of Baseball, from “The Green Fields of the Mind”

Ready for a ballgame, in yellow, of course, and two shades of denim.

Dating back to my childhood, fall, or autumn, has always been my favorite season. There’s something about the change of light, the air turning cool, the march of holidays and celebrations that lead me to my favorite holiday, which is Christmas. Deep, flaming fall colors of red and orange and gold, leaves turning and raining down, leaving a vibrant downy cushion around tree trunks. Jacket weather, boots, scarves, mugs of hot drinks like hot cocoa and Peppermint Schnapps, fireplaces, down comforters and flannel sheets, longer nights, cozy evenings in.

But the first day of autumn, which was yesterday, also brings us to the last days of baseball, when magic numbers are real. Since I moved back to the Bay Area in 1990, I have been a San Francisco Giants fan, following my father’s footsteps and heart, going to the wilderness that was Candlestick Park and watching games in the middle of summer wearing a jacket and still freezing! When I wasn’t at the games, I was raptly listening to the radio when Barry Bonds came to town and created a stir in a team that had largely been asleep. I remember the horrible slump, when all they had to do was win one game against the Atlanta Braves in 1993 and couldn’t, and ended up with more than 100 wins that season, second best in baseball, but without the benefit of the Wild Card, which hadn’t come into being yet. Despite their winning ways, we could go to Candlestick Park and move down to more desirable seats because only the hearty few attended games there. I watched the downtown stadium being built – PacBell Park, AT&T Park, following the mergers of telecommunications companies. Suddenly, the Giants were popular, and while the stadium was beautiful, we bemoaned the mobile phone crowd who filled up the stadium but couldn’t tell you what RISP stood for (runners in scoring position, just in case you didn’t know).

Mix washes of denim with colored denim and equally colorful accessories.

Lava 9 ring and earrings (Berkeley, CA).

When I moved to the East Bay, I fiercely kept my loyalty to the Giants. My husband has been an Oakland A’s fan since he was a kid. My son became an Oakland A’s fan. And then a funny thing happened. I watched the games with them, reminding me of how our family used to watch baseball on television during the hot summer evenings when I was a child and even through high school. I started to get to know the players. We went to a few more games, a handful of them walk-off wins. We didn’t realize what was happening at the time.

I knew the Oakland A’s had one of the lowest payrolls in the majors, and yet here they were winning games without a high-priced superstar, winning games with different heroes in different games. There were stories to break your heart. The relief pitcher whose wife gave birth and then lost the baby within hours. The veteran outfielder who is in the twilight of his career literally finds new legs in a small market. The Crash Davises who made it to the Show but could never make it to stay for good. Those are stories that make up the heart of a team. When they won the American League West Division on the last day of the regular season last year, sweeping the team who was in the lead, I thought to myself, this is magical, this is pretty special, but it likely won’t last because logic says teams like this don’t go all the way. So enjoy it while you can. So we did, and when they lost to the Detroit Tigers in the first round and my son cried, I told him, hey, this team is pretty special and you were part of that year. Celebrate what they accomplished. Celebrate the moment. Celebrate because it probably won’t happen next year. I was trying to be realistic. Baseball is a game of inches and feet, of probability and statistics, of first to last and last to first. And of magic and belief.

A memorable autumn day, September 22, 2013, in Oakland.

I’m glad I was wrong. We went to more games this year, saw everything else on television. It was fun to watch the games with my son. There were fewer walk-offs, but that’s because the team got better and gained more confidence. They stumbled in August and then came roaring back in September. We kept the faith and we were rewarded. They won a week before the regular season ended, and we were there to celebrate. Whatever happens, I tell my son, just enjoy it. That’s what baseball’s all about. Enjoy it, especially as autumn arrives with a division championship as a reward for all the hard work through spring and summer. Now I can welcome autumn, welcome my favorite season of the year, with October baseball. Congratulations, Oakland A’s! Respect the underdog! For the underdogs always have the most poetic stories, the ones that teach us about the heart of the matter and a whole lot of magic.

Let’s go, Oakland!
(and while we’re at it, let’s build a downtown stadium in Oakland)

Ready for the October classic!

The Dress at 50

Live the creative, meaningful, and full life

Category Archives: Sports

A ‘Vintage’ 4th of July

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Celebrate: a pictorial of joy

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‘Falling only makes us stronger’

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Good season, Oaktown, good night

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Cleveland: rock and roll and vintage love in 24 hours

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Welcome autumn and October ball

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