I can’t believe it’s mid-May already, even though my students won’t let me forget it for a second (5 weeks left till last day of school). Spring is exploding and about to turn to summer, so here are some escapist Wednesday Morning Links…

Why don’t you spend a Saturday going to see some wildflowers? It’s pretty hard not to see them, even in the middle of the city, or along the 5 (see pictures below). I’m interested in trying some of the hikes listed by Tom Managan, who shares my love for the Mariposa lilies. With the rain we’ve gotten in the Bay Area this winter, all of the sites he’s listed are sure to be aflower. Another way to get up-to-date information on local wildflowers is via the California Native Plant Society (find your local chapter here). Click here to view the East Bay chapter’s upcoming events. The Yerba Buena chapter covers San Francisco and San Mateo counties, and here’s a link to the Marin chapter, which has a great journal of recent reports of wild flower sightings.

How about a leisurely trip to a museum? I was recently in Los Angeles and spent a day at LACMA. I was glad to see their new addition, but happier still to visit the tried and true galleries that I’ve walked since I was a child. The modern art room pictured below and the large hall on the ground floor of the Ahmanson building (the space currently holds Tony Smith’s “Smoke”) hold particularly fond memories. On my to do list is the newly reopened Oakland Museum of Art, which is getting stellar reports. I have to admit that thinking of museums makes me wish I lived in New York or a European city though…and if I were in New York I’d be at American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection at the Brooklyn Museum and American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity at the Met (Roberta Smith reviews the two shows for the NY Times and recommends going to the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibit first, and I never disobey Ms. Smith). And if I happened to be in London I’d be at the Victoria and Albert for A Fairyland of Flowers: Beatrix Potter and Cicely Mary Barker.

I like to call this “Variety and Balzac”

After all this escapism, you’re bound to be thirsty. My advice: Txakolí Txakolí Txakolí! The widest selection of this wonderful young Basque wine (authenticists insist on 100% Hondarribia grapes) can be found at my favorite wine shop, Paul Marcus at Market Hall. Try classics like Amestoi (which also makes an incredible rosé version) and the venerable Txomin Etxaniz. Then move on to the delicious upstart Urkí (make sure you roll that rrrrr!). After some experience with all of these, my current favorite is Talai Berri, which artfully balances the citrus and effervescence that is evident in all great txakolís. My husband is still loyal to his first love, Urkí. Try a few and report back—what’s your favorite?

And make sure to buy two bottles or live in regret. This stuff goes fast.

One last flower link, I can never hold back. I just discovered this most amazing and sedate rose called Fortune Teller in Morcom Rose Garden, which I usually refer to just as “the Oakland Rose Garden.”

I recently walked through the garden on the way to brunch at Camino. A nice little 1.5 mile walk from Rockridge to Camino is a perfect way to build the appetite and ensure that your Sunday gin fizz (Gin, citrus, cream, gum syrup, egg white, sparkling wine) is well deserved. Apparently the garden is about to be updated thanks to the passing of measure WW. Read all about it on A Better Oakland (even though author V Smoothe isn’t as excited about the roses as I am).

I’m so excited for my Mother’s Day deliveries! Thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm and orders! There are two more days to put in an order for this weekend if you haven’t already.

This arrangement was for a mom who is leaving on vacation before Mother’s Day. She loves loves loves green. So green it was!

Mother’s Day flowers are now available through A Rockridge Life!

Two sizes of arrangements are available, both bountifully filled with seasonal flowers. The larger of the two starts with a hand-cut and polished recycled wine bottle vase. The vase is filled with pale green hydrangea, locally grown Sonoma roses, lisianthus, tulips, and calla lilies accented by wisps of mock orange and is priced at $45.

The smaller version is in a hand-cut and polished recycled beer bottle vase filled with the same materials as the larger, excepting the hydrangea and callas, and is priced at $25.

I am taking orders until Thursday, May 6th. You can place your orders via email: arockridgelife@gmail.com or by phone at (510) 219-3879.

Arrangements are available for pick up in Rockridge the afternoon of May 7th, or can be delivered to locations in the Bay Area on May 8th or 9th for an additional charge.

The color of the vases varies slightly depending on the bottle source. The colors of the flowers may vary ever so slightly based on what is fresh and available at market.

Thank you for looking and happy Mother’s Day!

Time Out New York just published a lovely photo tour of Chad McPhail’s Brooklyn abode. I love this apartment for the details; the authentic exemplars of modern design (McCobb, Noguchi, Eames), the Moroccan tiles in the kitchen that contrast with apartment’s muted color palate, and abundance of personal artifacts. It’s totally thought out and highly designed, but it’s also all about home, and the personal comfort of its residents.

See the full story here, and see more of Chad’s work on his blog A Hawk From A Handsaw.

Photograph by Jolie Ruben via Time Out New York

Recently, MEDIA ARTS Center San Diego, sat down with a relative of mine, Mead Kibbey, to record his story about the Invasion of Normandy in the California State Library’s Rare Book Room in Sacramento. If I’ve ever heard such a striking first-person account of Normandy I can’t remember, but this video is an amazing record of a unique moment in history. As I watched I thought about how hard that war was, and how significantly war, and the world, has changed since. And I thought about other relatives of mine, who have passed, who were there too, and wondered what they might say about it today. It’s a must-see.

Kibbey also talks about the building of the Central Pacific railroad and the railroad photography of Alfred A. Hart in another video by MACSD that you can find here. They photographs are amazing and also not to be missed.

This Saturday April 24, 2010 from 7-10 PM Homemade Brooklyn (the traveling pop-up shop and show) hosts a evening of film at 522 Metropolitan. This is an amazing chance to see new work by local filmmakers, including Rockridge’s favorite ex-SF ex-pat Begoña Colomar. Colomar’s contributions include “Oda” and “El Guapo,” the latter of which she made in partnership with Ren Peñaloza. All films are presented by the Brooklyn Filmmaker’s Collective.

This is a rare opportunity to see some of Brooklyn’s finest. Food and drink will be provided.

Check it out!

Centerpiece for buffet:

Mantle:

UPDATE: The New York Times publishes Can the Jewish Deli Be Reformed? and now I want pastrami. Great.

It’s a bit after 7AM PST as I’m starting to write the links for today and I’m just back from my Dailey Method class and hydrating with some coconut water. Problem with early workouts is that they interfere with the flower market, but I’m going tomorrow, and flower posts will resume soon. In the meantime, the links…

Who doesn’t love a good silhouette? In my case, having grown up on Southern CA, silhouettes always bring up fond memories of Disneyland. I wonder if they even do them there anymore…but no matter, because this Saturday in SF you can have your likeness captured in silhouette by Karl Johnson, a third-generation silhouette portrait artist at Small Frys in Noe Valley on Friday from 2 to 7 PM. (Via SFist)

p.s. one client loved the silhouettes that Karl did of his kids so much that he had them tatooed on his arm (last image on this page).

As a former New Yorker I constantly miss the city. Not the clubs, not the long work day, and not even the restaurants so much as the city in the brick and mortar sense. I miss pounding the pavement and the long stretches of tall and gray, that somehow hold the most wonderful and exciting things you’ve ever dreamt of. Luckily I’ve found Scouting New York, a record of one location scout’s travels around the city, to fulfill my NYC lust. Recently Scout has found a table tennis training center and a beautiful Harlem crypt, but my favorite is an early 19th century carriage house just a few blocks from Times Square:

Image Via Scouting New York

I was recently reminded of how much I love Israeli breakfast by a friend, and immediately began craving it. Luckily Deb of Smitten Kitchen just posted her rendition of the piece de resistance of Israeli breakfasts: shakshuka. Shakshuka is poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, and it’s delicious.

Image via Smitten Kitchen

p.s. I have to admit I googled shakshuka and came across Jewlicious, THE Jewish blog, and the post The REAL Shakshuka, which is a good, funny read, but also contains important information about the customs around shakshuka (originating as salade cuite for shabat) and the importance of allowing the sauce to age a day or two to get the best flavor.