Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Indoor-Outdoor Flow, Prom and The Grand Budapest Hotel

We hear a lot about this mysterious indoor-outdoor flow, don't we?  Jean Simpson, a retired special needs teacher, who built a second home in Sonoma, really has the concept down. She literally has to walk outside her kitchen-living room to get to her bedroom, bathroom and study. And her shower is outside the outside rooms! Very cool. I know that sounds confusing, I probably described it better in my article (here) for the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend.

All photos by Michael Hospelt. Showering in the outdoors

The Great Room, all other rooms are outside

The Great Room (kitchen and living room)
Speaking of outdoors - look! a clematis has come through at our house.



Saturday night, the old Hubstar and I went out to dinner at Camino and to see the Grand Budapest Hotel, which is so pink and purply charming at one stage I burst out laughing. But okay having now seen that and Wolf of Wall Street (boring debauchery) and American Hustle (hair dos! DVF! didn't care what happened to anyone!) there seems to be a leaning towards style in place of heart and guts. Movies full embraced by the fashion world before you've got to the end of your popcorn. Also any film maker who uses voice-over should be fined!!! (Full disclosure: my favorite movie is Nil By Mouth, but I've also never met a romcom I didn't like) 

Long time readers might remember this scarf from Barcelona

I love menus where there is only a few things to choose. 

The pork snozzy
If you go to Camino you get a halo, halo halo

In Teddy news, he's going great guns with Leslie, the dog whisperer, running with the big dogs (sometimes 12 of them) on all sorts of field trips. One days it was under the Golden Gate Bridge, another day it was following behind Leslie's horse in Half Moon Bay.  Thank goodness this has bought him back to normal and he's left his post-operative neurosis behind him.

Guys, this is where I get out...Teddy (far left) being dropped at home
Harley, 16, below asked M, a swimmer, to the prom. He commissioned his friend Tassia to draw the sign. Already a skilled outsourcerer, that boy. Apple. Tree. (Apparently the theatrics of asking to the prom and the bus you go on are just as important as the actual prom)



Meanwhile Cy, 10, was desperate to be in a baseball fantasy league and unbeknownst to us signed up on the ESPN website. We just found out yesterday he is in the Prison League. Could be prison guards but also could be prisoners. Like the sterling parents we are, we made him pull out. No doubt there's some blokes having a cuppa tea on Cell Block H right now saying: "Rocky, what happened to that Cy guy? He had some good picks, I miss him."



33 comments:

  1. Haha! Cy is one to watch. That kid cracks me up endlessly. What is he going to do next? And Harley, and the sign for prom? Genius Outsourcer!
    I like Kevin's halo and simple menus please me as well. Your scarf is gorgeous and you are looking fabulous. Please pass along all beauty secrets immediately.
    Indoor outdoor flow I don't get, here in Canada those things need to be very very separate. We're still in a deep freeze it will never end apparently. xox!

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  2. Beauty secrets are I-phone photos - cheaper and quicker than Botox! I turn 52 tomorrow. Gosh global warming - not up in Canada it seems. Well you are getting good wear out of your coats anyway!

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    1. Happy birthday!! Too funny about Cy and love the doggie pic x

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  3. Never even knew of the in and out house thing, here we'd freeze our buns off. The pup looks happy with all the others. lol the prison league hmmm yeah stay far away from there

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  4. Dying laughing over Cy and his prison league. Hilarious!
    Love that photo of Teddy in the car with his enormous dog friends too. So glad he's got over the nervous twitch and is back to being a happy pup again. Thanks for your movie reviews - now I don't have to feel I'm missing out as I never get to the movies! xx

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    1. We just found out though the training has meant loads of treats and loads of weight gain - I think he might be 11 pounds and he's supposed to be six!

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  5. Your kids are brilliant. Love Nil by Mouth (I had a very serious Gary Oldman phase). Glad to hear Teddy is doing well -- looks filled to the brim with joy in that truck with the gang. And yes, beauty secrets please!

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    1. What has he been in lately. The movie was about his father which is kind of frightening for him

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  6. I'm afraid I cannot comprehend the ins and outs of the indoor-outdoor flow. Just because I'm a "go with the flow" kind of Bear doesn't mean I actually know what is going on. And, as DaniBP noted, that indoor-outdoor stuff may not work in Canada at all. Snowed today in the land of the Bear, high of about -5C (23F).

    And I'm suspicious about the 52 bit you giving us. You keep looking younger all the time. And very fetching. (Bet you're closer to 42.)

    Harley in love? How sweet. Cy in prison? Yes, well, . . . you know how to spoil his fun, and sense off adventure.

    Blessings and Bear hugs, anyhow, Jody. Happy Birthday, too. .

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  7. Oh my gosh, too funny about Cy. He sounds like my Griffin. The other day I found he was on Instagram and on his page was,'follow me on Snapchat' !! What? He is signing up for things I didn't even know he knew about. We were mean parents and said no to Snapchat.
    Loving the photo of you guys going out. That scarf is beautiful as are you guys. Yes, movies lately are just a lot of fluff and no meat!! I mean nothing even coming looks so great.. Love those independent ones.
    SO love that home. You have such a cool job Jody! xx
    p.s. Teddy's pic with the pack is precious...He looks so happy.

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  8. American Hustle looked good but I thought it was utter rubbish, what an over hyped film. I don't remember Nil by Mouth at All, will go google, could be the old memory playing up.

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    1. Nil by Mouth link above, pretty brutal but stays with you forever

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  9. Did you ever find out what cutting celery is? Does it whip out a knife and hold you to ransom?

    Love your Cy-Prison dude story. He's often up to weird stuff, isn't he?! I predict a great future.

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    1. Celery seems so 80's now doesn't it? I used to babysit for a woman who was always struggling with her weight and crunching on celery and cottage cheese (another ingredient which seem positively retro)

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  10. Love those kids of yours!

    There is no indoor outdoor flow in New Brunswick - it is either too snowy or too mosquitoe-y.. I am only exaggerating slightly. but then, I am bitter about where I live right now...

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    1. Yes, here has no flies (which are killer in NZ) or mozzies

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  11. Happy Birthday! Wondering if one of the beauty secrets is having such a cool collection of men (incl. dog) in your life? Couldn't hurt.

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    1. How do you know its my birthday, have I got olgtimers and forgot that I posted it?

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  12. Gah - indoor outdoor anything sounds fabulous right now. We are still in winter in Chicago. Bloody freezing, with piles of snow everywhere. Today however, it's decided to rain! We're hoping that will melt the snow - but it will have to warm up a bit!

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  13. Camino, is my dear friends favorite place to dine!As for the "ASKING" to the prom…….YES,I remember it well…….barricades down Glorietta Blvd.with signage to land in front of our house with rose petals from the street to his BED!!He was still in it!With one long stemmed rose asking HER spelled out with rose petals on the floor!

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  14. That's funny, and scary, about Cy, he might have been someone's fantasy. Interesting house the retired teacher had, she must have an incredible retirement.
    The food looked incredible, we'll probably be out in the Bay Area visiting family this year, where is Camino?

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    1. HI, it's in Oakland. Can give you loads of places if you're out here

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  15. I'm so loving the prom sign and Cy's fantasy baseball team (well ex-team I guess). Love a good indoor outdoor home, the one you profiled looks so lovely!
    xo Mary Jo

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  16. I'm looking forward to seeing the Grand Budapest Hotel - sounds like my kind of film. I love the scarf from Barcelona and the cute sign!

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  17. So many things to comment on.
    Firstly, that house you showed at the start is beautiful. All I can say if that was built by a retired special needs teacher, then I'm teaching in the wrong country.

    That Camino menu looks a bit too challenging. Cutting Celery? sounds like some sort of knife

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  18. I'm laughing at Cy my son did something similar and we took him out also, I laughed inside with a stern face. Lovely couple photo funnily I have the same view on your film choices and I listen to the reviewers saying how wonderful these films are and think I'm from another planet. Happy Moters day.

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  19. Your kids are fantastic. The place you ate at looks wonderful too. The house your profiled is lovely, though I would feel like someone was watching me with all the glass. I hope you have a great weekend x

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  20. I adore that house. Read the proper article and it was amusing to read the comments too - wow some people hated it!!
    Your boys make me smile: the mermaid sign is genius.

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  21. Oh I love the prom sign! Your son was so clever to come up with such a cute idea!

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  22. Awww what a romantic son you have. He could teach my husband a thing or two.

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  23. Cy in a fantasy league with the WOMEN prisoners of 'Cell Block H'! The mind boggles.

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  24. Those menus are a delight to read. especially if you don't have to choose.

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