Acme Bread...breaking bread never smelled so good.
I'm getting really confused lately and often feel that I need to stop, close my eyes and concentrate. Square up, Square space, artful home, stripe, art jewelry today, scheduling workshops, metrics, online registration, open studios, 2015, the need to create really big earrings, and when to schedule time off...Time off usually goes on the back burner.
Alison's home made cookies for Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios.
Everything is more accessible than ever, leaving no down time. Wi Fi is even allowed on flights these days, although I pretend it doesn't exist and use that time to start a novel or catch up on the conveyor belt of New Yorker magazines that keep accumulating. Waiting in the Acme Bread lines in Berkeley is a great way to catch up on idle time....there's good people watching, you might strike up a conversation with another bread liner, then there's the bread; an assortment of every shape and size, dark, light, sweet and savory...however, it's the aroma that is intoxicating and worth it every time the line moves up enough so you can scoot inside while waiting your turn...Edible Schoolyard for me, if they have it. Otherwise, I settle for something equally exquisite.
Devil's Teeth Bakery's Chocolate Cake and espresso.
My phone rings while I'm hiking, and I pretend that there are no cell bars, but I check it just in case. Emergency's usually happen at less convenient times. And, somehow, I find time to bake cookies for Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios, (weekend #3 coming up). I relish the time and focus baking requires. It's all chemical reactions so if you don't use your ingredients correctly, you might not have success. Chocolate chip cookies are pretty straight forward, I gather all of the ingredients so I'm good for the duration of the event and every Friday, I get to work. It's O.K. since the protesting here started, it's better to get inside by 5 p.m. ...maybe put on an album...although I've been missing out on getting to the gym--another great source of a mental break from the cacophony of life.
Ocean Beach, San Francisco!
And then there's cake and worthy pilgrimages...The Pacific Ocean is just out there...NOTE: I'm pointing West. Driving there ends up being a full day trip. A few weeks ago, heading Westward landed me a few blocks from the beach at Devil's Teeth Bakery, a laid back, completely unpretentious cafe. The cakes and pastries looked and were, divine, they were not show pieces for magazines or award banquets, they were more rustic...chocolate cake, simply, along with a perfect espresso to go with it. My search for idle time or a day off or even a half day off, for respite, ended nicely...that day. I had my cake, I ate it and walked over to the beach where the balmy weather and fog seeped in to my skin, allowing me to close my eyes, breathe and think of nothing too important.