Here are this week’s Thursday Things:
There are four festival locations (Vermont, California, Colorado, Whistler) filled with days of yoga, live music, nature, hikes, farm to dinner tables, and wine tastings.
And probably a whole lot of sweat, lack of showering, and patchouli going on.
I’d love to go to the California one in Tahoe/Squaw Valley. Or any of them. I bet the energy is fabulous.
2. How to Blog About Food: Useful Tips for New, Emerging and Aspiring Food Bloggers
Also included in that post are 100 links to other posts
Seriously, prepare to link hop and get sucked in.
If you’re a (food) blogger, writer, photographer, run a web-based business, have a website, the links are priceless.
3. The Honest Chocolate Box Guide
What you think you’re eating…
4. What it really is…
5. I went to San Diego Rustic Furniture. I can’t believe I’ve lived in San Diego since 2004 and I have never been there. It is truly mind-blowing the amount of old furniture (100+ years old) they have from around the world. China, India, Mexico, and more.
Furniture was stacked against the walls, on pallets; pieces were stacked many layers high on top of other pieces. There were rows and rows of old furniture and there was furniture outdoors.
Furniture was literally hanging from the rafters.
Note the chairs hanging from the ceiling.
6. I went there because I decided that it’s time to stop taking pictures of cookies and bars, bent over my kitchen island, trying to maneuver weird angles, backgrounds, while working with the ever-changing lighting.
7. I need a table. Novel concept, those things called tables.
I can’t use my dining room table because it’s black and the surface is too dark for pictures and some natural wood grain is nice in photos. Plus it’s in an under-exposed corner of the room rendering the lighting on it useless.
8. I bought this 140+ year old Chinese table used for writing by the Chinese.
It will be used for photography by me.
There were so many tables, consoles, sidebars, writing tables, huge doors, wood and metal surfaces of all kinds, sizes, shapes. The selection blew my mind.
I could have spent days months comparing, debating, making trips back over many months, waiting to see what came in.
When I saw this piece, I knew the surface area of the tabletop was big enough for photos, but small enough to fit in our already fully-furnished urban condo. That’s code for no extra room to spare.
I love the surface of it and it has storage to hold some linens, fabrics, and a few photography props.
9. After shopping, it’s good to take a break and eat something. Like cookies.
Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF with vegan adaptation)
10. Thanks for the Purefit Nutrition BarGiveaway entries
What are your Thursday Things?
Feel free to link up anything noteworthy you’ve done, seen, eaten, or made.
What’s your taste in furniture? Rustic, antique, modern, clean, a mixture?
Most of my house is decorated and appointed with furniture from West Elm. I love the modern, crisp, and clean styles. The color palette is chocolates, slate grays, creams, and white.
However, I do love rustic finds and mixing in some rustic, antique, one-of-a-kind pieces amidst the more contemporary. It’s all about seeing what works, in what room, with what existing pieces, and without making things cluttered. I hate clutter and aim for the less-is-more approach. And less is more in an urban condo where every square foot counts.
Have you been to any outdoor festivals, concerts, art shows, or gatherings? Any plans to check any out this summer?
I love outdoor festivals; live music, fabulous people watching, grazing on the food and drinks, enjoying the weather, and taking it all in. Sounds like a perfect summer day to me.
It’s almost Friday!
That table rocks, plain and simple.
I’m sort of a non-furniture girl. Well, I have a mattress, a couch and stools at my breakfast bar but that’s about it…
My Thursday thing is southwest pumpkin soup, I was surprised how much I liked it:
What’s crazy is I have some pumpkin recipes Ive been thinking of making but it’s not seasonal and don’t know how well it would go over this time of year on the blog. Then again, bloggers seem to really, disproportionately, really really love pumpkin :)
Yeah go ahead and go pumpkin! The fact that nobody else is doing pumpkin right now is kind of why I decided to have a Pumpkin Week in Spring on my blog. I figure in fall I’d get lost in the pumpkin shuffle;)
EXACTLY! The fall is just one big pumpkinfest and there is so much, it begins to be…overkill and lost in the shuffle so I agree with your logic!
The honest chocolate box is hilarious! My house is modern/clean–gives me a calm, zen feeling. I like the idea of mixing in a rustic piece but don’t want a cluttered look either , so I haven’t done it yet. Your new table will look great in your condo from the pics I’ve seen. Love your West Elm taste!!
I would love to see your style and house. We sound similar!
Love LOVE the Honest Chocolate Box Guide. Seriously, so many <3's for that. All too true, right!? Curious which ones rang true for you!? For me it's the solid chocolate… So lame. Haha. I am curious what else this type of spoof could be played upon! Halloween candy/Easter baskets/ Christmas stockings??
I think it could be made into a Universal-seasons type thing :)
Beautiful table!
We go to an outdoor theatre in Summer/Fall to see plays. It’s beautiful. And of course it’s picnic time beforehand!
oh thats going to look absolutely gorgeous in your photos. I use a slab of old distressed wood just on top of a mini fold up table and it works right now in my tiny apartment. Someday I’d love a nice big piece like that though with more room and storage to spread out. Can’t wait to see the shots using it!
I would love a slab that I can swap on and off, too. The current kitchen island is just funky and awkward. I am always shooting over my right shoulder/hand, never really fully straight on. I need this table, so badly!
I need to find a store like that!! Gorgeous find with the table – the storage makes it even more perfect.
I’m thinking about going to Summerfest, thanksf or the reminder. :D
You and I would have a BALL at a festival. The people watching, commentary, drinking, LOLing at it all..one day :)
Ahhhh, I would go CRAZY in that furniture store– I love places like that!!
That chocolate box thing cracks me up :) My Thursday things? I’m just glad its Thursday! What a busy week! Can’t wait to get outside in the sunshine
GREAT table, Averie! And that chocolate box picture cracked me up!!
Hi Krista! Thanks for saying hi! Hope you’ve been well!
Ohhh that table is just perfect for photography! Gorgeous!!
You and I would have a FIELD DAY in that store. Girl. I can’t even quite tell you that as a photographer, it’s even more amazing. You would love it. Come to San Diego so we can shop!
haa HAA, the chocolates. SO true.
I love your new table! I am looking for a large rustic table for our formal dining area, for photography and sometimes, actual dining use. I need that shop here in Portland!
funny you say that about black tables… I am wanting a tall “pub style” table with stools for our kitchen, and when we bought this house it was staged with a black table… I was looking at tables yesterday, thinking black, but also found a lighter wood I liked… I may have to think about that (I have so many areas of natural light in our new place!!) :D
oh, festivals. I have been to many. here in Oregon we have some great ones, then there is Beloved, another favorite. In college I went to the biggest “fest” of all – Burningman – for many years… ;)
“and sometimes, actual dining use” — LOL. Isn’t the the truth of it.
And be careful with the black woods. The grain looks really artificial in photos; it doesn’t look “cool”. It looks…weird. Mahogany, super dark cherry, they tend to be fine but not black. Learned that the hard way. Not to mention, you need to increase ISO or go down a few f/stops to compensate for the black surface so not only is the background black, grainy and boring, your photo quality is adversely effected b/c there is no light bounce. All these things I realize in retrospect AFTER buying my black table and chairs.
Bria and I trekked it up to Wanderlust VT last year, and I’m just making all my arrangements to go this year. I might be doing a trifecta- VT, CO, and Cali. Who knows. My friends run the office so I volunteer for the festival as well as for Off The Mat Into The World (met Seane and all of them last year, fell in love). Can’t wait to go this year, it was aahhhhhhhhhmazing last year.
Just hearing you talk about them…oh I just got Festival Fever, even more! Can’t believe you were at Wanderlust…how amazing. Take me with :)
That table is divine. It will be so beautiful when used with photo taking. Congrats on the find!
Thanks, Katie. I love it and it’s been delivered soon! Can’t wait to see how it looks in the house!
I did Bamboozle back in my I like emo-punk rock days. It was an experience, even though we only went for one day – I wanted to see Taking Back Sunday, who was headlining.
I’ve heard of Bamboozle and that it gets pretty over the top! Fun though!
going to high sierra music festival for the 3rd year in a row! (https://www.highsierramusic.com/) it’s one of the best (no humidity, great vibe, GORGEOUS surroundings!)
the wanderlust (CA) festival is in my back yard and I did go a few years ago — totally gorgeous, too!
I wish my backyard looked like that! :) The music festival sounds great!
LOL – love your description of the festival ;-) We went to an outdoor concert last year – first time in ages. I feel sooooo old! And that table is amazing. I love old pieces like that – big fan of antiques. There is just so much history and richness there.
I think I actually remember that blog post of yours or you mentioning it. Yes, feeling old at things like that, ikwym!!
History and richness, indeed. Would love to know the stories that desk could tell!