I spent a long weekend recently visiting my family in California, and have some things to report! As many of you know, San Francisco is a city forever in my heart, so I was very happy to be able to catch the Ruth Asawa Retrospective at SF MoMA with my brother. Ruth Asawa’s work has been around in my memory forever- her twisted wire sculptures popping up in museums and public spaces all over the place. She spent six decades in San Francisco and her retrospective highlights her world where art, family and community were one and the same. It’s a fantastic exhibit, and I highly recommend making the trip to see if before it ends in early September.

I drove down the coast through Santa Cruz, to hang out in Carmel with my parents for a few days. We did our obligatory thrift store circuit around town- none of us found anything this time, but I was regalled with stories of previous epic scores. We went up to cutie Pacific Grove and tooled around, and ended up in Monterey at the Cooper Molera Adobe House. The historic home is now a museum and has a sweet strolling garden. We avoided the lines this time, but I’d love to come back to taste some goodies from Alta Bakery! Back in Carmel, we enjoyed long walks on the beach, browsing antique shops, and a delicious meal at the local’s joint, Tommy’s Wok.

On recommendation from Julia at the shop, my dad and I drove down to Big Sur to have breakfast at Deetjan’s one morning. The restaurant was decorated in the 1930’s by an English woman, and hasn’t been changed since. It was just as Julia described- super funky, and exceedingly charming! I had the best breakfast burrito in my memory. Next, we stopped at the Henry Miller Library. Despite living in Santa Cruz for four years and traipizing around the Big Sur for forever, I had never been here before! The library was so neat and had a great selection of books for sale, and there was some very funky art on the grounds. I was surprised by the view behind the library- a majestic redwood gully. That day, the staff was setting up for a Grateful Dead tribute band. I'd love to see a show there someday.

I took a meandering drive back to San Francisco on Sunday. I randomly stopped in Castro Valley at Pezzini’s farm stand for a coffee and an Ad Astra croissant before swinging west to 101 North. I’ve had Beklina’s Aptos brick-and-mortar shop on my map for a few years, and despite being open by appointment only, I took a chance by stopping by on my way through town. By a stroke of luck, Carmella, daughter of Beklina’s owner, was there and graciously welcomed me in. The stand alone shop is so cute, and I tried on several fun pieces from their current collection. I loved this Okinawa blouse, but ended up getting these basic, semi-sheer gingham pants that I know I will wear the heck out of. I can’t wait to visit again, next time with an appointment.

My next detour was to Stanford University to visit the Cantor Arts Center. I can’t remember who told me about the museum recently, but I was determined to go after visiting SF MoMA and learning about Ruth Asawa’s “Wall of Masks”, which is in the art center’s permanent collection. The real surprise here though, were the three clay vessels that were created by Ruth’s son, ceramicist Paul Lanier. The clay for these vessels was mixed with the ashes of Asawa, her late husband and one of her sons, so that they may “be physically and spiritually reunited”. It was a very profound and humble experience that I was unprepared for, essentially visiting the artist’s “burial” place. How appropriate that is was in a free museum, for anyone to visit at any time.