They say that significant life changes seem to occur in threes.

Last week I gave you our move to LA.
Which was prompted by a great new job opportunity.
And last night, under a blanket on the porch of one of our favorite spots
he asked.

And you know how newly fiancé’d women say
“I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”?

Well, I do.

If you’re like me you wind down each year with a little reflection.  Some years are bigger than others.  For example, last year I met Nigel (big).  The year before that I became more serious about photography.  I started this blog that year and and spent three weeks in Europe.  The year before that it was a big break up.  You get the picture.

Come December 2012 my look back will serve up a move to Los Angeles. In just a couple of weeks we’re loading up the Volvo and heading South.

It won’t be my first turn around the city of angels.  LA was my home back when life was about working my way up from the bottom.  The very bottom. I was scraping by and paying my dues in those days.  Not to mention a million parking tickets.  Luckily, LA and I have both evolved since then.  At least we both appreciate better food.

This reunion between LA & me, it will be a happy one but leaving San Francisco?  Well, I’m working on that.  Anyone who reads this blog knows my love for this place and my dear friends who live here.  It’s hard to say how much, really.  But as we’ve been loading boxes and orchestrating the transition we’re looking forward to what’s around the corner.

One of the great joys of life in San Francisco is that an errand
to pick up a sheet of plexiglass  can turn into a spontaneous wine country
getaway in the span of – oh – ninety seconds.

Our trip to Home Depot on Saturday went something like this.

It all came down to priorities, really.

Wine + redwoods + pool time + pork shoulder.
And an awesome dog named Elvis?

Or plexiglass?

]]> http://thewischlist.com/2012/04/16/depot-detour/feed/ 1 heathermauvee header2 nigelhiking trees glowee branch wine loot brew room toes2 pool elvis http://thewischlist.com/2012/03/28/toast/ http://thewischlist.com/2012/03/28/toast/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:12:22 +0000 Heather http://thewischlist.com/?p=5946 ]]> Since our trip to the Seychelles, I’ve been mourning a loss. The loss of my Canon 40d. An accidental dip in the Indian Ocean rendered her toast [insert 8-bit, pac man death tone here]. I mean, if you must retire, I suppose there are less interesting ways to go. However, my 40d inspired almost everything that I now do creatively. This blog was started with that camera.

I’ve been making the most of the situation by taking advantage of my favorite iPhone apps so here’s peek into our day at Creator’s Project SF.

Music + Art + Technology + Food
Compliments of my Apple-snapper.

The creme brûlée cart might be the most brilliant truck concept yet.

There is a happy ending to the camera eulogy.
I now am preparing for the arrival of the 40d’s replacement.
The camera of my wildest dreams, in fact.

Pins + needles!

Heather

My acupuncturist/friend/healthy mind-body guru Edith says “there is nothing to do and unlimited time“. I get the intention there but that just doesn’t jive with my truth. You see, life is a flutter over here. So much so that I haven’t even told you about my new ‘by day’ job. Since early January I’ve been producing a variety of brilliant creative projects with a spectacular and stealthy little SF startup. It’s been a wild and inspired ride with a group of talented, hilarious and well-pedigreed folks. Add to the startup hours a few quality weekends with my Mom and Step-Dad and that great trip to St. Louis and you get a year that’s off to a bustling start.  But you know how it goes. You get moving and start to neglect your stuff. Your creative mojo, your relationship, your running shoes.  I have no idea what’s in my refrigerator right now.  So this weekend we powered down our app-pendages and got out of town for a big ‘ole breather.

Read on…

Yesterday began a very exciting, 40 day online event just for you, my wild and oh so wise lady friends.  The WISH summit is fabulous not only because it’s title shares that of my blogsake.  It’s a modern day women’s circle of wisdom!   For 40 days you can receive daily inspiration in the form of recorded interviews with some of my favorite experts on nutrition, relationships, fitness and whole living.  Best part – it’s FREE!

Sign up today and I’ll see you there!

xo
Heather

This great Creative Director in my office, Ben, spit a funny little Nelly rhyme as I was leaving for St. Louis last weekend  - “S.T.L.- M.O.- 3.1.Foe”.  I mean, I think it was Nelly.  I felt all uncool and white, having not heard it before (apparently it’s very “midwest hip hop” which is a thing).  I wish I were one of those people whose skill-set included mad rapper.  Anyhow, it was funny and now I’ll never forget it.

Nor will I forget the wildly happy weekend that I just spent with some friends who travelled to said “3.1.foe” for our girl Patty’s surprise 40^th.   Have you ever been part of someone’s surprise before?  It’s like Christmas morning, the warmest hug and the most hilarious joke all rolled into one.  For Everyone.   And man does this girl deserve it.  Yes, Patty sets a high bar and that husband of hers throws a mean Hawaiian ho-down.

May we never stop surprising each other.

Happy Birthday, Patty!

xo
Heather

Well hello there. How’ve you been? It’s been ages.
I hope that your year is off to a wonderful start and that your holidays were warm and full.

How were mine?  Epic.

[The view from Nigel's parents' place in the Marina neighborhood of Dubai]

[The Burj Khalifa]

[From the top.]

[The Burj Al Arab]

[Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi]

[Dune bashing]

[Praslin Island, Seychelles]

[Mahe Island, Seychelles]

Heavy, happy sigh.
And a very belated and Happy New Year!

xo
Heather

The holidays serve up some spectacular date-night material.
My favorites this week:
Inhaling an entire batch of freshly-set Fleur de Sel Caramels.
(nothing else, just us and candy)
And a spin around the rink.

xo
Heather

]]> http://thewischlist.com/2011/12/02/rink-love/feed/ 0 heathermauvee http://thewischlist.com/2011/11/22/camels-fast-cars-and-a-conundrum/ http://thewischlist.com/2011/11/22/camels-fast-cars-and-a-conundrum/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:55:54 +0000 Heather http://thewischlist.com/?p=5609 ]]>

In a few, sure-to-fly-by weeks Nigel and I will be boarding Emirates Airlines for our holiday travels.

It all starts here:

[Dubai, UAE]

And ends here:

[The Seychelles]

It’s a trip of a lifetime, you might say. That which honeymoons and mid-life-crisises are made of. While we’ve been calling this the honeymoon before the wedding and scarily, I suppose, we are approaching ‘the middle’, it really is neither. Just our wanderlust doing what it does.

And in doing what I do, I have cooked up a number of spreadsheets to help ‘produce’ the trip (as seen here). One of them is documenting our activities including those we’ve booked in advance and the things we might want to schedule when we land.   If all goes as planned we’ll be sailing the pirated seas, dune bashing and sand boarding in the Arabian desert and hiking in the Seychelles with a local guide named David who will prepare lunch with a machete, the nearest mango tree and a banana leaf.

Travel planning with Nigel is a breeze.  For the most part we like and dislike the same things, for example, likes = fois gras and backgammon; dislikes = football and drinking ice-cold water.  But this week presented us with our first trip-related debacle.  The question is this:

Do we spend three of our fourteen hours in Abu Dhabi here?

[Ferrari World]

What, you didn’t know about Ferrari World? You weren’t aware of the largest indoor theme park on PLANET EARTH? That it boasts the fastest roller coaster known to man? And who cares about Ferrari, you ask?

Bite. Your. Tongue.

Insert. Sarcasm. Here.

I love a good roller coaster as much as the next guy and Ferris Beuller and his hookey playing antics did tempt us all.  But I really couldn’t be less interested in this this Ferrari business (no offense the good people of Ferrari). It’s just that we’re from the West. We LIVE in a themepark. If it’s adrenaline we’re after we can be strapped into a roller coaster at any one of three Six Flags within ninety minutes of home. We will be in the Middle East. There are mosques to visit, souks to descend upon, magic carpets and camels to ride. Really babe? Ferarri World?

After some negotiation we concluded that meeting half way and compromising is what partnership is all about.  Sacrificing my inner brat for his pre-pubescent thrill-seeker is part of the drill.  I get it.  Ferrari World it is.  Yaaay.

And in addition to the roller coasters, there’s all of this:

At the end of the day our inner children and outer grown ups are all excited.

Our first holiday together.
The best ride, ever.

]]> http://thewischlist.com/2011/11/22/camels-fast-cars-and-a-conundrum/feed/ 0 heathermauvee Screen shot 2011-11-22 at 8.50.50 PM Screen shot 2011-11-22 at 8.08.54 PM Screen shot 2011-11-22 at 3.39.16 PM Screen shot 2011-11-22 at 3.45.59 PM tripblog