Emerald City

Recycled glass mulch at the Cornerstone Shops in Sonoma County, CA

San Francisco Day Three: Sonoma County

My San-Fran trip is the best EVER! Having lots of fun!  Today, we went up to Sonoma County to visit the Cornerstone shops, including Artefact (recommended by Susan Cohan).  After the Cornerstone, we went into downtown Sonoma and walked around the square. Here’s a photographic recap:

Big Blue Chair

Everyone visiting the Cornerstone Shops must have their picture in the big blue chair.  Here I am (left) with my friend Natalie (right).  Natalie’s about 8 inches shorter than me!

Lavender Heaven

Clipped lavender shrubs were all over.

Colorful Inspiration

I always love seeing new color combinations, and inspiration in different places.  I always forget how much I love a dark red and turquoise together, until I see it somewhere.

Don’t Skip Zipper

One of the shops is called “Zipper,” and it’s like wandering through a carefully “curated” (as Susan Cohan said about Artefact) collection of gift items, books, household items and modern children’s gifts.  I wanted everything in the store.

Succulent Succulents

Artefact had several giant bowls of succulent plants. I really wish I could drive a truck home from this trip, so I could take one of these with me:

Artefact

They had gigantic wood balls (5 feet in diameter and more) that would look GREAT in my garden.  Especially, since my garden is small, and these are HUGE.  They’d totally mess with the scale.

Architectural Gardens

Cornerstone has many (I ran out of stem before I could see them all) little display gardens on the property.  Some are designed by local designers, and others are designed by national or international names.  They’re all delightful.

Sonoma

We parked behind the Sonoma County State Park buildings.  The town’s architecture is an interesting mix of Victorian, arts and crafts and mission.

I had just about had ENOUGH for one day when

I spotted a sign for a book store and started speed walking toward it.  BUT, I was stopped in my tracks by this fun shop: Tiddle E. Winks.  They have lots of funny “penny candy,” as well as nostalgic reproductions and original games from the 1950s.  I picked up some funny souvenirs for my husband, and my friend found a Purdue University Rose Bowl pennant (we went to Purdue together) from Purdue’s appearance in the Rose Bowl in 1967, when Scott’s dad was there. Pretty swell!

End of the Mission Trail

And the end of the day, for me.

We drove home, looking at miles and miles of vineyards out the window, marveling that people drink all of the wine produced by the grapes.  (We also snuck in a wine tasting, but those pictures will remain on the camera!)  Artefact will be at the San Francisco Garden Show, and I recommend visiting their booth. Because I couldn’t buy a big ball, I bought a couple of books.  And then I got a couple more at the indie bookstore across from Tiddle E. Winks.  If you’re out for the Flower Show, I HIGHLY recommend a trip up to Sonoma.