Three 'Grams: Starting Off Strong

Wow. It's been quite awhile since I picked up my proverbial pen and added a little love to the HCH blog. Things have been busy to say the least, and my holiday season stretched just a tad longer than I had originally anticipated it would. After visiting family in Pennsylvania and Florida, we returned home to San Francisco just in time for a giant New Year's Eve party with some college friends. The next few days included a trip to Tahoe, lots of cooking with pals, a jaunt up to Muir Woods and Tomales Bay Oyster Company, and a New Year's Eve reboot party.

The icing on top of my magnificent holiday was meeting Dita Von Teese at Dark Garden while she was promoting her new Von Follies lingerie line. I sent the burlesque legend a box of HCH lingerie last year and we talked a bit about Honey Cooler Handmade. No big deal, right?

I hope your holidays were just as wonderful! To see more of the past few weeks' craziness (including partying with The Bachelor's dashing Juan Pablo - no kidding!), be sure you're following HCH on Instagram!

An impossibly cozy view from our cabin in North Lake Tahoe.

New Year's Eve (take two) at the DNA Lounge

Chatting lingerie with Dita Von Teese

Three 'Grams: Color of the Year

I've been so busy lately that blogging has taken a major backseat for me, but don't think for a second it means that things are all quiet here in my neck of the woods. I'm working hard to launch the first cohesive and official HCH Collection in the next two weeks. I've spent the better part of the last few months drafting, draping, fitting, sewing, organizing and doing all the other grunt work entailed in apparel design. From costing to hand grading, I've had my hands in dozens of different pots and I've loved all of it! There's so much on the horizon, so for now I wanted to take a quiet moment to throw out a Three 'Grams post.

Emerald was Pantone's color of the year and my recent Instagram shots have seemed to fit the trend pretty well. 

Our Hitchcockian room at The Burlington Hotel in Port Costa

Ribbon Corsets in progress for my trunk show with Dollhouse Bettie

 Chicken soup that helped fix this week's wicked cold

HCH Private Eye Sleep Masks Get a Facelift

One of the great things about running Honey Cooler Handmade as a tiny enterprise making one-of-a-kind lingerie is that when my customers make requests, I can often address them without hesitation. There are currently no patternmakers to consult (other than yours truly) and no size runs to adjust, so changes are easy to make.

While my Private Eye Sleep Masks have been a best selling style since their inception, I've also had more than a few requests as of late to make the band bigger. I'm happy to announce that every new Private Eye Sleep Mask is 2" bigger, with average full resting circumference of 17", stretching all the way to a roomy 26" or 27". Even bigger brained? Not to worry - custom work is a snap. Just email me with your stats and we'll take it from there.

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I just finished up a sexy new stash of Private Eye Sleep Masks which are in the official HCH boutique and on Etsy right now. My personal favorite is the red Scarlet Private Eye Sleep Mask, which features a gorgeous dragon lace chevron. Also making a reprise is the Leona Mask, which boasts a sphinx and pyramid motif lace chevron. Each Mask is beautiful, versatile and spacious: the perfect gift for your favorite Sleeping Beauty.

Au Revoir, Europe!

I'm finally back in San Francisco after three weeks in Europe, a trip my husband and I had been waiting to take together since we graduated from college.

We spent the last few months planning our journey, one that saw us from Reykjavik, Iceland all the way to Barcelona, Spain. We spent all 21 nights in twelve separate, beautiful locations, each with its own specific charm, language and climate. (Let's just say I'm glad I packed both heavy duty galoshes and diaphanous dresses - we saw our share of both freezing rain and warm sunshine!)

What a wonderful adventure, and thankfully I was able to take some truly fantastic photos of our explorations - here are a few of my favorite Instagram shots, and there are plenty more here!

Thingvellir National Park - Iceland

Victoria & Albert Museum - London, England

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Antwerp, Belgium

Hotel le Clos Raymi - Epernay, France

Tuileries Garden, Louvre - Paris, France

Palais Garnier - Paris, France

Me in our Paris apartment

Amboise, France

Galerie des Glaces - Versailles, France

La Boite aux Huîtres - Bordeaux, France

Biarritz, France

San Sebastian, Spain

Basque countryside, Spain

Zaragoza, Spain

Casa Batlló - Barcelona, Spain

Though each city and town was special in its own way, I found myself really drawn to San Sebastian - a big surprise, since I thought Paris would be my favorite place out of all of them.

Where's your favorite place to travel?

Fly Away Home

Having spent most of my childhood growing up in Pennsylvania, each time I visit the East Coast my bearings get a little tangled. I love California, but I love Pennsylvania. I love my friends in San Francisco, but I love my core group of high school pals who live all along the East Coast. When my husband and I hopped our flight from Philly to SF last night, I swore up and down that I didn't want to leave my family and friends, but the second I stepped in my house again, the comfort of a home base settled my mind. The eight years I've spent living in the glorious city of SF have muddied my concept of what home really means. Is it possible to feel like you belong in two places at once? Life certainly seems that way to me a lot of the time.

The Ocean City, NJ boardwalk.

Our last few days back on the East Coast were spent in Ocean City, NJ. A group of high school pals, my husband and I got together at the same shore house we've been hanging out at since well before college. It feels good to have that kind of familiarity with a tight group of people after all these years. We basically grew up together and we're now adults together. Now instead of bonding over high school crushes, we bond over beer, cigars and the complications of "grown-up" life. It's so strange, but the saying is true: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In addition to finishing off all the alcohol in the shore house, we had one other duty on our final day in Ocean City: to hit up the boardwalk. There, nothing has changed. It's still loud, crowded, bright and annoying. But it's full of nostalgia too: the good kind. The kind you can only really grab when you're shoulder to shoulder with people you really like. We filled up on Manco & Manco's pizza, Kohr Brothers custard and crab fries while taking in the sights and sounds of the Ocean City boardwalk.

Now I'm back in SF and back to the grind. Back to loving this fair city and back to waiting patiently for another visit back East. There are lots of exciting things on the horizon for me and Honey Cooler Handmade and I can't wait to share them all with you!

The trip back to SF

Beachy Keen in Cape May

If you follow my adventures on Twitter, you know that I traveled to the East Coast on Tuesday to visit my family, attend a wedding and hit the beach. I don't much consider myself an outdoorsy girl, but if a trip to the beach is involved I'm always in. I grew up in Pennsylvania, so my summer vacations often consisted of spending lazy days on New Jersey's beaches. Lucky for me, I get to put my feet in the sand TWICE on this trip since my mom, sister and I decided to visit my mom's place in Cape May together before I head to a pal's house in Ocean City on Sunday.

All sorts of beachy prettiness, including my gogeous sister Kate.

A summer in Cape May is unlike any experience on the West Coast. The ocean is warm enough to swim in, the sun is scorching hot, the nights are balmy and everything there feels very old-world. Cape May is a town chock-full of gorgeous Victorian homes and tons of unadulterated history; Walking down any of its beautiful streets feels like visiting another time.

A walk through the streets of Cape May, dinner at The Lobster House, Miu Miu sandals.

I love coming home to the East Coast each summer, because true summer is what my San Francisco experience is missing. Yes, it's humid, yes, it's hot as all get-out, but being awoken by an early morning thunderstorm on the beach reminds me of what it was like to grow up in this lovely place.

A brewing storm.

Christmas in Maui!

This week, my husband and I returned from our Christmas vacation to Maui. It was such an amazing trip and I wish I'd taken more photos. We went whale watching, swam with more sea turtles than I ever dreamed I'd see in one spot, went surfing (and stood up!), witnessed the grandest sunrise ever at the Haleakala Crater, swam in a jungle waterfall pool and drove the Hana Highway.

One of seven rainbows we saw on our trip. This one popped up on our drive from the airport to Pa'ia.

The H.A. Baldwin Park beach in Pa'ia at sundown.

An amazing view of Lower Puohokamoa Falls on Hana Highway.

The view from the Kaumahina State Wayside along Hana Highway.

The lovely Hana Highway and its itsy-bitsy hairpin turns were a little daunting at times...

The lava rock beach at Ke'anae, a tiny town along the Hana Highway.

I found this little crab critter hanging out in one of the tide pools at Ke'anae's beach. The photo doesn't do this duder justice. His eyes were the prettiest blue I've ever seen!

Sunrise from Haleakala Crater. We left our hotel at 4:30am to get to the top on time. The ascent was 10,000 feet and the temperature dropped into the low 40's. Needless to say we were decked out in ski gear and were still barely able to stand being outside for more than a few minutes at a time.

Sunrise continues.

The surprisingly lush Haleakala Crater in the light of day.

This Haleakala Crater overlook hangs out above the clouds!

Hawaiian hula dancers at our most touristy destination, The Feast at Lele.

The view of Lanai from our hotel room in Ka'anapali.

There were stunning birds at our second hotel destination: parrots, black swans, flamingos (which sleep standing on one leg!) and penguins.

A humpback whale tail!

This humpback kept slapping her tail on the ocean's surface over and over. Our boat's naturalist said that behavior is believed to be a way to attract males.

I love packaged coconut water, but the real thing is out of this world.

And that's that. Time to go back to the grind. But hey, when the grind is sewing lingerie, one can't complain too much. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!

Empire State of Mind

I spent the past weekend in New York City, helping my little sister locate her dream wedding dress, shopping, and going out with college chums. It's hard for me to put into words how much I love New York - I sometimes feel like I belong there instead of in San Francisco.

Because autumn is my favorite season, visiting as fall is beginning to crest makes leaving again all the more difficult. I felt like I was in a fog for most of the trip because I really do miss the East Coast so much, especially this time of year. It usually takes me a few days to shake off the resulting nostalgia.

But I have to remember that New York is a tough place. Its residents are more up-front and in-your-face than San Franciscans. Those are admirable qualities, but there have been a ton of occasions when I felt positively trampled by the city and its people. The truth is that I'm too soft for New York, even sartorially.

Anyway, long story short, I had a lovely (if bittersweet) time in the city. My last hour was spent at a lovely store in the Fashion District where I found these gems... Antique ribbon and Deco rhinestones. The perfect bit of sweetness to take home from a very hard-edged city.

It's good to be back.

Chickens, Dungeness Crabs and Humidity... Oh My!

Well hello there, everyone!

Yes, it's been awhile. I've been away visiting family and friends on the East Coast and have returned from a whirlwind trip (I hesitate to call it a vacation) exhausted, thoroughly humidified and five pounds heavier.

One of our destinations on this excursion was Rock Hall, MD, where my in-laws live. My husband's mom is probably the most creative woman I know. Her home is an homage to color (she's a weaver) and the sweet simplicity of life in small-town America. I had a blast checking out her newest acquisitions and talking shop - she's an Etsy seller too. But my favorite part of hanging out at her house is chilling out with her little herd of chickens. As you can tell from the below photos, I had a little fun with Hipstamatic during our short time on the East Coast. Here are some of my favorite shots!

I'm so glad to be back in SF in time for Labor Day weekend. One thing's for sure, I'm going to be laboring like a madwoman for the next few weeks because Capsule is coming up! Anything exciting going on in your neck of the woods?