Sunset Celebration Weekend

Last weekend was the Sunset Celebration Weekend at their headquarters in Menlo Park. I went last year with Ryan. It was a great little introduction to the Bay Area for us. We only went one day last year and saw the fabulous Joy the Baker do a presentation. This year, we had a better understanding of the whole event and went both days. I made it sound like so much fun that my parents even came from So Cal to see what it was all about. We had a great time going to different talks, checking out the Sunset Reimagine House, sampling the food trucks, and trying to stay out of the heat.  Here are some of the highlights from the weekend.

Got a retweet from GE. No big deal. :-)

Notebook ready for the day.

Susan Feniger made 4 recipes from her new street food cookbook. Sunset said that was a new record for 30 minutes.

Watched the ever-charming Fabio Viviani make fresh egg pasta and lazy meatballs. I actually let out a little yelp when he came out to check out his station. (He's better looking in person than I thought he would be). I really need to go to his restaurant in Moorpark next time I am in So Cal.

He even threw some pasta dough into the audience.

Lunch time. Buttermilk Chicken sandwich (Petaluma Farms roasted chicken breast with a green cabbage slaw dressed in pickled mustard seed and buttermilk dressing and Niman Ranch bacon on an organic Acme torpedo roll) from Ebbett's Good to Go and Bahn Mi (Mary's Free Range Air Chilled 5 spice grilled chicken with mayo, jalapeños  cilantro, cucumbers, pickled carrots, daikon and soy sauce) from Little Green Cyclo. Also got a Thai iced tea to share with Ryan, but he accidentally drank the whole thing.

Daniel Nolan from Flora Grubb Gardens did a fabulous talk about succulents. He presented a lot of great problem solvers. My favorite was the Sedum rupestre 'Angelina.' It has a great leaf color, does well in both sun and shade, and has an incredibly long bloom time.

Exploring the 3,000 square foot test garden where the editors test everything before putting it in the magazine. Ryan enjoyed "petting" the lamb's ears. It was cute.

That's the end of day 1!

Ready for day 2!

First stop today, the Home Stage. Brian Paquette from BP Interiors and Morgan Satterfield from The Brick House and founder of CAMP gave a presentation about "Bringing Vintage Home." It was reassuring to here that they come home empty handed 9 out of 10 times from a flea market or vintage shop. Maybe I should give it another go.

I stayed in the area for Vanessa de Vargas from Turquoise in LA talking about "Small Space Style." She has lived in a 550 square foot bungalow for the last 18 years. I don't know how she does it.

Lunch from the food trucks again. Since the weather was better on the second time, the lines were about 4 times as long. But I somehow scored a table and turned away the chair sharks as I waited for my parents.

We got the seafood paella from Hapa SF and Crispy Pork Belly with Kimchi Fried Rice from Chotto.

Next up, "Designing your outdoor living room" by Sunbrella. Even though, it was mainly about their products, I now would highly recommend their fabrics. Gina Wicker, the Design and Creative Director, had a great tip about outdoor cushions for built in benches. Instead of making one long bench cushion for a bench that may change, make cushions that are 18" x 18" with a handle on one side. That way you can carry them around the yard for different uses or take them to the park for a picnic.

Gina did a little quiz at the end to see if we were paying attention. I had my notebook out the whole time, so I was ready. My hand shot up first for the last question and I won this fabulous little zipper pouch! It is totally coming with me to Hawaii. Want to know what the question was? How many square feet is their warehouse in North Carolina? Answer: 1,000,000 square feet! That is six zeros! One million! I calculated that out later and it is 23 acres!! OMG! Like seriously...WOW!

Since we were done with all of our talks for the day, we had time to check out the Reimagine Home, Test Kitchen, and the vendors.

This awesome art piece of California was done by Scott Coppersmith Designs. I want need this in my home.

I loved the playful hammock in the living room. Also on the wish list.

Okay, I also loved this outdoor seating on the deck.

The test kitchen was great to see a little behind-the-scenes snippet of what goes on at Sunset Magazine.

And how adorable is this? Succulent Gardens: The Growing Grounds in Castroville put it together.

Here is an upclose look.

And this was a beautiful fountain in the courtyard area at the Home Stage. Each side had a state in the Sunset area with the state flower. Of course, I got a shot of the California side.

Thanks Sunset for an amazing weekend and showcasing everything the West has to offer.

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