Daily Oakland Sunset on Instagram

Wow it's been a while! And that while has been crazy, I must say! I'll get into what's been going on this past year in future posts...maybe...or maybe I'll just say I'm happy to be back and looking forward to the future! Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to dedicate this post to my new project, and tell everyone a bit about it. Ever since Instagram finally developed an app for Android, I've been hooked. After some time I noticed that a majority of my pics were of the absolutely gorgeous sunsets that we get almost every night here in the bay area. Sooo, I created a new account specifically for those shots so I could share what I loved with people who love the same thing, and feature their shots as well! In under just 8wks we're already over 750 sunset lovers strong, and 2 of my contributors have been chosen as Photo of the Week on an Oakland Tourism site visitoakland.org ! Its pretty awesome! It's been really fun for me to see all the different perspectives my fellow East Bay artists have when capturing their sunsets every day. And dedicating that little time each evening to finding somewhere to shoot, trying new ways of immortalizing the moment, and just consciously chillin out and watching Mother Nature at work has been so relaxing, and fulfilling. I'm grateful for everything around me on a daily basis, which has been a long time coming. :-) Feel free to come join us on Instagram: @dailyoaklandsunset

Views from the Bay Bridge

A couple years ago, I got stuck on the Bay Bridge with hundreds of other morning commuters as a deranged gentleman ahead of us threatened to throw himself into the Bay, and blow up the bridge behind him. The police set up a roadblock, stopped traffic, and handled the situation after a couple hours with the SWAT team and plenty of news coverage...and no harm to anyone. We weren't being evacuated, were told not to be alarmed, but were pretty much stuck. Being stuck in the middle of the Bay Bridge didn't really afford us much to do except mill around and snap pictures. But, in retrospect, (given that the gentleman did not end up hurting himself or any other person), what a unique opportunity! I'll probably never get a chance to stand on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge again, as it's not pedestrian friendly. Looking back at Oakland.. And out towards San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.. Just another reminder of how to turn a crappy situation into something better :)

Mother Kombucha and the Neverending Green Onion

Sounds like the title for an offbeat fairy tale or something, eh? Kind of! Mother Nature does indeed pull off some pretty amazing magic. Recently, we happened to be the lucky recipients of some of that magic, thanks to a couple awesome friends!

The lovely Dominique hooked us up with a batch of homebrewed Kombucha tea, complete with a couple Mothers and a nicely growing Scoby on top! She even gave us her personal recipe for Kombucha tea, and care instructions! Such a sweetheart :) More on Kombucha tea here.


While making dinner at our place a few days ago, our good buddy Paige shared a little tip she'd picked up off Pinterest (god, I'm addicted to that site..), for neverending green onions! The next time you have green onions, instead of tossing the trimmed white root ends, submerge them in fresh water in a small jar and place them in a sunny windowsill. Within a couple days, they'll start shooting all over again! We've had the jar on the right for only 4 days and look where it's at, already! Just snip off what ya need, keep the water fresh, and you'll hopefully not have to pay for green onions for a long time!
Happy Growing!

Temescal Tool Lending Library

Hey all!.I'm knee deep in building a custom work table for our studio, as well as a few other projects! I'll document the whole build process in a couple days when it's all done, but here's a sneak peak at the mish mash of gathered items that'll be screwed/nailed/glued/willed together to create something very distinctly "Breanna" (rack full of stuff not included)


As part of this build, I've had the need for some tools that I dont (yet) own. Enter the wonderful Temescal Tool Lending Library!

This amazing little wing of the Oakland Public Library group has over 2700 different tools to check out, and it's all free as long as you've got a library card! From the gnarliest power tools to teeny tiny hand tools, they've got you covered, and are all smiles and helpful about it to boot!
The Tool Lending Library is located at the back of the Temescal Branch Library, a beautiful red brick building in the Temescal neighborhood in Oakland. They offer workshops, volunteering oportunities, and a super welcoming atmosphere for the wide range of patrons they see every day. I feel really lucky to a so close to this unique resource :)

Temescal Tool Lending Library
5205 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 597-5089


Now I'm off to rev up the power tools and get buildin!

Rainy Oakland

Some shots from a recent rainy walk through our hood...

(PS, finished shots of the door table and all the other projects I've got going are soon to come!)