List 47

Love: Having good friends with a place in Sonoma. R and D are generous and wonderful hosts and we are very lucky to be invited up - most recently this past weekend. Even a quick 36 hours up there can feel like a week away. Our proximity to the wine country is one of the things that makes it hard to ever imagine leaving the Bay Area.

Like: 14 Ft in Healdsburg. It's one of the stores I most look forward to stopping by anytime we're in the 707, and it's full of mid-century finds. Last Memorial Day we scored a set of Saarenin dining chairs and a teal baby Bertoia chair for Stella (and sometimes our cat Clara).

Discovery: Medlock Ames, the sexiest tasting room in the valley. We used to stop at the old Alexander Valley Store to pick up basics like milk. Now the store has been replaced by Medlock Ames and it's unrecognizable. The interior design hits all the right notes. I might rip off some ideas for the backyard studio we are building.

Obsession: Ad Hoc's Brunch. We've never been but are desperate to try it.

Complaint: I always look forward to some lazy hours spent reading when we head North. But this past weekend I didn't make much of a dent in my new book, The Tiger's Wife. Young Tea Obreht's debut novel has gotten ridiculously great reviews. Hopefully next week's vacation will mean time to see if it lives up to the hype.