Sunset Magazine's New Oakland Home First Look

I have been a huge Sunset magazine fan for years now and am SO excited they moved their headquarters to Oakland--yay for the east bay! I was even more excited that I got to get a first look at their new digs at 55 Harrison Street in Jack London Square. I don't think these photos do it justice--I was completely floored by the new office space. From the beautifully designed test kitchen (think Heath Ceramics tiles, open space, cork flooring and clean lines) to the all-glass, floor-to-ceiling wine "cellar", there was no detail left untouched. I also loved that they kept some of the artwork and iconic pieces of furniture from the old headquarters.

After more than 50 years in the iconic Cliff May-designed headquarters in Menlo Park, Sunset moved to Jack London Square in Oakland, a vibrant neighborhood full of small businesses and awesome restaurants, coffee spots, and of course, Miette (my fave!). The new offices were designed by San Francisco architects RMW.

Side note: Our Cliff May-designed home is the only one in Berkeley. We were featured in the January 2011 issue of Sunset Magazine--Lucas was so tiny then!

One of my favorite parts of the office is this floor to ceiling library housing stacks of Sunset magazine archives, cookbooks, pieces from the old headquarters, and even a little reading nook seamlessly built right in.

I could look at this space all day. And that painting!

Below is Margo True (right), Sunset's Food Editor (love her recipes!) with Carol Shih (left), Digital Associate Editor.

And check out Sunset's original test kitchen on the cover the November 1966 issue!

Here's Oakland's Mayor, Libby Schaaf, on one of the office tours.

Below to the right is Sunset's Editor-in-Chief, Irene Edwards. I really loved meeting her--she was so down-to-earth, vibrant and full of positive energy.

I'm allergic to alcohol but this floor-to-ceiling glass wall wine cellar was so dreamy.

More books! And that wooden slat wall--LOVE! Reminds me of a George Nelson platform bench.

I'm also excited to visit Sunset's main test garden beds and outdoor kitchen at Cornerstone, a public garden, event and retail space in Sonoma. Below is Johanna Silver, Sunset's test garden guru. What a rad job!

One of the highlights of the night was guest chef Tanya Holland, Executive Chef and Owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen and B-Side BBQ in Oakland, CA. She demonstrated a quick version of her technique for flavorful fried chicken and served it up with a bright and zingy black eyed pea salad and buttermilk biscuits. Yum!

For dessert were these delicious little Mini S'mores made by one of my favorite bakeries Miette.
Nine of them count as one normal sized one, right?

This is the other kitchen where some photo shoots and guest chef demonstrations take place. The all white dishes and accessories along with the copper Kitchen-Aid mixer (LOVE) were generously provided by Williams-Sonoma.

Sprinkled throughout the office were these gorgeous arrangements by Berkeley's Flowerland (signs were printed by my friend Rori at Paper Monkey Press).

These addictive Candied Rosemary Hazelnuts were a sneak peak from Camp Sunset, A Modern Camper's Guide to the Great Outdoors (Oxmoor House, May, 2016). The recipe is from chef-owner Jason French of the Portland restaurant Ned Ludd. I'm totally going to make these!

I mean, look at their view!

Thanks for the awesome housewarming invitation. Welcome to the east bay, Sunset! Check out more photos on Instagram #TheNewSunset.

The Sunset Celebration Weekend is coming up on May 14th and 15th at Cornerstone in Sonoma Wine Country which will include the debut of the new Sunset Test Gardens and Outdoor Kitchen and will reflect the sophisticated lifestyle and taste of Sunset’s gorgeous new Sonoma Wine Country location.

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Theo's Food Themed 2nd Birthday Party

I can't believe Theo turned two in August. It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun. And when you have kids. This year's party was really similar to his first birthday party -- a pretty low key celebration at our home with family and friends. By the time Theo's birthday rolls around, I feel like I'm just coming down from the excitement and craziness of Lucas' birthday party in April. This year's theme wasn't so clear cut -- Theo generally likes whatever his big brother likes, but no interests or obsessions in particular stood out in particular this year. I realized later that the big difference between Lucas and Theo is that Theo loves to eat. So why not a food-themed party?

The invitations I designed were inspired by his eight favorite foods, which include: blueberries, peanut butter, pretzels, and bok choy. I photographed each of the foods, and laid them out against a white background so they stood out. Under each photo, I inserted the name of the food, followed by Theo's own pronunciation. The invites were flat-printed on heavy, bright white cotton stock, and mailed in a kraft envelope with a custom liner (Theo's yogurt-covered face of course!). Finally, the envelopes were sealed with a black and white wraparound address label. My favorite line on the invitation was, "If you know Theo, you know this kid loves to eat." I mean, he wears the same size pants as Lucas except they're way too long. ;)

We decided to make breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Elmwood Cafe, a tradition on birthday mornings for the kids. We threw on the birthday crown for Theo and I snapped a bunch of sweet photos of the boys on the steps on our way to the car. Lucas has been the most amazing big brother in every way and Theo simply adores him.

It's always so hard to choose just a few items here. Everything is so delicious! We ended up getting the frittata with summer squash, peas, and poblano peppers with organic greens, a mushroom, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, a cornmeal waffle with organic O'Henry peaches and Vermont maple syrup, a soy latte for me, a house coffee for Nick, and orange juice for Lucas and Theo.

While we waited for our food, I busted out the bag of good ol' random Legos and Matchbox cars to keep the boys busy. It's always fun to see how serious Theo gets when building things. He's got some pretty great fine motor skills for his age (whereas Lucas excels in those gross motor skills if you know what I mean).

After breakfast we walked down the block to pick up our giant order of donut holes from Dream Fluff Donuts for the party -- a tradition at every Jackson kid party. I designed the paper cones using abstract grayed out elements from the invitation as well as Theo's "signature". These are always a big hit with kids and grown ups alike.

And the biggest hit (other than Theo the birthday boy of course) were these S'mores Pot de Creme party favors. To go along with the food theme, I wanted to give something away that our guests could eat. We hired the amazing Andie from Bakin Bit again this year to cater our party (guys, she is crazy talented but also crazy busy!). I had seen these amazing creations she made for Oh Happy Day and asked if she could recreate it using Ball jars that would be given away as favors. They couldn't have bee more perfect -- food themed, delicious, super cute, and the jars are reusable! Many of our friends and family said they were the best dessert they'd ever had. I'm going to have to make these and store them in my fridge! I designed some coordinating labels for each jar to make them even cuter.

For a food themed party you have to have awesome food, right? While brainstorming menu ideas, I thought some sort of bar would be perfect for little ones. My first thought was a grilled cheese bar but then I remembered how last year Andie made this incredible mac 'n' cheese that people wouldn't stop talking about. I suggested a mac 'n' cheese bar and she went with it! She whipped up gooey mac 'n' cheese and had a slew of toppings people could choose from -- breadcrumbs, cherry tomatoes, pea shoots/peas, parmesan cheese, sauteed mushrooms, bacon bits, feta cheese crumbles, jalapenos, green onions, and sriracha sauce. She also made a strawberry, peach, and blueberry (all of Theo's favorites) salad with mint, a kale quinoa salad with cucumbers, and turkey dogs rolled in puff pastry on a stick (another crowd favorite).

The party REALLY got started when Eric (Theo's magical preschool teacher) and Jaime from Your Song My Song showed up to play music, sing, and dance in our backyard. They are just plain awesome and everyone loves them! They also sang Let It Go and you know all the kids got their groove on!

More dancing and noshing from the mac 'n' cheese bar!

The ever so sweet Jeanne from Shop Sweet Things and her adorable kids and hubby George (rockin' the polka dots!)

Not sure what Eric and Jaime did here (did someone take their pants off or something?) but I'm so glad I captured this photo! Theo's confused.

It was way past Theo's nap but Nana was secretly happy about that because look at Theo's little pudgy body melting in her lap.

It's cake time!!! I made a large carrot cake and a bunch of cupcakes. Remember how I said Theo loves to eat? Well, he ate that cupcake AND half the liner!

This year's thank you cards were postcards. Designed with a full bleed photo of Theo walking to pick up donut holes, along with his "signature," these postcards came out super cute while saving money on stamps and envelopes.

Thanks so much for everyone who came to celebrate Theo's birthday. We missed a bunch of friends but there's always next year! :)

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+ Also featured on 100 Layer Cakelet and Oh So Beautiful Paper
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