"Mad Hatter" Benefit for Mentor Me in Petaluma. Coming up this Saturday, May 1st. I've been to…read moreothers prior to being a mentor myself and it is fun, fun, fun. Tons of fundraising happening at the event, from the dinner to silent auction, wine bar, martini bar, best hat contest, live band. and all monies go to help Mentor Me Petaluma. This organization continues to serve the community, year after year. Awesome organization and now I'm a mentor and it is rewarding.

Great Bash for a GREAT CAUSE!!!…read more Don't really understand what Kathy O's problem is down there at the bottom. But like any other organization, the fund raising events are fund raising events and the work is the work. BOTH are great and the MHB is the place to be on Saturday (I'll be there!!!)

Happened to be in town on the first Thursday of the month and checked out the Sonoma Art walk…read more Great turnout and great pours across all the stops. Arts Guild was the host of this months walk great event and friendly staff. What a great event!

When I'm in a new Town, if there's a local Arts Guild Shop, I'm there. Some of my best gifts or…read morehome artistic flourishes have come from such Cooperatives, with notable places including Barcelona, Edmonton, and Spirit Lake Iowa. And no matter where I go, I find the selection to be varied and unique, the quality high, the prices reasonable, and the background to a particular piece to be fascinating. I also feel good about supporting local artists and truly feel that such places are the best gift shops in Town. This time around, I bought a beautiful ceramic table piece. It has a distinct shape, stunning red colouring, good heft, and a nice feel to the touch. It was designed and crafted by Beverly Prevost, who I had chance to meet a few minutes later at La Haye Are Center next door. The Guild member working the Gallery was friendly and informative, and I didn't mind helping her figure out how to work the credit card machine. After all, Right Brain Creativity doesn't always translate to an immediate grasp of Left Brain Details.

This is a great community center, complete with coffee, tea, juice and personable staff. They host…read moremany events to educate or promote discussion on progressive politics. The only thing that bothered me is their irrational decision-making process. The acoustics in the building are so atrocious that, if there's music in one event room, people can't hear the speaker or each other in the other gathering room. So I found some clean, undamaged foam boards and asked whether they'd like them. They said yes, and I brought them in to cover the glass door to one of the rooms. Then someone they'd known longer came along and opined that SEEING styrofoam would cause people to buy it, and they threw it into the dumpster. So now they still have rotten sound, and those foam boards will be leaching toxins into the ground until Earth falls back into the sun.

I love the Healing Sanctuary they have there once a month. The Sound Table is truly a work of…read moregenius.

West County Glass Art & Supply is an awesome glass art gallery, and source for glass art supplies…read more The owners and staff are very outgoing and friendly! They have great prices on flameworking supplies, and classes. You can even rent studio space if you already know how to blow glass. I used to have to drive all the way down to Richmond, Ca for flameworking supplies, but now I am extremely pleased to be able to buy my materials locally!

I went to West County Glass Art & Supply asking for help. I needed a replacement stopper for a…read moreliquor decanter. The owner and his wife couldn't have been any nicer. I didn't have the original piece, told him I wasn't an artist and didn't feel as if I could draw what I wanted. He quickly sketched out what he thought I was looking for, gave me a time line and a general price which would be determined by how much time it took him to produce my piece from scratch. Not only did he meet his timeline (although I didn't impose one on him) but he also kept the price down. I'm so very happy to have what he created from scratch. My decanter is displayed with pride and I'll always remember this couple when I see it on the bar.

The treasure that Laguna de Santa Rosa is has been hidden in plain sight.... the appearance is…read moredisarming, the ED and Manager of Heron Hall are quiet and focused. They manage a number of volunteers as well as staff to do the work of saving species and preserving native plants. All this help the wildlife which use the Laguna area for their home. From the top of Mt Hood to the Sonoma County Botanical gardens, along all the creeks, streams to the river, they work to keep things alive and working to reclaim the land. Thank you all at The F

The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation is working to bring the outdoors to the classroom. 20 years…read moreinto this program in the time of covid, the education staff is using social media to continue the mission to inspire the next generation, to give the sense of awe, to make curious, to provide insights. For the older folk, learning about the value of the Laguna to the whole of our watershed is part of the package. Vernal pools, restoration projects and a collaboration with the California Native Plant Society to conserve seeds and grow Monarch-friendly milkweed are on offer. This is a hidden gem in our very precious Sonoma landscape. Look for it.

I had the pleasure of stopping by Fiber Circle Studio last weekend with my mom. She highly…read morerecommended checking them out, and I'm so glad we did. Some other yarn shops can feel very gatekeeper-ish in my experience, but I didn't get that vibe at all here. As soon as I stepped in, I was greeted warmly by a table full of people and an employee leading a class or group. I didn't require any assistance, but the employee made a point to come over and briefly check-in in an unobtrusive way, which was much appreciated. The space is bright and airy, and the merchandising is on point. They have a surprisingly good variety of yarn, considering the space isn't gigantic (I'm used to Dharma over in San Rafael). Things are clearly labeled and priced, and patterns are available for knitting and crochet, ranked by difficulty, along with a list of where you can find them online. My mom ended up buying some lovely yarn that was made in the USA. Overall, the vibes were great-- it seemed like they were having some kind of class in the back, and it sounded like people were having fun. I perused their website and was impressed by the variety of workshops they offer. They also offer scholarships to workshops, which I don't think I've seen any other yarn store do. Love it when businesses give back to the community that way!

I went to that store today in Petaluma. Amazing collection…read more I saw the crotchet cat and nice crotchet planter in the store's window displace. Crotchet cat is so cute. Will share photos in below. Highly recommend this store.

We just went to Petaluma Tufting Studio for our friend's 40th and it's amazing!!!!! The owner is so…read morekind and patient in demonstrating and assisting with rug making. It's a super interesting and creative project to do together! Three of us did landscapes, one did a cat and another a flower. And we could bring drinks, wine and brought cake and had the whole studio to ourselves for a very reasonable cost - it was a perfect night. Hope to come back. Strongly recommend!!!!

Just participated in the Windchime/Suncatcher/Mobile workshop. I had so much fun and love what I…read moremade. They have an abundance of beautiful and whimsical supplies and all the tools you could ever need! The room is well organized and clean. I will be going back for more as often as I can. I would love to go once a week if I could!

A fun little creative reuse shop selling various art supplies, old magazines, sewing supplies, old…read morecostumes jewelry, old photos etc. Probably not worse the drive from San Francisco like we did but if you're in that area and like creative reuse, definitely worth a look.