Happiness Is ... The Color Factory!

The Color Factory is a 12,000 sq. ft. pop-up museum in San Francisco that opened in August last year.  It is designed by "Oh Happy Day", the San Francisco based DIY party supply and design shop.  Located near Union Square on Sutter Street between Mason and Powell, the Color Factory is an interactive colorful blast! A friend suggested I follow Oh Happy Day on Instagram so checked it out and found they offer DIY party ideas and sell premium party supplies which look awesome! On February 13th they posted that that Color Factory tickets would be going sale at 11:00 am for March-April so I jumped on the website and was able get tickets. This was really exciting since it is such a trendy spot with tickets being hard to come by.

When the day finally came and we got to the museum there was already a huge line at the door. They had to check everyone's tickets and I.D's to make sure that the name matched what was printed on your tickets. When you first walk into the museum they give you instructions and a photo card. You then register your photo card on an iPad with your information so that they can send you photos later. There are machines throughout the museum where you can scan your card and take pictures in each room. They have you follow a dotted color path that leads you to each room. The rule is that you can spend as much time as you want in each room but you cannot back-track to rooms where you've already been. After you receive all the information you start off by walking down a fun colorful spiral rainbow staircase to a world of color. 

Your first experience is a conveyor belt of complementary macaroons. You can pick any flavor you wish. The conveyor belt then leads you into the Black And White Laboratory Room where they serve you charcoal lemonade to wash down your macaroon. I really love this space since I have always been a fan of black and white checkered floors. 

The next room is the Orange Room designed by Bay Area artist Tosha Stimage who uses the color orange as analogy for black identity in her works. She collects familiar objects within the visual wavelength spectrum; goldfish, cheese puffs, traffic cones, and basketballs etc... This is just a room to look around and observe. 

Up next was the complementary color to orange, the Blue Balloon Room which was filled with blue balloons. The large scale balloon installation was done by Jihan Zencirli, designed in partnership with Alaskan Airlines. My son really enjoyed hiding behind the large balloons. 

The next room that we came upon was The Silver Disco Room, which I really loved! The whole celling was filled with silver disco balls. The light from all the balls reflects of the floor and the walls. There is a multi-colored back wall designed by Bay Area artist Kristin Farr, best known for her paintings directed by color and influenced by folk art practices, which adds some extra magic to the Silver Disco Room. She pulled the shapes and colors reflected throughout the holographic floor and painted them in her geometric style on the wall to highlight the buttons that once pushed play songs about silver disco to!

Continuing with the retro theme of the Silver Disco Ball room is the Light Bright Room, which also brings me back to my childhood in the 80's. There is a whole wall filled with giant colorful Light Bright pegs that you can play with and create your own designs. My son loved playing with them. It was his first experience with a Light Bright. He had so much fun! 

After the Light Bright room we went into the super cute Green Color Me Room designed by artists Andrew Neyer and Andy J. Miller.  Here you can draw on the walls with a giant green marker. My son had a blast writing his name and drawing pictures on the walls, which were already pretty filled up with other visitor's art.

The next room was one of our favorites, the Ribbon Room, where you can get lost in 10,000 multi-colored ribbons. Installation was done by Jacob Dahlgren. We had a great time hiding in the ribbons taking photos of each other. 

After the ribbon room you then go up the "Happy Staircase" to the 2nd floor of the museum. This stairway is illuminated in all pink and ends with a giant neon happy face, which puts a big smile on your face.  

Once you come up from the stairway way you are lead down the Rainbow Light Hallway to the next portion of the museum. 

You start the next portion of the museum in the Reading Rainbow Room where you can relax and soak in the colors. I loved this space with the colorful tinted windows. They have an area where you can hang up your coats and personal belongings to prepare for the next two rooms where you can get pretty messy. 

We started in the room on the right side of the colored tinted windows, the Purple Selfie Room. The installation was done by Tom Stayte. There was a printer in the room that prints out black and white selfies on paper, which you can pull out, tear up and throw in the air. It was like playing in a pile of leaves on a fall day. 

Across from the Purple Selfie Room is the Confetti Accumulation Room, which was created in partnership with Method Home. The back wall of the room is filled with turquoise soap dispensers that you notice when you first walk in. Then falling from a machine on the celling is multi colored confetti. We had a blast being rained on and my son really enjoyed using the photo card machine to take photos of us. We are still finding happy memories of hidden confetti that we brought home with us to this day.

The last room was the Golden State of Mind Room. We had the best time in here. This room is monochromatic yellow with a 3 1/2 foot pit filled with yellow plastic balls for swimming in. The amusing illustrations on the walls were done by artist Naomi Julia Satake.  The photo machines were the best part since you have to make your way through all the balls to get to each one in order to scan your card. Then you can pose under the cameras on the ceiling. We did this for a long time and got some great photos. 

After playing in the pit you get to cool of with a complementary vanilla or coffee soft serve ice cream cone and shop a the All-Yellow Gift Shop by pop stylist Randi Brook Manharris.

My take home treasure from the museum was a Color Factory Neighborhood map. There are 18 colorful stops around San Francisco where you can find hidden murals and treats! This will surely be in a May blog soon so stay tuned!

Spring At Filoli Gardens

This truly is my favorite time of year with all the flowers popping up everywhere. Spring has fully sprung at Filoli Gardens in Woodside, CA. This is the third time that I have been here and the first time that I have gone by myself. It was the perfect day to go to the gardens. The sky was a clear blue, the sun was shinning, and there was a nice cool breeze flowing through the trees. The first thing that I saw when I got there was Percy the peacock. Such a beautiful bird. Everyone had stopped to take a photo. Percy was clearly pretty comfortable with having people around. 

Filoli has been a functioning estate for over 100 years, built by Mr. and Mrs. Willam Bowers Bourn in 1915. Filoli was designed to include many of the elements you would expect of an English country estate and emulate the gardens of the formal English Renaissance period. In addition to the formal garden there is also a working kitchen garden.

I started my tour in the area where various small container plants are displayed for sale including succulents and herbs. They even had an area with a map instructing you on what is blooming in the gardens, which was very cute. 

I continued on to my favorite spot where I was greeted by the lily pond surrounded by orange tulips, my favorite flower. I have always been a big fan of lily ponds especially since Claude Monet is my favorite artist of all. One of the highlights of my life was seeing his lily ponds at his home in Giverny outside of Paris. 

Moving on from the lily ponds I headed to the estates pool, which is very tranquil. I can imagine myself staying here as a guest and wading in the pool on a hot day surrounded by flowers. 

Beyond the pool were the beautiful hedges which make you feel as if you have been transported to an English garden. You are lead into individual little secret gardens as you walk through different arch ways decorated with stunning ivy draped around the bricks. As I walked under one archway I was pleasantly surprised by a little bird bath surrounded by tulips with camellias floating at the top of the still water. 

As you move along you are lead to a sun dial by different pathways with little ponds adorned by weeping cherry blossom trees that hover above. 

I then wandered from the lovely sun dial to admire more of the weeping cherries and tulips surrounding me and found a nice place in the shade to reflect on what I had seen so far in gardens. 

I finally found a table in the shade to sketch and write in my journal. As I sat there I felt as if I was in a secret garden of tranquility.  I am in a place that brings one back in time. I imagine that I am in a period piece movie. There are sounds of trickling water and birds chirping all around me. The spring color palette of flowers and their scent are all around me. I sat back and took it all in. 

Moving on from my quiet spot of inspiration I found more beautiful spring flowers. Wisteria crept along the brick walls buzzing with bees and peonies were guarded by the magnificent wrought iron gates with intricate design above the archway.  

After entering through the wrought iron gate I headed over to check out the lovely gift shop. There were beautiful fresh flowers displayed throughout the shop. Many of my favorite things were featured in this shop. Blue and white Japanese pottery, French inspired décor, lovely botanical prints and floral stationery. My kind of shoppers paradise!

After the gift shop I headed to the main house. This Georgian English country house has such regal stature. I only explored the outside of this grand house since I have been inside before. I sat outside and admired all of it's beauty. 

Once I left the main house I decided to sit and relax on the outdoor patio of the Quails Nest Café, a beautiful conservatory-style cafe nestled in the woodland and native garden. I enjoyed a slice of the layered lemon cake.  When I took my first bite of the cake the lemon flavor just melted in my mouth. Many people around me were also enjoying afternoon tea for two with lovely China tea cups and saucers. This reminded of the first party invitation that I sold in my Etsy shop "Tea Time Shower Invitation." I think it would be fun to add a "Mad Hatter Tea Party" theme. These gardens reminded me of being in the story of Alice and Wonderland. This was a perfect way to end such a magnificent day at Filoli Gardens.