Maian Herring

My cousin Maia is a rare bird; she's slightly magical in the way of my sister Katie.

For Halloween this year, Maia channeled her imagination and craftiness into a costume that pays homage to Netherland's love of herring. Fantastico. See the Maian herring come to life here.

Mama Africa

Today is October 31.

Mama outfit: handmade in Tanzania circa 2004.

Grown Here Not Flown Here

This should read "Respect da culture."

Does This Make My Butt Look Big?

The things I do for Timbuk2. . . On Saturday morning I dressed our Copilot in my bikini and romped down to the beach to take this photo for a caption contest we're launching on Facebook.

"Does this make my butt look big?"

Street Art: Deep Laughter

Deep sidewalk.

Spotted on 18th Street @ South Van Ness in San Francisco.

A Gorgeous Google Doodle

I love that Google plays with their logo. I think everyone does! Today's Mary Blair doodle is one of the best I've seen. It's not technically impressive or interactive like the Jules Verne doodle, my all time favorite, but it's handsome, friendly, slightly Scandinavian and just good looking.

Salad & Sunshine: Warehouse

Perhaps my greatest warehouse meal of all time. Made for an excellent Salad & Sunshine session.

Street Art: Skinny Sidewalk Swimming

Spotted on Valencia @ 20th.

Kiss of Camo

Spotted on oboy-oboy.

We're Totally Serious

"We Are Totally Serious About FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS." Zappos nails it again (and again).

Ride Like You Want To: Footwear

Cycling shoes by Matt Bernson.

And apparently Matt Bernson approves!

Real Names, Not Usernames

Over the next 10 days, Etsy is requiring all users to transition from usernames to real names. The goal is to swap anonymity for personal, genuniely social interactions. As a buyer, I welcome the move to real names. I recently purchased a custom cake topper from Blue Butterfly Designs on Etsy. We had a 26 email exchange (on Etsy) and I sent her photos, my name, payment info and personal address, but she never told me her name. It didn't stop me from buying and frankly, didn't feel strange at the time, but it's odd to converse with someone over and over again when one party remains anonymous.

Etsy is a fundamentally social place -- it's full of passionate creators and highly focused but totally open buyers -- so using real names feels natural. And I imagine sellers will be able to cross reference their names to avoid sinking back into oblivion. It will be interesting to see if using real names will make Etsy a more social place. If so, perhaps online dating should follow suit?

iPad Education

Cursive handwriting is doomed.

My niece in a Los Angeles classroom.

Ride Like You Want To

Three and a half years of bike commuting has taught me how to make riding San Francisco a joy instead of an obstacle. I love riding in San Francisco - it makes me look for excuses to ride in other cities! - but before my friends at Timbuk2 encouraged me to try, I hadn't ever considered riding a bike to work. I blogged about this subject for The Atlantic earlier this year and videoed my ride to show folks what it looks like. And I've dabbled in sharing key bike commute accessories with the Timbuk2 audience. But I think the subject deserves more attention. So this morning I kicked off a series of posts on timbuk2.com/blog to help women ride like they want to. I hope it helps!

Bike shorts, the secret to riding in a dress.

Bean Boots

When I think of L.L. Bean, images of turtlenecked men chopping wood and women in duck boots pruning roses come to mind. I also think of my mom's Bean Boots in the front hall closet. But like boat shoes and raw denim, L.L. Bean is roaring back to modernity. Their tv ads that hammer on free shipping and made-in-Maine quality are everywhere and they're really compelling. So compelling that I recently made my first L.L. Bean purchase. There are many other things I thought I would do first . . . Shopping llbean.com was an impressive shopping experience too!

It's raining today in San Francisco but I don't care because my Bean Boots. Not willing to wait a second more, I unboxed and quickly slipped them on at my desk for a dry trip home. Handmade in Maine. I feel so proud.

Amazing Minneapolis

Minneapolis shocked me this weekend. 75 and sunny with a mellow breeze, bikes everywhere, gorgeous restored factories and shiny new museums with immaculate streets and migrating birds, it made me wonder what we're doing in San Francisco.

Many thanks to the girls at TheMoonandMars for making my maiden voyage in Minneapolis a particularly stylish one.

Nice Ride bike share program in Minneapolis.

Can't Touch This

This is the stop sign in front of my office.

Site Down

At least we have a sense of humor.

Fear not, we're back up.

Product: Lizzie Sunglasses

My latest purchase and discovery. The Lizzie Sunglasses, named after a real Lizzie and brilliantly marketed by the Winter Check Factory. I'll give another rare pass on the spelling. Lizzie's green lenses make even the dullest San Francisco mornings look bright. And they stay put, even on rides through the city.

I discovered these gems somewhere online and had my impulse purchase validated when I later spotted them in Wantful's pre-launch Tell Us What You Want contest. Naturally I included them in my Wantful collection. Watch Lizzie's product video. It's fantastic.

Meet Lizzie from Kristen Wentrcek on Vimeo.

San Francisco

In Memoriam

Google Wallet

The Peet's on Chestnut in San Francisco has the poorest floor plan of any coffee shop in America. But oddly they've found room for Google Wallet.

Inspiration

Spotted on Tomboystyle.

Ducks Trends

Are ducks the new elephants?

Ducks @Google.

Ducks @SFO.

Ducks everywhere!

One Stop Shopping

One stop shopping on 50waystosay.it.