Sunset's Celebration Weekend

My sister and I were recently walking and talking about the California lifestyle, epitomized in the pages of Sunset magazine.

"I loooove that magazine," she said, stopping and turning to me. "It's my therapy."  Her eyes were moist.

Sunset magazine is like that. It evokes dreamy imagery of a colorful lifestyle so approachable and inviting, that each edition delivered triggers excitement comparable only to that of an old friend coming to dinner, and the anticipation of the food and conversation to come.  So often, magazines only provide us with glimpses into worlds too intimidating: the praise of wines I could never fully appreciate, the fashion I have no place to wear, the showcasing of homes I could never afford.  And so those magazines typically get passed on or recycled. But never a Sunset.  Each heavily, dog-eared copy is carefully cataloged away on a shelf, ready for repeat referencing.

Now my eyes are getting moist.  Let's get on to Sunset's Celebration Weekend and the highlights I loved most.

I wish, wish, wish I had taken an image of how this wall was constructed, or better yet, who constructed it.  But I failed miserably when I did not.  Regardless, this wall of succulents was breathtaking!

Bauer had a great presence, right at the opening of the show, and we couldn't help but be mesmerized by their Garden Orbs in varying sizes and colors. (Note to self: Buy a lot of these for the garden. A lot.) 

We grabbed lunch at Pica Pica's truck, a favorite of mine from the Oxbow Market. My lunch was delicious, with the best part being the Yucca fries!

More succulents! We saw a couple versions of this table, which I loved.  One more visual suggestion and I just might have to go out and make my own!  This one was out back behind the Sunset Idea House, constructed from a shipping container.

This is my girl, Jill. You probably can't place where you've seen her before, so let me help you out - it was right here! (That's Jill on the steps of her award-winning garden! :)

If you become a fan of Sunset Magazine on Facebook, they have some great images loaded showing the construction of the container. Fascinating!

We saw a lot of raised garden ideas like this simple space solution that was intelligently placed atop bales of hay! (Although I'm not sure that corn is going have much of a chance in such shallow quarters.)

Again, but this time on top of a chicken coop.

I secretly want to keep bees. Well it's not really a secret anymore, now is it. Except to maybe my neighbor. (Hi Bridget!!)

Let me say that for a very long time, I have loved, with great passion, Sunset's identity.  Love, love, love.  So I was all too excited to come across their tiny booth selling all sorts of useful orange items with the Sunset identity on them.  Everything was incredibly well priced - $5 - $10 - and so I bought lots of gift items for like-minded friends.

How many people do you know with a Sunset case for their iPhone. I'll tell you how many - one. And that one is ME!!!

Comments

[Shannon]

From the Sunset Events Team! Thank you for this Post! We produce this event for people like you who get weepy when they think of the brand. YOU inspire us to do more every year!

Thank you!

The Sunset Events Team

[Suburban Homestead]

Thank YOU Sunset Events Team!!

[Robin Stockwell]

Rick. My name is Robin Stockwell and I am the succulent guy who created the mural at Sunset. When you visited my display Sunday morning I was off visiting a young friend at Stanford Hospital. I was sorry to have missed you. My co worker , Tiffany, who is star struck with you, was so excited to get to hear you and meet you. I asked her to give you one of the small living pictures and hope you did get it. I would be happy to furnish you with photos etc on how the murals are done. I can also help you make your own. Let me know what we can do to help you in the world of vertical gardening. Your talks added an energy to Celebration Weekend and moved the celebratory mood several notches higher. Robin Stockwell. Succulent Gardens.

[UtahGardenBlogs]

Wow! That's so awesome! What an amazing event! I'm also enamoured of the succulents and they aren't even hardy here in Utah! Even so, I have a huge collection I'll be overwintering at the Conservation-based botanical garden I work for.

I am a huge Sunset fan too. Maybe someday they'll even feature awesome gardens from my home State- we do have great gardens here even if we can't grow all the awesome succulents the California folks take for granted! LOL!

[Suburban Homestead]

@ Robin Stockwell - I was so flattered to read your post - until I realized, you had the wrong person!! My name is Jeanice, not Rick! But I would still love to let readers know how to make your beautiful murals! Please email me directly at suburban.homestead@yahoo.com. Thanks!