it’s week two of the view from here, and i’m really enjoying rounding up some randomness for you to peruse leisurely over the weekend. sometimes, things i’d like to share don’t necessarily fall into a neat little package appropriate for a whole post, or maybe might seem a bit off topic. but inspiration comes in many forms and i like looking at it ALL. i hope you do too. enjoy the view…

the view from here:

1. this is a really fun round-up of vintage toy cameras, like classic diana’s from how to be a retronaut. if you’re not checking out how to be a retronaut regularly, you should. it’s super cool.

2. have you ever seen the photography of nathan michael? you should. nathan lives in chicago and works as a designer and a photographer. he’s gonna be working with me, right here on sfgirlbybay. i’m super excited about that. oh, yes i am.

3. haven’t got a date for valentine’s day? well, just wallop somebody with a pillow!! nah, not like that — it’s san francisco’s annual pillow fight this february 14th. feathers start flying when the Ferry Building clock tower strikes 6 p.m. in the Justin Herman Plaza. thanks for the head’s up on that from the bold italic! photo via juicyrai.

4. miss moss. sigh. do you read her blog? it’s so rad it hurts me sometimes. i shouldn’t even tell you, cuz you’ll leave me for miss moss. (please don’t). she posted this work from Mikko Kuorinki. my chest bumps hard for this, too.

5. m.a.c. cosmetics has teamed up with one of my idols, fashion icon iris apfel. yeah for wrinkles, yeah for aging gracefully and full of style. good on you m.a.c.! never heard of iris? go check her out.

6. and last, but not at all least — there’s a super cool art workshop coming up at teahouse studio in berkeley the weekend of feb 18 + 19 with illustrators sarajo frieden and susy pilgrim waters. go learn something fun. you deserve it!

still obsessing about wes anderson’s new film moonrise kingdom, and loving the gift stretched canvas print by Elle Hanley Photography from society6, too. what are you obsessing about this weekend? see ya monday!

there’s so much amazing stuff out there on the interwebs. i often feel like i have attention deficit disorder, because i go to look at one thing, and that leads to another, and then, well i get utterly lost out there. but it’s good stuff, and it’s inspiring and motivational. so i thought i’d leave you with some links each friday as i sign off for the weekend. some things to peruse leisurely while you’re enjoying your weekend coffee. i hope you enjoy the view…

the view from here:

1. i think anabela’s blog fieldguided is one of the prettiest i’ve seen. she inspires me. i think she’ll inspire you, too.

2. i love hilda grahnat’s incredible photography. the lighting is perfect. take a look at her online portfolio — i don’t think you will disappointed.

3. photographer lara rossignol has a beautiful, newly designed website. her portfolio will make you hungry.

4. go gander at some beautiful photographs of meghan collison shot by ben toms for vogue russia, via trendland.

5. the by nord katalog from copenhagen is beautiful — download the pdf and enjoy the pretty pictures of their homeware collection and clothing, where design meets nature.

6. have you signed up for fab.com yet? some of the most fashionable deals i’ve found yet. and when you refer friends you receive $25 credits. sweet deal, indeed. and they keep featuring these handstitched saris, which are lovely!

7. traveling but not sure where to find the best shopping in cities like amsterdam, london, new york and paris? check out hipshops before you go — plus it’s like a virtual tour of the most fascinating boutiques around.

for shame — it’s been utterly way too long since we’ve had an unexpected guest! but today i’m quite elated to be sharing designer and artist jill danyelle’s apartment in manhattan’s east village. i’m extra excited about this apartment, not only because it’s lovely, but because this coming may i’m headed to new york for the ICFF show and a bit of fun, and jill has very generously invited us to share her space for a few days! so i’m pretty thrilled to be staying in such a beautiful home. born in woodstock, formerly a therapist, jill danyelle is primarily an interior designer now, but has creativity bounding from her in countless artistic avenues — from fashion design to writing and photography. here’s what she had to share with us…

You’re kind of a creative entrepreneur with your hands in a bit of everything design related — how do you define what you do?

Currently, I am focused on interior design, but am hoping to grow the art/ photography/ print side of the business more this year. I definitely explored a lot prior to beginning this business and those experiences were invaluable. They contributed to my abilities, to who I am and allowed me to meet a lot of great people. Ultimately, they were not the right fit for one reason or another, but I am thankful that they led me to the path I am on today.

Is there anything you’d like share about your work, who you like to work with etc?

Doing interior design has been great so far. I find it creatively fulfilling, but I also really enjoy working with clients and solving problems. They may not be the kind of problems I was solving as a therapist, but I still feel good about the work I am doing. Being able to hire an interior designer can be seen as a luxury, but many of my clients opt for DIY plans which are fairly affordable. Sometimes it is hard to hand over the DIY plan and not be able to see a project through, but it makes me happy when I get emails from clients who have implemented their plan with good results.

As far as the art side of things, I need to be more diligent about making, making, making. I am not talking about making things to market and sell necessarily, but just developing more consistency in my practice. It is really therapeutic for me and I want to see myself progressing. When I photographed my garden over the course of a year, I felt like that was a really magical and productive time. Just by the nature of the project, I had to continually go there and shoot. Prioritizing time to create and make art is definitely a goal this year.

what are a few of your favorite things to do in the east village?

Some of my favorite things to do in the neighborhood are…share a meal with friends in the amazing community garden that I belong to…walk through Tompkins Square Park. I live just off the park and try to always make a path through it to admire the trees, see people of all walks of life and catch a glimpse of our resident hawks…grab a coffee at Ninth Street Espresso. I was never too particular about coffee, then came Ninth Street.

What’s your favorite flea market, or secondhand find?

Half my world seems to have been found secondhand or in a flea market, so picking a “favorite” might be difficult. I am quite fond of my Lightolier sconces and Dansk Kobenstyle pots and pans, recent additions in the last couple of years. My Danish Modern daybed probably wins for combined points of aesthetics and utility. I scored it many, many years ago at The Salvation Army. I think it was $75. There used to be a great flea market in the parking lot on the corner of Ave A and 11th St. You could find a vintage dress for $20 to wear out later that night, get some authentic tamales and horchata and pick up some old school music. It was the best. I bought this huge, kind of abstract print there of sailboat masts and rigging for $5. I was sailing on tall ships out of South St Seaport at the time, so thought it was extra cool.

What’s your favorite possession?

I am really fascinated by our relationship to our possessions. I am trying to get my feng shui on more and more in recent years and I think it takes a bit of detachment. As New Age as it sounds, I try to have faith that the Universe will bring what I need, when I need it – although, it still hasn’t answered my prayer for some brutalist brass chandeliers or a set of bottom basement priced Dansk Fjord teak flatware… maybe when I finally close on the house Upstate. Seriously though, if there is one thing that shopping at flea markets will teach you, it is that there is always another killer vintage dress and Danish Modern credenza to be had somewhere.

I liked Marion Melbourne’s 52 objects…I think that was a really nice practice to meditate on the things in her life, show appreciation in some way. Like her, most of my favorite things are imbued with some emotion, connected to some memory — a Mexican silver bracelet that I wear a lot, which was given to my Mom by my Dad. I actually love it aesthetically, but it is the history that gives it meaning and makes it special.

What five things can’t you live without?

love, nature, creative expression, challenges and growth.

I also find brunch to be pretty important. When I lived in Barcelona people did not brunch and everything was closed on Sunday. Five people sitting around the kitchen table, hungover, staring at one banana and a cup of yogurt is not pretty.

If you could go flea market shopping with anyone in the world, who would it be?

Lisa Eisner. Maybe we’d just skip the flea market, sit in her garden having cocktails and then try on some of the Sammy Davis Jr suits she owns or maybe some feathered hats. Then Roman Alonso would come over and offer me his apartment for any time I wanted to crash in L.A.

What bores you to death?

Chronic negativity.

• all photos courtesy of jill danyelle.

last week, i shared a round up of pia jane bijkerk’s “it list”, but i’ve also been hounding the poor girl to share some images of her new home in sydney, australia. even though pia may be delivering into the world a brand new baby this week, she was kind enough to share some little corners of her family’s home as she’s been getting it ready for the baby, and getting her home settled with their furnishings from Paris, and Amsterdam, where they once lived on a houseboat.

something else to keep in mind, Pia’s new book My Heart Wanders will be available in the united states early Spring — exact dates and shop locations to come, so check her blog for updates.

“Some things I’m loving about our new home: the garden where I’m now planting organic veggies and herbs, the front porch where the morning sun comes streaming in (my partner and I have our breakfast out there nearly every morning), and the light! There is just so much light in this house – quite a contrast to our cavernous houseboat living in Amsterdam over the past few years.”

“Some more notes about the house: it’s an old worker’s cottage in an inner west suburb of Sydney. We glimpse the famous harbour bridge from the front porch, and it’s in walking distance to some fabulous cafes, bars, farmers markets, antique shops and restaurants. We have two french patisseries only a stone’s throw away (which makes my french man very happy!), and the neighborhood is so friendly and laid back. I was at first a little concerned about moving back to my home town of Sydney, fearing I would miss the energy and eclecticism of living in Europe, but we’ve picked a great suburb and house, and I am enjoying it immensely. And it’s certainly nice to be near family and old friends at this time in my life, starting a family of my own.”

• all photos courtesy of pia jane bijkerk.

i love the interiors portfolio photographer r. brad knipstein recently shared with me, including the home of the very talented stylist, Rosy strazzeri-Fridman. brad’s been sharing a bunch of his interior shots with me, and i’m excited that he’ll be sharing more with us from time to time! in the meantime, here’s rosy’s beautiful home ‘en blanc’. so pretty, right? brad has a blurb book out, too — so if you love his work i think it’s very much worth checking out.

even though it’s a holiday weekend, it’s been a busy one, ‘cuz i’m getting ready to speak at the altitude design summit this week! but, lucy and i were able to get out for a bit and clear our heads. a trip to fort funston on saturday — our regular weekend beach hang out, and then a great urban hike through the neighborhood to kite hill on what turned out to be a very chilly sunday in the city.

so, this is what my weekend has looked like so far, via instagram. today is a martin luther king day, so i’ll see you back here tomorrow for regular scheduled programming. oh, and if you’re wondering what that green concoction is just below, the folks at blueprint cleanse gave me a discount to try it out, and it was actually quite tasty. i felt really good and energized afterward, too, since after the new year i felt fairly toxic! see you tuesday, bright eyed and bushy tailed. whatever that means.

hilary walker is a melbourne, australia-based lifestyle and interiors photographer who shoots lots of interesting people in their very interesting, creative spaces. she’s photographed the likes of stylist emily chalmers, artist rob ryan, and designer donna wilson – all some of my favorites, so suffice it to say hilary has my dream job. here’s a glimpse into some of her work. hilary walker has an etsy shop called halker, a tumblr page for images that inspire her called halker stalker and a blog of her most recent work.

i did that little reader survey with y’all over the holidays (you can still fill it out if you’re so inclined), and i had to laugh outloud when someone commented that they’d like me to stop posting “oh, and happy, happy friday”. i feel ya. i started that like 6 years ago, so it was getting a little old for me, too. so i’m just gonna say welcome to the weekend. that may get old too. we’ll see. anyhow….moving ahead and more about what y’all had to say in the survey next week. until then, modern love.

• modern sign via william dohman, and a beauty of a photograph from matthew hranek.

black noses are the new black. have a happy weekend, y’all.

• photos: heather mccartney and martha; and model jen dawson by juergen teller.