by Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

Last weekend at the Caboom Design show I was thrilled to see the much blogged about Cool Haus ice cream truck on location! These are modern-architecture-themed ice cream sandwiches—yes, desserts from a truck that are hip enough for grown-ups.

And I'm going to go ahead and say it: This was the best ice cream sandwich I've ever experienced. After a little deliberation, some fun Cool Haus history from Freya (the company was born from an architecture-meets-food school assignment), and a hike to find an ATM, I chose the chocolate cookie with mint chip ice cream—which they call "mintimalism". Heaven for three bucks.

Some snaps:

Follow Cool Haus on Twitter to see where they're headed next!

And if you're drooling, but no where near LA, here's a Sunset recipe for making your own ice cream goodness.

By Jennie Nunn, Sunset Associate Editor

I love writing letters. And, I'm always on the hunt for good paper and letterpress stationery. That's why I was so excited to find Linda & Harriett's letterpress designs. The thank you lace cards, created by Brooklyn–based founder and designer Liz Coulson Libré, (with calligraphy by Jenna Hein), are so bright and cheery.

$14 for set of six; lindaandharriett.com.

by Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

There's something about hot summer nights and backyard dinning that begs for some bright color on the tabletop. If you happen to have some bold accessories from a recent trip to la Mexique, lucky you. If Mexico wasn't on the itinerary (or in the checkbook) this year, it's time to check out Emilia Ceramics.

Emily Brown (Emilia of Emilia Ceramics) is a San Francisco-based advertising-marketer-turned-artisan-ceramic-importer (one of those made-a-dream-come-true gigs) who launched her San Francisco-based company a year ago. She imports hand painted pottery from Mexico, Spain, Italy, and France through relationships she's fostered with local artisans in each region. —Detailed, beautiful, soulful products that support the craft of true artisans. I love it.

Here, read about the ceramic artists behind the products featured below—a collection which Brown refers to as "authentic Mexican flavor with modern sophistication." We couldn't agree more.

"El Verano" tall candle holder and "Fiesta" tall candle holder, $24 each


"Fiesta" jewelry box, $18 each


Votive candle holders, pair for $28


Short candle holders with handles, pair for $36

By Jennie Nunn, Sunset Associate Editor

There's nothing better than a great water bottle—just in time for summer. I was so excited to hear about Blue Q's new collection including this 20-ounce adorable "I heart water" design (pictured below).

$17.99 each; Available at blueq.com.

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

Action #43: BE RESOURCEFUL from Change the World for Ten Bucks

Eugene Harvey, the author of Change the World for Ten Bucks was in town today speaking at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco. Her book is one of those goodies that you want to buy in bulk and ship to every one of your activist friends—or ones that need a little "do something" nudge.

Some of the tips may seem obvious to those of us with good green sense (Action #12: UNPLUG APPLIANCES WHEN NOT IN USE), but are accompanied by good facts to set you in action: "A TV that's plugged in is still using half the electricity of a TV that's tuned on."

Action #47 is "BUY A COPY OF THIS BOOK FOR A FRIEND"—admittedly a little self-serving, but action is contagious, so it's also very fitting. AND today through Wednesday, Chronicle is backing this action-item with a buy-on-get-one-free promo on their website. So, for $10 you get two copies. Might be the best five dollar book ever.

Go to the Chronicle Books website and enter the promo code CHANGE2.

by Amy Anderson, Sunset editorial intern

Since my first post for Sunset magazine was about "tweeting," I thought it would only be appropriate to end my time here with another bird-influenced blog.

I have a huge collection of little birds all over my room--paintings, sculptures, bookends, you name it. I just love decorating with bird-themed art, so I searched out Etsy for the best pieces to start out your own bird collection.

Red Hot Pottery, Christine Tenenholtz's one-woman studio in Sedona, AZ, handmakes porcelain and stoneware, including this simple, shiny vase featuring a couple of sweet love birds ($54).

Fall Down Tree's bird art print is perfect for a playful kids' room--or honestly anywhere for that matter ($20).

Get this hand painted salad plate by Aedriel Originals personalized with a family name or memorable date. Makes a great housewarming or wedding gift ($30).

The Mincing Mockingbird, aka LA-based artist Matt Adrian, did this vibrant painting titled "In This Poignant Moment of Finality, The Vibration Of Atoms Sounds Like Singing" ($25).

There's a great retro Scandinavian influence in this linen screenprinted pillow by roddy&ginger ($35).

by Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

For the Sunset Modern Cottage project (which unveiled at Celebration Weekend last week), we wanted our guest house accent wall to work hard for us and we wanted to make it personal—ensuring the space didn't end up looking like a catalog. Per the suggestion of our brilliant style editor Miranda Jones (who's responsible for many of the awe-inspiring ideas here) I worked with Suzanne Shade of The Beholder to curate an art collection by artists based in the west, which we're calling "West Coast Affordables". For those of you not familiar with The Beholder, it's an amazing San Francisco-based online marketplace for artists. Check it out here.

This week I was honored to find that Suzanne is featuring the collection on her website.

Featured art:

"Owl" by Sharon Montrose
"The Odeon" by Ian Dingman
"Lawnside" by Rachel Austin
"Oh Be True Print" by Lisa Congdon
"Untitled-Unique Tangle Print 10" by Leigh Wells
"doily sweet doily" by Lisa Solomon
"dogwood pretties on plywerk" by Traci French
"range" by Dana Robson
"Vintage" by Andrea Jenkins
"Vert 2" by Annie Galvin

To visit the Sunset Modern Cottage (and our new outdoor kitchen) in person, tours are 10am-5pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through July 19th (closed July 4th). More info here.

Photo gallery: Click through our scrapbook from today

At the Modern Cottage

In the test garden

Chef Joanne Weir at the Food Stage

In the edible garden

Song to a volcano

Where garden ideas come to life

by Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

Sunset associate editor Jennie Nunn has done a knock-out job spearheading our second annual "Secondhand Sunset" booth for this year's Celebration Weekend (the annual festival at our headquarters, this Saturday and Sunday). She's scoured the prop closets and editorial offices for all kinds of Sunset goodies to be sold at the trunk show booth including remnant decor from past idea house projects, photo shoot props, and DIY projects and products that have appeared in the pages of Sunset.

Everything is priced to go (from $1-$20) and all funds will be donated to The Reuse People.

Do. Not. Miss. This.

A little preview:

By Jennie Nunn, Sunset Associate Editor

I recently came across Alicia Keshishian's hand-handwoven Onnie rug and love the colorful, swirly design. Hand-dyed in Nepal and made of Himalayan wool, the rug is sure to brighten up any space.

For more information, check out adkcarpets.com