Living & Loving Local
I recently had the chance to chat with the lovely folks at Lincoln & Rose-- an online resource for those of us living in Venice, California. The story is now up online! I share my feelings about Venice, and my take on people's fascination with downsizing in a way that's realistic and practical.
Cozy in the Cottage
I decided to take a few weeks away from the blog in mid/late July and just stay calm and cozy in the Cottage. But as the month is somehow already over, we're back! August will be fairly crazy for both my creative firm and my personal brand, so I felt like it was wise to rest up before-hand (especially since I was particularly wiped during the transition into my third trimester). This post recaps a bit of what we were up to these past weeks. While I was still running my creative firm from my home-office, I took a significant amount of time to declutter in anticipation of the baby's arrival, relax when possible, and organize the little things that I'm sure we won't have time to tackle once our son is here.
PUPPY LOVE | First and foremost, we took time to overly-smother our pups with love. Everyone says that pets get neglected when a new baby arrives. We hope that won't be the case for us, but we wanted to give Stanlee (10 yrs old) and Sophee (1 yr old) as much attention and affection as possible, just in case:
We also had another health scare with Sophee a couple weeks back, and we were terrified that she wasn't going to pull through this time. Luckily this little adopted beagle is one hell of a fighter, and she is nearly fully back to her normal "Menace of Venice" behavior already.
Above: Sophee upon returning from emergency treatment at the pet hospital.
DECLUTTERING | While you can't see most of the decluttering we did, we certainly did a TON. We donated several car loads of clothing, shoes, home goods, dishware, and books. It feels good to see the surface of the Cottage looking so simple, and to know that simplicity is echoed behind every cabinet and within every drawer:
ENTERTAINING | We did some very low-key entertaining at home. I didn't feel much like going out (just too damn tired), but several of our amazing friends were sweet enough to make the trek to Venice to hang out at the Cottage:
Above: Justina Blakeney of The Jungalow, Erica Reitman, and Jennifer Harrison of Flea Market Fab having dinner at the Cottage.
Above: Lindsay Hollinger of Casa Joshua Tree (with Adam, Sophee and Stanlee's stub-tail) in the Cottage garden.
Above: My life-long bestie Nell (also pregnant!) and her husband Chandler visited the Cottage and canals for a summer movie night along the water. Nell officiated our home wedding and co-hosted my bridal gathering back in May.
HOSTING | We hosted some video and photo shoots here throughout the month. Once those wrapped, we spent time messing the house back up with my three year-old Nephew Finn and his infant brother, Digby. We enjoyed the outdoor section of the nursery with Digby, and started harvesting the grapes off the Cottage vine with Finn:
EVENTS | I did manage to make it out of the house for a few events, my favorite being this tastemaker dinner at Rolling Greens. How dreamy is this set-up at their LA location? (And how easy is it to pick out the giant 6'-tall preggo in the photo below?)
Despite all the sickness-- both Sophee's and my own-- it was a wonderful, peaceful month. I feel so grateful and so damn lucky to be surrounded by so much love and beauty.
I'll leave you with this-- my favorite Boomerang thus far. Here is our 10 yr-old adopted beagle-mix, Stanlee, leaping up onto the dishwasher while trying to scare a squirrel through the window. It makes me smile every time I see it...
Discussing Venice & the Canals Neighborhood with Shinola
Check out my latest Venice guide via the Shinola blog! This wonderful company just opened a new store on Abbot Kinney (about a 10 minute walk from the Cottage), and we're delighted to welcome them to the neighborhood!
#LoveMyCity Venice with Shinola
Our friends at Shinola invited me to partake in their #LoveMyCity campaign in celebration of their new Venice location, which opens this April on Abbot Kinney Boulevard (just a 5 minute walk from the Cottage). Adam and I are both sincere fans of the brand, so I was delighted to join in. (And you know I love any excuse to share photos of our beloved 90291...)
Based in Detroit, Shinola is dedicated to producing American built products of the highest quality. I've tried their watches, leather goods, pet products, and their bikes. Everything I've used is beautiful and meticulously crafted.
Here are some recent pix that Adam and I snapped of our Shinola favorites around town (at the farmers market, canals, beach, and local businesses).
The Venue Report: My Guide to Venice
Our friends over at The Venue Report invited me to do a round-up of my favorite businesses and activities in and around Venice:
Click through the story to see some of our favorite local imagery, as well as a list of my go-to spots for food, plants, homewares and more!
Another favorite "tiny house" in Venice
What do you do when you need a mini-vacation, but you don't have enough time to travel? Airbnb! In-town vacation rentals are perfect for unique staycations. Adam and I just spent a couple days at my other favorite "tiny house" in Venice (which I first discovered on Airbnb), and I completely fell in love with the space:
Meet the @craftsman.mini.me by @shophbleu. Isn't it a dream? The fig vines creep in at every corner, stretching from the outdoor shower, which is the most gorgeous little place to relax and breathe:
At 400 square feet, this house is only slightly bigger than our Tiny Canal Cottage. But, much like our home, the numerous windows and doors make the space feel open and airy.
Learn more and/or book the house here.
(My camera is currently being repaired, so these photos are mainly iPhone. Sorry for the less-than-ideal quality, but the subject is so amazing that it hardly matters. Enjoy!)
Birthday Workout
Today (March 7th) is my birthday. I wanted to do something local, low-key and out of the ordinary to celebrate. Rather than going big (weekend getaway!) or going standard (meet for happy hour!), I thought it would be fun to go healthy.
The wonderful Heather Dorak of Pilates Platinum generously invited us to try out her new Venice Beach studio for a private group Megaformer session:
It was crazy fun. We all got extremely sweaty, and one of us MAY OR MAY NOT have fallen clear off the machine at some point. But we had such a great time and got an absolutely killer workout. Lindsay was our instructor, and she did a flawless job of balancing all our skill levels (or lack thereof) and creating a balanced session that worked for us all. I whole-heartedly recommend this studio to anyone considering reformer pilates.
This is not a paid post. This is simply how I feel. (I also feel sore.)
Parachute Home Pop-Up on Abbot Kinney
Parachute Home is one of my favorite local companies. They make quality bedding basics that look both simple and completely luxurious.
They invited me to design their summer pop-up at Milkmade on Abbot Kinney. It was a small space that filled the storefront window, along with an outdoor "garden" area that had to be stowed away every night when the shop closed.
The trick was to balance the Parachute brand (along with their summer motif) with the hosting business, Milkmade.
Thank you, Parachute (and Milkmade) for having me!
Image sources: Whitney Leigh Morris and Parachute Home
