Bringing Some West to East

Bringing a bit of SoCal to DC may be my occasional mission and unavoidable inspiration for a while to come….

The maxi skirt made a fierce comeback to LA this past summer from high-low skirts to the basic maxi.  I had been tempted to buy a BB Dakota one several times online but being so short it was a shady bet at best that it would fit correctly.  My last two weeks in LA I got obsessed with Brandy & Melville and their perfect SoCal casual beach style (despite being an Italian-based brand?!).  Anyways their maxi skirt in small  was a PERFECT fit, not too long at all.  Brandy & Melville admittedly seems to run pretty small but whatever, more reason I love it. I hope they start selling online soon boo hoo hoo of course no store in DC, closest is SoHo in NYC!

Maxi skirt, elephant necklace, heart ring: Brandy & Melville, Tank by American Apparel, LF knit, Sandals by MIA, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag

And anyone living in LA knows the above outfit is about as closest as there is to a uniform right now that there is. Utterly unique as a coordinate in DC but about as typical as a sunny day in the city of angels.

Adieu Malibu

From Surfrider to Zuma, Lanvin and Coogies, I just love Malibu. And to think I got into Pepperdine for law school but chose to go to Carolina instead…. Well, no loss, I still had my time for five years along this coastline.

Goodbye Topanga Canyon

Rayban clubmasters, Silk shorts by Brandy & Melville, Minnetonka pink mocs, Zara blouse

Always loved getting hippie trippy in canyon country so of course I had to say goodbye to Topanga. Here I am in front of the Bhutan store and the natural grocery. I was feeling so nostalgic I even wanted to buy a pack of American Spirits for old time’s sake. I’ll definitely miss all the “alternative cuisine” and food choices available on the West Coast… So my coordinate is decidedly not boho but very much Rumi Neely influenced. F-the hatas and naysayers, girlfriend is a fashion genius and really just knows what looks good on a small frame. I’ll take cues from her anytime. She’s a big fan of Zara, as am I, which is where this blouse is from. It’s so insanely comfortable and flattering I am so proud of myself for only buying it in one color!

Goodbye Santa Monica

View from my first apartment in Santa Monica, blissed out on Ocean Avenue

When I moved to LA it’s true I moved “for a job” but really I moved to live and surf in Santa Monica. I lived on Ocean Avenue, beach front and I loved living by the water, Main St. and taking the Pacific Coast Highway then Topanga Canyon to work (my commute was all of sudden a million times more beautiful than ANY I had before). Before, anytime I wanted to surf I had to make some big Latin American vacation out of it so I was very appreciative of the new proximity. Despite the earthquakes, mudslides, and fires California will never cease to captivate me with its terrain. Only out of so much catastrophe can come such intense natural landscapes. Many of my memories come back to me in scenic images, colors of sky, shape of rock, sunlight through the blinds, where the water meets the ocean. For some reason there is a clarity to my visceral surroundings and the way they return conveys more to me emotionally than say a recollection of a conversation. I could probably write a book of just descriptions of places… I’m really very grateful that somehow my life worked out so that for a time I was able to wake up and go to sleep right next to the Pacific Ocean whose waves I could hear outside my window. To remember the purpose that drove me to California as I leave ends it all on such a high, happy and invigorating note.

Spent the past weekend by the beach. On Saturday I finished off with a sunset dinner at Pico 1 with my cousin where he gave me the best advice! It’s always good when a conversation is full of laughter I think… Cheerfulness and humor are really such blessed traits. To come from a place of love, into the world, is such good luck — some mystic combination of karma, grace, and knowing every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around.

Tower 22, the lifeguard tower right in front of my 1st home in California

Observing my daughter at the beach is incredible, she is so in love with the ocean, so comfortable with the water. She runs towards it as soon as we get to the beach and she wanted so badly to go swimming. It’s utterly California baby of her to be so comfortable with the immensity of the ocean and I hope she keeps that part of California with her forever, no matter where she is.

Up next, goodbye Silverlake, Topanga, and Malibu!