#womensmarchLA

today we marched. for so many reasons.

it was a beautiful, kind, loving, peaceful, funny, poignant, adventurous day. from the public transit ride from the sfv to downtown to the "march" with 750,000, to the ride home. what a gift to share this with our girls. #thefutureisfemale

looking back...

october

how our weekends go... (first IEL show)

november

all I want to remember of november is this. (love these people.)

december

full circle.

happy new year.

merry merry

due to a variety of circumstances, we are home for the holidays. and while we will miss our little cottage in the woods this year, we are also happy for the opportunity to do things we usually don't. like sharing Christmas dinner and our own traditions with friends. using the good china, my mom's crystal, and my great grandmother's silver. and do bring some cottage traditions here. like our annual jigsaw puzzle extravaganza.

and Christmas and Hanukkah don't often overlap - giving us twice the magic.













however you celebrate, light and love to you and yours, and merry merry! xo

Progressive Dinner ::10::

how on earth have we celebrated together 10 times?

and how this event has grown!

we gathered together last night - neighbors - for our yearly Progressive Dinner. Robyn and I are hanging up our organizers' hats after this one - with the hope that others will carry on the tradition. (and from all indications, they will.) it is such a lovely event - with multiple generations, backgrounds, views. but as it has grown, it has become much more work. time for some fresh eyes and ideas.

but in the meantime, about last night...

Thankful.

LOVE these people

this year we made

pumpkin
chocolate pumpkin swirl
pecan chocolate
and the always requested banana pumpkin mousse <3

in the 'hood

I was thrilled to be asked to photograph The Museum of the San Fernando Valley's Palmer and Krisel Home Tour. it was a treat visiting homes I already know so well. (and a cherry on top was bringing E along as my assistant.)

it was a great day. replete with a very cool coffee truck ("courtesy of the pink house"), a selection of classic cars, and our streets swarming with very well dressed mid-century modern loving participants. not to mention our fabulous neighbors showing off their fabulous homes!















a fundraiser for the newly formed San Fernando Valley Conservancy, the evening ended with a VIP reception at Neutra's Baldwin House, just around the corner from us. a beautiful end to a beautiful day.

happy easter!

we're celebrating with our traditional neighborhood brunch and egg hunt, then off to the barn to celebrate a special birthday.

wishing you and yours a joyful easter, and happy spring!

scenes from the evening

thankful.

once again john, you're a "damn fine" cook xo

our pie list this year:
pumpkin x 2
chocolate pecan
banana pumpkin
rustic apple
brown sugar cranberry

easter (monday)

such a treat to have today off. technically, it is because today is ceasar chavez day, but it is also easter monday, and i am reminded of the holidays of my own childhood.

we try to keep it simple. baskets filled with a few high quality sweets and something that they'll use. when the girls were little, a small toy or game, but now that they are older, a book, or last year a ceramic mug and this year a sweet monogrammed ring dish. (the bunny brought me the gin truffles!)



yesterday felt springlike and full. quiet time together, very good eating, noisy friend-filled traditions, and time with their horses. perfect.


hope you had a wonderful weekend. xo

my neighbor dede brought me this treasure last week. she knows my soft-spot for all things community building. how fun it would be to revive this - but i fear not very practical. perhaps as a e-blast?

this is just a taste. it is full of reports from the different neighborhood committees, including the "tender-agers" (1-5), teenagers, game club and so on. two pages are dedicated to all the neighborhood birthdays (listing by name) in july, august, and september. there are a couple of profiles on neighbors "The People Among Us" and a "Party Line" column that seems to be keeping up with the "gossip" of the 'hood:

Pat Humber went to Hawaii after two years of saving and planning. I understand it was well worth the effort. The Sullivans and Laskers "spent" some time in Las Vegas the early part of summer...


its is also a great document of the times. 1960 in the SFV. Stay-at-home moms. Busy fathers. Teens gathering at swimming pools and planning trips to Zuma and Pacific Ocean Park:

...the whole bunch of us went to P.O.P. (Pacific Ocean Park. It was a real blast and I really hope we plan another outing to P.O.P. real soon. There were just millions - well, maybe not millions - but there were a whole bunch of rides and every one of them was kicks. We all dreaded going home..."

love the ads.  all small, local.  sigh.

would love to find more of these, and start an archive at the school.

......

not too much I can say that hasn't been said before. this evening of good food, good friends and good fun unites our community and allows us the opportunity to share our love for mid-century modern and our palmer & krises homes. and I love learning new things about my neighbors! (we have not one, but two emmy winners in the 'hood!)

after 8 years, the kids are bigger - but there are new littles that make me smile. out of the four hosts, three were "first-timers" and then there was us, "old-timers". the homes were all amazing. (this year I believe was the first where all homes were the same floor-plan, save one (that has the BEST new owners) rebuilt after a fire many years ago.)














I love this event. I love these people. such a great way to ring in the holidays.

once and again...

and off we go! (we are the third door down...)





this year's invite includes drawings by d, and design by dear friend "joe mo".