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For my husband, Gordon, and me Los Angeles was the answer. The question was where, outside of New York City, could we raise our children, and still have a full life, including professional opportunities, a great network of people, cultural inspiration, diversity, and access to adventure. It took a lot of time, a great deal of research, and a huge leap of faith to get us to move across the country and end up in LA. But we weren't disappointed. We LOVE it here.
Were we surprised? A little bit. I'm from Northern California, so I'm no stranger to this side of the country. And while Gordon is a born and bred New Yorker, he had previously ventured out this way to attend the Claremont Colleges (that's where we met!), so we'd both been within driving distance of the City of Angeles for a few years, and we knew a bit about what we were getting into. But we still had our preconceptions. My experience with LA in college was mostly going to nightclubs, crashing UCLA parties, working at an interior design internship (which turned out to be a cult of sorts), rollerblading in Venice Beach, and cruising up and down Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It was a mixed bag. I was leery of all the small strip malls, and disingenuous architecture. Gordon was worried we'd only meet people in the entertainment industry and we'd have to start watching network television just so we could keep up our end of a conversation (long gone would be books, theater and museums!). In fact, we were pleasantly surprised. (Don't get me wrong, there's still a fair share of uninteresting architecture and Variety-oriented folks, but there are plenty of thrilling examples of to offset the rest.)
We ended up in Brentwood, our house, a mid-century modern affair built by the architect for himself in 1959, is situated north of Sunset Boulevard nestled in Kenter Canyon. It's an idyllic location, our daughter's preschool is around the corner, at the top of our street we can enter into thousands of acres of natural preserve, and we're central to much of what Los Angeles has to offer (it's an easy drive to Santa Monica's beaches, Beverly Hills' shopping, Downtown's cultural attractions, Venice Beach's alternative lifestyle, etc.).
My goal with this blog is to help other folks find their niche here. I have a passion for discovery. I love finding new sources and sharing them with others. I've done this all my life, both professionally (from founding an interior design resource magazine, to finding the perfect home and creating signature interiors for my clients), and personally (I cannot tell you how many wedding dresses I've found or trips I've planned for friends). And If you want to learn more, I encourage you to read my bio in the About section.
Together we'll discover how to live life in Los Angeles.
