JUST BACK FROM LA

I am just back from LA, where I enjoyed Legends, the  La Cienega Design Quarter's annual design event. This design gathering is one of the best community-building gatherings there is, and I was proud to be tapped as a Blogger Ambassador again this year. The past few days have been a whirlwind, filled with design events and product introductions.  My sister, Amanda Reynal (Reynal Interiors) an interior designer in the Midwest,  joined me for the 3 day design blitz and we covered as many receptions and talks as we could. Here is an initial look at a few of the fantastic things we saw while in California.

We popped into the amazing new Clare Vivier shop Clare V. in West Hollywood. I have followed her understated designs since she first launched her initial soft-body bag La Tropezienne, and visited her first LA shop in 2012, a vest pocket-sized  Silver Lake store. I was taken with her retail acumen, and ability to create an edited world around her bags with art and accessories. This shop proved to be just as exciting, but I have seen her embrace color even more in her designs, with her red, white and blue color scheme in full effect.

Everyone was blown away by the serene calmness of Christos Prevezanos's spare and chic window at Hollywood at Home. It included the printed textiles he designed with Peter Fasano and a grey archway console.

San Diego California girl Amy Meier designed a charming tented garden folly in designer Peter Dunham's brand new Hollywood at Home space at 703 North La Cienega Boulevard. She too included the prints she designed with Peter Fasano.

I spent my Saturday tooling around the hipster stretch of Abbot Kinney in Venice. No trip to Venice would be complete without a visit to Lemonade for lunch. I picked up their cookbook so I can prepare their delicious vegetable dishes this summer-- they are full of flavor and the freshest ingredients.  I chose a Blood Orange Lemonade, since the Blueberry was not in season.  

Being that this is California and biking is the thing, I made my way to the new Rag and Bone shop where they had just launched their Park, Pump and Pedal program with customized white bikes. So LA.