One great perk I’ve noticed about being pregnant is that everyone is nice to you. I mean everyone. Friends, family, strangers. Walking down the street I have gotten more smiles and pleasant glances than I have in my entire lifetime. More offers of assistance, more polite conversations… and, I must say, it is very pleasant to be on the receiving end of all of this.

So I decided to conduct an experiment. For one whole week I was going to be really nice to everyone I encountered. I’m generally nice anyway but I mean really nice- you know smiling at strangers (provided I’m on the right side of town), giving out compliments (heartfelt ones only, of course), and just generally emitting happiness.

I decided to start small with smiling at the people I pass by on the street. I walk a lot in Santa Monica. I walk Gatsby in my neighborhood, to the beach and amongst the shops on Montana Avenue. I decided to give everyone I passed on these walks a very bright smile and possibly even the occasional “hello” or “good morning”.

At first I was shy with it. People are generally reserved in Santa Monica. The majority of people keep to themselves and the most you’ll get is a tight lipped smile and a furtive once-over behind large designer sunglasses. So my smiles and ‘good mornings’ were tentative at first. But I started to see that even these feeble attempts at niceness really affected the other party. At first the strangers looked at me in a slightly suspicious manner. Some people even looked behind them to make sure I wasn’t smiling at some one else. But as my greetings became more confident, smiles were returned and for one unguarded moment, I began to share the refreshing feeling of goodwill amongst strangers.

Now I am a pro at smiling. I even smiled at Meg Ryan when I spotted her lunching at R+D Kitchen on Montana Avenue (she probably thought I was just a crazy fan, but that is beside the point). And I must say, it feels good. We are so used to rushing about our day, stuck in our heads, thinking about the future, that we forget the beauty of the present moment. And something as small as sharing a smile with a passerby can correct all of that, jolt you back into the moment and really feel quite exhilarating…

When was the last time you smiled at a stranger?


Pictured above are a casual bouquet of tulips on my dining room table... enough to make any tulip lover smile.

B and I don't really leave Santa Monica very often but this weekend the weather was so nice we took a trip to Beverly Hills. I realize that most of my readers are not based in Los Angeles, so I took some pictures of the city to share with you...

These are the high rises on Wilshire Boulevard...





The Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel...


Ahhh... this sign always reminds me of Beverly Hills 90210 and ultiamtely, the 90s...



It was such a lovely day, we drove with the top down!


Shopping, shopping...




Love the Teuscher Café... they have delicious hot chocolate...


The Four Seasons, perfect for afternoon tea...


and lastly...

Angelenos love their dogs... here a St. Bernard and Chihuahua coexist amicably...


We had a lovely day that involved buying a ridiculously overpriced pair of trousers at Brunello Cucinelli (note to self, ask the price before walking up to the register!) and as a result had to settle for a less expensive lunch at The Cheesecake Factory- not the chicest place in the world, but it was better than Mc Donalds- which was about all we could afford after the expensive pants debacle!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend...

xo

So I can’t believe I haven’t written about this yet but a French family has recently moved in next door to me in my Santa Monica town home! Our neighbors have rented out their home for one year and in moved a family from France.

You can imagine my delight upon learning this news as I have been able to observe how true French people live Comme les Français in Santa Monica! I shall call this family Famille Sportif as they are the most active family I have ever witnessed in my entire life. And by saying that, I am not exaggerating.

Famille Sportif is composed of a mother, father and two young sons. They are constantly lugging surf boards and skate boards, boogie boards and bikes out of their house (I see and hear everything) They seem to really like Santa Monica- its close proximity to the beach, the beautiful weather, the plethora of outdoor activities to take part in…

Observing Famille Sportif is great fun but the downside to it all is their sportiness makes me feel incredibly lazy. I can’t remember the last time I went to the beach! (Actually, I can. It was on my birthday in July and before that I hadn’t been in over a year). And yet every weekend I see the entire family of four coming back, suntanned and sanded- looking completely content.

I suppose it is a very French thing to take advantage of one’s environment and all of the pleasures it has to offer. There is an expression in French- profiter de la vie- which means simply to enjoy life or to ‘profit’ from it. I do realize that I live in a beautiful city- an active person’s dream, really. Famille Sportif has gently reminded me of this in their own very French way.

I think I’m going to start riding my bike more…

There are many things in a home that can evoke true feelings of luxury and romance: paintings, rugs, flowers, candlelight, sumptuous pillows, lovely soaps and chandeliers...

We recently installed a chandelier (pictured above) over our dining room table. I am in love with this gorgeous fixture. It creates an instant atmosphere of luxe and helps to define the dining room in our open plan home as a space of importance- a space to be cherished.

Now I am seeing my room with a view in a whole different light…

This is the view from our dining room table. The month of October is particularly special at my house because the large tree out front produces these gorgeous pink flowers.
If I am ever feeling less than grateful, I sit at my dining room table and take in this magical tree with its thorny trunk and pink blooms and reflect about how truly lucky I am to live in Santa Monica and have a room with a view…

I adore scented candles… There is nothing like candlelight to create instant atmosphere and mood in a room. And if it is a top notch scent- all the better! Living in a condo in Los Angeles, however, provides a tricky predicament with regards to home fragrance. In urban cities, many modern spaces have a combined living room / dining room. We live in a three-story condo in Santa Monica and the middle floor consists of this plan, with the kitchen just off of where we dine. So many spaces are using this open floor plan- my question is what do you do regarding home fragrance?

The first thing I love to do at twilight time when the sun starts to set is light a candle. My favorite scents for the home are: fig, verbena, almond, vanilla and tuberose. Right now, for example, I have Fig by Henri Bendel burning on our entry table. The scent is so earthy, green and delicious and the warm, amber glow that comes from this candle adds a sense of luxe to our room.

The predicament lies, however, when it is time to eat dinner. I never have my scented candle burning while cooking food or eating it for that matter. I attended a dinner party about a month ago where a large cranberry candle was placed right in front of me as I tried to eat my salmon and engage in conversation with the person across from me. The scent was so distracting and powerful I suddenly felt claustrophobic!

At home, as I am sure most people are, I’m very sensitive to scent. If we’ve had fish for dinner, I don’t want to light a scented candle immediately so that the room suddenly smells like fish and jasmine. Not a good combo! Luckily I live in a very temperate climate and can have the windows open all night. To compromise, I usually wait an hour or so after dinner to light my beloved candles. I know I could always use unscented in the living room/ dining room which makes the most sense and just stick to scented candles in the bedrooms.

I would love to hear how you daily connoisseurs scent your homes…

My favorite candles include: Diptyque- Baies, Amande, Figuier and Tubereuse. Votivo: Moroccan Fig and Jo Malone: Spring Jasmine.

I also adore high quality incense in Sandalwood, Nag Champa and Celestial Patchouli.

Image courtesy of: independent.net-genie.co.uk

Last night my husband and I went to see Woody Allen’s latest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona at the Loews theatre on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Firstly, I must say I am not very fond of this theatre- it never feels clean and there is not very much legroom. I must prefer the Landmark at Westside Pavilion. It is a beautiful, brand new complex with stadium seating in its larger arenas and leather love seats in its smaller venues. The best thing about the Landmark is that you can pick your seat! No waiting in line or guessing where you’ll end up sitting! Love that!

Now back to Vicky Christina Barcelona. I love this film. I knew I would. I am a big fan of Woody Allen and I think that he is highly underrated. I’m not sure what people expect from this man but he has written and directed over 40 films in his career and has produced some of the most humorous scenarios and witty dialogues I have seen on the big screen (2005’s Match Point directed by Allen is one of my favorite films of all time).

Love, lust and intrigue against the sun-drenched backdrop of Barcelona. Who wouldn’t love that? The casting was spot on, the actors were pitch perfect and the directing was polished. My only complaint with the film was with the clothes. I wasn’t sure why Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall, two beautiful women, were traipsing around Barcelona in frumpy, wrinkled linen pants and baggy button down shirts. I know that was a choice but am unclear as to what it was meant to convey.

Let’s move on to movie etiquette. There is an on going joke amongst my friends and me that I have a curse when it comes to the cinema. I only go to the movies if it is a movie that I am dying to see (otherwise why waste my time). And whenever I go, I always sit next to “that person” that talks throughout the film. The movie going experience for me is a sacred one. I love getting there early and securing my seat. (Unless, of course, I am at the Landmark and it has been selected beforehand). I love popcorn, the previews and totally submerging myself in the world of the film. If I am sitting next to someone who talks periodically, I am taken out of the world of the film. I usually try to implement my spiritual practice during these moments, and rather than stressing out and getting testy, I take a deep breath and accept the moment as it is.

There was a period of time, however, where I was sitting next to the “groaner”. This man, who loves to frequent movie theatres in Santa Monica, and groan loudly during the best parts of the film. Lucky for me, other patrons of the theatre yelled at him to “shut up or die”, and I didn’t have to.

I hadn’t seen the groaner for a long time… until last night. My husband and I had ideal seats in the middle of the theatre. It was slowly filling up, when a very disheveled man with a baseball cap and earphones in his ears, sauntered up to the front of the theatre and leaped into an available seat. The whole way, he was talking to himself. Loudly. Not like on an earphone headset- but to himself. Then he proceeded to take off his shoes and splay his feet on the seat before him. Not groomed feet.

Oh no, I thought, this for sure was the groaner. And why, was he in my viewing of Vicky Christina Barcelona? I had been waiting to see this film for 6 months! Concerned moviegoers looked around at each other. Was this a homeless man that had found his way into the theatre? Was he going to talk the whole way through? I started to panic. What did I do to deserve this curse?

At that point, my husband reminded me to be in the moment and accept the circumstances as they were. I took a deep, cleansing breath and even started laughing. The previews came. The opening credits rolled. And sure enough, Mr. Bad Movie Etiquette got up and left the theatre! It was a miracle! And I was left to thoroughly enjoy, the love, lust, mayhem and intrigue that was Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Spiritual Practice: Pause when agitated. Take deep cleansing breaths and accept the moment as it is. Things just might turn in your favor!