how to get there,

where to stay,

what to eat,

and what to do.

Ojai charmed me this weekend.

The landscape combined with the people makes it one of the most enchanting places I’ve been.

It’s the best of America’s small towns combined with the beauty of being connected to a larger world.

I’d go back next weekend if I could.

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TRANSPORT

Ojai is a very beautiful and easy 90 min drive from LA.

2 days is enough to feel like you’ve truly had a holiday.

I’m distraught that I didn’t figure this out 10 years ago!

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STAY

There are 2 great places to stay in Ojai,

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa or The Lavander Inn

We chose the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa and it was as close to perfection as any hotel I’ve stayed at. It’s not cheap but it’s worth it. They’re extremely pet friendly as well, which made Quinn very happy!

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EAT

Day 1

Lunch – Knead

The mother and daughter that run this lovely spot take great pride in their thoughtful treats. We saw them both days and quite possibly spent more time and money with them than anyone else. 5 packs of handmade crackers are a must, right? Now I’ve got to throw a cocktail party now just to use them!

Dinner – Azu

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Day 2

Breakfast – Ojai Farmers Market

Lunch – Boccali’s

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DO

Day 1

Muffler Art

This is on the side of the road and isn’t really a site, but it did provide a first Ojai smile at the idea of art meeting small town America. It was perfection.

Ojai Olive Oil Farm

Ron is amazing; he walked us through the entire process of importing, grafting, and growing the trees. Then sorted through the process of picking, packing, processing, finishing, and bottling. It was a treat to hear about his adventures with Olives. The oil itself is wonderful and worthy of the best from Italy and Spain.

Vista Point

Normally I find these corny, and living off Mulholland in the Hollywood Hills leaves me navigating tourists on a daily basis. You should  stop here, climb onto the stone pillar holding the explanatory plaque and you’ll see the whole valley laid out in front of you. It’s magical.

New Oak Ranch – Lavender Farm

6 weeks a year you can go harvest your own lavender. I chose the cooking variety. In the coming days will attempt to re-create the only pudding on the planet that I can’t get enough of. The chocolate pudding at Perry Street, with crystallized lavender on top…wish me luck!

Visit Larry Carnes – Master Potter

We were headed to lunch when we saw the sign, “the pottery studio” and a quick u-turn later we were back spending the good part of an hour with Larry Carnes. He’s a master potter who knows more about clay than I’m going to guess just about anyone on the planet. His work is entertaining and the vessels are addictive, I walked away with 5. If you’re lucky enough to get to spend 8 weeks in Ojai you can have Larry teach you his secrets.

Bike

There are wonderful trails in Ojai, and bikes can be rented. It’s well worth it!

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Day 2

Hike

The trails in Ojai are many and fine. This is a great way to start your morning.

Farmers Market

The farmers market in Ojai is of very high standards; there are no fakers here. The market is very well thought out and quite diverse, every stall I stopped at was directly farm owned and staffed. I resisted the bounty of beautiful perishable items due to the impending drive back to LA, but still managed to walk away with a good bit of loot….local honey, the best market basket ever from Ghana, more treats from Knead, Sugar Scrub, Organic Herbal Teas and Persimmon Walnut Nougat. Ron is at the farmers market on Sunday’s with his oils, we got the pleasure of sharing a photo with Ron that we’d taken while at Larry’s Pottery studio the day before. It was of some lovely dipping plates that Larry had fashioned for Ron to sell at the olive oil farm. Larry was wickedly proud when he shared his secret. “Ron doesn’t know yet but I’ve got dipping plates for him.” we loved getting to break the surprise to Ron the next day, and hopefully help the venture along with our enthusiastic delivery.

Wander

It’s worth a no destination meander through the downtown area, you won’t get lost and you may just find a wonderful surprise…

Bart’s Books

This place is fab, it’s an open-air bookstore, how impractical. I love it! There’s a sign on the door about how to pay for the books permanently installed on the outside, yes outside of the building. This is a theme in Ojai, there are produce stands spattered about with the honor system for payment, it’s refreshing to think that this is still possible in America in 2010. Bart’s is the best used bookstore I’ve seen, it’s huge since it covers the whole property including the small house that I am guessing was the original structure on the property. There are rows and rows of books on almost any subject you can imagine, I picked up a book I’d never seen before on hand tufted rugs. Tip…if you go, buy the tote that is pictured below.  It’s perfect, and I resisted. I’m still kicking myself! I’ll just have to use it as an excuse to visit again very soon!

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The fruits of one’s labors…actually I can’t take any credit for the eden that I discovered in my backyard this morning. I didn’t plant the trees, a past owner did sometime in the last 60 years, I don’t tend to the trees, or even water them, but that’s what is so amazing. Simply paying the water bill so that the sprinklers stay on, means that an afternoons labor some time ago continues to bear fruit each year without fail. This is a good lesson for me to remember when I am procrastinating about doing something or wishing I could just go on vacation!!! More to come on what the eventual result of these beautiful yet unexpected gems will be….

We have a passion for fashion documentaries…here are our 10 favorites.

Worth watching over and over and over again.

The movie titles click through to their listings on Netflix, they’re all on there….

Lagerfeld Confidential

Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times

Valentino: The Last Emperor

Chanel, Chanel

Viktor & Rolf: Because We’re worth it!

Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton

Ultrasuede: In search for Halston

The September Issue

Unzipped

Seamless

Yesterday evening we began pulling down the stash to send to the sample sale today, and as you can see below there was a bit of a delay in the process…

Every box was neatly packed and stored away over the last 6 months, 2500 units and no chaos.

Yisbel had a GENIUS idea….sometimes the runt of the litter is the most dangerous.

The crew politely picked thorough a few boxes searching for gems they may have missed over the years…

As the process continued, the polite picking turned into ravaged hunting, the crew began diving and contorting to snag their loot. In the end every box was opened and raided.

It’s wonderful for me to see that the people who work so hard to bring the collections to market in this crazy world of fashion are still this excited about what we do.

We’ve repacked the boxes and are on our way to the sample sale venue now….we expect a repeat performance later today and tomorrow and we’re a little scared…

Cafe de Flore is a must stop on all trips to Paris, no matter if it’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails, coffee with amazing French magazines from the near by newsstand. It’s been a favorite of the creative influencers for generations and is something everyone should experience more than once.

CAFE DE FLORE

The first photo below was snapped on a recent trip which felt very much like a modern day Herbie the Love Bug, and was shot on actual film with my Contax T3.  I had no idea if it had turned out for months and months, the camera ended up on an extended stay in Paris and it was such a wonderful surprise when the camera arrived and the images were useable.

These are images old and new that tell the story of the cafe.

When Quinn was a pup and up until about 6 months old, she would often show up in the back yard with toys and objects that were definitely not hers. I’m still not sure from where they came, but it’s funny that they were almost always white stuffed dog toys and objects that were missing their mate. You’ll see the beginning of what Quinn considers a “twig” as well in the first photo, she’s grown into them at this point but when she was tiny the proportions were amazing. The stare of death she’s giving me in each of the photos below is the moment of documentation just before the contraband was retired to the trash, she was never very happy about this process.

Simryn Gill is an artist that I discovered while on an adventure a few years ago. New Years being celebrated in Australia. I landed a few days prior to two of my best friends who were joining and got to put in some quality time taking in the city on my own.  As a habit I research the contemporary museums in each city I visit, and in Sydney it’s the Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibits were engaging and dare I say less precious than many other major cities contemporary venues. Simryn Gill, a Sydney based artist was exhibiting “Pearls” a project centered around the idea of exploring the objects from other cultures when they end up in a foreign land, and how it is almost impossible to determine their true value, and meaning if you don’t understand the culture they came from. Are they treasure or common object?  With this project Simryn took a book from each participant and in exchange returned a finished necklace to the participants. I purchased the exhibit’s book on my way out, see inserts below for amazing examples of the diversity and example of craft that made me want to go home and rip up some books.

ARABIAN NIGHTS

NECKLACE FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS

MOUNTAINS AND WATER

NECKLACE FROM MOUNTAINS AND WATER

Hear what the Tate in London has to say about Mr. Gil

As we headed toward sending our recent Holiday 2010 collection to market I was compelled to add in an additional layer of craft to one of the GF pieces. I had squirreled away a pillow purchased in Palm Beach, Australia December 2008 for inspirational use someday in the future, and the future was suddenly here. The Geren Ford Los Angeles studio became Tie Dye camp for a few days as we researched the techniques and processes. Jennifer who works with us here in LA really is the master and creator of this project. It was a really fun process to watch come to life. The photos below are of her handiwork and the finished product at the look book shoot! We got our information from Google and You Tube and our supplies from Pearl Paint (minus the gloves – Jennifer had those on her own).

Portugal last year…exhausted after fashion filled month in New York a good friend was on her way to Lisbon for a shoot, and who am I to turn down a spot at the Four Seasons and the inside view of a city that being on a production brings. All I heard was “much needed instant vacation”.  The night before heading home it was time for one last dinner, we wanted to walk from the hotel and as luck has it the best meal I had during my visit was the last one, an unexpected wonderful surprise. Bocca delivered what was one of the top 10 meals of my life. The highlight of the evening was a wine chosen for me by the sommelier. Without knowing Portuguese wine in any way, all I had to offer were the words Bordeaux, Malbec, Barolo….the kind man was a genius and I ended up being treated to one of the most amazing wines I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Even better in Portugal it’s not pricey, and the label was stunning. The details he jotted down on a post-it for me and I take it with me as I make my way back to Los Angeles. Once home I hunt, and I do mean literally hunt the vineyard down. No US distributor, a UK one who’s on holiday, and a website for the brand. I send word in all directions…. and amazingly Ronald my soon to become e-mail pen pal responded. He’s at the winery, he may be able to ship to me, and he has what I want! Yes!

Long Long Long and by long I mean 3 months long story short, Ronald is able to ship me 4 cases (which fly via British Airways to LA, that seems somewhat posh to me for an unexplainable reason) and they get STUCK in customs because I’m not a wine importer. Tessa who has just started with Geren Ford dives in deep to help me out, thank goodness no is not an option for her and after much back and forth and a multitude of ideas, one of which was “SEND IT BACK TO PORTUGAL” which gave me hives, it arrives. Not with the same glamour as it’s flight here, but on Christmas eve at noon on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks I meet Jesus to procure my 4 cases of gold out of the back of a delivery truck too large to make it up the windy roads to my house in the Hollywood Hills. The 4 cases are all that is in the truck. I feel like I’m accepting stolen goods, but I am not. I am 6 hours away from heading to LAX for a much-needed St. Barths stay over to celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year. I am happy to report that a bottle went with me and was enjoyed by all on a tiny island in the Caribbean

Cargo safely in my pantry.

I don’t have many of what a good friend of mine would call Isms (aka addictions)  but I do have a love hate relationship with my DVR. Some of these you would expect and some maybe not as much. Nobody puts baby in the corner!

My 10 Proud Picks

CBS Sunday Morning

60 Minutes

Breaking Bad

Nurse Jackie

The Good Wife

United States of Tara

Weeds

Iconoclasts

Californication

Law and Order (I’m going to lump them all together or they would be the whole list)

My 10 Secret Picks

So You Think You Can Dance

America’s Got Talent

The Amazing Race

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

America’s Next Top Model

Cougartown

Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Kell on Earth

The Rachel Zoe Show

Grey’s Anatomy