Los Angeles, I love you
So, I actually can’t believe it but… I announced on IG this week that Mark and I are LEAVING LA (kind of). We are giving up city life, for now, for a house in the semi-country {but not too far away from La La Land}. It came as a shock to many of you on Instagram. It kind of came as a shock to me, too, to be honest. I literally did not announce it until the movers were halfway done emptying our apartment because it just didn’t feel real. It STILL doesn’t feel real, even though we’ve officially been out of our condo for the last week. (Perhaps because I’ve still gone to LA every single day since moving? Just a guess, lol.)
Leaving LA feels like breaking up with someone I’m still in love with. I cried multiple times after we made the decision to leave and I’m tearing up writing this post, too. LA is not going away, we are less than an hour outside the city now and I’ll still be going all the time for work, events etc. However, it still feels like I’m losing a part of my identity or saying goodbye to an era.
I’ve never been shy about proclaiming my love for the City of Angels. I truly believe if someone says they “hate” LA that just means they don’t know LA, because there is something for everyone here.
Bougie glamour or beachy and low key, constant activity or peace and quiet: LA has that for you. Shopping sprees or hours alone in nature: LA has that for you. Hipster, rich AF, a neighborhood showcasing one culture or mixing in a melting pot: LA has that. The beach or skyscrapers or the feel of a village: LA has that for you.
These options may come with a steeeeeep price point- but if ANYTHING, LA has THAT for you.
We have lived in LA for 12 YEARS {I can’t believe it!} and we’ve lived all over. Our LA journey has been crazy and beautiful. I could honestly write an entire BOOK on each place we’ve lived, but here’s a brief summary of our LA decade.
Toluca Lake
We started out in the valley. Perfectly positioned between the Toluca Lake mansions inhabited by Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers and eclectic, artsy NoHo with speakeasys and street art. There was always something filming around us and I had more parking tickets than income.
LA does weekly street cleaning with a giant broom truck and you can’t park on whatever side they’re cleaning that day. You HAVE to read the parking signs or you will 100% get a ticket. The first day we moved in I didn’t read the signs and got a ticket, but it was so low on my windshield that I didn’t notice. So I ran errands, parked on the opposite side of the street and got ANOTHER ticket the next day. 2 days into LA life and I was out $150 {in the days when I was only making $1000 a month, mind you.}
I think I probably sang out loud, “If this is the cost of chasing my dreams, I’ll gladly pay it!” and then likely got screamed at by a homeless person. #LAgoals
Hollywood
From there we headed to Hollywood where we spent 4 years in Franklin Village. We lived in a gorgeous 1920’s, art deco apartment right behind the Scientology Celebrity Center. It had original hardwood floors, giant glass windows and heaps of charm. Here we had a yard and we’d throw epic parties to celebrate everything and nothing. There was ALWAYS a reason to celebrate and we love to host. We’d stay up all night having deep, esoteric conversations and speaking our dreams into the universe.
LA in general has a very special energy, and say what you want about Hollywood (I could say a lot, TRUST ME lol), but the energy of the dreamers is at an all time high there.
My neighborhood walks took me past the Scientology center guards, people on drugs wearing only a clown-face thong, and the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie compound all in the span of 5 minutes.
I grocery shopped with John Hamm at the height of his Mad Men days, and would take weekly hikes up to the Griffith Observatory to look out over the city and just breathe in its energy. I also walked out my front door to police with their guns drawn screaming at me to get back inside while apprehending high-speed chase drivers not once or twice, but THREE times. Hollyweird, ya know? Ahhh, I have so many more stories about this time but I’m trying to keep this brief.
Oh wait, actually, one more story I just remembered and I have no choice but to add. Our bedroom had French doors that backed up to a little alleyway. I woke up one night at 3am to That Pig (Mia) SCREAMING. There was another cat in the alley, they were fighting, and Mia’s arm got stuck under the French door while the cat outside attacked her. I was half asleep when Mark LEAPS out of bed and yells at the top of his lungs, “F*CK!!! MIA!” immediately followed by the sound of glass shattering. You guys, I can’t even type this without laughing, I’m dying. Mark had jumped out of bed and PUNCHED right through our glass French door to rescue Mia from the cat fight. The best cat-dad ever.
Brentwood
When we’d had enough Hollyweird action we decided to bougie it up a bit and head Westside. The west side of LA {generally the area west of the 405, South of the 101 and North of the South Bay} is a completely different world from the rest of Los Angeles. When people think of LA $$$ they often imagine Beverly Hills, but honestly, Brentwood and the Palisades are where a lot of the big time $ is. We upgraded from grocery shopping with John Hamm to grocery shopping with Reese Witherspoon.
If you watched any of my home tours stories you know what I mean. But honestly, the houses I share on home tours aren’t even the bougiest because those either have too high walls/hedges OR so many security cameras I was afraid to film!
Now that we’ve moved I can share- we lived on Sunset Blvd, near the cutest little shopping village filled with bakeries and salons and gift shoppes. I loved being 10 minutes from the beach, and soaking in the charm of that Brentwood good-life.
Brentwood was our home for 7 years and if we move back to LA I definitely think here or the Palisades is where we’ll be. West side, best side, it’s hard to live anywhere else once you’ve lived here.
Wide Open Spaces
So now, the journey continues. We absolutely loved our condo, but we’ve talked about a house for a long time. At this point in our lives the pickings in LA were slim. One day, an empty lot on our street in Brentwood went up for sale. We joked about buying that and living in a tent, until we realized the empty lot was $4 million. They’ve since built a house on that lot and Zillow estimates it at a cool $17.8 mil so, you know, casual.
COVID hit and sped up our timeline for taking a break from the city. It feels more important than ever to be closer to family. After months of looking online we went to explore in person. The second we pulled up to our house I knew, this was the next right move. We’ll be about 10 minutes from our parents, still close to the beach and LA, but with much more space. Also, we have almost an acre yard to play around with! You know I’ll be getting into Monty Don French Garden mode on the daily.
I’m so excited to share all our home and yard projects with you! I am sad to no longer officially be an LA resident, I’m thrilled for what this next chapter holds.
Xx,
