Kelly Wearstler : Ready to Wear

Kelly Wearstler was an epic starting point in my interest of interior design! I have always loved anything, design, art, and fashion, but I evolved in my love of interiors because of Kelly's work at the Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica, California.  My husband and I even took our engagement photos in the hotel.   She started the design motto of "Modern Vintage" two words that are opposites, but somehow she created and brought together harmoniously.  I love her willingness to step out of her comfort zone and produce something that is very bold, exotic, and edgy, yet polished and glamorous .  Her work is striking, complex, and decadent; from her style in interiors, to her wardrobe, and  her accessories.  She takes risks not everyone is willing to take, but her work and designs are well thought out and put together that is brilliant.  Although not every look of hers is of my own palate,  but I resonate with her style because of her sense to venture out and be bold, edgy, striking, yet very polished and alluring, which I strive and incline towards.  I actively love to seek, do, create, and have things that are not typical, but are originial and unique.  Kelly is the visionary behind the Viceroy in Santa Monica, Palm Springs, Miami, and more recently Anguilla; the Tides in Miami Beach as well as a re-design of the Avalon and Maison 140, both in Beverly Hills, CA.   Residential projects in her portfolio include; Hillcrest Estate, Malibu Beach Residence, Doheny Estate, Pied a Terre, Bell-Air Villa, Brentwood Estate, and Trousdale Residence.   And she has also written monographs that include; Modern Glamour(2004), Domicilium Decoratus(2005-2006), In her latest book Hue(2009) she showcases the power of color and patterns in her newest projects; which she also reflected in her fall 2011 ready to wear line that is to come out at Bergdorf  in August of this year.  Kelly was named by Town and Country to be a style leader in 2010; Named one of the best dressed of the year by Vogue and oft-heralded for her distinctive personal style.  Fall 2007 marked the opening of the Kelly Wearstler's boutique at Bergdorf Goodman. The boutique showcased a range of decorative home accessories and a selection of furniture designed by Wearstler, then a collection of handmade carpets with the Rug Company was debuted in Spring 2008, followed by fabrics and trims with Groundworks at Lee Jofa in Fall 2008, soft home goods with Sferra in Spring 2009 and dinnerware with Pickard China in Fall 2009. So it was only a matter of time before her clothing line was coming.  Here are some of her inspirations for her fall 2011 ready to wear line....                                                          

 

Her desk

Her working grounds

one of our engagement photos @ the Viceroy in Santa Monica

100% Natural : Tata Harper

I am obsessed with my skin and with skin products, that preserve my youth, who doesn't want to be forever young?    I've tried everything from Jurlique,Dr. Hauschka, Chanel, Caduale, Kinerase, Kiehls, Youth by Bliss, Origins, and even Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Beauty, the list goes on and on and on.... and I am still trying to decipher whether natural products are effective in reversing the signs of aging.  I know with time aging can not be terminated, but my intent is to preserve my skin as long as I can and to age gracefully.  So because reversing the signs of aging is working on an uphill gradient against nature, I'm skeptical and wonder if lab tested and made products will work better for the aging process....... I am a BIG believer in locally grown, fresh, organic products! "Organic" gets tricky for me.  I don't believe in products that just have the "organic" tag.  My definition "organic" is; locally grown, just hand picked(fresh), and non-chemically enhanced(whether to make it look or taste better), bought from a local farmer or at the farmer's market.  My husband and I try not to use or eat processed foods, refined sugar and refined carbohydrates as much as we can, and we hope to someday refrain it from my diets all together.  But if we gravitate towards some cookies or chips, I will choose the box with the least amount of ingredients and least amount of words I cannot pronounce.  The more ingredients and more words I cannot pronounce the more the product has gone through a processing system to strip all the nutrients out of the product and added preservatives.
Anyways,  I've been hearing more and more about Tata Harper's products and decided to order a sample size beauty set. Unfortunately, I LOVED IT and order the whole set today.  I guess this going to be my birthday present because it was a little more than I would of liked to have spent, ouch! But I always say there is no cost for your skin and health!  Tata Harper lives in Vermont on a 1,200 acre farm, she manufactures 100% natural and non-toxic, premium skincare products made from the world’s most sought after ingredients. All research and development, formulations, packaging, marketing and distribution are done in-house, allowing Tata to control every step of the process, from formulation to shipment to a customer. Take a look at her skincare line and  her blog.

Tata and Emerson from Emersonmade have influenced my desire to live in the green country someday.  My ideal situation would be to live in San Francisco for a couple of years then move to Sonoma or Napa as my permanent residence.  I love her eclectic country style; notice the fun turquoise borders on her windows and her antique vase and truck.

Beach Body

Can I please have Marissa Miller's body for just a month?!?! I mean her body is insane! I've always coveted her body and especially her abs. It's soon summer and you know what that means, beach body, beach body, beach body. I am now on day 42 of P90X.   Living where the sun is constantly out and skin exposed everywhere, I have always been aware of my body and fitness.  Being a California girl I love being active and outdoors.  I like to swim, run, bike, rollberblade, play tennis, and hike.  And I've always had a gym membership.... until now.   I was spoiled by our previous gym, it was like a resort, everything was provided for you towels, lotion, shampoo hair dryers, and they even had a healthy cafe you could buy smoothies and food from, and I loved how wonderfully hard the workouts were in the classes.  And when we moved to a new area we were hesitant to join a gym because none of them were as nearly as good as our last.  I am not always religious about going to the gym like my husband is, but it is a part of my life and a routine I try to maintain. When I am working out regularly and eating right, and live it up on the weekends I feel the best!  Once I get into the swing of things I'm pretty good about keeping on schedule.  I couln't go back to 24 hours or LA fitness because I did not get a workout from the classes.  The instructors at Lifetime were trained for 6 months and the instructors at 24 hours/ LA fitness take an online course for 6 weeks.  I have to give credit to my husband for introducing me to do the P90X videos, which I was hesitant at first because I didn't think it was for me.
This workout includes: 1)  chest and back  2) legs and back  3) shoulders and arms  4) yoga  5) kickboxing
6) pyometrics  7) abs  8) stretching  9) core  10) cardio.
I'd rather be active and workout outdoors than go to the gym and working out on machines. But I do enjoy classes, so long as I don't feel like it's a waste of my time and I actually get a workout.  This is how I got to doing P90X from home.  It does seem geared more towards men, but there are women in the video too.  I get bored easily with workouts, so I need it to be challenging and different each day.  It's been nice not having to go to the gym after a hard work day, and working out at home not caring about what to wear to the gym.  I can get use to this working out from home.  I hear Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis is good challenging workout as well, so that may have to be my next purchase.... unless I find a gym I like, when I move to SF.
My diet, well I don't really have one other than to eat no refined sugar or refined carbs.  I don't believe in diets, it's a lifestyle you choose.  Diets just swing you back and forth and it is not healthy. I'm vegetarian, well to be exact, pesscatarian, but just because you are vegetarian doesn't mean that you are a healthy, it REALLY DOESN'T!  My vice is sugar and on weekends I let go and have fun with food because I love food too much, but weekdays I try to eat everything natural as possible and no processed foods.