That’s right, friends. joyOdowntown will make its debut on February 14, 2016.
Valentine’s Day.
Can’t wait to share the love!
joyOdowntown is already on instagram, twitter and pinterest.
Click here to sign up for the adventure!
New Blog in 2016, yo
New blog coming in 2016! About living in DTLA in a loft, with a family!
If you’re a reader here, you know I often write about downtown Los Angeles, and the endless inspiration and food for thought it provides on a daily basis.
I’ve lived in DTLA for six years. It’s the first place in Los Angeles that has truly felt like home.
With C, C jr and Arlo, this corner of the city has become a canvas for adventure, and considering how often I’m asked for restaurant recommendations, activity and event ideas, and questions like You live where? How close to Skid Row? Do you feel safe? You have BEEHIVES??? I thought it was time to put some faces on the reality of family living in DTLA.
Because this area is changing so quickly, it’s difficult to keep up. There are growing numbers of families with young kids living down here, and there aren’t too many resources.
So, I shall endeavor to be resourceful.
I’d love for you to join me on this particular journey. You can sign up here:
The plan is to create a place where readers can get a taste for what it’s like living in an urban, diverse, pedestrian, evolving part of Los Angeles, in a loft that demands creative solutions for the day-to-day.
If you’ve ever been curious about what it’s like to live in DTLA, in a loft, with a kid and a dog and about 60,000 bees – look no further!
You can also find joyOdowntown on Instagram and Twitter.
This blog will continue to be a place where writing takes place, but the new blog will focus on DTLA.
Sign up for updates about the website launch later in 2016, great new content, guest posts, contests, and what will likely be one of the most bizarre adventures I and my family will experience.
And thank you. You’re all very beautiful and talented.
Forest Bathing
Nature is a luxury.
I grew up surrounded by nature at its most dramatic: Pine trees that tapered into the far-away, Mt. Rainier booming in the distance, Dusky layers of purple, The deep, green scent brought out by infinite forms of falling rain.
Los Angeles is many things, but natural isn’t the first word I would use to describe it. Which is fine. A city doesn’t have to be every thing.
When C and I escape to our Shangri-La, we arrive desperate for simplicity and elements. Here, the main concerns are heat – food – relax – sleep. And for the past month, we haven’t had working internet, so those things became even more vivid.
But today, Jimmy, Verizon Hero, found his way out (ALL BY HIMSELF) and dammit, he actually fixed the problem. Don’t get C started on the depravity of corporate call centers and the bleak void of intelligence.
Both of us have seen the small lamp of insight, however. We now know what it’s like to function out here without a strong connection to The Outside World. Of course, it’s pretty fantastic. Our lost horizon, found.
I love living in DTLA. I love the chaos and the construction and the freakishly fast rejuvenation of the entire neighborhood. But when my mind is on the verge of explosion, coming out here calms everything down. C and I giggle with delight.
There’s a Japanese expression Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, that is a practice medicinal at the very least and deeply transformative at best. This is what we are afforded, out here amid the rocks and earth and trees, at the edge of the wilderness. This is a luxury so profound it renders us speechless.
Triple A 