Notes of: California

A mood board inspired by the best coast

This newsletter is sponsored by Jenni Kayne. Thank you, JK, for being a part of this week’s À La Carte!

Welcome to Notes Of! Each month I make a mood board as a little creative exercise in thematic thinking. This month’s mood board is inspired by the golden light, rolling poppy fields, and endless orange groves of California, my home state and favorite place on Earth.

People seem surprised when I tell them I’m a Southern California native. Maybe it’s my extremely pale, never-sees-the-sun skin or my general trepidation about the great outdoors, but I tend to get a lot of “Oh really?!”s in response. But alas, I’m a born and bred Californian, and like I said in my LA guide, I never plan to leave.

It’s tempting to pigeonhole the whole state into a vibe that inspired an entire cultural movement in the early 2000s—Hollister, The OC, “Team Lauren” vs. “Team Kristin,” etc.—but my favorite things about home have little to do with the surf report. Instead, I’m reminded of the week I drove up to Inverness and stayed down the street from the Blunk House, or the time my friends took me to Los Alamos to celebrate my birthday. I think back to a road trip my family took down the coast the year I graduated high school and a Fourth of July spent with my best friend up in Ojai—all those hours spent in the car with Joni Mitchell and The Beach Boys and James Taylor on deck, vineyards and citrus trees and craggy beaches passing us by.

Maybe it’s because of the fires or just that I’m getting a little older, but I’ve been feeling deeply nostalgic for the place I live. Is there such a thing as nostalgia for the present? Last weekend I stopped by the Atwater Village farmers market with my friend Carrie, and as we wove through the crowd of basket-toting Angelenos stocking up for the week, we crossed paths with

Chloe Walsh

doing her own rounds. Minutes later I ran into my friend Danielle down the block, where we joked about how long the line for farm-fresh eggs was. I spotted someone I went to college with from afar as I crossed the street to my car, a bag of berries and dips from the hummus guy in tow. Driving home I thought about how funny it is that the prospect of fresh produce and a sunny, almost-spring day lured us all out of our houses and onto the same street at the same time.

Anyway, when Jenni Kayne mentioned that their new campaign was inspired by “where your clothes can take you,” it only made sense to lean into the sentimentality I feel for this place. We’re entering into California’s best time of year: a few weeks of freshly green hills, sunlit dinners, and hopefully, a superbloom. So I lit a candle (Jenni Kayne’s Ash—bad timing for that scent, but it is my favorite…), opened up the windows, threw on an oversized cashmere sweater (like this one, which is on my wish list), and built a mood board inspired by it all.

A few notes on the theme:

• Speaking of sweaters, the cable knit v-neck in the Jenni Kayne shot on the mood board is really, really good—I love it styled with those oversized shorts and a tee underneath. As someone who rarely wears shorts, though, I’d probably opt for some baggy pants, like this linen pair.

• If you find yourself craving a trip to the desert in the immediate future, you might want to book a room at the newly opened Hotel Wren in Twentynine Palms—I looked earlier this week and rooms are 25% off through the end of the month.

• That video going around of Amanda Seyfried singing “California” and playing the dulcimer on Late Night has prompted a resurfacing of Joni Mitchell’s 1970 magical original.

• If you’re interested in the origins of the wellness industry and its impact on California culture, from design to food and beyond, add Sun Seekers: The Cure of California by Lyra Kilston to your TBR list.

• The tulips at Descanso Gardens are in peak bloom right now, so maybe I’ll see you LA locals there this weekend. (Stop at How’s It Going To End for coffee on your way over and make a day of it.)

  descansogardens

  

  A post shared by @descansogardens

• If you’re up in Northern California, hop over to Point Reyes Station in Marin County to visit the Blunk Space, a gallery owned and run by artist JB Blunk’s daughter, Mariah Nielson. Right now they’re hosting a show featuring the collaborative works of painter Inez Storer and ceramicist Gordon Bryan, which will be running through April 20th. Afterwards, pick up a sandwich at Brickmaiden and find a nice bench with a good view to enjoy it.

• I am dying to stay at the iconic Sea Ranch Lodge someday. Does anyone want to take a road trip this summer? (I found this out after I made the mood board: Jenni Kayne actually shot their home collection at Sea Ranch! A total coincidence.)

  

• You can view Ed Ruscha’s 1971 book A Few Palm Trees in full here. So much of Ed’s work gives me that same nostalgic feeling I mentioned, especially Los Angeles Apartments.

• Speaking of The À La Carte Guide to LA, I’ve already made a couple of additions to the list, and I’ve added a link to a Google Map you can use as you explore.

If you ever make a mood board based on a place you love, send it to me! I’d love to see.

x

Ali

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Sources: Archival photo from the collection of Donald H. Sultner-Welles via the Smithsonian; detail from a Dutch still life painting, Carel Van Hullegarden, 1653; cover of Holiday Magazine, July 1958; Pia Riverola for Flamingo Estate; photo of a fennel field taken by me in Point Reyes Station, 2021; campaign image courtesy of Jenni Kayne; found postcard of a woman in a poppy field; Sea Ranch opening poster, 1965; A Few Palm Trees, Ed Ruscha, 1971; Catalina Island, Martha Holmes for Life, 1946; campaign image courtesy of Jenni Kayne; Joan Didion’s Kitchen, Henry Clarke, 1972; folding screen by Alvar Aalto for Artek, 1936; found slide courtesy of the UC Santa Cruz archive; Serenade, Richard Mayhew, c. 1964-1966; Gertler House by Ray Kappe, 1970.

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