///// in the issue fresh
Summer Table Top Tips
Designer and Stylist Emily Ruddo gives her favorite picks for summer dining
win a $250 Jonathan Adler gift card! click here
feed and fuel Take It Outside Lulu Powers, our “Entertainologist�, reveals her best al fresco dining and entertaining secrets
printed matter inspired Once Upon A Mantle Stylist and Artist Sasha Sullivan preps her mantle for a breezy, colorful summer
Summer Reading Get all the best books on travel, food and libations from our top printed picks
seasonal sketching Pooled Pork Illustration by Dave Saracino
inside art Future of Land and Water Ceramic artist Stan Welsh opens up about his most recent nature inspired body of work
///// in the issue bon voyage Roadtripping In Patagonia Explore the great outdoors with travel writer Sarah Reisman as she embarks on the first leg of her international adventure
wanderlust Trials Of The Trail Boundless in nature, our resident nomad Jeff Mark wanders the Pennsylvania wilderness
///// in the issue living Barefeet and Bubblebaths Designer Molly Luetkemeyer invites us in her petite retreat in Montecito
Erin Olson The House of Turquoise blogger shares her must have summer essentials
can’t live without
Escape In L.A. SFA Design creates a serene city escape in the hills of Los Angeles
Sa s h aKi n e n s Fi n ePa i n t i n g s
www. s a s h a ki n e n s . c o m Ne wYo r k
Mi l wa u ke e
Lo sAn g e l e s
///// editor’s letter Summer is my absolute favorite time of year. While some may say that this is the only season in Los Angeles, I’d have to disagree. Being a true California girl, I love that there is a different quality of light, a beach full of people, fantastic terrace parties, and an (even) lighter mood than normal. Al fresco dining and entertaining are possibly my favorite hobbies and summer sets the perfect mood. As you can see from this page, a few changes have been happening over here at Toujours, including the fact that I have taken on the Editor-in-Chief position. Our beloved Grey Crawford will of course stay on as co-founder, photographer, and general enthusiast, but has passed the editor reigns to me. This issue is a bit of a shift from our previous issues, and over the next few months we will be making some exciting changes to the look, feel and overall experience of the magazine. We’ll be updating the blog with information as things happen, but for now, just know that we are cooking up delightful inspiration for the fall. I hope your summer is a beautiful one and that you find inspiration and helpful decorating and entertaining tips in the issue! Cheers! Meghan Beierle-O’Brien Editor-in-Chief
CONTRIBUTORS
DANA BEIERLE //// Art Director Dana lives in Brooklyn where she hosts rooftop dumpling parties for her starving artist friends. She wears clothing she finds on the sidewalk in Chinatown and listens to Hall and Oates. She draws, plays keyboard, and she and her cat Satchmo can sleep through just about anything.
DAWN MOORE //// Editor at Large California Girl to the bone. Designer, writer, kayaker. “Authentic is far more important than impressive - in art, interiors or personal adornment. Soulful living is the key.”
005 GREY CRAWFORD //// Co-Founder/Photographer Grey became interested in photography during families summer vacations. His father taking out his Rolliflex and creating images that he would develop felt like magic from a young age. After studying at Rochester Institute of Technology and returning to LA, he started photographing architecture and interiors. Grey continues to seek that magic, and telling the story of our built environment.
EMILY RUDDO //// Design Editor Originally from Maryland and now an Angeleno, Emily is an interior designer with a signature style of infusing color and calm into a home. Her blend of east coast and west coast styles creates balance in a unique way. Her dedication to a healthy lifestyle, love of travel and passion for harmonious living impacts every single design decision she makes.
JEFF MARK //// Writer Jeff Markovitz is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at Community College of Philadelphia. Though primarily a fiction writer, he has published poems recently in Certain Circuits and in the anthology Names in A Jar: A Collection of Poetry by 100 Contemporary American Poets. His creative non-fictitious stories “Too Tough for Tetherball” and “Two Gents on A Church Lawn were published in 2011 and his first novel Into the Everything was published in 2011 by Punkin House Press.
5
LULU POWERS //// Entertaining Director Lulu will contribute sage advice on all things entertaining, and we will also be featuring her recipes. Lulu started her catering business in 1994, and she delights one and all with an inspired take on life. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Stephan, a photographer, and their 3 dogs.
00 SARA REISMAN //// Writer A reformed lawyer, former New Yorker and an aspiring nomad. After spending six years in the corporate jungle, this blogger is trading it all in for an actual jungle; traveling the world in search of beauty, adventure and a good time.
KAT O’BRIEN //// Copy Editor Kat O’Brien is a born and bred California girl. She got an English degree from Long Beach State and divides her time between fiction and reality. She can often be found online, buried in a book, knee-deep in notebooks, or hopping the border to Canada.
SASHA SULLIVAN //// Art/Fashion Editor Sasha Sullivan is an artist living in New York after a recent stint in Florence. Her narrative and figurative paintings are based on images styled and shot in the home she shares with her sculptor husband.
Jaymi McClusky //// Photographer Jaymi is a rare LA native who studied film & TV at CSULB and currently works for NBC, soaking up the (not always) glamorous world of TV. Her real passion is “natural light” food & portrait photography, and she spends her weekends either convincing her friends to pose for her or cooking up fabulous meals to photograph.
05 KRISTY FIREBAUGH //// Writer Kristy Firebaugh lives in a one hundrea year-old house and spends her weeking painting, decorating, and trying to convince her husband to help her refinish furniture or knock down walls. She is currently working on a Ph.D. dissertatio in English literature at the University of Denver. When she’s not writing or daydreaming about wallpaper she likes to hike with her dog.
DAVID SARACINO //// Illustrator David is a freelance Illustrator & Designer living outside of New York City in Astoria. He likes to cook and has more polaroid cameras than you can count on both hands.
CONTRIBUTORS
Summer table top tips with
Emily Ruddo
Choose fabric or paper napkins in colorful patterns or solids in two different colors. Madeline Weinrib Orange Brooke Napkin
Add candlelight everywhere and hang festive lights for a moody glow. GlassyBaby Water For Life Votives
n a th a n o J 0 5 2 $ a win Adler gift card! click here Keep your guests dazzled with punches of color
Forgo the clear glassware for fun shapes and colors for your bar. Uncommon Goods Hula Glasses
toujours | 005 | fresh
Don’t forget the bar needs a bright tablecloth or runner, ice bucket and a small flower arrangement. Jonathan Adler Mr. Ice Bucket
Layer your tabletops and bar with colorful trays. American Rag LTDSO Stripe Tray
take it outside!
By Lulu Pow
ers
photos by Jaymi McClusky
Al fresco entertaining can be as simple as plates of cheese, fruits, and vegetables. You don’t even have to cook to entertain. It’s really about the good company. Just don’t forget the Sneekys!
There’s nothing
“The Entertainologist” (that’s me!) loves better than al fresco entertaining. It’s all about the fresh scent of ripe honeydew or mint sprigs from your local farmers market and those little touches of color from your garden that really spice up a table setting.
toujours | 005 | feed and fuel
How do you like the napkin rings in this setting? Well, I found these adorable cuff bracelets at Forever 21 and knew they were perfect napkin rings! Remember, things often have dual purposes.
Easy and chic!
toujours | 005 | feed and fuel
e l y st e k i l u l u L find these table toppers on Lulu’s OpenSky boutique!
When it comes
to preparing your meal think traditional and easy dishes that can be elevated in small ways – like color. For example, I made a ribbon salad using green and yellow zucchini. Using an ordinary vegetable peeler, I peeled the zucchini into ribbons, tossed it with equal parts olive oil and lemon, a little freshly grated Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste, and a sprinkle of truffle salt on top. Voile! Simple yet artfully displayed.
toujours | 005 | feed and fuel
In addition, I took cutting boards from around my kitchen and used them as my plates. It creates a cozy and unique atmosphere while using things I already own. (Although you can snap them up on my OpenSky boutique!)
////// my favorite ////// summer sneeky 2 oz. Tequila 2 oz. Clementine juice
(You can also use orange or grapefruit. Whatever is in season)
1 Freshly squeezed lime 1/2 oz. Cointreau
Shake, shake, shake. Pour over ice Adorn with mint, clementine slice, strawberries, blueberries or slice of cucumber.
toujours | 005 | feed and fuel
Lulu’s tip
I always keep limeade in my refridgerator in a glass ball jar. It is great item to keep on hand if you like your drink a little sweeter.
ONCE
UPON A MANTLE ∙ Sasha Sullivan ∙
∙ photos: Meghan Beierle-O’Brien ∙
A mantle is the perfect place to express your style & the current season. This particular ensemble on my mantel is longing for summer & all started with my love of pairing aqua & tangerine.
∙∙∙
The painting is one I have been working on, but it could be anything you are drawn to: A vintage poster, a map or a painting from a yard sale. The bright ranunculus are a great match to the poppies in the painting, which cascade out of a simple vase you can find in dollar store or Target. Living elements always make things more beautiful!
I adore adding pieces from my travels - coral from a girls trip to Costa Rica & and a glass dove from Murano, Italy. They bring back such fond memories.
For a little bit of bling I like to add a touch of silver or gold & these fun Black+Blum candlesticks (which separate or swirl together) were an obvious choice.
toujours | 005 | inspired
A few large scale objects help balance the mantle. Â The white sculptures do the trick & are otherwise part of our bookshelf. Gather what you have in your home or check out sites like Etsy.
A tiny detail, such as these glass bowls by artist Jess Panza, create an intimate space.
Far
and near The New York Times, 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in USA & Canada by Barbara Ireland ∙∙∙ An updated version of the “36 Hours” columns for everyone’s travel list.
A Geek in Japan Discovering the Land of Manga, Anime, Zen, and the Tea Ceremony by Hector Garcia ∙∙∙ For every fan of manga, anime, J-pop, or Zen, A Geek in Japan is a hip, smart and concise guide
Summer
Reading by Meghan Beierle-O’Brien
128 Beats Per Minute: Diplo’s Visual Guide to Music, Culture, and Everything in Between by Thomas Wesley Pentz ∙∙∙ Follow Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo, on this fantastic journey, from his involvement with dub reggae in Jamaica to the electro/techno underground in Tel Aviv.
My Dakota by Rebecca Norris Webb ∙∙∙ Photographer Rebecca Norris Webb’s intimate book weaves a collection of lovely photos and text to capture South Dakota’s beautiful and sometimes harsh landscape.
Paris in Color by Nicole Robertson ∙∙∙ Journey through one of the most romantic cities in the world one orange cafe chair and blue bicycle at a time and celebrate this city’s impeccable style in a fresh way.
summer
munchies
United States of Pie: Regional Favorites from East to West and North to South by Adrienne Kane ∙∙∙ A charming collection of regional heirloom American pies, from long-lost recipes to classic favorites, chock-full of timetested baking tips & secrets for perfect pies.
Salad for Dinner by Jeanne Kelley ∙∙∙ Kelley pairs locally grown produce with international flavors to satisfy any appetite while keeping you slim for summer.
Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables by Cheryl Sternman Rule & Paulette Phlipot ∙∙∙ Eat fruits and vegetables not because you’re told you should, but because you want them & because they are beautiful. And satisfying!
The Food Truck Cookbook by John T. Edge ∙∙∙ It’s the best of street food: bold, delicious, surprising, over-thetop goodness to eat on the run from L.A. and New York to the truck food scenes in Portland, & Austin.
Eat with Your Hands by Zakary Pelaccio ∙∙∙ This hilarious and groundbreaking cookbook of Southeast Asian/ French/Italian inspired food celebrates getting your hands dirty in and out of the kitchen.
William Yeoward’s American Bar by William Yeoward ∙∙∙ Renowned for his glamorous take on interior design and table settings, Yeoward visits five of his favorite bars & chooses cocktails from each by some of the world s most acclaimed bartenders.
Vintage Cocktails by Laziz Hamani ∙∙∙ With just a few ingredients and the right pour, this is the first host should stock in their bar.
Juicy Drinks: Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Juices, Smoothies, Cocktails, and More by Valerie Aikman-Smith ∙∙∙ Whether you’re feeling healthy or in the mood for a “sneaky”, this book will absolutely refresh you in the summer heat.
Edible Cocktails: From Garden to Glass - Seasonal Cocktails with a Fresh Twist by Natalie Bovis ∙∙∙ Learn how to plant your own cocktail garden or just how to use those fresh blueberries you picked up at your farmer’s market - this book will inspire the homemade mixologist inside you.
poolside
Homemade Soda by Andrew Schloss ∙∙∙ From childhood favorites to cocktails, this book can be your go-to for summer beverages that will keep your guests impressed.
Libations
toujours | 005 | seasonal sketchings
INSIDE ART /// STAN WELSH BY MEGHAN BEIERLE-O’BRIEN /// PRODUCED BY GREY CRAWFORD
FUTURE
OF
THE
LAND WATER AND
Toujours Magazine picked the brain of ceramic artist Stan Welsh. An honored professor of 30 years at San Jose State University who is currently the Ceramics Coordinator, Stan still finds time to surf, create new work, and be endlessly inspired. His newest works “Facing the Future” and “On Land-On Water” excite us and we wanted to know what sparked his pieces. TM: What inspired both “Facing the Future” and “On Land On Water”? SW: The thing that inspired me to make this work is a concern for the environment. I wanted to incorporate my love of the ocean and my concern for water as a limited resource as a conceptual premise in my artwork. Formally, I would like this work to portray a sense of clarity, simplicity, beauty and balance. Conversely and conceptually, I am trying to create a feeling of apprehension that suggests that things
Artwork photographed by Ron Jones of RR Jones Photography
toujours | 005 | inside art
NOT
ARE
“ THINGS
WHAT
THEY
“
SEEM
toujours | 005 | inside art
Artwork photographed by Ron Jones of RR Jones Photography
are not what they appear to be. This series titled “On Land-On Water” pays homage to those locations where water meets land or in more symbolic terms, where the known meets the unknown. In these surreal landscapes, I am tying to create enigmatic spaces that evoke a perception of distance and emptiness. I use plywood as a representation for land and I place the figurative sculpture and other 3/D images of animals into the landscape to contextualize them and create a narrative. My goal is to create a sense of longing vulnerability and perhaps anxiety, wondering what the future might bring. TM: Clearly water plays a large role in your current pieces. What is the significance of the ocean in your work?
SW: I started surfing when I was around 10 and I’ve spent a lot of time in and around the ocean. The ocean has been a huge source of inspiration for me in terms of both beauty and symbolism. Water is the ultimate “canary in the coal mine” - the perfect metaphor for mans collective relationship with nature. For many years I have been trying to figure out a way to include images of the ocean in my artwork but I was never able to figure out a way to do it without the work becoming cliché. When I started photographing the surface of water I began to see how water influences human emotion. If the surface of water is smooth it makes you feel calm, if the water has a little chop on it you feel agitated, and if the ocean is heavy and stormy this directly influences your
toujours | 005 | inside art
Surf photograph taken by Charlie Witmer
mood as well. It was the realization that my photographs of the ocean did not need to be actual locations or landscapes that led me to this series of work titled “On Land-On Water”. Another direct correlation with the ocean is the idea of anticipation or waiting. From a surfer’s perspective you always sit out on the water with your back to the land anticipating when the next set will come. It’s a waiting game wondering what the future will bring. I also like the metaphor of the “Fisherman’s wife” waiting at the edge of the ocean for her lover to return safely to shore. This is why most of the figures in my work are facing the ocean with their backs to the viewer. This idea of staring off at the horizon waiting helplessly and
anxiously in anticipation of the future wondering what’s going to happen next: What’s going to be the next big event is a shared human anxiety. TM: Have you always been drawn to nature as a source for your work? SW: I’ve always used images from nature such as birds and other animals in my artwork but this previous work was never about nature specifically. Most of my work in the past has been larger figurative work. The last series I did was of large heads that were 3-4 times life scale. This is the first work where I have reduced the size of the figures and then contextualized them into a larger landscape format.
toujours | 005 | inside art
toujours | 005 | inside art
TM: What are you currently creating? What is next? SW: The work that I am doing right now is a continuation of the water series; I’m using similar materials and I’m still using the images of water as a central theme. The new series is titled “Reflections”. I’m making porcelain and terra cotta objects, animals, figures and islands/mountains. I make two of each and then I set one on top of a metal shelf and then I hang one upside down under the one on top so they become a mirror image of each other. They get really interesting when they sit in front of the water images...Sort of like when you notice a reflection of something in the water. Very disorienting but I like it.
ROAD TRIPPING IN PATAGONIA
STORY | SARAH REISMAN PHOTOS | SARAH REISMAN AND STUART HILL
“In calling up images of the past, I find the plains of Patagonia most frequently cross before my eyes.... I can scarcely analyse these feelings: But it must be partly owing to the free scope given to the imagination. They are boundless, for they are scarcely practicable & hence unknown....� Charles Darwin
Patagonia has always lived in my mind as a place of mysterious, compelling beauty- a place from which I could feel the physical force radiating north to my midtown Manhattan office, pulling me away from my computer screen and drawing me to my south-facing window. The siren song of Patagonia was one of untamed, aggressive wilderness: sharp peaks, infinite and untamed plateaus, inexorable glaciers feeding pristine lakes, rugged and laconic gauchos. It spoke to my stripped down humanity and was an awe-inspiring reminder that there was more to life and to
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
“...THERE WAS MORE TO LIFE AND TO EXPERIENCE THAN MY AVERAGE EVERYDAY GRIND...”
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
experience than my average everyday grind allowed. But my soul needed a greater balm than what I could get from a simple fly-through vacation. I believed, as Paul Theroux said, that the Patagonian “landscape taught patience, caution, tenacity. It needed to be studied to be seen. A glimpse of it told nothing.” The only way to experience Patagonia was on the road, through long windswept days on desolate highways, broken by dramatic scenery, and contemplative silences. A road-trip of a lifetime. So, answering the siren´s song, I signed up with an overlanding company promising 34 days of uninterrupted Patagonia and headed south. Starting in Buenos Aires we drove down the eastern edge of the South American continent. The first days were long but stunning. We often start driving before dawn, driving all day before reaching our camps at dusk - seeing the brilliance of the sunrise and sunset each day seemed an auspicious start to my journey. The scenery during the day was flat steppe and grazing cows, sheep and guanacos, stretching toward long horizons and skies as big and infinite as the ocean. We stopped at the Valdes Peninsula to see penguins, sea lions and elephant seals, hoping to see an orca intentionally beach itself to feast on the tasty sea lions frolicking on the coast. Luckily for the sea lions, the orcas were not feeling hungry enough to come to shore that day, but it was still a relaxing to spend the afternoon drinking hot chocolate on the cliffs. Our next stop was Camarones to see the magellanic penguin colony at Punto Tombo. We were rained out, so we spent a pleasantly blurry evening in the town described by our guidebook as the sleepiest in Patagonia, drinking dusty bottles of wine in a small hotel bar, the name of which was lost with the wine.
“...LIMITS ARE USUALLY SELF-IMPOSED AND BARRIERS ONLY NEED TO BE BROKEN ONCE TO BE BROKEN FOREVER.”
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
Turning east, the flat steppe was abruptly and violently broken by jagged granite peaks, as Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre filled our front windows like an erratic heart beat on a hospital monitor. We stayed in the serene and picturesque Argentine town of El Chaltén for a few days, spending the daylight hours hiking, ice climbing, glacier watching and, in one memorable instance, fording a fast-moving, icy glacial river. For a growing boomtown where many roads remain unpaved, El Chaltén restaurant’s offerings are surprisingly sophisticated: lamb pizza at Patagonicus, excellent and atmospheric with its gallery of 100-year old Patagonia photography; beer and popcorn at La Cerveceria, the local microbrewery, its walls lined with international newspapers and, ironically, out of the local brew on the day of our visit; the lick-your-plate sage and butter sauce on a lamb steak at the friendly and homey Estpa. I wanted three more days here, for more hiking, more eating and to better explore the numerous cafés, chocolaterías, artisanal shops in town and to spend another day with ice axes, climbing the artic blue walls of the Torre Glacier. Instead, we continued east and crossed the border into Chile to visit Torres Del Paine National Park, quite rightly, the most famous and famously stunning national park in South America. The Park’s beauty was exhilarating, almost prehistoric in its savage and untamed grandeur: choppy, wind-capped lakes; sharp, vertically dizzying peaks; crashing, carving glaciers; ghoulishly burnt out birch forests sitting side by side with their brilliantly emerald green counterparts that were just starting to turn scarlet and orange in the
early Patagonian autumn. I saw the Park via the “W� walk, a 50 mile, four-day trek on sheer cliffs and rock outcroppings, by glaciers and glacial lakes, up valleys of riotous color, over glacial streams filed with crystal clear, delicious water. Hard? Unbelievably. But after walking 20 miles the first day, I was reminded that limits are usually self-imposed and barriers only need to be broken once to be broken forever. Back on the road, we turned south again, heading deeper into autumn on a two-day drive toward the bottom of the world. On
our second day, we crossed the infamous Straits of Magellan just after dawn on a ferry full of bleary-eyed truckers and continued down on an unmarked dirt road. As we drove south, the scenery became gentle: the wind-capped lakes and swift-moving rivers calmed; the violent autumnal colors mellowing to a subtle mix; the harsh peaks softened to rolling hills. We crested the last hill and the little town of Ushuaia opened before us, full of low clapboard houses around a welcoming bay, like a fishing village in the Northwest. I expected the
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
end of the world to be harsh, desolate and uninhabitable, to drop off abruptly into the arctic sea, drawing only the most motivated to make the trek to barren Antarctica. In fact, Ushuaia feels bustling, tidy and touristfriendly. Its main street is full of welcoming cafĂŠs, a giant duty free store, electronic stops, fish restaurants, tour operators and purveyors of outdoor equipment. After the intensity of the previous weeks, I settled into the placid comforts of Ushuaia and rested. Patagonia was as beautiful as I expected, but also intense and all-encompassing, engaging all my senses.
Sleep, other than the deep exhaustive sleep after the longest hiking days, was often illusive. The sheer greatness of it clogged my brain, making introspection impossible and scrambling my usually linear thought process. Which, I think, is the point. Patagonia has seeped into me, and I will carry it with me as a reminder that life is exhilarating and imagination is limitless.
toujours | 005 | bon voyage
Hiking the Appalachian Trail through Pennsylvania by
Jeff Mark
i
am in that dubious phase of life where one considers buying a house. For hundreds of thousands of dollars, I could capture myself in an edifice and shoulder the burden of a 30year mortgage. I considered this until, upon etymologically employing my sparse-at-best French, I realized that “mort” means “death,” the summation of these thoughts illuminating that I was committing myself to gauge my death through the purchasing of a singular building. After all, why would I prefer living in one place of the world instead of living in every place of the world? As an almost antagonistic exercise, I shunned all things habitation and took to the wild. The Pennsylvanian Appalachian Trail. 230 miles of rocks, mountains, trees, cliffs, and solitude. Sixteen days. 50 pounds of gear on my back. No four walls in sight. All for free.
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
At Penmar, the seemingly fictitious but actual town that straddles the Pennsylvania and Maryland border, I, for the first time, loaded my new pack onto my back with all of the food, tools, clothes, and books I would use for the immediate future, and took my first step onto the trail. I began with another lunatic person, who henceforth shall be dubbed Profsco, her trail name. We have them (present tense—always), trail names, one for each hiker on route to Katahdin, the AT’s northern terminus. I am, and (in the annuls of the black-and-white-televisionstatic-composition notebooks of the beloved 90’s found in the trail shelters) will always be: Profmark. The first leg brought no pain. We, rookies, walked only about five miles before camping for the night. Profsco erected her tent, but I relented. I was in the forest and wanted to remain there. So instead of tenting (oh thee fabricated dwelling) I slept in one of the many shelters of the trail: a three-sided, roofed wooden box, with the business end open to the trees and glowing retinas of sylvan beasts (ok, squirrels). What a pensive thing it is to walk and sleep in the woods. After that first day of skipping, bending to smell the flora, whistling Dixie, and hopping rattlesnakes (true story), the true nature of the trail made itself
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
known. There were slanted uphills that pulled our packs forever backward and steep rock-bespeckled plummets that were death-to-knees. Our only food supply was on our backs, and consisted of no fruit, vegetables, meat, or dairy. We learned to live on granola and carbohydrates, protein where we could get it: for lunch, it wasn’t uncommon to eat packets of dried tuna from a pouch and peanut butter right from the jar. It sounds disgusting to the non-hiker, surely, but burning thousands of calories each day with no replenishment will cause a person to eat irregularly just to survive. I am histrionic.
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
“Some people work eight hours a day,
some people walk eight hours a day.”
This wasn’t the Oregon Trail. We hiked over interstates. Through small towns. But still, something reminded us we were apart from the rest. We were others, hikers, not normal people but abnormal walkers, doing something just for its doing and not for any concept of rationale. A fellow hiker explained to me, “Some people work eight hours a day, some people walk eight hours a day.�
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
I cannot explain the extreme quiet of the woods while walking alone through them; I cannot explain the constant myriad thoughts, the deepest breaths, the lyrics to every song you’ve ever known, sung. I cannot explain the moments of insane clarity, enough to make a man shout hooray at the instant downpour on top of a mountain. Nor can I explain that loneliness isn’t a bad word, not when you’re bandaging the inch-deep blisters on your heel, you look around, and a chipmunk sits with you fireside; you’re both eating nuts. It’s no cake walk, the trail; it’s fierce: beautiful but angry. It demands from you more than you expected to give it. But traveling for me has never been about relaxation. When I hear the word “vacation,” I begin to sweat. If I want it to count, I must recognize the dichotomy of life: it is bliss, and it is struggle; so too should be travel, so long as I’m alive while doing it. On the seventh day, Profsco rested. Her knees hobbled at the rough interchanges between dirt and stone, she laid down her walking stick, and for the first time, I was alone. I would spend the next 130 miles with the thud of only my two feet upon the trail, but there was so much life in the woods, it was hard to feel alone. I upped my ante: twenty-mile days; twenty-five. At the summit of Mount Cove, the sky opened; I had a rain shield for my pack, but I was waterlogged within seconds. I didn’t care. I found an overlook and shouted through the rain as loud as I could toward whatever valley I faced: a banshee hooray gargled through rain. The next hour would find me slipping down the slick rocks of Cove’s descent, purposefully falling backward so as to land on my pack, a method of protection known to hikers as “turtle-ing”; but on that wet promontory, my lungs pumped pure joy up at what the sky sent down.
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
“It demands from you more than you expected to give it.�
toujours | 005 | wanderlust
There were good days and bad: Thoreau by the Susquehanna river, a pulled glute muscle that was almost homicidal, the old jail cells in the police station in Palmerton where hikers slept for free, enormous blueberry fields with the purest fruit to be handpicked, fresh springs of water unequaled in any bottle, ticks, gnats, and mosquitos. The beauty and struggle led me to believe that adventure is meant to make you appreciate when you’re not on one. Sixteen days after I started, I was met by Profsco at the end, on the I-80 bridge at the Delaware Water Gap, the point where Pennsylvania and New Jersey separate. She was there to drive me home, on asphalt, to a big city. I asked her to walk halfway across the bridge with me, the final part of the trail in PA, to end what we’d started. I still don’t own a house; I write this from a rented apartment, but I hiked through my home state with nothing but what was on my back, and I’ll let you in on a little secret: I did the whole thing with a smile on my face. Leaned against an old tree on the Pennsylvania side of the bridge, I left my walking stick.
refeet a B
bubble baths
toujours | 005 | living
WEEKENDS IN MONTECITO STORY | KRISTY FIREBAUGH PHOTOS | GREY CRAWFORD Listen carefully, and you just might hear the fairies laughing with the elves. At least, that’s what the nieces and nephews think when they visit Molly Luetkemeyer’s weekend home in Montecito, just outside of Santa Barbara, California. When there are children visiting the small house, it takes on the feeling of a fairytale, filled with tea parties and discussions of what small sprites might live there. The house, tiny and almost hidden in the trees and ferns, is evidence of how Molly’s attention to details has created a haven for escape and relaxation.
The pink accented hall leads into the living room which is spotted with antiques, family treasures and a daybed adorned with pillows from India.
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This “enchanted” cottage was once home to Kenny Loggins’ recording studio, but now it serves as an escape from L.A. for Molly, of M. Design Interiors. When she first saw the home, it had “plugs everywhere, funky carpeting,” and a raised area that had possibly been used as a stage in the main room. But Molly saw the unique architecture and features of the house as a positive: the geometry of the support beams throughout the space was enticing, and the stone wall in the bedroom made it look like it grew straight out of the ground.
A custom couch is bookended with side tables from West Elm, topped with Summerland Antique Collection lamps, John Robshaw pillows, vintage chairs and coffee table from the Rose Bowl Flea Market, a pouf from India House, and a throw from Rooms and Gardens
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So, she set out to transform this house into a cozy retreat for herself. The tiny proportions meant that every nook and cranny had to have a function: though it’s not immediately evident, Molly says she designed this home to be “very utilitarian—like working on or
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building a boat.� She thought about how each room would be used and built from there. And she added one very important detail throughout the house: windows and skylights. Because the home is surrounded by lush foliage, it easily could have become dark or cramped. But strategic use of skylights and windows opened up the space and brought beams of sunlight into every room.
“A SMALL HAVEN FOR GOOD MEMORIES.” After these changes, Molly focused on details that would turn this cottage into a haven for relaxation. Weekend homes, says Molly, are simply used differently, and should reflect this use—
everything should be “soft, enticing, and easy.” Case in point: the wall-to-wall carpeting throughout the house, so it’s possible to be comfortably barefoot at all times. (The carpet also serves the more utilitarian function of unifying the uneven floors throughout the house.) This small measure is just one way that Molly and her guests are immediately at ease here. Rather than host dozens of guests, this house only sleeps three people comfortably. But sleep and relaxation are unavoidable here: “when you’re there, there’s just something that entices you to just lay down . . . just for a minute . . .” Maybe it’s the inviting daybed that induces a sense of deep restfulness— Molly says that the daybed is a favorite spot to spend an afternoon reading. Or maybe it’s the rustic comfort of the fabrics used throughout the home. She took a trip to India around the same time, and the influences of Rajasthan are everywhere: from the bed linens and rugs to the furniture and artwork. In many ways, the home is constant reminder of that trip. Which, in itself, somehow encapsulates what a weekend home should be: a small haven for good memories. When compared to our regular homes, Molly says that weekend homes tend to be “quirkier. Often there are little collections of things—rocks, or sea glass, or flowers from a walk— because when you slow down enough to be on vacation, you tend to notice the small things more.” Slowing down, relaxing with a long bubble bath or a delicious nap or an afternoon lost in a good book: this is the essence of summer.
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“SLEEP AND ARE RELAXATION E UNAVOIDABL HERE.”
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ESCAPE IN L.A. s i x
w e e k s
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s t y l e
StOry Kat O’Brien PhOtOgraphy Meghan Beierle-O’Brien InteriOrs SFA Design
What can you create in six weeks? For the team at SFA Design, the answer is simple: a serene escape tucked into the hills and shielded from the bustle of LA by curtains of foliage (greenery?). That very same lush landscape and the client’s preference for neutral tones and grays would set the tone for the elegant blending of the great outdoors and the coziness of home. Knowing the home would be used as a getaway, the designers blurred the line between indoors and outdoors. When approaching the house, the first glimpse you get is of the cabana and outdoor lounge spaces. Once, it was an abandoned structure, longing to relive its glory days of use. Outdoor textiles froma Chella, teak sofas and pendant lighting from Restoration Hardware, and an outdoor rug and pillows from Ballard Designs allowed it to shine as a cozy outdoor second family room.
toujours | 005 | living
toujours | 005 | living
Inside, green gives way to a bountiful spectrum of grays which beautifully creates the calming vibe that runs throughout the home. The living room is relaxed and elegant, opening into the yard and gardens that surround it. The view overlooks part of the city, allowing for a romantic and dramatic vibe at night when the lights sparkle. The Japanese garden panels reflect the natural setting; a Defiero desk and coffee table punctuate the space and lend a glamorous note.
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s h i e l d e d b u s t l e
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toujours | 005 | living
The dining room beckons you in from the living room with its subtle splendor. It’s easy to understand how the Winfield Thybony paper inspired this intimate space. The room ties together the beautiful neutrals, the silvery grays, and the golden taupes that are apparently in every room. A bar cabinet with an antique mirror from Hickory Chair reflects every aspect of the room.
toujours | 005 | living
toujours | 005 | living
The pinnacle of the hidden retreat comes in the form of the downstairs bedroom. French doors open directly into the gardens and pool, like a doorway to the Secret Garden. Defiero nightstands stand sentry on either side of a luxurious Mitchel Gold/Bob Williams LA bed. An armchair upholstered in Pindler & Pindler’s Gardengate Ciel fabric livens up the room and gives it a fresh feel. Back upstairs, light pulls you in and rewards you with a spectacular view. Here, you are greeted by the glistening LA skyline peeking above the verdant gardenscape. The scenes from the master bedroom and bath
are punctuated by brass, crystal, and silk. Glistening manufacturing partners manicured gardening. In just six weeks, SFA was able to accommodate the fastpaced schedule of their client by capturing the best of LA in a serene and sumptuous space that melds the feeling of living indoors and outside simultaneously.
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toujours | 005 | can’t live without
n o s l O n i r E
Blogger Turquoise of House of
just can’t survive su mmer without…
1. Philip B Maui Wowie Beach Mist: Gives my hair a beachy wave and smells fantastic. 2. White Linen Pants: I live in linen pants and shorts all summer long. 3. Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Treatment: I’m addicted to Fresh lip balms, but this shade is my favorite. 4. Pine Cone Hill Scramble Aqua Matelassé Coverlet: Lightweight, super soft, and the most perfect shade of turquoise. 5. Pina Coladas: My all-time favorite summer drink. 6. Kate Spade Florence Broadhurst Fingers Bon Shopper (in turquoise): Great for the beach, shopping, traveling...I bring mine everywhere. 7. iTunes: Whether I’m in my car, kitchen or at my computer, I love having upbeat music playing. 8. Cute, colorful sandals: You will not find me wearing any other shoe in the summer. 9. Beach Candy Basic Turkish-T: Makes a cute scarf, beach blanket, and comes in handy in the AC. 10. Room & Board Brisbane Outdoor Sofa: Comfiest outdoor furniture ever