Sister Ex- Los Angeles

The other half of the Open House team is busy in L.A. We have rules though....she must send me inspiring photographs while I continue to keep our business running along. Here are photos from a favorite shopping haunt or ours. HD Buttercup in the beautiful Helms Bakery building. Photos from our last shopping trip here.





 I have noticed Pottery Barn coming on strong with all the oversized baskets as well.
 The starburst mirror is an ongoing trend.


L.A. Flea Market

I have wonderful memories of visiting Sister Ex in L.A. and shopping the flea markets. I had to carry some crazy things on the airplane that today would never be allowed. Sigh.....

{los angeles times}

The monthly sale will be held this Sunday in Dodger Stadium and will include a couple of auctions, music, tons of food and a service that carries your purchases to your car-a bit more upscale than the gritty flea markets of our day. You can read more about the sale here.


Glamorous Nights in LA

Maison 140 is a lovely little boutique hotel in Beverly Hils. The interior is designed by Kelly Wearstler.







Sister Extraordinaire and I almost stayed here so we had to at least have a libation at the Bar Noir.





Notice the small change in front with the sculptures flanking the door. Top photo has a statue and this photo is a sphere. Part of the redesign.


Their signature French Kiss. Mmmmm... so yummy



We were happy to have stopped here. (T-remember how annoying that lady was in the bar? Look where your thumb is. A bit of a poke in the mouth was definately needed).



I requested that my camera take a trip to the bathroom as I knew it would be lovely as well. When you're on the road and always using public restrooms this was such a nice treat to have somewhere clean and beautiful to go.

Love the tile set vertically.


Just a pretty vignette. The mirror above is a version of what I have in my sweet salon. It makes a smashing impression. I just bought an inexpensive gold mirror and painted it a high gloss black. Below you see 2 of the rooms in the Hotel. Mine would be the yellow room and Sister Extraordiniare would probably choose the spicey orange room.







Loved the wall papered ceiling-clever.

A version of the stool above is also in the lobby of the Viceroy and Jonathan Adler sells them in his Melrose store.

It's all in the details...



The Getty Museum Los Angeles

We actually slid the Getty Museum into our crazy schedule. We only had 2 hours but what a fun time it was. Irving Penn's "Small Trades" exhibit was on our "to-do" list. It was amazing...











The Cactus Garden


5pm Traffic. And we thought Seattle was bad.

Irving Penn's Small Trades











Irving Penn documented some of the last remaining trades of the time. This was such a wonderful exhibit.