I love warm, creamy white tones, but I don't forego this color palette in the winter.  I embrace it.  Perhaps because I live in Los Angeles, and we don't get snow here.  Whatever the reason, the items pictured above are soothing and cozy for the colder months.  For those of you who are afraid to wear white, I added a few light neutrals into the mix.  I am someone who spills and cannot keep things clean, but I always have Dr. Bronner's with me, and it works wonderfully for getting rid of stains.  Browse all items below while listening to this dreamy playlist.

Pansy is my favorite underwear brand.  I don't wear underwire bras for health and comfort reasons, but I would live in Pansy regardless.  Their pieces are soft (visually and to the touch) and beautiful.  All of their products are made ethically of organic cotton.  You can purchase this set or others here.

This rug from Faire Studio looks like the coziest place to meditate, practice breathwork on, or simply walk across.  I love the texture and pattern, and if you're looking for something even simpler, they offer a pattern-free version.  Their rugs and pillows are sustainably made with recycled materials - designed in Paris and woven in the Iberian mountains.

If I could only own one item of clothing, I would get rid of everything but my Kamm Pants (I realize I'd then be topless, so I'd have to keep a Pansy bra as well).  Kamm pants are my absolute favorite staple in my wardrobe.  Yes, they are an investment, but they will last, and you will wear them multiple times per week (I live in mine).  They are classic and chic, and you can wear them casually with sneakers or dress them up with heels (also to mention, they're incredibly comfortable and durable).  I am loving this style (the Ranger) for the colder months, when I want my legs to be protected.  If you're apprehensive to wear a true white but want the same look, here they are in natural.  Jesse Kamm designs her collections here in Los Angeles, where the clothing is also produced.  

Lite + Cycle is a beautiful company that creates fragrances for the home and body made of therapeutic-grade essential oils.  They also donate a portion of every sale to charities that help bring solar-power light to communities around the world in need of electricity.  Their candles are designed with so much attention to detail - purchase here.

I love small bags that feel like second skin.  Especially this one,  because it ties around the waist -  it will stay with you.  Are Studio bags are designed and hand-made in Los Angeles.  Here is the Disc photographed by Alexis Nelly.  

Leaves and Flowers creates handcrafted herbal infusions and premium small batch teas.  I've been drinking their sleep tea all winter.  I steep it with my tea infuser before bed every evening.  Not only is it potent, but it's also beautiful and fragrant - it's smooth, warming, and minty.  You can purchase it here.

You may already have picked up that I love ceramics.  Anything with an earthy texture will get me.  The Terra Surface mount from Cedar and Moss is no exception.  It lived in the kitchen of my last home, and I miss it dearly.  It comes in many colors, but my main crush is for the "bone" finish.

Tune in here.

In my ten month (unintentional) nomadic period, I traveled with just a suitcase.  The rest of my clothing was sitting in the warehouse of a specialty cleaning company, waiting to be picked up.  When I packed my suitcase last February, I had no idea I’d be living out of it for more than a few weeks.  I had mostly jeans and t-shits, a sweater, skincare, and a few books - that’s it.  Wearing the same exact thing four days of the week became so normal, and having choices while on such a crazy journey would have probably overwhelmed me.  My physical appearance/how I presented myself was something I simply did not have time to care about or pay attention to.  

Once we settled down in the cottage in Topanga, I was so excited to receive my clothing.  When it came, I was incredibly let down.  I sorted through everything only to realize I didn’t want most of it.  Typically this would be such a freeing moment, but we had just paid an exorbitant amount of money (money we can’t just throw around) on the cleaning fee.  I felt sick.  I could have used that money to pay off debt, acquire some new things I actually need, donate, etc.  What’s interesting is that I already did not own very much because I had been simplifying my life and ridding of things for a few years.  The more I get in touch with myself, the more I know exactly what I want - items that make me feel the most comfortable, authentic, and free in my skin.  Some items, like this vintage YSL blazer, absolutely serve that purpose.  Only the pieces I collected in the year prior to living out of a suitcase (with the exception of a leather jacket I've had for years), were pieces I decided to keep.  After sitting with the emotions, moving through them, and understanding that when I dropped my clothing off to be cleaned months prior, I couldn’t have anticipated the future, I was able to fully let go.  I couldn’t have known then, that in a short period, I would go through an experience that would detach me so deeply from my stuff.  

When I got the download for this website/venture, I wanted to explore that we can curate our lives with items that speak to who we are, in order to live with more intention and mindfulness.  That’s absolutely true, but what’s even more important is that our things have nothing to do with shaping who we are.  When we shed our attachment in order to see our objects as tools for connection, rather than as symbols of identity - the real work starts.  I will be re-opening sessions soon to aid you with this process, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have.

I recently read Wabi-Sabi For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren.  I zoomed through the book while staying in Joshua Tree, in between work and activities, in one day.  I was already familiar with wabi-sabi as an aesthetic, but I didn’t fully know about its history or the depth in which it can permeate the spiritual or intangible world.  In the beginning of the book, Leonard writes: “Wabi-sabi can in its fullest expression be a way of life.  At the very least, it is a particular type of beauty.”  I felt an overwhelming sense of synchronicity and thought “yes, this, in a sense, is what I am trying to teach.”  What I love about wabi-sabi is that it embraces the irregularities, the oddities, the qualities that society may deem as “ugly” - and observes the beauty in these characteristics - essentially by practicing mindfulness and observation.  

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

“In wabi-sabi, there is no ‘valuable,’ since that would imply ‘not valuable.’  An object obtains the state of wabi-sabi only for the moment it is appreciated as such.  In the tea room, therefore, things come into existence only when they express their wabi-sabi qualities,  Outside of the tea room, they return to their ordinary reality, and their wabi-sabi existence fades away.”

Think of yourself as the tea room.  You are imperfect.  Your objects are imperfect.  Your relationship with your objects is as such - imperfect.  It just is.  You are the one who gets to implement this way of life.  You create the energy in your home, in your objects, in your relationships.  In wabi-sabi “every single object seems to expand in importance in inverse proportion to its actual size.”  If we create a relationship with our objects in this way, we will require less because we will be fed more by what we do have.  I like to think of this as “cherished detachment.”  We get to appreciate and love our things, while knowing that they do not make us whole, but aid us in our quest to living mindfully.  

“Things wabi-sabi are appreciated only during direct contact and use; they are never locked away in a museum.  Things wabi-sabi have no need for the reassurance of status or the validation of market culture.”  Use this as your guide.  There’s no need to have a storage unit or a closet full of unnecessary items that we may someday use (and probably never touch).  I want to get rid of this model entirely.  When acquiring objects, forget about what’s trending or new or cool.  Go with what speaks to you, in your soul.  You can tap into your intuition by really getting into your physical body in order to be more in touch with what you are naturally dawn to.  Seriously, meditate before you shop.  Get grounded.  Close your eyes.  Imagine your feet are on the dirt or in the sand.  Take deep breaths (as many as you need).  Do this before stepping foot into a store, before looking for items, and let your body guide you.