HOLIDAY STROLL W/REFINERY29 x FOSSIL

A few weeks ago and the end of November, I was asked by Refinery29 to collaborate with them and Fossil to show them my favorite places to eat and shop around LA for the holidays. I chose places that were mostly in and around the Arts District, which is the area I frequent the most (along with Silverlake and Atwater). We went to Poketo, The Springs for lunch (really good juice/smoothies and falafel), the LA Flower Mart, and the LA Chapter at the Ace Hotel in downtown. We unfortunately didn't get to stop at one of my favorite dessert places, The Pie Hole; the maple custard and earl grey pies are so so good. Poketo is really great for finding beautiful, well-curated gifts-- anything from hostess gifts, to books, home goods, jewelry and accessories, and journals. Also, they're super nice there and hold great workshops and events. The Springs also has a cute little shop area to find last minute gifts for people.

The Refinery29 crew also wanted to check out some other places as well, since they were mostly from New York, so we went to  Artshare LA which I'd never been to and The Last Bookstore (where you'll see me below perusing a Leonard Cohen biography as a potential gift for J). It's gigantic and kooky with this old book labyrinth upstairs, and they have a great selection of records there, too.

It was a really fun and interesting experience. I drove out to LA super early on a Friday morning, had delicious ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter from room service at the Ace, got my hair and makeup done (I don't normally wear any), and was styled head to toe by a stylist from New York and accessorized with Fossil watches and bags (some of which I got to keep!). I would definitely do something like this again, even though I was a little out of my comfort zone (in a good, healthy way I think). I had to do a lot of smiling in the photos, which is tough for me.

If you want to read on and find out more details on what I wore, the places we went, the gifts I like to get people, and some of my favorite writers, click through here: HOLIDAY STROLL W/REFINERY29 x FOSSIL