Landing in LA at 23, it felt like my life was finally beginning. That was partially because Los Angeles is the metropolis associated with everything that has ever fascinated me- old and new Hollywood, fallen glamour, mid-century modern architecture, curious wildlife and eccentric people remaking themselves in a city that has always indicated anything is possible- but it was also the very essence of the land itself, a place so unique as to inspire the creation of all of of these things. From the moment I landed in LA and moved into my first house- I felt remade, in the image of so many others who have been remade by the place. For the first time, NYC felt matched by an energy so fearsome that I was sure I’d return home as a new person. In many ways, I did. The city became the home I ran away too when my past became too dense. Each time, the clock started on life again. That’s what LA has been for many people, a place to start over, a place to fertilize a new version of themselves. But in that process, it became a home to many who could imagine a home nowhere else. LA has also given us the homes we occupy in our minds- the images flickering on our screens, the work of Eve Babitz and Joan Didion, the novels of James Ellroy, Danzy Senna, Francesca Lia Block (just to name a few) and the pop songs that define our memories of youth, from the Ronettes to Sonny & Cher to Paris singing The Stars Are Blind. And that’s only what’s visible to outsiders- it’s not speaking to the matrilineal culture of the indigenous Chumash people, the immigrant community of Boyle Heights, Altadena’s legacy of Black home ownership, the activism of California Coalition for Women Prisoners or the devotion to animal rescue that has filled LA with no kill shelters. It’s not speaking to the LA that cannot be contained in terms like “tinsel town” and “la la land.” Los Angeles has given us- has given me- so much, and it’s time to give back, to the people remaking their home yet again in the city that has become (or has always been) theirs. Please join @goodthinggoingprods in this bi-coastal drive to bring clothing and essentials to those who need them most right now. We love you Los Angeles.
Landing in LA at 23, it felt like my life was finally beginning. That was partially because Los Angeles is the metropolis associated with everything that has ever fascinated me- old and new Hollywood, fallen glamour, mid-century modern architecture, curious wildlife and eccentric people remaking themselves in a city that has always indicated anything is possible- but it was also the very essence of the land itself, a place so unique as to inspire the creation of all of of these things. From the moment I landed in LA and moved into my first house- I felt remade, in the image of so many others who have been remade by the place. For the first time, NYC felt matched by an energy so fearsome that I was sure I’d return home as a new person. In many ways, I did. The city became the home I ran away too when my past became too dense. Each time, the clock started on life again. That’s what LA has been for many people, a place to start over, a place to fertilize a new version of themselves. But in that process, it became a home to many who could imagine a home nowhere else. LA has also given us the homes we occupy in our minds- the images flickering on our screens, the work of Eve Babitz and Joan Didion, the novels of James Ellroy, Danzy Senna, Francesca Lia Block (just to name a few) and the pop songs that define our memories of youth, from the Ronettes to Sonny & Cher to Paris singing The Stars Are Blind. And that’s only what’s visible to outsiders- it’s not speaking to the matrilineal culture of the indigenous Chumash people, the immigrant community of Boyle Heights, Altadena’s legacy of Black home ownership, the activism of California Coalition for Women Prisoners or the devotion to animal rescue that has filled LA with no kill shelters. It’s not speaking to the LA that cannot be contained in terms like “tinsel town” and “la la land.” Los Angeles has given us- has given me- so much, and it’s time to give back, to the people remaking their home yet again in the city that has become (or has always been) theirs. Please join @goodthinggoingprods in this bi-coastal drive to bring clothing and essentials to those who need them most right now. We love you Los Angeles.
*2025 is cute*
*2025 is cute*
*2025 is cute*
*2025 is cute*
*2025 is cute*
*2025 is cute*
10 resolutions for 2025 *that have nothing to do with how you look, how others perceive you OR the internet!* 1. Get a handle on the instinct to self-lacerate when you make a mistake ie “oh gosh I’m so dumb” “ugh what’s wrong with me” “Lena, get it together you WENCH!” because you can HEAR yourself talking smack about YOU! Not very nice, ay? 2. Nothing is so important that you can’t step outside and take yourself on a little journey a few times a day. You wouldn’t leave your dog inside for 24 hours, so why would you do it to yourself? note: If outside is not an option for reasons physical or mental, raise your face to the window for one solid minute. 3. No more setting alarm for a shockingly unrealistic time then pressing snooze for two hours when you could have just had two more peaceful hours of sleep and then awoken refreshed rather than guilty and disoriented with a sheen of flop sweat! 4. Along those same lines, pick a less unkind alarm. Why did you sort through all the options and select the one most likely to drive you to Victorian madness? And try a new one for the new year, to signal a new approach. 5. When in doubt, pick up a book. 6. There’s no award for subsisting on coffee until 4pm, babe. 7. Opposite action! If a text or email stresses you out, go against your instinct to answer in record time and instead take a beat then return to it. If your instinct is to avoid, try facing it the moment it appears. You will be flooded with peace! 8. Find excuses to dance on your tippy toes. 9. Use up your craft supplies- colored pencils, wrapping paper, ribbon, pom poms, googly eyes. You took in a box for your neighbor? Draw a little creature on it, or add a holiday decoration in April. Make a card for your barista. Let’s be all out of decorative juice by September. 10. This isn’t Who Wants To Be A Millionaire- you get as many phone a friends as you need!
10 resolutions for 2025 *that have nothing to do with how you look, how others perceive you OR the internet!* 1. Get a handle on the instinct to self-lacerate when you make a mistake ie “oh gosh I’m so dumb” “ugh what’s wrong with me” “Lena, get it together you WENCH!” because you can HEAR yourself talking smack about YOU! Not very nice, ay? 2. Nothing is so important that you can’t step outside and take yourself on a little journey a few times a day. You wouldn’t leave your dog inside for 24 hours, so why would you do it to yourself? note: If outside is not an option for reasons physical or mental, raise your face to the window for one solid minute. 3. No more setting alarm for a shockingly unrealistic time then pressing snooze for two hours when you could have just had two more peaceful hours of sleep and then awoken refreshed rather than guilty and disoriented with a sheen of flop sweat! 4. Along those same lines, pick a less unkind alarm. Why did you sort through all the options and select the one most likely to drive you to Victorian madness? And try a new one for the new year, to signal a new approach. 5. When in doubt, pick up a book. 6. There’s no award for subsisting on coffee until 4pm, babe. 7. Opposite action! If a text or email stresses you out, go against your instinct to answer in record time and instead take a beat then return to it. If your instinct is to avoid, try facing it the moment it appears. You will be flooded with peace! 8. Find excuses to dance on your tippy toes. 9. Use up your craft supplies- colored pencils, wrapping paper, ribbon, pom poms, googly eyes. You took in a box for your neighbor? Draw a little creature on it, or add a holiday decoration in April. Make a card for your barista. Let’s be all out of decorative juice by September. 10. This isn’t Who Wants To Be A Millionaire- you get as many phone a friends as you need!
10 resolutions for 2025 *that have nothing to do with how you look, how others perceive you OR the internet!* 1. Get a handle on the instinct to self-lacerate when you make a mistake ie “oh gosh I’m so dumb” “ugh what’s wrong with me” “Lena, get it together you WENCH!” because you can HEAR yourself talking smack about YOU! Not very nice, ay? 2. Nothing is so important that you can’t step outside and take yourself on a little journey a few times a day. You wouldn’t leave your dog inside for 24 hours, so why would you do it to yourself? note: If outside is not an option for reasons physical or mental, raise your face to the window for one solid minute. 3. No more setting alarm for a shockingly unrealistic time then pressing snooze for two hours when you could have just had two more peaceful hours of sleep and then awoken refreshed rather than guilty and disoriented with a sheen of flop sweat! 4. Along those same lines, pick a less unkind alarm. Why did you sort through all the options and select the one most likely to drive you to Victorian madness? And try a new one for the new year, to signal a new approach. 5. When in doubt, pick up a book. 6. There’s no award for subsisting on coffee until 4pm, babe. 7. Opposite action! If a text or email stresses you out, go against your instinct to answer in record time and instead take a beat then return to it. If your instinct is to avoid, try facing it the moment it appears. You will be flooded with peace! 8. Find excuses to dance on your tippy toes. 9. Use up your craft supplies- colored pencils, wrapping paper, ribbon, pom poms, googly eyes. You took in a box for your neighbor? Draw a little creature on it, or add a holiday decoration in April. Make a card for your barista. Let’s be all out of decorative juice by September. 10. This isn’t Who Wants To Be A Millionaire- you get as many phone a friends as you need!
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
There’s nothing (literally nothing) I love more than decorating a home. The process of finding pieces that live in harmony (especially sustainable and unique pieces) and building rooms that allow us to make art- and also find calm- is a joy (a chaotic joy- @attawalpa will tell you I love to procure and hate to unpack…) @wilkinson_rivera created heirloom pieces by hand that fulfilled all our coziest fantasies. What do we call this look? “Aging eccentric with a love of cake.” Though my father says it’s “actually quite reserved and contained compared to your past work.” 😜 I’m so lucky to live with Lulu, who invites all the color and flair I can muster. But to paraphrase Jaqueline Susann, no man’s masculinity has ever been compromised by a pink bedroom- only improved. Hope you’re cozy and content in whatever your haven is 🐽❄️🕊️
Today is World AIDS day- it’s a time to think about the health, safety and visibility of people living (and thriving) with HIV/AIDS, and those who would thrive if they had access to proper treatment. It’s a reminder to continue to focus on prevention. It’s also a moment to pause and remember those we lost. For my family, that’s artist Jimmy De Sana. He was my mother @lauriesimmons best friend and creative collaborator and he and his work are still a part of our lives every day. So it’s a wonderful parallel that @mattpwolf- who has been all of the things that Jimmy was for my mother, for decades- made this short film that highlights the beauty of that relationship. A big thank you to @amfar for supporting this film and for all of the work you do on research, prevention, education and advocacy.
