This past weekend I went on a homes tour throughout Hermosa Beach + Manhattan Beach, California (AKA: my 'hood). The tour is an annual city holiday tradition that is put on by a local women's organization and consists of a homes tour that winds through the South Bay of Los Angeles and allows you to peek into the lives of Manhattan Beach's elite :). I have been on home tours before and have always enjoyed them as they are undoubtedly inspirational for collecting design ideas and intriguing to get a glimpse of what's behind normally closed doors. It's also kind of interesting to go through the home of a complete stranger.. and try not to feel jealous of their seemingly perfect lives. Because that didn't happen to me at all... ;).
I was SUPER stoked for this tour especially, because I had heard a rumor that my #1-dream-house-of-all-time, which takes up several plots of land, is complete with a pool, uninterrupted ocean views, is a literal step from the sand, is impeccably "architectured," is located on "The Strand" (our version of a boardwalk/sidewalk running down the coast at the edge of the sand) and is reportedly owned by "the Sketchers guy" (whoever that guy is) was on the tour in years past and therefore might be on it again this year. Spoiler alert: it was not on the house lineup this year. But, that did not spoil my enthusiasm at all! I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, set for an adventure with my mimosa-filled red SOLO cup in hand. Despite the torrential downpour that ensued, we had a large group of awesome ladies who were not about to let the weather rain on our parade. And I mean that literally.
On the contrary, I was very excited to wear my red Hunter rainboots which get very little action in mostly-sunny-California. You can tell I was overall unprepared for the elements however, by my lack of headgear... Notice how everyone's hair looks perfectly coiffed and except for mine which is more akin to a wet dog:
Anyway, either we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the homes or I just assumed we weren't because.. I didn't. Did I mention we were drinking mimosas?
But I did manage to find these photos of the outside of the homes online, which might give you a sense of the experience? I'm hoping?
What actually ended up happening was this: at the second house we went to, they were giving away a free safari for two in Tanzania. Having been on a safari in Tanzania myself, I got caught up in a conversation with the woman who was putting on the raffle and as everyone else toured the house and got onto the shuttle to head to the next destination, they realized I was missing and sent someone in to come find me. Whilst I was being retrieved, the shuttle driver got all angsty and left in a huff, leaving me and my friend to wait interminably for the next shuttle. After that fiasco, we all decided it was high time to go enjoy a delicious lunch at my favorite restaurant, MB Post and our tour train kind of lost steam after that. We half-heartedly finished out the tour after lunch by seeing the last house and checking out the wine tasting tent (of course) but as soon as I got home I retreated into a food coma which lasted the duration of the day. So that's the story of my Manhattan Beach holiday homes tour experience. All in all , I had a great time hanging with an all-girl posse, enjoyed delicious food and beverages and managed to ease a little more into the holiday spirit, so the day was win in my book.
But, I am sorry I couldn't conjure up a more interior design relevant post out of this ripe- for-content adventure... I guess you could say day drinking and wild animals got in the way.. Story of my life. :)
To make it up to y'all however, and in keeping with today's post, I'm going to post tomorrow on one of the places I stayed on safari in Tanzania that got me all excited when talking to the raffle woman about it and caused me to miss the shuttle. So trust me when I say, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THAT! The teaser is that it is right on par with Giraffe Manor, which if you don't know how awesome that is, you can find out in my post about my stay there, here.
#happymonday
