my favorite spots and vintage shopping

The Ivy in Beverly Hills

I’ve been living slightly “off the grid” this month, but I’m happy to be back on the blog today. November is one of my favorite months, and my hubby and I started it off with a little weekend getaway to Beverly Hills and L.A. 

The Ivy in Beverly Hills

We hit a handful of my most cherished places, including The Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills. This place is just magical. 🌹 We arrived on Saturday morning, bright and early when they first opened and had the whole patio to ourselves! 

Breakfast at The Ivy in Beverly Hills

Another one of my go-to restaurants is The Draycott in nearby Pacific Palisades. I met my best friend Lisa there for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in Palisades Village. It’s just darling there, and we even visited the adorable Serena & Lily shop, more on that later... 

The Draycott in Pacific Palisades

Lisa and I spent most of our time in Tamara Mellon’s shoe store trying on the latest styles in boots. Lisa ended up with a couple of new pairs that are simply gorgeous! Tamara was formerly the designer for Jimmy Choo, so her shoes very chic.

Lisa and I have been best friends since 8th grade, and we don't get a chance to see each other nearly enough since she lives in Calabasas and I live in Newport. I'm so thankful that we had a chance to meet up again the next day at the Malibu Pier and have lunch with our hubbies at Malibu Farm. 

Back home in Orange County, I’ve been treasure hunting galore! I’m always visiting thrift stores, but this month I’ve expanded my horizons with a few fun flea markets as well.  

My friend Karen and I hit the "Flying Miz Daisy Flea Market" in Costa Mesa about a week ago, and had a really fun morning exploring the venue. We each came home with a little something, so that made it really worthwhile.

But our insatiable drive for treasure hunting didn't stop there... we also had to hit a few of my favorite thrift stores near by.  

This past weekend, with my hubby away, I also had the opportunity to hit a few antique shops and consignment stores in the neighborhood. 

I even made it to some really great garage sales where I found a few more pretty baskets, a large vintage brass tray and some gorgeous old wood corbels with pretty chippy paint patina. Pictured above is Tom Stansbury Antiques.

This weekend's thrifting adventure actually started on Friday with my my friend Laura. She came over early, and it was a shop 'til you drip sort of day! We found the most unexpected kind of goodies, didn't we Laura? 😉 

“Behind the Picket Fence” vintage flea market was on Sunday held at the beautiful grounds of the Heritage Museum and historic Kellogg House in Santa Ana. 

It was such a pleasant morning, and I even ran into fellow blogger Lidy Baars of French Garden House blog there. She was as sweet as could be! I’ll show you some of the goodies I got at “Behind the Picket” soon! 

Now to change gears a little bit... I recently received a few absolutely stunning tableware pieces from Vietri, seen above. I can't wait to use them on my tables soon!

Things have been so busy lately that my tables settings have been few and far between. A few changes have been made here around Casa Ciao, for instance...     

We had our home painted last week. All that brick on the house has now been given a few nice coats of creamy white paint. I absolutely love it! ... kinda feels like a whole new house.  

If you saw my home this month in Cottages & Bungalows magazine, you can see the difference a little paint can make! It’s been almost a year since that photo shoot, and a lot has changed around here.  

ciao! fabiana 

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