"Hi! I’m Leah and I’m mom to two little ones (Zippy and Velzy). When I’m not chasing them around on the beach I’m working as a marketing manager and interior designer. I also do lots of shoots from home or our favorite beach spots and love doing anything that allows me to be creative and in the sunshine!"

"I live in Southern California where I’ve lived almost all my life. My family moved to a little city close to the beach called Costa Mesa back in 2000 and I’ve been here ever since. We recently bought an original mid century home and have been slowly making it our own and adding design features that make us feel like we are on a constant holiday!"

"The great thing about kids is you don’t need an alarm clock, mine come in right at 7am and make sure I’m on my feet within seconds haha we usually have fun making breakfast together (banana oat pancakes are our personal favorite) and then we chat about what we want to do that day (when I’m not working), we have a little farm around the corner from our house that we visit often or we go to the beach. We then pick some veggies from our garden and add them to our lunch and head out the door on our adventure. Our nights are usually spent eating dinner out on our back patio or by a fire on the beach. It’s crazy what you can pack into a day when you’re out the door on a mission by 8am!"

"We stayed at the Santa Monica Proper, it was such an amazing stay as a family. The manager Julien was so kind to the kids and made them feel at home! The beds and rooms were cozy and the amenities were so beautiful."

"Honestly, you could stay put at the hotel and not feel the need to go anywhere else. It was such a retreat and private space that made us feel so peaceful and welcome! But in a normal year (no covid) there are so many fun spots for dinner and places to walk around on Main Street."

"We took a short walk down to the beach which was beautiful. There were quite a few small shops still open so we did some Christmas shopping. There is also a little coffee spot that would be so fun to sit at and relax just around the corner from the hotel."

"Every morning we walked around the corner to Sidecar Donuts that the kids loved! They’ve got vegan and gluten free options and so many flavors. There is a great lunch spot for salads and sandwiches called Mendocino farms, and for dinner the hotel has an amazing restaurant that’s even open now. They had a variety of dinner options that we all loved."

"Thankfully Southern California never gets too chilly so I got away with wearing a dress the whole time and switched from strap or sandals to sneakers depending on what our day looked like! The new Faithfull collection has some of my favorite prints yet!"