Ellen Degeneres, Kelly Wearstler, and our LA Vacay

With Thanksgiving only a day away, I should be serving up some pics of a decked-out Thanksgiving table or giving you my favorite recipe for pumpkin pie. But guess what? This year's Thanksgiving is going to be the most low-key one ever. I'm not even cooking a turkey (gasp!). I bought my pumpkin pie from Stop & Shop. We're celebrating the holiday with just our little family of four and it's going to be all about keeping things simple. 

So instead of sharing Thanksgiving decorations and recipes, I'm detouring off the holiday train to share some pics from last weekend when my husband and I got away to Los Angeles for a few days. Without. Kids.

If you love Kelly Wearstler and Ellen Degeneres, read on. If you've got to get back to making your from-scratch pumpkin pie, I totally understand :-)

Let's talk Kelly Wearstler first - she's amazing. And out of all the design work she's done, one of my favorites is her work on the Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica. I've drooled over pics of this hotel for years and while our hotel budget is typically more Hampton Inn than Viceroy, my husband indulged me with a night's stay there at the end of our trip. It didn't disappoint. The outdoor area was just as amazing as I had pictured:

While my husband was off being good and exercising, I sat my butt in one of the cabanas, propped my feet up, and read a book while being served drinks. Heaven.  

Some of the cabanas are all about lounging and others are for dining - how amazing would it be to gather around this table with your close friends for an outdoor dinner party??

And speaking of amazing - this huge plate wall is killer: 

The one right around the corner from it is pretty fabulous too:

I was curious about how the plates were hung since I'm planning to have a decorative plate wall in our dining room. I don't think I'm going to be trying the Viceroy hanging technique - yep, they are screwed into the wall:

The lobby and inside lounging areas of the hotel are equally lovely. The colors are mostly neutrals, gray, green, and black. Love some of the details, such as the design on the back of this green wingback chair:

And who wouldn't want to hang out here?:

along with this kelly green armoire with chicken wire door fronts:

Off the lobby is a colorful library - the design of the built-in bookcase is spectacular:

We didn't eat at the restaurant so I have no idea if the food is good but the design of it sure is:

We had some hesitation about staying at the Viceroy because Tripadvisor had several recent reviews about how run-down the rooms have gotten. Not ours - it was perfect!


The entire wall behind the bed was a series of mirrors surrounded by molding - a clever idea for making a small room feel much larger 

You could easily reproduce this look in your own home for next to nothing using plates from HomeGoods.

And don't you love the wallpaper?!

Strangely enough, I was totally inspired by the closet - you could easily recreate this look by taking an IKEA PAX wardrobe and adding decorative molding and some stylish knobs:



The bathroom was all about marble - so much prettier than my bad iPhone pics show it to be:






Now let's talk Ellen Degeneres. For years she's been one of my favorite celebrities - not only is she hilarious but she just seems like a good, kind person. What I didn't know until a few months ago when Elle Decor published the home that she and Portia own in Southern California was that she also has a passion for interior design. Her home is amazing (you can check out the rest of it {here}).

{Elle Decor}

So with that, I'm off to pick up my Peapod groceries (no way this girl's stepping foot in the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving!). Safe travels to those of you who are heading out for the holiday and a happy Thanksgiving to all!