We were kindly introduced to Katie and Lindsey of Stately Things by another beloved homie, Erin of WELL in L.A.  The bi-coastal duo, which hosted Farrell and me for their Wisdom & a Cocktail series last week, focuses on “bringing old school grace to modern life.”  Who doesn’t love that?!

Today, we have the chance to get to know the ladies a little better with an interview in the traditon of Vanity Fair‘s Proust Questionarre, peppered with some of my favorite images from the ever lovely Stately Things Instagram feed.

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1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
K:  The beach. Late afternoon. With the dog and the boy. A Mexican beer and a burrito from Rico’s (the best taco shop in San Diego, no room for negotiation). And barefoot. Definitely barefoot.

L: Being Happy. …but the kind of happy where your heart feels four times too big cause there’s so much good you’re gonna pop.

2. What is your greatest fear?
K: Getting stuck in a career rut and not having the energy or motivation to change it up.

L: Not fully living. I’ve got this reckless notion of living intensely, fully, passionately, and the idea of not actually living so makes me (quite literally) feel sick…in an unattractive way.

3. Which living person do you most admire?
L: I choose to change this question to “Which historical figure do you most admire?” And I very, very (very) easily choose Amelia Earhart. Like a thousand times over.

4.  What is your favorite journey?
K: The drive up the 101, especially the patch between Big Sur and Carmel & stopping for a glass of champagne at Nepenthe in Big Sur overlooking the sea.

L: To the fridge. Kidding. All journeys tend to be favorites (in the same way the last book I read’s my favorite), however: a journey into the mountains, to a place somewhere new, toward something inexplicable, and (of course) along the journey that yoga oh-so-generously provides.

5. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
K: Height

L: The virtue of not knowing how to spell. Just figure it out.

6. On what occasion do you lie?
K: To myself when I buy the 11th pair of nude ballet flats on the misguided belief that they are totally different than the others lining my closet.

L: To myself when regarding the practicality of eating all the hummus now v. later.

7. What do you dislike most about your appearance?
L: Thank god (or whomever) I got past this one awhile ago. So I’m changing the question again to say I absolutely LOVE that I can barely keep my eyes open when I laugh. The crow’s feet coming in are turning out to be very well earned.

8. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
L: Rad. Also, “Here’s the thing about…” and then I fill in the blank with whatever I happen to need to explain in a really serious (but not even a little bit) manner.

9. When and where were you happiest?
K: Change were to are – on the couch, with a good meal, a glass of cab, and a good movie.

L: I am the best person in the entire world when I’m traveling. Not even kidding. The best. I’m also happier than a thousand bushels of clams when I’m set free to do whatever I want creatively.

10. Which talent would you most like to have?
K: I’d love to master SLR photography, and I’d love to be more flexible (the yoga kind).

L: I’d potentially do a lot of not-so-legally-minded things to have musical talent. For example, I may or may not have once stolen a popsicle from a child and I would do it again if that meant I could sing.

11. What is your current state of mind?
K: Stuck in the future – counting down the days to a big move (to Washington DC), starting a new job, and the day when the boy and I finally end up in the same city.

L: Free and awesome with a side of floating. (There are a few reasons for this, but three include: a dear friend’s wedding, a world full of possibility, and a crazy fun few weeks ahead.)

12. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
K: I’d bestow upon myself the virtue of patience. This seems unlikely to be successful.

13. If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
K: Geography (we’re very spread out)

L: Telling shorter stories and better jokes. And maybe that we were all LESS good at dancing — it’s hard to get a solo in when everyone thinks they’re Michael, you know?

14. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
K: Shoring up my willpower and not getting that late night slice of pizza that one time.

L: That I’ve mastered winking.

15. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
L: Tina Fey. Duh. Next question.

16. What is your most treasured possession?
K: My passport

L: I’m real smitten with all the original artwork I’ve pilfered from my shockingly talented friends (and unfortunate acquaintances).

17. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
K: Sitting in traffic

L: Nothing’s that bad, but damn stirring the natural sunflower seed butter jar sucks.

18. Where would you like to live?
L: Melbourne. Or in a REALLY luxurious tree house that puts Swiss Family Robinson to shame with its sustainability, garden, general acoustics for dance parties, and overall ability to teleport (at my will) to other locations around the world.

19. What is it that you most dislike?
L: Apathetic people. I mean, c’mon, CARE. Ambivalence doesn’t look good on anyone.

K: Flakiness. And being hungry. That’s the worst.

20. What do you most value in your friends?
K: Humor & the ability to pick right up where we left off even if it’s been months.

L: Being positive, good, passionate people who laugh at themselves a lot (and who make fun of me).

21. Who are your heroes?
K: Meryl Streep, Alice Waters, Atticus Finch (not real life, but come on), Audrey Hepburn

22.. How would you like to die?
K: Old, well-loved and well taken care of.

L: In a blaze of glory. ….not really. What about near Ryan Gosling? No? Okay, maybe after a crazy full, amazingly storied, unbelievably legendary few years.

23. What is your motto?
L: Yes. And Please. Oh, and “Of course I’ll have seconds.”

K: What L said.

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In case you missed it, hop over to Stately Things for Sister Disco’s Wisdom & a Cocktail.

And keep up with the Stately ladies at Stately Things. Twitter handle @HelloStately

Janna Leyde and I connected through Gabrielle Bernstein’s Spirit Junkie world, a much linked-to favorite of Farrell’s and mine.  Janna is a New York City writer and yoga instructor who has written an incredibly personal memoir of life following her father’s traumatic brain injury.  We are moved by Janna’s bravery and willingness to share her story, and honored to have a post from her today on how she came to write He Never Liked Cake.  Janna has recently launched a Pubslush crowd-funding campaign to publish her memoir.  Learn about how it all works, and read more from Janna, here.

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BOOK

I was fourteen when I read the first of many books I’ve read on brain injury. It happened on one particular evening when my father was supposed to take my friends and me waterskiing when he got home from work. Instead, I found myself sitting in a hospital waiting room, reading a book because one of the nurses had given it to me, reading it because there was nothing else to do, reading it because I couldn’t find my mother and no one could tell me what was going on.

As the days, weeks, months and years following my dad’s car accident unfolded, life as I knew it started to unhinge. Well-intentioned as it was, the pamphlet-like book—When a Parent Has a Brain Injury: Sons and Daughters Speak Out—was not much help. But it was the only guide I had for this kind of thing.

By eleventh grade, the book had gathered dust in a bottom desk drawer; by college, it was lost. In 2006 it resurfaced in a package labeled ‘brain injury paperwork’ that my mother had sent to my apartment in New York City. That book was still the only resource for children (both young and adult) of people with brain injuries, and I’d since grown out of wanting to be a vet, a psychologist, a meteorologist, a National Geographic photographer and into a writer. It was time to write this book—from my perspective.

He Never Liked Cake is a memoir, the story of my life with my father’s traumatic brain injury—the raw truth, a wonderfully honest story about what my family and I have endured in the wake of his accident. It is the study of my father’s challenges and an ode to my mother’s unconditional love. It is the story of finding my path to acceptance and love.

I wrote it for any child that has any inkling of what living with a brain injury is like, for those children to know they are not alone. I wrote it for the families who fight for the new normal, and for survivors who fail to see how life is different.

I wrote it for everyone, because He Never Liked Cake is simply a story about how to embrace life when it doesn’t work out the way we had it planned.

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Help publish He Never Liked Cake through the Pubslush campaign, and keep up with Janna on Twitter @jannacabana