By Emily Glory Peters Pregnancy and labor are like snowflakes: no two experiences are exactly alike. Still, the process opens the door for women to bond, not just over their delivery, but all things postpartum—but not all women have easy access to that kind of community. That was the struggle for dancer and fitness instructor,…
By Emily Glory Peters You live in Los Angeles, so chances are you’ve been to a tea house before. But—you read it here first, folks—the best one yet just might be the newly opened Cup of Cha in Monrovia. Barely two months old, Cup of Cha is the result of a lot of family support,…
Normally, event planner extraordinaire Jordi Stringfellow, owner of Pasadena-based Jordi & Co Events, always starts her process the same way. Whether it’s a glittering gala, lavish wedding or child’s birthday party, she works tirelessly with her client to create a vision, then turns to her long list of premiere event and party resources to assemble…
By Emily Glory Peters Calligraphy—once the stuff of ancient scripts—has risen again as a covetable skill amongst professional artists and casual hobbyists alike across Los Angeles. This past week, they converged at CalligraFair, a two-day event hosted by Monrovia’s own Smitten on Paper. Now in its third year, CalligraFair has flourished from a modest celebration…
By Emily Glory Peters Pop culture is not just a state of mind, it’s a place in Old Town Monrovia. Here, those well-versed in subreddits and Urban Dictionary descriptions can find merchandise that reflects where one falls as a stan (not sure what a “stan” is? Ask at the counter!). Coming through the doors of…
By Emily Glory Peters Ask any new parent and they’ll tell you how quickly the first year of their child’s life passes. Weeks of fragmented sleep stretch into months, studded with a million milestones—and while some loom larger in the mind than others (like your child’s first steps), capturing it all can feel impossible. When…
By Emily Glory Peters If you were like the average American kid, keeping healthy might have included a stint in karate, tae kwon do or other martial art for a few months before teetering into your next recreational activity. But what does fitness look like now as an adult? For some, self-defense for fitness is…
By Emily Glory Peters Most of us have an idea of how we’ll spend our next holiday, birthday or even weekend—and more importantly, who’ll we’ll spend it with. Yet for foster youth in Los Angeles, that same certainty can disappear in an instant. Family separation, under any circumstance, takes a long toll on children in…