Sunday Edition: My Week Driving Up the California Coast

A sun-soaked love affair.

The Sunday Edition is Tuesday’s little sister—off-the-cuff updates I’d bring up over a coffee catch-up with a friend.

There’s just something about California…

At one point in my novel, two characters drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, from just north of Malibu to Los Angeles, listening to “I’m on Fire” by Bruce Springsteen. Tell me now, baby, is he good to you? And can he do to you the things that I do? The chemistry between them is palpable, and as soon as they wind around Pt. Mugu, the protagonist Maggie is flooded by a sense of possibility that challenges the narrow path she’s carved for her life. Their circumstances are entirely fictional, but Maggie’s experience of expansiveness is directly inspired by the one I have anytime I’m at the California coast.

When I left Los Angeles earlier this week, I did the same drive in reverse, finding a campground—entirely by coincidence—at the same beach Maggie sees in that moment. Most of the campsites are on eastern side of the highway, shaded by oak trees, but I was still able head over to the water for sunset. Sitting there watching the sky change from orange to purple, with the entire beach to myself, I almost couldn’t believe my luck and the ways my own life has blossomed since writing that chapter. It felt like a distillation of the gratitude I experienced all week long, visiting friends in Southern California. Read on for:

• The playlist I can’t stop listening to

• A home visit with Amanda Hesser

• My favorite movie of the year and two L.A. workout classes

• A downloadable map, with all my favorite spots in Ojai (and an unreal breathwork class)