What is the most rewarding aspect that you have discovered about Self Quarantine with your family?
The most rewarding aspect that I have discovered about Self Quarantine with my family is how rewarding it is to teach my daughter. We’ve decided moving forward, we were going to learn whatever she wonders about. It could be a question about an artist one day, or why the sky creates fog on another, or what color or textures go best with stripes. It doesn’t matter. I let her questions’ dictate our day and we learn from this. At the beginning of this school year, I was highly considering homeschooling. In my former life I was a teacher! I love it.
How are you handling these sudden changes to our routines and schedules?
I’ve learned to take each day as it comes. The first couple weeks went strong with a good routine. But the routine shortly faded after the newness of “being at home” wore off.
Then I racked my brain to create a new schedule and well, it just didn’t work. I tried and tried until I surrendered to this challenging time.
I now have a weekly plan with activities and lessons that I’ve thoughtfully researched. All revolving around Art and design since that IS our life. I never know what we are going to do on any given day, but I do know that It will be something from the list.
Do you have any favorite { Apps, Youtube channels, Online Resources} that you have been using on the daily?
What works for my daughter, who is 5 years old is definitely Art. She really gets into virtual classes.
The Giant Room out of NYC offers daily ART classes from 12:30-1:30pm (PST) with a different weekly theme. One week we transformed her room into a museum, and the next week we made different games. Each activity challenges the mind. I love that.
We also do storytime/art class with LA’s most beloved teacher Ms. Molly from Ms. Molly’s, A Place to Create Art Studio. This woman is a Saint. Art is in her blood. We used to take classes there and we both really enjoy it.
Now she tells a story and ties that story in with an art project for the kids. This is offered on Mon, Wed and Friday from 10-10:30. To save her art studio and raise money to pay her employees she charges $10 a class. She will happily waive this fee if someone can’t afford it though. She does everything out of love and just wants everyone to take part. She’s amazing.
Also, we use Tate. Org.uk/kids out of the UK for cool art videos and art inspired activities. I love that the videos are made by kids and for kids. They are super creative.
For mindfulness, we keep up our yoga practice. Well, she keeps it up, I should say.
It’s a virtual class too. Before the Self-Quarantine Capri practiced yoga at Shorty Yoga studio in Beverly Hills. We are thankful that her teacher went virtual. The classes are $15 and go for 45 minutes. She does it all by herself so it’s a tiny break for me! We do this once a week.
We like MysteryScience.com. The videos are thought provoking. Every time my daughter has a question about something like fires, or the weather, or “why does” we resort to Mystery Science.
We recently started using ABC Mouse. She does it on her own and loves it. She spends all her “tickets’ as soon as she earns them. It’s funny. Mouse especially comes in handy when I need to make lunch or dinner.
Could you bring us to speed on The Spotted Cloth?
The Spotted Cloth is a curated compilation of my true loves: Food + Fun.
The past two decades of my life have been spent in the restaurant and design business; owning, creating , developing concepts.
Through my travels, I’ve also kept the pulse on what new concepts|places are out there. I’ve eaten thousands of meals in my lifetime. Still do.
My 5 year old daughter has probably eaten at and seen more places than people will in their lifetime.
However, Mobility was a game changer and at eighteen months she wanted nothing to do with her highchair. All she wanted to do was run around a restaurant and B-line for the door.
Thus, The Spotted Cloth was born.
I decided to create a curated website for parents looking to navigate the LA food scene with kids and find some pretty fun adventures along the way.
By curated I mean places that I find impressionable for a variety of reasons in which you’ll read about on thespottedcloth.com
I write my perception from a parents point of view. I like describing the overall vibe of a pace.
I include toddler ratings and social scene ratings on each spot to make it easier to navigate with peepsqueaks. I also write about great places that your teen would dig, or good date night spots too.
TheSpottedcloth.com includes the gems we’ve uncovered in our ventures to discover what this city has to offer.
IG @thespottedcloth