A SUNDAY IN TOPANGA

I had an amazing weekend on the Westside which included an intimate live set with Shelby Lynne at McCabe’s guitar shop on Friday night, an all day Malibu beach party followed by some great live music from local musicians at Revival Venice on Saturday,  and on Sunday I took a journey to Topanga Canyon for a Banjo & Fiddle Festival followed by dinner at one of my favorite LA secret spots, The Old Place.

It was a full weekend of friends, sunshine and music- all the things I love about summertime in Los Angeles.  The Banjo Fiddle Festival was an event I’ve wanted to check out for awhile now and I was happy to be able to go yesterday.  It was out at Paramount Ranch and there were several stages and vendors set up all around with music playing everywhere.  Basically, people bring their string instruments and there are impromptu bands playing all over the grounds, out in the fields and on tree stumps here and there.  It was really cute and totally got me in the mood for heading back to Texas which I will be doing on Wednesday for a family vacation! Check out all the fun in my photos below.

I got tons of compliments on my Ikat printed dress by INDAH, hat by WKJW and shoes by F Troupe.

Sitting on a porch listening to the music

I found some fun stuff at the booths, always unique things at these types of festivals.  To the average person, they might seem banal and typical, but I found some gems for sure.

LOVED these pillows made from old feed sacks

Amazing instruments made from Cigar boxes..so cool

Really loved these Crochet/Lace dreamcatchers…such a cute idea and so on trend for the summer!

There were cute little ladies weaving fabric; I love the look of this machine

The best thing I found were these gourds that this woman made art out of. She had all different types, but I was most drawn to the pieces that she created with yarns and felt.  I was so inspired by them, I bought two! They are very reminiscent of Folk Art from the 1970′s, which I have a deep love for so I was all over them.

I love the sculpture form that they take on with the felting over it.

This one is my favorite, the yarns and the weaving is so special and reminds me of some of the sweaters we saw on the runways for Fall 2012, very macrame.

And the painted hawk was pretty darn cool.

I was soooo excited to find that one of the vendors was selling my favorite corn on the cob…prepared mexican style with parmesan cheese, butter, cayenne pepper and lime.  Delicious!!!

The setting in the malibu mountains

As we walked around the property, people would be standing in circles and playing music together.  They were singing and dancing and we would stop and listen and participate for a bit and then move onto the next little band.  I loved it!

These guys called themselves PILGRIM, and they were awesome

Loved this girl and her Pucci printed dress and cowboy boots

On the front porch jamming

This guy had HUGE chops and this guitar is stunning

This girl was rockin out in the field..so cute

Here is a video of one of the impromptu bands playing together:

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No banjo festival would be complete without some proper square dancing.  All the kids were having so much fun, definitely a smile inducing activity!

Look at the smiles!

After the festival we headed down the Mulholland Hwy to one of my favorite hidden spots in the Malibu mountains, The Old Place.  This place really gets me in the mood for my trip to Texas as the restaurant totally reminds me of our family lake house that I will be visiting this week with my family.  I can’t wait to show you pictures when I get back.  So excited!

The peacocks roam all around the mountains around The Old Place, what beautiful creatures they are!

Such an amazing weekend! Thanks Stephanie for being my photographer and partner in crime.

Come back to The Sche Report on Wednesday and check out another post dedicated to my journey back to Texas when I tell you all about the Free Agency Showroom in downtown LA that is a lifestyle showroom that also channels my cowgirl roots.