OCCUPATION: CEO, RL Public Relations and Iobella; partner of Sportivo, a sports PR firm
MY STYLE: Casual and eclectic—I mix sophisticated pieces with everyday fun. I love accessories more than anything. For the home, I like contemporary with touches of warm pieces from our family travels.
I LOVE L.A. BECAUSE: Pacific Palisades is a great place to raise kids. It’s safe and, more importantly, an amazing community. Everyone is family-centric and committed to raising their kids in a great, positive environment. You see the same familiar faces at coffee shops, restaurants, and parks, which makes you feel right at home.
Casa Nostra Ristorante
Nestled away in the beautiful Palisades Highlands area, Casa Nostra is beloved by locals and frequented by seekers of classic Italian from across the Los Angeles area. Patrons rave about its friendly owner, pitch-perfect ambiance, and top-quality ingredients. The menu stars authentic espresso, fresh pasta, and what some argue is the best pizza in California. For Casa Nostra regular Roxana Lissa, the chicken Milanese is unbeatable; it’s a favorite of her three year-old daughter, Sienna. “And,” she adds, “they have the best collection of Malbec red wines for me.”
Café Vida
For the healthy and active Pacific Palisades community, Café Vida is a go-to spot for fresh and energizing food, from breakfast through dinner. Low-fat Californian and Latin specialties make up the food menu. For drink, try something off of Vida’s “Juice Pharmacy,” which features concoctions designed to stave off nasty colds, clean away days’ worth of junk food consumption, or achieve that California glow in your complexion. As an added bonus, especially for finicky kids, breakfast is served all day, so little ones can have scrambled eggs for dinner and moms can enjoy huevos rancheros any time they crave.
Skirball Center
Angelenos thank their lucky star that a world-renowned Jewish Cultural Center is in the area. This institution, dedicated to sustaining Jewish and American democratic ideals, holds performances, conferences, and libraries, and hosts cultural programs across a wide area of interests. Housed in an architecturally stunning building among the Santa Monica Mountains, The Skirball Center welcomes people from all religions and walks of life to enjoy ever-changing exhibitions and happenings. Kids especially love the Noah’s Ark experience, a permanent exhibition that lets kids play and explore aboard amodel ship and brings the biblical tale to imaginative life. After a tour, enjoy the Kosher menu in Zeidler’s Cafe, which ranks highly among museum cafeterias in both food and ambiance.
Lake Shrine Self-Realization Fellowship
This spiritual sanctuary located on a serene hilltop was dedicated by Paramahansa Yoganand in 1950 and dreamed up as a “church of all religions.” The lake shrine is a great place to come to take in a view and center your soul, and even bring your aspiring mini-guru for Sunday meditation lessons. Roxana Lissa thinks of it as a beautiful spot to spend time for reflection by herself, or as an adventure with her family; “I come here to walk and just relax. As a family, we love going there on the weekends or on holidays to feed the ducks,” she says.
Terranea Palos Verdes
“Scenic,” “breathtaking,” and “spectacular” are words that many hotels use to describe their establishments, but you really would find few others to draw on after seeing this sprawling, Mediterranean resort on the stunning coastline of the Palos Verdes peninsula. Amenities and activities on offer will more than fill up a weekend getaway. (The spa alone is worth at least a lifetime.) Golf-loving families will love to play at The Links at Terranea, an award winning golf course, which is set spectacularly against the Pacific ocean.