Girl's Gone Child: Places to Go: Chianti Life B&B, Topanga

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I just returned from three days and two nights at the Chianti Life Retreat B&B in Topanga Canyon which is where I have decided I want to retire. Not the B&B, of course, but the canyon. On a horse farm. With everyone else in Los Angeles. (I have lived in LA for fifteen years and never done more than drive through Topanga on the way to Malibu. Uh... whut.)

Anyway, the retreat.It was a birthday gift from my parents (my mom found Chianti after searching airbnb.com in Los Angeles)--a getaway for two nights to finish a a pesonal project which I was VERY close to finishing but desperate for some quiet/tranquil/alone time to do so. Which I did. (Hooray!)

The idea was to finish my work before Saturday night so that Hal could come and meet me. I wrote at a table in the shade, a hammock in the sun and inside at night and it could not have been cozier-- or less ergonomic but, whatever.

I started working Friday afternoon, finished around 6:00 Saturday evening and Hal arrived soon after. We had dinner out on the bridge, surrounded by trees, as Ciel served us the MOST amazing Italian feast, and we chilled like a couple of people desperate for some quality chill time.

It was pretty special. Our stay even included live music c/o the neighbors who were singer/songwriter-ing from a tree, I'm not even kidding. (That was not included in the price of admission, mind you. Topanga is just awesome like that. People just make music in trees.)

Chianti also hosts private massage, yoga, acupuncture and meditation sessions. You can read more about all of the awesome, here. (I didn't have time to do any of those wonderful sounding things, although meditating kind of comes with the territory when you're alone in the woods for hours at a time, and writing the words THE END was about as mind/body/spirit/earth/wind/fire as it gets for this girl, especially when it started to rain immediately upon transferring FDX file to PDF.)

Anyway.

The whole weekend was blissed-out magic. Gorgeous gourmet breakfasts every morning... dinner under the stars... sleeping with the windows open and all of the sounds of nature at night. Blasting Bob Dylan and soaking in a giant tub? I mean, come on. We all need us some of that. Not to mention, Ciel, who is the most above and beyond hostess imaginable. (I wanted to move in with her. Obviously.)

Needless to say, perhaps, but I'm going to have to recommend the Chianti Life Retreat B&B with five stars. Best birthday present ever for absolute certain. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

This candle was a gift from my brother-in-law and it's my favorite. I brought it with me and carried it around with me everywhere like a crazy person. Thanks, Russ.