How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Amanda Gorman
'I went to a historically Black church and I feel like it's always an occasion to go to church as an African American,' says 27-year-old Gorman, who became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history in 2021. 'You're dressing up in your Sunday best and you're going to be there for several hours.'
These days, her Sundays are not entirely devoted to church, but the poet, activist and author says that those early years taught her the importance of intentionally carving out time to spend with loved ones and be in community.
'It can be getting together with some gal pals that you haven't convened with in a while,' says Gorman, who became the youth poet laureate of Los Angeles at age 16 in 2014 and the first national youth poet laureate three years later. 'It can be spending time with your pets. It can be going to the book club that you love, but finding something where you can ground yourself in what it is to be a human being. I think I still try to translate that into my Sundays.'
Gorman is set to make her second appearance at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival on April 26, where she'll be talking about her third book, 'Girls on the Rise,' released this year. The Harvard graduate began writing the children's book in 2018 after she watched Christine Blasey Ford — who accused Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers — testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
'I just remember being so struck by her courage, bravery and truth,' says Gorman. 'It made me think about the next generation of young women, girls and nonbinary children, who also would be speaking their truth in a patriarchal society. So I wanted to write a book that created a safe space for young girls and their allies to feel a sense of kinship.'
On her ideal Sunday in L.A., Gorman would hang out with her dog, Kenny (named after Kendrick Lamar), visit her favorite bookstores, enjoy afternoon tea like a 'Bridgerton' character and hit up a rooftop.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
10 a.m.: Embrace brunch vibes at home
If I can sleep in until 10 a.m., that's like a miracle, magical day for me. I love just taking the extra time on a Sunday. Breakfast is my favorite and maybe my main meal of the day if I'm being honest. So I will carve out Sunday as my day to really splurge on my breakfast. I'll maybe make some french toast. I have been dallying and making a gluten-free french toast with some nice seeds, vanilla, cinnamon and berries. Then I'll make some veggie patties and have some other fruit. I'll also make some hot chocolate and then I'll put on 'The Great British Bake Off' show while I'm cooking, so I can really luxuriate in the Sunday chill vibes. I pretty much start the day with as much brunch energy as I can.
12:30 p.m.: Get some sunshine
I'd love to get some sunshine, so I'd go to the beach. I love taking a stroll with my friends along the Santa Monica Pier, kind of on the northern side because it's a bit less crowded.
3 p.m.: Live out my 'Bridgerton' fantasy
By this time, I'd be hungry and ready for lunch. If I was down by the beach, there's a restaurant I like called Ivy at the Shore, kind of close to the Third Street Promenade. You can eat and watch the sunset. They have a good salad. I've also gotten really good enchiladas there, and fish and chips.
Or I'd go to the Peninsula. For my birthday, I just did an afternoon high tea at the Peninsula. It was so nice and so worth it. I feel like if someone wants to splurge on a Sunday, go. They have a harpist, tea, sandwiches and scones, so I'd probably spend the rest of my afternoon there on my dream, ideal day. You can sit in their parlor lounge, which has these nice, colorful couch sofas or these elegant corner chairs. They have music playing and very snazzily dressed butlers. One of my friends wore a fascinator. I wore lace gloves. I said, 'Come in your 'Bridgerton' aura.' It really feels like 'Bridgerton' because on the show, they have the instrumentalists playing modern songs and they were playing like 'Diamonds' by Rihanna on the harp, so I love that mix of the contemporary with the classic and bougie.
5:30 p.m.: Get lost in a bookstore
Next, I'd go to the Last Bookstore in DTLA or Chevalier's Books in Larchmont. The Last Bookstore has an enthralling, picturesque maze of used and new books, and Chevalier's is a cozy, intimate bookshop with stores and cafes nearby.
7 p.m.: Catch a second wind at a rooftop restaurant
I'd probably go home, but if I got a second wind of energy, there are some really nice restaurants that I like in West Hollywood. There's Catch L.A. and Perch. Both are really cute, glitzy rooftop places to go after the sun has set. Catch L.A. has a 'Hit Me' chocolate cake, where they pour melted chocolate over it and crack it open in front of you, so that's really nice. Tons of people love to take videos of that and post it because it's a real moment.
10 p.m.: 'Great British Bake Off' and tea
I'm probably home, watching some more 'British Bake Off,' 'The Office' or something cozy, making myself some chamomile tea and reading. That's also the thing I love to do on Sundays because I feel like it's so hard to find time nowadays, in the modern age, to step away from the screen and engage stories and text. I was reading this book that's really funny to me called 'How to Kill Your Family.' [Laughs] I was like, I feel like my family is going to see me reading this at like Thanksgiving and think I've gone unhinged, but it's this dark thriller comedy that was published in the U.K. I just finished it and I thought it was hilarious. It's not a step-by-step guide, by the way. It's more a narrative of a character's journey [laughs].
11 p.m.: Wind down
I discourage the elaborate nighttime routines because I think they're hard to maintain and sustain. I try to make it as straightforward as possible, which gives a good routine for me as well as my dog. So my nighttime routine would be giving my dog a walk and making sure he has time to pee and do all the nature stuff. Reading, having chamomile tea and maybe doing some slow restorative yoga for 10 minutes or a meditation. I get the humidifier all set with essential oils, turn the lights down and try to have the last hour with no blue light, sugar, food, and keep it really quiet and soft. I also like to listen to lullaby music, which makes me sound like a fetus, but it helps me get over my insomniac tendencies. I like this artist, Priscilla Ahn, who has really soothing albums that are good for all ages. Then honestly, I'll listen to the Disney princess playlists with songs like 'So This is Love' [by Ilene Woods and Mike Douglas], all that soft, cozy stuff. I try to be in bed by 11:30 p.m.
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