C A L I F O R N I A · V I B E
JOYFUL NOISE AN INTERVIEW WITH ELISABETH RÖHM
NEW YEAR
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omantic Entertaining Lifestyle Editor Pandora Vanderpump Sabo
To me, a new year means fresh entertaining ideas and a variety of new opportunities to surprise and delight your significant other. From cozy January nights in front of the fire, to Valentine’s Day dinner by candlelight, to fresh blooms in Spring, the start of a new year just resonates romance. Here are some of my favorite ways to bring a little bit of romance into your entertaining, no matter your style! I joined forces with two of my favorite Los Angeles-based companies to bring you some of my favorite romantic entertaining looks. Working with my go-to intimate event-planners, A Merry Riot, we styled these looks with items from dÊcor company, Haven & Co, in Brentwood. All items are available for purchase at Haven & Co, 11965 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049 with prices listed. To find out more about A Merry Riot visit www.AMerryRiot.com
French Country Chic Oozing with rustic femininity, this décor reminds me of days spent sipping cocktails under the olive trees in Provence. Delightfully-feminine without being overly-girly, this is an easy way to add some romantic touches to your décor. Try not to go too saccharine with your food and drink, but instead, keep them guessing with a classic or somewhat chunky cocktail. A traditional gin martini is the perfect way to keep this feminine display grounded and modern. All items pictured available at Haven & Co: Voluspa silver candle $73, Deborah Rhodes gold placemat $25, Alpaca Import Cashmere throw $320, Zodax gold tray $145, William Yeoward decanters $250 - $295, Nest candle $43, Caskata tray $74, Caskata bowl $49.50, William Yeoward cocktail coupe $52, Graphic Image taupe shaker $145, Lafco pink candle $62, Asian cocktail book $16.95. The Perfect Gin Martini I like to play around with my martini garnishes—try bright green Castelvetrano olives instead of the classic martini olives. You can also substitute the gin for vodka if you’re more of a James Bond martini drinker! Ingredients 3 oz gin ½ oz dry vermouth Olives or lemon twist Ice Preparation 1. Chill a martini glass in the freezer. 2. Pour the vermouth into the glass, swirl it around and then pour it out. 3. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. 4. Add in the gin. 5. Shake vigorously (for at least 30 seconds) if you prefer a frothy martini, or stir 50 times if you like it crystal clear! 6. Strain into the martini glass and garnish with olives or a lemon twist.
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Old World Charm Evocative of classic British elegance and peppered with chunky masculine pieces, I love this look for a night in with cocktails, a roast dinner and old movies. Don’t be afraid to blend the masculine and feminine in this look— soft, decadent florals will only serve to highlight your stronger elements, resulting in visuals that are bold, rich and dramatically-romantic. All items pictured available at Haven & Co: Import Wooden Tray $47, Mela Knife $45, Mela bottle opener $45, Barclay Buttera tray $190, Caspari coaster $16, Ralph Lauren rocks glass $95 for 2, William Yeoward Flute $69, Ralph Lauren decanter $195, Barclay Buttera leather decanter $125, Silver shaker $395, Claudia Nicole cashmere throw $250, Kim Seybert napkin $30. Muddled Old Fashioned Ingredients 1 sugar cube or 1 tsp sugar 3 dashes Angostura Bitters 2 oz Rye Whiskey or Bourbon 1 orange slice Orange peel twist 2 Maraschino cherries Splash club soda
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Preparation 1. In a shaker, muddle the orange slice, 1 cherry, splash of soda, bitters and sugar cube. 2. Add the whiskey and ice, and shake. 3. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with another cherry and the orange peel. Cucumber & Herb Champagne Ingredients ¾ oz St Germain elderflower liqueur 3 slices cucumber 4 leaves basil 1 lime wedge Champagne 1 rosemary sprig Preparation 1. In a shaker, muddle the lime, basil, cucumber and St Germain. 2. Strain into a champagne flute. 3. Top with champagne. 4. Garnish and stir with the sprig of rosemary.
Cozy Night In This look is the perfect way to surprise your other half with a casual yet romantic dinner at home. I love to prepare our relaxed meals on individual trays—it’s cozy, intimate and very romantic. Serve your “his & hers” trays outside on a picnic blanket or inside snuggled under faux fur by the fire. Don’t be afraid to go decadent with the food and drink, either. Strawberries and cream martini? Why not! All items pictured available at Haven & Co: Caspari wooden tray $49, Ricci silverware $87.50 for 5pc, Caskata sea fan plates $80, Kim Seybert napkin $16, William Yeoward comport $195, William Yeoward footed tumbler $42. Strawberries & Cream Martini Ingredients 1 oz White Chocolate Godiva Liqueur 1 oz Crème de Cacao 1 oz Vodka 3 sliced strawberries Ice Mint leaf Preparation 1. Add the strawberries to a shaker and muddle. 2. Add the chocolate liqueur, crème de cacao, vodka and ice. Shake vigorously. 3. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with mint!
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joyfulnoise AN INTERVIEW WITH ELISABETH RÖHM
Photographer: Louiza Vick Stylist: Tiffani Chynell Stylist Assistant: Yesenia Cuevas Hair: Miki Trachtenberg Makeup: Vanessa Scali Manicurist: Ayla Montgomery Assistant: Kimberly Bloom
“It was almost as if necessity and creativity came together with acting.”
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ince this is, after all, a New Year’s issue, SAG award-winning actress Elisabeth Röhm’s interview started with a cliché, January question. “Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?” I asked, expecting an answer that involved some sort of cleanse/workout routine/militant hydration regimen.
“Be kind to yourself,” replied the star of the upcoming David O. Russell film, Joy. “Be good to yourself be good to others, you’re doing alright.” In a time when we are constantly being told to better ourselves, Elisabeth’s answer was refreshing and unexpected. Refreshing because it’s nice to get permission to go easy on ourselves, and unexpected because this is a woman whose career seems to say that she rarely goes easy on herself, ever. Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, and settled in New York City by the tender age of one, Röhm comes from a family of creative but practical people. Raised by a corporate lawyer father and a stay-at-home mother who dabbled in soap opera writing, intelligence and academic achievement were clearly valued in Röhm’s household. But Elisabeth wasn’t comfortable in the traditional school setting, and struggled academically. It was at the alternative Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York, that Elisabeth finally found her niche and was able to blossom as both an actress and an intellectual.
Upon graduation and unable to shake that streak of practicality she was raised with, Elisabeth got a job as an agent’s assistant and commuted to the bustling metropolis of New York City from the sleepier and more collegiate Yonkers. Frustrated that a day job got in the way of auditioning, she decided to quit her job and give herself one or two years pursuing acting. If it didn’t work out, she decided a practical career using her talents in history and writing could be just fine. “I want to do well in my life, I want to have a nice home and I want to be proud of myself,” Elisabeth remembers thinking. “You can always change your mind. It doesn’t mean that you’re flaky. You do have a right to evolve and change.” Living on unemployement and surviving on bagels for all three meals, plus a combination of talent and luck, got Elisabeth working almost immediately. “It was almost as if necessity and creativity came together with acting,” she reflects. She’s been in front of the camera ever since.
“Only a place like Sarah Lawrence would recognize an unconventional thinker and find a way to evaluate whether they were worthy to be a student,” Röhm says, relaying a tale in which, after receiving not-so-great standardized testing scores, she filled out an extra 30 essay questions in order to prove her academic chops to her future alma mater.
Elisabeth Röhm got her start on the soap opera One Life to Live, playing Dorothy Hayes. From there she played Detective Kate Lockley in Angel (the award-winning spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn in Law & Order, as well as a slew of other roles on 90210, Heroes, CSI: Miami and The Client List opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt. Not one to stay put in the world of TV, Röhm has been in a number of films, most notably the academy award-winning, American Hustle. Directed by David O. Russell, Röhm so impressed and excited the director that she is appearing in his next film, Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence.
Putting herself into uncomfortable situations and then proving her worth seems to be a pattern in Elisabeth Röhm’s life, and it was certainly true of her first foray into acting.
The film follows Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, a single mother of three building a business empire. Elisabeth plays Lawrence’s sister in the muchbuzzed-about film, coming out on Christmas Day.
“It’s funny looking back that I auditioned for my first role because I thought some guy in the theater department was hot,” she tells us.
“It’s a multigenerational film about strong women encouraging one another to be strong women,” Elisabeth explains. “I as her sister struggle with Joy’s magic and trying to please our father, and it’s an honest film about family.”
Drawn in by a crush, Elisabeth got the only female role in the two-person David Henry Hwang play, Bondage. Yes, opposite her crush, Elisabeth Röhm had to portray a woman in an S and M parlor. Understanding why this character did what she did, Elisabeth recalls, instantly allowed her to ask some questions that interested her most: “Why are we here? What do we do while we’re here? My focus has always been on understanding humanity, and I was there to be a writing student, but I discovered what I wanted through acting.”
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Family is something that’s important to Röhm as well, who is not only a mother, but also quite vocal about motherhood. Elisabeth started writing as a celebrity guest blogger for People magazine, and her posts about the trials of parenting and her difficulty getting pregnant struck a chord with readers. Röhm’s 2013 book “Baby Steps: Having the Child I Always Wanted (Just Not as I Expected),” details the star’s struggle with infertility and her experience with in-vitro fertilization.
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