When Jessica Alba thinks back to her Sundays as a child, the first thing that comes to mind is sleeping in and having Sunday dinner with her close-knit family.
“We would make enchiladas, al pastor or a more elaborate dinner that took more time,” says the Pomona-born actress, adding that one of her fondest memories is making homemade tortillas in the kitchen with her grandmother.
On Sunday Funday, Angelenos share step-by-step instructions on what their ideal Sunday in the city would look like. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat, and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Over the past two decades, Alba has starred in a slew of projects, including the “Fantastic Four” films and the Y2K classic “Honey,” as well as the TV series “Dark Angel.” Her latest work is Netflix’s “Trigger Warning,” which premiered this summer. The second season of “Honest Renovations,” her Roku original home improvement series, premieres Friday.
Alba, a mother of three children aged between 6 and 16, still makes family the focus of her Sundays. “We believe in lazy Sundays,” she says. “I used to be very intense and say, ‘We have to get out of the house and do things,’ but my kids and husband agree that sometimes it’s nice to be in pajamas all day. So I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s just go with it.’”
We caught up with Alba to talk about how she would spend her ideal Sunday in Los Angeles with her husband, Cash, and their children, Honor, Haven and Hayes. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
9am: Enjoy a latte and some games in bed.
On my perfect Sunday, I wake up at 9am and my husband makes me an almond milk latte and my son hands it to me. [with] A kiss [laughs]I meditate in bed, drink my coffee, and do my New York Times crossword, Wordle, Connections, and all that stuff.
11 am: Go for a walk and then eat açai bowls
Then I do some kind of outdoor activity, whether it's on my spinning bike or walking or hiking. I like Franklin CanyonI like that it's quiet and there's a bathroom. Then we order açai bowls for lunch. It's a special thing that we order for delivery. Sometimes we make our own smoothie bowls and they're fun because we get to make the base, we chop up all the fruit beforehand and make the bowls really pretty, so I do that with the girls. If we order it, we like it. Acai from Ubatuba either Acai, pleaseWe usually make our own bowls. I always like to put almond butter in it. My kids don't. They always want Nutella and I'm like, “Well, that's just sugar, guys. Grab some kind of nut butter or something.” [laughs].”
1:00 p.m.: I look for insects and plants with my son.
Usually by then my son has been up doing a lot of stuff so I can coax him into this little space in my closet and we can paint together there. We paint with watercolor and he likes to listen to quiet music and we just chat. After that, we go on adventures. We walk around the garden and take pictures of plants or bugs. I have a bug tag and a plant tag so we can look for them and [learn] Different things about small plants or small insects.
2:30 pm: Meditate, journal, and find some stillness.
Then I would like to do my meditations and make my singing bowls. [Hayes will] He comes in and out, but he has to be quiet. He rings the bells or he really likes to play the drum. Then he gets bored because I say, “You can't play that,” and he says, “Ugh,” and walks away. [laughs]So I'll do that for about 45 minutes. I'll meditate, journal, maybe draw cards, pray, and sit with myself and the singing bowls.
3:30 pm: We start preparing Sunday dinner.
So I start making dinner. I go see what we have in the fridge. I usually do roasted vegetables because we always have vegetables. I can get root vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, whatever we have. I cut them all up, [add] olive oil, seasoned salt and that's an easy side dish. Then depending on the night I'll make pasta, rice, a potato for starch and roast chicken is usually my go-to. We'll have like two small organic birds. I'll butterfly them, meaning I'll split them open and all the skin will be really crispy. I'll do a spicy one and then one that's milder like a lemon pepper. It probably takes two hours from start to finish. Then the girls will set the table and [my son] Hayes usually brings the napkins and drinks. We sit down and do…rose and thorn” throughout our weekend.
7:45 pm: I read stories with my son before bed
One of us has to put Hayes to bed, so we'll do it rock, paper, scissors. [Laughs] No, it depends on how we all feel, one of us puts him to sleep. Gives him a bath or reads him three stories. For me, he always keeps me there longer. We tell stories in addition to reading the three stories and then I say, “Okay, enough with the stories. It's time to sleep. You're dragging this out. Your dad is in and out of here in 15 minutes, it's been an hour and a half.” [laughs].”
8:30 pm: Relaxing with a movie with my husband and the girls.
I go downstairs and usually Cash, I, Honor and Haven watch a show or a movie together and that's it. I really like Bridgerton and Dark Matter. I drink chamomile and lavender tea and they usually have their dessert; they usually pick something out of the freezer. Sometimes if I know a movie is going to be really late, I try to do some skin care before I go downstairs so I can go to bed.
