For Julie Bowen, a mother of three teenage children, a perfect Sunday would include plenty of “me time.”
“My entire family considers washing clothes and dishes to be my 'hobbies,'” she said. “No, no, my hobbies are reading, going to museums, hiking, and playing pickleball. Those are my hobbies. They say, 'No, it's not.' It's clothes and dishes, Julie.'”
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Bowen, who won two Emmy Awards for her performance on the beloved ABC comedy “Modern Family,” is as family-oriented as her character Claire Dunphy. He is currently filming “Happy Gilmore 2” in New Jersey, but when he is home he prefers to spend time outdoors with his children near Laurel Canyon.
After spending time in Baltimore, Rhode Island, and New York, Bowen became a reluctant Angeleno. “I'm not sure I ever thought of Los Angeles as my 'home,' in giant capital letters, until I had kids there and realized this is their home,” said Bowen, whose new thriller series “Hysteria !” now streaming on Peacock. “Los Angeles is like choosing your own adventure. You can go to some cities like Boston and really feel like it's uniquely Boston, but Los Angeles has so many communities, cultures, and corners. There is no such thing as downtown Los Angeles. So at first when I moved here, I thought, 'This is hard.' But once you find your people, your places, it can really be a magical city.”
On the agenda for Bowen's perfect Sunday are hiking, antiquing, and a stop at Joan's on Third.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
8am: Me time with homemade ginger shots
In my fantasy, I could sleep late and then get up and go to lunch. Or make coffee and go back to bed with a book. That's so delicious. But the reality is that I get up early and I love it because that is my quiet time. That's my alone time.
On Sundays, I buy a bunch of turmeric, ginger, lemons and apples and then I put on gloves (because turmeric will turn your fingers orange), peel them all and bake my own ginger shots for the week because I'm cheap and I can't stand to spend $5 on them at Erewhon. I love Erewhon, but I don't want to pay for ginger shots, so I like to make it in the morning while I drink my coffee.
I usually do the shopping that morning. there is a Trader Joe's near my house that's fantastic. I love Trader Joe's. I don't know what I would do without Trader Joe's. And on Sunday, the genius of Los Angeles for all the farmers markets around. They have them in Hollywood, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Burbank… so I can go to any of them and get what I want.
10 a.m.: Pickleball with the 'wife of life'
My very good friend, I call her my lifelong wife, Rachel, was always interested in pickleball. His mother started playing years ago and [Rachel] I started to get a little involved.
Then when I moved into a house that had this weird concrete space in the backyard, I thought, “I guess I could dig it up and turn it into a garden or something.” And then we measured it and I thought, “Or it could be for pickleball,” and that was it. So now I'm obsessed.
There are also great pickleball courts near my house. There's Burbank pickleball [court at Larry L. Maxam Memorial Park] right near the airport. That's where you can get a really good competitive game, but since I had enough space in my yard to have a pickleball court, I usually just play singles there with my friend. I'm too scared to play doubles. Plus, it requires more people.
Noon: Noon refueling at Joan's on Third
In the end, when my children get up, they are interested in going to Joan is in third in the Valley for lunch.
My children like all cakes. They go crazy for the chocolate croissant. They have a great berry muffin. One of mine loves to sit and have the avocado toast. I love just browsing and snacking there, because they have delicious things. And I like to get some things to prepare for dinner. I'll tell you one thing that will get my kids together before dinner is that when you make a charcuterie plate with what I buy at Joan's in the morning, that will draw them in.
2 pm: Walk to the Tree of Wisdom
If I could really have the ideal day, I would throw a Walk to the tree of wisdom there, because, to me, that's the biggest hike in the middle of Los Angeles. You get a great view of the hollywood poster, and it's fun to remember [that] This is a magical and fun place to live. People travel from all over the world to see that sign.
I have two children [who’ll] He goes on a hike with me, while the other guy likes to go play basketball. And with Wisdom Tree, it's hot in Los Angeles, so you should go early or late. But if this is my perfect day, it's February and I can walk all day.
4 p.m.: Antique shopping at Ventura Place
Ventura Place is the best. I always love to come in Hide and search. It is a small vintage store. I don't think I've ever left there without buying something.
I'm always looking for what I didn't know I wanted. I do have certain obsessions that I'm always looking for: vintage folding game tables that start small and then can be unfolded. I love furniture that does double duty. At Hide & Seek, in particular, they always have nice furniture, but I just find an amazing serving spoon, a little statue, or a piece of art. It's always worth putting your head in there.
I'm not a very good clothing buyer. I'm lucky enough to hire a stylist for big events and the rest of the time I'm afraid my family will say I dress like Derelicte from “Zoolander,” which isn't something I'm proud of, but I get it together when I need to.
4:00 p.m.: extra time to visit the Last Bookstore
On my ideal Sunday, I would have to add extra hours to go down to the last bookstore in DTLA. That's another very, very special place in Los Angeles that you have to see to understand. There are three rooms of art installation and one room of books. I still love the smell of a book. I read things electronically most of the time, but I love bookstores, and that's one of the best in Los Angeles.
I would say that literary fiction would be my favorite genre. I don't love pulpy, soapy beach reads. I don't love mystery. I really like the interior pieces. Right now I'm reading Adam Johnson, who wrote “The Orphaned Master's Son.” I think he won the Pulitzer for that. I'm reading his first story book called “Emporium” that I found at a used bookstore in New Jersey, and I couldn't believe it because I thought I'd read all of his stuff. And as far as I know, it's not available electronically, so I was very excited and have been reading it as slowly as possible, because every page is delicious.
7:00 p.m.: family dinner
I grew up having dinner with my entire family every night. Due to different schedules, [my kids and I] I can guarantee that we will all have dinner together only one night a week, and that is Sunday night. It's funny with teenagers: if you eat too early, you have to prepare another dinner later.
I would never cook just for myself. But when I cook with children, I try to get each one to do something different. I have one that is great at grilling, so there is usually grilled chicken or fish. I always make the salad. One of my kids loves pasta, so he's always making pasta; today, from scratch, I might add. Crazy. I don't know how he learned that. I'm going to say TikTok. And the other one is not a great cook, but we say: “You set the table, you clean the table”, he has to wash the dishes.
20:45: Movies and games.
Right now, my kids really like trippy movies, that's how they refer to them. So I've been introducing you to classics like “The Usual Suspects” and “Memento.” They like it when we have to stop every 10 minutes and they're like, “Wait, what's going on?” Normally, that wouldn't be my favorite thing. But you do what you need to do to get along with your children.
Or else, we'll play a card game. I feel like you can tell everything about a person by the way they bet on a poker hand, whether it's new or not. I have a son who will be involved in everything. I love it, but that's not me. I'm a nerdy student. I pull out my little cheat card, because I can never remember the hands, and I sit there and roughly calculate the odds and then bet accordingly.
10 pm: Relax and get ready for bed.
I love Sunday nights: cleaning out a drawer in my bathroom or getting a manicure, because I never go looking for them. Just a little time to relax and then go to sleep. Actually, my kids will probably stay up for a while after me, but they're old enough that it's up to them now.
It's surprising how much laundry I end up doing late at night. I say, “I'm going to bed. It's 10.” My ideal time to go to bed, close the door to my room, is 10 and be asleep around 10:30, that would be great. I don't remember the last time it happened because he always says, “Mom, I need my uniform,” and I end up doing the laundry or dishes until midnight.
