From Petits Salons to the Moon and Giving Back…
On February 23rd, we will be celebrating a night of short films curated by Evolution Mallorca Founder, Director, and Head Programmer Sandra Lipski.
Often called the “Sundance of the Mediterranean,” Evolution Mallorca is celebrating its 15th anniversary edition this fall. The festival honors independent film with a distinctive focus on new talent and outstanding cinematography.
Doors will open at 7pm with a musical performance in the Wiggle Room at 7:30pm. Our musical artist will be announced shortly. Around 8pm we will move out to the fire deck for the screenings. Seating is very limited in both spaces, so make sure to show up as early as you can to snag your spot!
This powerful short film selection shines a light on stories about women — complex, resilient, and instinctively driven — navigating turning points in their lives.
Our lineup includes:
Synthesize Me – Bear Damen (SXSW Premiere)
A Place Between Us – Daniela Garza
Someday It Is – Carissa Gallo (Starring Jodi Balfour)
The Heart of Texas – Gregory Kasunich (Winner, Goldfinch Innovation Award EMIFF 2024)
**This screening will include a Q&A with the filmmakers and Evolution Mallorca founder Sandra Lipski, who will also introduce The Festival Key — her consulting program designed to empower filmmakers and festivals to navigate the international festival circuit with strategy, confidence, and purpose.
Petits Salons is an ongoing collaboration between Petit Ermitage, Cheshire Moon Productions, and Blkbrd Films. Don't miss out on this very special evening and unique opportunity to network with fellow arthouse film lovers!
NO TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE DOOR. MUST PURCHASE YOUR TICKET ONLINE BEFORE 7PM. Optional valet parking for ticket holders is $15. See you there!
Screen Your Film at Petits Salons
Petits Salons is a collaboration between James Aaron Oliver, Darby Gaelle Hannon, and Sarah Carter in partnership with Cheshire Moon Productions, BLKBRD Films, and Petit Hermitage — a space for artists, filmmakers, investors, and friends to connect. Each evening begins with live music inspired by the film and closes with a Q&A designed to spark meaningful conversations and encourage fellow filmmakers to follow their creative instincts despite the challenges.
If you have a short film or feature you’d like to submit for consideration, or if you’re a musician interested in performing, we’d love to hear from you!
Please contact us using the link below.
Be sure to include:
A link to your film or music
A short bio
A brief description of the project
We look forward to discovering and celebrating your work!
The Latest on Moon House
As we move into the furnishing phase of Moon House, I’m remembering what it felt like to live inside the imagining — encircled by exposed walls, dust floating in the sunlight, crews moving through rooms that existed only in sketches and conversations.
I’m grateful to be able to slow the project down now: to integrate, notice, and appreciate the choices and creativity that brought us here before rushing to secure the next pieces of the puzzle.
Recently, we welcomed a custom handwoven Luz rug from Pampa for the primary bath and the most beautiful leather Porteño swing for the living room, delivered by Nick Osika and installed with Kevin after an afternoon spent talking music and learning about the story behind the swing’s collaboration with Argentinian designer Agostina Branchi. Crafted from saddle leather with handwoven horse reins inspired by Argentine Gauchos, the piece is made by artisans using traditional techniques and sourced at a fair price.
It’s the kind of object that makes your inner child light up — whimsy as a quiet counterbalance to the weight of the world.
We also spent time in the Valley with Chris and Amber Earl, the hands and heart behind EARL Home. Their work is grounded in heritage, precision, and devotion; Chris shaping wood into enduring pieces with nearly two decades of experience, and Amber guiding the design language and rhythm of the studio. From sustainably sourced materials to the stories behind collected artifacts, nothing about their work feels accidental. Every piece carries lineage. We left inspired — and with several EARL pieces coming home to Moon House, including plans for an extendable dining table that evolves in conversation with the way we gather.
This renovation has been incredibly rewarding, made possible by the leadership of Eran Shapov and his team at Superior Home Remodeling, who helped transform an extremely challenging process into one defined by optimism through cycles of destruction and creation.
I remain committed to supporting, investing in, partnering with, and sharing the stories of artisans, visionaries, contractors, and conscious companies aligned with community-building — those working to bring more peace, beauty, perspective, sensitivity, joy, and freedom into the spaces we inhabit together.
Thank you to our partners:
Moon House is a Creative Living & Conscious Design Project by Sarah Carter presented by CMP. Special thanks to our brand partnership and social media strategist Kelsey Rae Landsdowne & Interior Design collaborator Lestrange Living.
Happy Valentine’s Day
Happy Valentine’s Day.
I was supposed to be on a solo journey to London for work today when my daughter shared her shock that I could possibly miss out on Valentine’s Day with our family. I pivoted all plans.
Having an 8-year-old makes this day everything it’s meant to be again: pink and red clashing hearts, tiny love notes, making sure no one feels left out, goofy outfits, blushing, crushes, school dances, foil wrapped kisses, and being outrageously sparkly for all the love in our lives — friends, family, teachers, caretakers, neighbors, pets and random acts of sweetness.
Remember?
For Alice, Valentine’s Day is ridiculously fun.
Somewhere along the way it can become about awkward dates or loneliness — resentment around waste and pressure to perform.
Which brings me to these portraits.
I wasn’t sure I’d find the right moment to share them. The session made no sense to anyone at the time we shot it, namely the photographer Matt Kallish. How were we going to find our way from an oversized Frank Zappa t-shirt to the usable professional industry headshot he was hired to capture?
Today the dots are connecting.
Back to the portrait shoot though — more than anything I knew I needed to feel like myself. After 20 years of rigid headshots I refused to use, I decided to show up raw and let us start from there. This was also my second attempt with Matt. Given his amazing track record, I knew it was up to me to bring him what I wanted.
Five wardrobe changes later and a bit of makeup, the shoot evolved into something more professional without losing the thread that was born here.
I went to an all girls elementary school where we wore uniforms, and on holidays we were allowed to dress however we wanted. It was called Mufti Day. Without realizing it, I showed up to this shoot in a Valentine’s Mufti Day outfit — including my hat from The Peg in Winnipeg — a clothing brand created by my first grade crush.
There is both irony and perfection in posting these portraits for Valentine’s Day. Obviously, the pink and red of it all. The silliness. But also Frank.
Frank Zappa was my little brother’s favorite artist from when he was about 12 years old — which is why this is my favorite shirt. What Frank’s face represents to me personally encompasses what I’m feeling today: love, loss, fun, freedom, and also fuck it.
When I moved to Los Angeles, Diva — Frank’s youngest daughter — the kindest, truest, silliest, fairy genius I’d ever met — soon became one of my closest friends. Appreciating my brother’s obsession, when Chris was 16 years old, Gale invited him to write the liner notes for one of Frank’s compilation albums, making a dream of his come true and valuing him for exactly who he was: an absolutely hilarious, articulate, truth bomb of a musical wizard with an encyclopedic knowledge of all of his hero’s journeys. His heroes largely being somewhat anarchist in their life’s work.
Diva was the official witness to my marriage to Kevin. Our wedding was one of Gale’s last outings before she passed. We eloped on Venice Beach.
Sadly my own mother couldn’t be there physically, so Gale stepped in. She sat with me while I did my makeup in a beachfront bathroom. Just the two of us away from the chaos. Neither of us could make sense of how we got there. Kevin and I announced our marriage 24 hours before the ceremony. Very few blood relatives were able to make it.
Even in the midst of battling cancer, Gale walked the length of the beach as our ring bearer and blessed our union with the spirit of rock and roll, empowering us spiritually to: “Do it your way. Don’t let anyone tell you how to do it. Family is yours. There are no rules.”
Frank also said: “Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.”
Which, in times like these, feels worth acknowledging.
In Honor of James Van Der Beek
When we worked together on Salem Falls, James gave me a mini Zohar for healing and protection.
“They wrapped you before I had the chance to give you this… it has to do with healing and protection. It’s good energy.”
I don’t keep many notes — but I kept this one. His good energy has touched and remained with countless hearts. Watching his journey with cancer was both humbling and inspiring. May his legacy of fatherly love continue to be amplified through this difficult time.
The Zohar teaches: “The righteous are present in all the worlds — and are even more present after their passing than during their lifetime.” (Zohar I:186a)
Sending love to his wife and children.
Please consider a donation to their GoFundMe. May the protection he offered continue to surround them.
Thank you for being here.
Let your love shine and let the love in the world fill your heart.
All we have is now.
~ S ~
oxox