All things considered, she would have to be the most conspicuous and influential of the first ladies in the history of the state.

The problems with First Ladies is that you have to set the standard. My role is to be both star and slave.

Mission Revival red-tiled roofs glowing carmine in the sunset.

A city where everyone seemed to live in a bungalow on a broad avenue lined with palm, pepper or eucalyptus trees, where there was never any snow.

We need to reclaim the ethical high ground of what California should mean,

[The colors on citrus-crate labels] went beyond nature and spoke directly to fantasy: apricot, purple, cobalt blue, sea green, cinnamon, cinnabar, mauve, yellow, orange.