"We were really lucky finding our place. There was really nothing affordable or nice turning up, and then my friend found our home through Instagram. It turns out our next door neighbors know so many of our friends, but we had never met before. We moved in a year ago and had to wait a couple months for all of our things to arrive from France. So, we were camping out for a bit at first."

Cheri wears an Acne shirt, vintage French workwear pants from Japan, and Chloe flats. Anouk wears Bobo Choses pants.

"California meets Europe. I am not a minimalist by any means. My home is filled with things we've collected from around the world over the years."

"I think your home should be filled with things you love. I am drawn toward collecting a lot of small things, but I need to keep order to the chaos. I like things to be pretty organized. I don't adhere to one particular style, I think the things you're drawn to reflect who you are and will fit together naturally. I don't think in terms of what will match, but what will feel right."

Peek-a-boo!

"We have a big Mark Borthwick print that was a baby shower gift from a really good friend in Paris. It's one of my favorite things in our home, both because it is a beautiful photo by someone I'm a huge fan of, but also because it is a meaningful gift.”

Tabletop treasures.

"I try to keep things pretty organized with baskets and putting things away every night, but I also believe that this is my child's home, too, and there is no reason she shouldn't have space to keep things around the house, as well. I don't mind having blocks or kids books on the shelves, I just try to keep it tidy. I think keeping things cleaned up teaches her to do so as well, and so far that is turning out to be true. Anouk loves cleaning."

"Being a parent is as difficult as it is beautiful. Which I think really illustrates how much of it is about finding balance. Finding that balance is a constant challenge. I love raising my daughter, but it is also very difficult at times to find a place for myself, and then beyond that for my husband, my family, and friends. It is a round-the-clock job, especially with a baby who won't sleep through the night. That said, it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done, and life is so much more exciting when you have things to share with someone to whom everything is new."

"I was both surprised by just how much I loved my daughter. Of course, I knew I would love her so very much, but just how very much was really something. I was also surprised by how much hard work it is, and the realization of how that never stops. After she was first born I kind of kept thinking okay, we just need to get adjusted and then things will go back to being sort of normal again. It took me a little while to realize that was never going to happen!"

"Anouk's full name is Anouk Simone Messerli. My husband and I had her name picked out years ago. We just happened to have a conversation about it one day and we agreed on a boy and girl name we liked. When I got pregnant we talked about it and immediately decided those were still the names we loved. We don't know anyone named Anouk, but loved the sound of it and loved that it is a French and Dutch name, since we lived in France for so long and we had also developed a love for visiting Amsterdam while living there. My name is not so easy for people to get right (it is pronounced 'Sure-re' but everyone always says 'Sherry'), so growing up with and still dealing with that made pronounciation important to me. Her middle name comes from a friend I knew years ago whose name is Simone. I liked that they are not common names, but are easy to pronounce."

"I had two friends in Paris who were pregnant and had babies around the same time as me, one only a few months apart from me and the other a year and a half before, and I grew such a strong bond with them from this experience. They were beyond helpful to me before and after pregnancy. I think that experience bonds you to someone forever, especially it being all of our first pregnancies. Both of those friends always manage to keep their cool, even when they are super stressed, they are always super supportive, and their kids are amazing little people. No matter what they were going through, they were always there offering me help. Our daughters are friends even though we all now live in different parts of the world."

"Anouk really loves her books. She loves to sit in front of her shelves and pull out books for me to read to her. She also loves carrying them around in this Japanese basket I bought her. She packs it up every morning before going downstairs. My favorite thing in Anouk's room is her mobile. It's one of the first things I made for her, and I had it almost finished before she was born a couple weeks early. I wasn't able to finish it until she was 9 months old, but in the end it came out exactly how I wanted it and it was better that it didn't have to make the move overseas assembled since it's pretty fragile. Sometimes having no time for things works out."

"Anouk can be quite shy in public, but at home is very silly and is always singing or trying to get everyone to do what she is doing. She loves collecting leaves and flowers, reading books, watching birds, listening to or playing music. I'm grateful she loves all of these things as much as I do."

Cheri and Anouk wear vintage dresses. Cheri’s bracelet is by Miansai.

"She wakes up singing a lot, then we all have breakfast, go play at the park, take a nap, and hopefully I can nap with her. Then we'll have lunch outside, play outside for a bit, then will go either on an errand or do some sort of fun activity out of the house somewhere. Have dinner as a family, sometimes we just eat a snack with her while she has her early dinner, then go for a walk all together as family either in our neighborhood or around the reservoir. Read some books and then it's bedtime."

"To have a friend for life, who I am fortunate enough to be able to help shape her life and character."

"Learning to not lose my temper when things get stressful."

"Get lots of sleep before they are born."

"I love the book Gentle First Year by Dr. Gowri Motha. A good friend lent me this book and it was by far the best book I read. So helpful and so loving.”

A book Anouk loves: Mouk by Marc Boutavant.

"My parents were always very loving with me, and I am trying to raise a very sensitive human being, it's very important to me and I think it's something lacking and very devalued in our culture today. My parents both had to work a lot my whole life, my mom was never able to stay home with me, but she always cooked dinner and we all always ate together. That is something important to me, as well."

“I’m still figuring that one out, as well as trying to balance and find time for myself."

"We cook a lot of pizzas. We have a bread maker and I make buckwheat pizza dough in it, that with some frozen grated mozzerella we keep on hand, a little sauce and pesto, along with a salad, is a weekly favorite and doesn't take much time at all. Anouk loves pizza as much as my husband and I do. I roll out a second batch of dough for her that I cut into fun shapes and I keep them in the freezer so I can just cook one in the toaster oven for her when we're in a rush. Pizzas are a great way to sneak in extra vegetables. I made her some with spinach and a pureed ratatouille as sauce and she loved it."

"I am a designer. I have a pretty diverse background creatively. I have a design studio I started with my husband called Weekends. We design interiors and do art direction and branding.”

"I grew up in Southern California, studied design at UCLA, and then worked my way into working in fashion. I started as a graphic designer, but realized quickly I really wanted to get into designing clothes. I started doing styling and photography for a designer's lookbooks and then got hired as her head designer after we had developed a good working relationship. I then went on to be a consultant for womenswear when I moved to NY. I moved to Paris with my husband after we got married and it took a while to find some permanent work, but I did some styling for magazines and brands and later worked on special projects for Comme des Garcons, then worked for YSL's e-commerce team before starting Weekends studio and getting into interiors and some consulting for other brands and shops like The Broken Arm. We lived in Paris for five years and that is where Anouk was born. We decided to move back to California where our families live when Anouk was 9-months-old. It was a tough decision to leave Paris, and I still miss it very much."

"Anouk's vintage dress is from a shop in Paris. The older woman who owned the store asked me my baby's name while she was closing shop and then told me the actress Anouk Aimée shopped there.”

"I still crave working creatively, but have channeled a lot of that into caring for and making things for Anouk. My work is less important to me than savoring these few years when Anouk is so young. When she starts school I will jump back into work, but until then, I feel I'd rather spend as much time as I can with her versus working hard just to pay someone else to."

"That is a really tough one. I work mainly at night, and have been fortunate enough to take a bit of a big break work-wise. It is hard though, it's wonderful to be with her all the time, but hard to miss out on personal creative work. I try to look at it as such a short and special time with her that will fly by quickly, whereas I have my whole life to work."

A little office nook.

"It was tough moving back to L.A. with a baby, at least after living in a socialist country. I feel like there is less of a support system here in L.A. than in Paris, but you can't really compare the amount of childcare options available between the two places. Or the amount of amazing parks in every neighborhood, but we are lucky to live within walking distance of a good playground here."

Cheri wears an Acne shirt and jeans and Dieppa Restrepo loafers.

"I love the freedom and diversity of my job. I am a designer and that can encompass anything I want it to. From designing clothes or jewelry to restaurants and hotels."

"I'm still working out what is next career-wise when Anouk starts school. Until then I'm just taking things one step at a time."

"Days with work involved are not typical, but we try to find some breathing in and breathing out time, time doing things together, and time doing things apart so that we both are happy."

Anouk wears an Bonton blouse, vintage OskKosh overalls, Collegién socks, and shoes by Little Mary.

"We love going to eat at Gracias Madre. It's not near our house, but we love the food there and I love that it is all organic. We also go to Dune a lot, Anouk loves falafel. We spend a lot of time at the Silver Lake Reservoir, and the playground, and often ride the mini train at Griffith Park and see the ponies. Anouk also loves going to school and we do a parent-child class together that we both love.”

"I love being able to take her to the beach or swimming basically year round."

"I mostly shop online, or in person at big sample sales. It's easier to see what's out there when you have limited time to shop."

"Minimal with interesting details. I like pieces that are clean but are not so simple."

"My style has become much more simple and more uniform these days. I wear things that I can go to the park in because we go almost everyday. I try to find a casual balance between not looking ridiculously dressed up at a playground and not just wearing jeans and a t-shirt all the time. Anything can be utilitarian if you wear it the right way."

"Oddly enough white blouses have become my staples, despite the fact that kids can be messy."

"My favorite designer is Christophe Lemaire, his brand's clothes are just perfect. They are classic but very modern and are always simple, but with such interesting details. I really like brands with a certain interesting simplicity to them. Black Crane and Acne are a few favorites, as well."

"It's always been very simple, but after seeing my friend Kristina Holey, who is a holistic skincare specialist, I have it down to just the essentials that are working for me. I love not even having to think about it. I only use chemical-free products and I don't wear much makeup anymore, something I started in France, where so few women do and they look so much better for it! I use jojoba oil twice a day, wash with Dr. Haushchka's Cleansing Cream in the night, and try to do a natural face mask once in a while, although I'm almost always too tired to remember."

"I try to do yoga whenever I can. I love YogaGlo because I can do it whenever I have time, and even choose a class based on how much time I have. That site also has classes by my favorite yoga teacher Elena Brower, and the way it's filmed makes it feel like you're in a real class."

"More yoga, more sleep, and transcendental meditation."

To follow along with Cheri (and Anouk), check out her Instagram feed here.