For years, Justine Lupe bopped back and forth between Los Angeles and New York.
It wasn’t until the pandemic that she decided it was time to stop living out of her suitcase in hotels and short-term sublet apartments. “The world was in upheaval,” the actor says. “My idea of what my life was felt like it was [too].”
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
In 2021, she and her fiancé, Tyson Mason, bought a house in L.A. Then this summer, the couple welcomed a baby named Ellis, whom Lupe was carrying while she was filming Netflix’s romantic comedy “Nobody Wants This,” alongside Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, which is set to return for a second season next year.
“I was right in the sweet spot of the second trimester for most of the shoot, so you have energy, you feel creative and your body feels good — at least that was my experience,” says Lupe, who plays Bell’s sister and podcast co-host Morgan.
Lupe, who also starred in “Succession” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” adds that certain concerns she had about working while pregnant, such as gaining weight on camera, disappeared when she was on set. “It was just kind of this magical experience because there’s so much emphasis on bodies in this industry,” she says. “So just to be healthy and happy through that experience, embracing my body through that big, big change, feeling confident in it and feeling ecstatic about this life inside of me, it was just the best.”
On an ideal Sunday for Lupe, 4-month-old Ellis is strapped to her body as they pick up veggies and fruit from the Atwater Village Farmers Market, take a baby-friendly yoga class and walk around a glorious botanical garden.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
7 a.m.: Cuddles in bed
I mean 7 a.m. sounds great with my baby. A little bit lazy, lying in bed. I love snuggling with her, Tyson, our dog Lilly, and our cat Addie. It’s kind of a fort that we have in our bed with all of our little creatures living in it and it’s really nice to just chill.
8 a.m.: Catch up with friends over coffee
I would probably go and get a coffee from this place called Amara Kitchen. It’s a really nice farm-to-table spot. Everything is organic, grass fed and ethical. I go there to meet friends a lot, so I’d probably meet a few friends for a coffee. I usually get an iced coffee. They make their own almond milk. If I want something sweet, I’ll get a pastry, and if not, I’ll just get a bone broth with my coffee. They make really good pastries in house and they have incredible gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip cookies that are way more delicious than you’d imagine when you say those two words aloud. It’s usually too early for me to eat a lot, but on days where I have a really long night or I’m starving, I’ll get their breakfast burrito.
9 a.m. Go to the Farmers Market
Then we’d all go to the Atwater Village Farmers Market. It’s really sweet and small. I know all the stands well by now. It was kind of a project when I first got there to understand which stand had the vegetables I like, which ones had the right eggs that I like, which ones had the best cheese. You kind of get to know which stands you prefer and you form relationships with all these farmers. I care a lot about the quality of the food that I eat, so having kind of a rapport with them and figuring out what their standards and practices are is important. It’s also just lovely. There’s flowers and honey, lots of families are there, there’s so many kids and it’s just a happy place to be.
I usually get ingredients that I want to make for the week and for whatever other things I need, I’ll go to Whole Foods. As I shop, I will snack on Nature’s Fynd, which is a vegan yogurt. It’s sustainable, it’s ethical, it’s dairy free and it’s high protein. [Editor’s note: Lupe is a brand ambassador for Nature’s Fynd.]
12 p.m. Baby-friendly yoga
Then I would go to Silverlake Yoga for a yoga class. It’s run by this woman, Juliette Kurth. I found it during my pregnancy and they do a lot of prenatal classes, postnatal classes, baby and me yoga classes where moms can bring their baby and get their yoga in while the babies are hanging out there. It’s just like the sweetest place. She does labor workshops and I’ve fallen in love with it in the past year. To have a postnatal class so that you can still the care that you need and take care of your body after having the baby and to have free childcare essentially — it’s just the best. Juliette is just an angel on Earth.
2 p.m.: Walk around Descanso Gardens
I’d probably go home and cook myself a little something to eat, then the whole family would go to Descanso Gardens. It’s so pretty and we’d walk around. You can get a snack at the door and have a little picnic if you want. Sometimes we’ll get a coffee or a tea and just post up somewhere.
5 p.m.: Pick up dinner
I’d go pick up Side Pie or Sugarfish on the way home for a cozy evening at home where we just eat pizza or sushi, hang out on our deck and just enjoy being in L.A. [Laughs]
At Sugarfish, we always do the Trust Me or Trust Me Lite box [which comes with edamame, tuna sashimi, salmon and more] depending on our appetite. It’s so good and sometimes we’ll throw in a little bit of eel. At Side Pie, we like the house herb ranch salad and the Altadena and the Z pizza, which is a vegetarian option with jalapeños. There’s another pizza with ham and honey that we like called the Honey’s Hammered. It’s soooo good. Side Pie is a little hole in the wall. You order it inside, then you can eat in their back area, which is really cute especially during the summer, or you can take it home.
For my beverage, I’m usually a water-with-electrolytes kind of person, which is so boring. [Laughs] I do drink wine, but just because I’m breastfeeding, I try to keep it to a minimum and do it well. I have a couple of glasses of wine a week. I’m a pretty light drinker, but when I do, I usually will pick up something from Cookbook Market in Highland Park. They’ve got a really great natural wine selection.
6:30 p.m.: Luxurious bath
Every day the baby and I take a bath together. It’s a really good wind-down for her and I. Tyson sets up our bath area up each night. He puts out candles, plays music, puts our towels out and puts out a glass of water with ice. He’s just so sweet, so it’s kind of this ceremony for us. Then I give her a baby massage, which I also really love doing. My daughter has got it really good. I’m like, “I want a massage every night.” [Laughs]
8 p.m.: Watch T.V. until we fall asleep (and the baby wakes us up)
Then we’d get into bed and watch “The Great British Baking Show” or some fun TV show until we fall asleep. I know this is my ideal day, but the reality is that you go to bed kind of going like “Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Here comes the night” because of the baby. [Laughs] She’s 4 months now, so I think she’s about to hit that four-month sleep regression. So I think we’d get to bed fairly early just because we know we’re going to be losing sleep. She goes to bed at like 7 p.m., so we’ll probably get in bed by like 8 p.m. and fall asleep by 9 or 9:30 p.m.
