Georgette’s parents: portrait of the artist’s family

Now in their 40s, Valerie VanPersk, Linda Vargas and Jose “Hoza” Rodriguez never thought life would turn out so perfectly.

It’s a typical Thursday night at Valerie and Linda’s house in Boyle Heights. Barks from Stiller, a yuppie terrier named after Incubus, gives way to a cozy living area with vinyl records and Amy Winehouse and Yves Saint Laurent coffee table books.

Bringing ingredients from the refrigerator decorated with magnetic letters and arts and crafts, Linda prepares homemade guacamole to go with ceviche from the market. Valerie drinks from a stem while the group is told about her latest projects – including doing make-up for the musical roles of Genevieve and Joyce Rice. Hoza pulls candy out of a bag, lest the trio’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Georgette, watching videos of the AI ​​ginger cat in her nearby bedroom, sense the presence of sugar — in which case, parents won’t be able to say no.

It’s a far cry from the trends set by the club in 2007, when Valerie, a makeup artist, and Linda, a DJ, first met at a “too straight” Ed Hardy fashion show. Or two years later, when Valerie and Hoza, a fashion designer, first connected with the makeup and styling, respectively, of rapper-dancer-club-banger Roy Roy (then associated with MIA of “Paper Airplane” fame).

“We were really young, so it was a taste of what we wanted to do in real life,” says Valerie, who soon rose from working the MAC counter in San Diego to booking shows for NYFW. And when Valerie and Linda, who put a ring on it when same-sex marriage became legal in California in 2008, moved to Los Angeles, the couple would snuggle up on Hoza’s Silver Lake couch.

Day by day, all three best friends prepare to take care of Georgette, who is ambitious and theatrical and a big fan of Selena.

Linda wears a Vivienne Westwood Boucher jacket and Emilio Pucci shoes from Patchoga Vintage, Planeta Los Angeles jerseys and shirt, her own jewelry. Hoza wears a hologram city jacket and cleat shorts, a Vivienne Westwood butcher shirt from Patchoga Vintage, Vivienne Westwood shoes and a polo tie. Georgette wears a Planeta Los Angeles custom shirt and flared jeans, a Vivienne Westwood necklace and Dr. Martin shoes. Valerie wears a Vivienne Westwood Boucher bodysuit and Christian Dior shoes from Patchooga Vintage, Planeta Los Angeles shorts, Vivienne Westwood earrings and necklace, and Urban Outfitters socks and mesh top.

“It became a weird family dynamic,” says Hoza, who enlisted Valerie to do the makeup for her brand’s debut photoshoot Hologram City. “We’ll celebrate, like the party Party.”

In 2013, Valerie and Linda moved into a Los Angeles apartment next door to Hoza – their kitchen actually shared a wall. Life continued as normal, with each artist’s career on the rise, until the pandemic. With Valerie no longer working the fashion week circuit and Hoza recovering from the Fashion District fire that destroyed the Hologram City workspace, Linda began streaming DJ sets—hip-hop, R&B, vintage, various Latinx genres, or house and EDM depending on the day—on Twitch to financially support their expanding peer group.

“It was a freedom to start something new,” Linda says of that terrible but transformative time.

Case in point: In 2021, in 2021, on a mass road, Hoza casually told the “girls,” as he called them, that if they wanted a child, he would definitely have a child with them. The idea initially took Valerie and Linda by surprise. The couple had previously considered the question of children, initially thinking that Linda would donate sperm to Valerie’s brother. But realizing this kind of dynamic might strain the larger family dynamic, coupled with the fact that Linda loves children, Valerie has always had more of what she describes as a “f—-them kids” attitude, they’re in no rush to go that route.

Valerie, Linda, and Hoza, speaking in a group chat called “Georgette’s parents,” are filled with gratitude for providing Georgette with the life they didn’t have.

But with their gay best friend and de facto brother Hoza, things might be different. “It opened a portal,” Valerie says. It definitely felt right.

In the end, Linda decided that Valerie should be the one to bring the baby – precisely because she wasn’t very fond of children at the time. The three went turkey buster to save money, with Hoza’s donation delivered from his apartment door to Linda and Valerie in a Chanel box, blessed with letters and prayers for the future child from the three parents.

After three months of trying, some changes should happen. Linda, the group’s scientist, invented a veterinary catheter that allowed for more precise injections. Then, Hoza, while filming, learned from a pregnant woman on set that taking raspberry tea and mayo and de-chiro inositol supplements would help promote pregnancy. As the woman had promised, a month after taking the supplement, Valerie’s period was late. And after the “most angelic pregnancy”, Georgette Mercedes Vargas Vanpersk was born on March 8, 2023, coincidentally the same date Valerie and Linda met.

Three years later on Candy and Ceviche, Hoza says it feels like “our life has started again.”

In Some Sweet Ways: After 11 years, Valerie and Linda moved from the three-shared Silver Lake apartment complex to the charming Boyle Heights Artisan when Georgette was 1 year old. But day by day, all three best friends turn to the attention of Georgette, who is ambitious and theatrical and a big Selena fan.

It works because everyone has a free schedule. When Linda and Valerie – Georgette’s legal parents – are out of town, Georgette may stay at Hoza’s apartment. Hoza regularly comes over to Linda and Valerie’s house to do laundry or just hang out. Georgette is called “Mom” (Valerie), “Mom” (Linda) or “Grandpa” (Hoza) depending on which parent she wants. Valerie, Linda, and Hoza, speaking in a group chat called “Georgette’s parents,” are filled with gratitude for providing Georgette with the life they didn’t have.

“We have another goal,” Hoza says. “Be with our friends before they get the bag.” Today, “the music we’re rocking right now is so crazy,” he says on “The Bus Wheel,” which went triple platinum on Georgette’s watch.