Hollywood Holiday Parade

When I was a kid, I used to watch the Hollywood Holiday Parade on TV each year and thought it was the most glamourous event.  Between each float and high school band was a convertible with a movie star waving to the crowd.  It seemed so cool to the 10 year old me.  Of course, now that I'm much older and jaded, the idea of hanging out with a crowd of tourists on Hollywood Blvd on the coldest night of the year, seems more like a nightmare.   But, Ray lives in walking distance from the parade route and we have to eat at some point.  So, I convinced him to walk the parade route with me as we wandered to our restaurant of choice.  The parade, was a bit unspectacular, and not as crowded as I had assumed it would be.  Perhaps it was because of the cold weather?  Or maybe everyone else in LA is just as jaded as me.  Either way, I'm glad that I could fulfill 10 year old me's random holiday dream.

House of Pies

Heidi was craving French Silk Pie and Marie Callendars didn't have any.  Clearly, the next obvious choice was to try Los Feliz's House of Pies.  And since it was on the bucketlist, we felt confident we would kill 2 birds with one stone.  Unfortunately, House of Pies has every flavor of pie EXCEPT French Silk.  (Okay, I also didn't see my favorite, Mango Pie, on the list...but every other flavor was represented.)  The diner itself is typical and the menu fairly diverse greasy spoon-style food, nothing super exceptional, but certainly a good spot for a late night bite.  I had a Dutch Apple Pie, Heidi had the Bavarian Chocolate, and Lauren the Pumpkin Cheesecake.  I can attest, all were delicious and worth the journey!

Theatricum Botanicum

Heidi had always been a little obsessed with the Theatricum Botanicum, a tiny theatre in Topanga Canyon.  Her excitement made me a bit curious about it.  So when a deal popped up on Living Social, Lauren, Heidi, and I had not choice but to go and check it out.

The theatre is nestled in the woods, off a creek, not far from the main road.  If not for the wooden, hand painted sign, you would never know it was there.  But once on the property, you feel hundreds of miles from Los Angeles.  Its a bit whimsical, like a fairy forest.   Beforehand we had a picnic dinner, splitting a bottle of wine and sharing dessert with the family one table over.  I guess, being in nature, brings out neighborly kindness in everyone.  The show itself was probably the biggest letdown of the night.  The crickets, although beautiful tend to overpower the sound system (was there a sound system?) and the night air in the canyons gets FREEZING cold, which makes it hard to sit on the concrete stadium seating.   We made it through intermission, but then realized there wasn't enough hot tea to warm us up.  Great night, probably would have been better if we did it in the middle of summer instead of the beginning of September.

Sew LA

I haven't used a sewing machine for a few years, neither has Jacqui.  But we didn't think it would be too hard to figure it out and make a pillow.  Oh were we wrong.  The girls at SewLA are amazing and PATIENT.  They never once judged us, even though it was clear we had no business using their machines without a sewing 101 class.  Of course that totally sold us on their practice and we plan to take a beginner class as soon as we both have a free weekend.  In the meantime, both of us have 2 giant floor pillows for our apartments.  And every time, I find myself looking at them I can't help but laugh at what a mess we caused while trying to sew.  

One day at Sew LA checked off the list...but with the knowledge that there will be other days in the near future!

Los Angeles Public Library - Main Branch

My mother is a librarian, who raised me on books.  Lots and lots of books.  I find the smell of binding glue to be strangely comforting.  So the fact that I have lived in LA for over 10 years, and not visited the main library, is completely befuddling.

Yesterday, Abby helped me to remedy things, when she suggested we head downtown to check out the Sesame Street exhibit at the library.  So we hopped on the metro and off we went.  

As much as I love downtown and frequent it often, I don't think I ever realized how closely located the Pershing Square stop is to the Library (it's 2 blocks away!).  And the main library is even more BEAUTIFUL then I expected.  While Abby browsed for some new reading material, I wandered off to the arts and crafts section.  I think I found Mecca!  Rows and rows of beautiful books about everything I'd ever wanted to research, and a few topics that hadn't occurred to me to investigate.  I would have checked out piles of books, but ended up with only 2...Cute Stuff and Knit One, Felt Too.

After a quick lunch at Starry Kitchen (Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!) we headed home.  Mission accomplished, another thing off the bucketlist!

Santee Alley

Faux designer bags, knockoff fashion, cheap, and poorly made clothing, it sounds just like a visit to the markets in South Korea or China or Mexico.  But no, its a dingy alleyway in downtown LA.  I don't know what took me so long to visit Santee Alley, but one Tuesday afternoon I found myself in the neighborhood and had no choice but to wander.

The alley isn't very much different then any of the similar markets that I've visited in foreign countries.  The only difference is that the prices are catered more towards Americans.  Sure, its cheap...but not quite as cheap as in China.  But the clothing and bags are mostly very poor quality and to the discerning eye, obviously fake... Of course, that didn't stop me from picking up a $5 pair of knockoff sunglasses.

Gustavo Dudamel

Drew is my favorite cultural buddy, he's the guy I call whenever I want to go to the opera or see the LA Philharmonic.  So, when I heard that Gustavo Dudamel would be conducting the LA Phil for a performance of Carmen at the Hollywood Bowl, it felt like all the magnificent stars had aligned, and I knew Drew would be the perfect date for the night.

And what a night it was.  Dudamel is amazing.  You can see his passion for the music from the cheapseats...that's pretty incredible.  And I love the music from Carmen so much, I sometimes found myself humming along.  The wine, cheese and other picnic accoutrements, were just further reminders of how much I love the Hollywood bowl.