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.

Steamers Railroad Museum

My daily commute to work used to cut directly through Griffith Park.  Everyday, I would pass the golf course, zoo, Autry Museum, and Travel Town.  Often, I would make note of a small railroad set up, just past travel town and wonder what it was.  Around Halloween and Christmas this little railroad would be decorated for the appropriate holiday, and often at night there was a long line of parents and children waiting to go in.  What is this place?

After doing a bit of research I discovered it was home to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad club.  A non-profit organization created for the purpose of educating and promoting life steam and scale model railroad technology.  Volunteers help build and maintain the trains, tracks and museum.  The train ride is on a track that is just over a mile long, and goes over bridges, through tunnels, and around miniature wild west towns.  It's quaint and cute and so much fun.  We were lucky and able to ride on one of the steamengines, which is actually powered by steam.  So cool!

The property is also home to Walt Disney's Carolwood barn.  Which is a small museum dedicated to Disney's interest in scale model railroads.  Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the barn, as it is only open every 3rd Sunday of the month.  Must mark my calendar and I will report back...

The Stinking Rose

Heidi enjoying a pot of Bagna Calda

I cannot begin to explain my fascination with the Stinking Rose.  Nor the reason it has taken me so long to visit.  But, late one night after a day of barbecues and beer, Heidi and I were about to drive past the restaurant and were stopped by an overwhelming urge to gorge on mass quantities of garlic.  Perhaps it was time for a cleanse of sorts.  So in we went.  As it was 10:30 pm, there was no wait for a table.  We slid into a garish booth under a faux starry night and began our gastronomical journey.  I'd be lying if I didn't say it was delicious.  Although, the stench of garlic could be smelled coming from my pores over the next few days at the gym.  

We gave 100% to this experience, ordering a full meal with multiple courses...including a dessert sundae of garlic ice cream (interesting, but not something I would recommend).  And I would do it all over again (minus the garlic ice cream!)

Gun Shooting in Burbank

Confession: I want to be a badass.  Really, who doesn't?  So for the longest time I've wanted to go to a firing range and shoot handguns.  Decimate the little man on the target.  Not because I hate paper men, but because I WANT to be a badass.  And, it's not like I've never fired a gun before.   I mean,  I used to shoot rotten apples off rocks with my brother's BB gun.  And once, I went with a group of friends to skeet shoot (I actually found shotgun shooting to be a bit scary and awkward.)  So come on, how hard can shooting a handgun be?

Really hard! (yeah, I know that was a rhetorical question...but let me reiterate...it was REALLY HARD to shoot a handgun.)  First off, I was awkward and scared of accidentally shooting myself.  Second, I may not have the world's strongest fingers, and releasing the bullets into the chamber can be tricky.  Third, I don't mean to judge, but my firearms instructor was a chauvinistic, ignorant right-winger who would have made George Bush cringe upon meeting him.  As my buddy, Evans whispered to me while I struggled to cock the .22 caliber Glock..."Some of these gun folks are just jackasses!"...So very true E!

Of course none of that stopped me from passing my firearms safety class and hitting the range.  My first shot with the glock, hit the target smack dab in the middle of the neck.  From there, it just got better.  I took out the target's stomach, sternum, liver, and oh yes...his heart!  I am a paper man killer!

Next up, E and I traded places.  I took over the Smith Wesson pistol.  Wow!  That was so much more my speed.  It was a great time and I ended up finishing up our session on that gun.  I loved that every shot I took, I could see the fire shooting out of the muzzle.  And...I felt like the the star of a Western movie.

Would I go back and do it again?  Of course!  But only if Evans joins me...we had a lot of fun taking out paper men.

Firing Line
1060 North Lake Street
Burbank, CA 91502
818.954.9810

Randy's Donuts

It's midnight.  Lauren and I are leaving a Birthday Party in Manhattan Beach, and she asks, "Hey, are you doing anything from your bucket list this weekend?"
"No, my schedule is kind of booked this weekend.  Unless there is something we can do now....Wait, aren't we relatively close to Randy's Donuts?  I've been meaning to go there for at least 10 years."
So, we GPS it and 15 minutes later, we find ourselves standing in line, under a giant lit up donut.

Lauren ordered a glazed donut.  I went with plain.  Yeah, I know, we are so EXCITING.  But, donuts aren't really our thing.  And honestly, we were there simply for the experience of waiting in line for fried dough at Midnight, somewhere in Inglewood, under a well lit, giant plain donut.

If you are in the neighborhood, or simply killing time before going to the airport, check it out:

Randy's Donuts
805 West Manchester Avenue
Inglewood, CA 90301

Donut Man of Glendora

Confession: I actually don't love donuts.  But Heidi does.  And I'm super supportive of all my friends and their passions.    So after a few weeks of tossing around the idea of a pilgrimage to Glendora (30 mins outside of LA) to visit the Donut Man and try a delicious strawberry filled donut.  We finally settled on a random "school night" at 9:30 PM.  We made the drive to Heidi's Mecca....and boy, oh boy, we were NOT disappointed.  The line for the shop wrapped around the building, and we had to wait 20 minutes for our delicious, fried dough with fresh strawberries...believe me, every single minute we had to wait, was worth it.  A-mazing!  I may not be a lover of donuts...but I solemnly swear to protect and honor the sugar-y goodness of my new found friends.  And yes, this was one of Heidi's bucket list picks...but I whole-heartedly back the decision to put this on the list.  It is a definite must-try for your visit to LA.


Now, I can hardly wait for the Fresh Peach Donuts that come out later this summer.


The Donut Man

915 E Route 66
Glendora, CA 91740

(626) 335-9111


open 24 hours

Jollibee

The drive down Beverly Blvd toward Silverlake is for the most part very uneventful.  But every time I get near the intersection of Beverly and Vermont, I find myself distracted by a little red bee.  

Jollibee is the Philippines Number 1 Fast Food Chain (at least that is what their website proclaims!)  It is the home of Chicken Joy, Yum Burgers, and the most delicious, over processed bit of pasta heaven - The Jolibee Spaghetti ("It's the Spaghetti-est").     And up until last weekend, I had worked hard to ignore the cutesy beckoning of that little red bee.  But alas, on Sunday, fresh from a day of moving furniture, unpacking mountains of boxes, and subsisting on Ramen noodles (the only food I had managed to unearth from the above mentioned mountain of boxes).   I was starving and that cute, little bee was calling like a siren to a lost sailor.  And then, there were all of these happy families noshing on plates of rice, eggs, and sausage.  I just couldn't resist anymore.  "I NEED JOLLIBEE!"  Sunday, April 25, was an epic day for me.  I can knock Jollibee off my bucketlist...and I my tastebuds were properly introduced to the Jollibee spaghetti.  The over-processed goodness that it is.  I may be a lover of Jamie Oliver's fantastic show, FOOD REVOLUTION...but clearly, I am merely a passive participant.  I can only imagine his commentary on what was ingested that day.  


Check out the Jolibee goodness here.

Point Break Live!

My friends and I have been talking about going to this show for years.  I actually had no idea that it was still showing in LA.  But, lo and behold, Saturday night my friends Justin, Carole, Heidi, and Lauren found ourselves wearing ponchos, dodging (unsuccessfully) fake blood, and laughing our asses off as "Johnny Utah" read his cue cards and saved the day.


Honestly, even after hearing years worth of hype about this show, it was as great as everyone said it would be.  I give it 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up and recommend you go, get soaked, and enjoy a night of fantastically bad dialogue.


Check out Point Break Live here.

Accomplice Hollywood

Without giving away the ending, it's hard to properly describe what an adventure of Accomplice Hollywood proved to be.  It's a strange combination of performance art and a scavenger hunt.  Justin, Carol, and I talked about it for DAYS after we completed our mission.

We started with a phone call, 2 days before we were scheduled to begin.  The call instructed us of where to meet and who we should be looking for.  From there, we were give an envelope full of clues, a tape recorder with instructions, and a locked money bag from a bank.  Over the next 3 hours, we (along with 6 other participants) tromped up and down Hollywood Blvd., making occasional stops at various restaurants and bars to interview possible suspects, in the end solving the crime.  Fantastic!  And something I highly recommend if you have a free Saturday or Sunday.

Click here for more info.

Kogi Taco Truck

Okay so I've eaten from a bunch of the food trucks around LA. ( The Green Truck is probably my favorite because I love their "mother trucker" burger.  Yummy!)  And although I've tried kogi tacos at the Alibi Room, I've never been to the actual truck.  In LA...everything is about the experience.  So, when my friend Josh asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch outside the studio at the Verde truck, I cancelled my lunch plans and joined him in line.


So what?  If the line was long and Josh got a parking ticket on his Prius, the food was good and the day was beautiful.  And I'm glad I can check this experience off the truck.


Check out the trucks' schedules here.

So here's the thing....

....I have lived in LA for 10 years.  Seen it, lived it, been there, done that...or so I would love to believe.  Of course then I drive down the 101, look over and see (fill in the blank with something awe-inspiring) that I've always meant to do and realize, I've barely scratched the surface of all the cool things LA has to offer.  With a new lease just signed and the possibility of leaving town in a year, now is the best time to knock all the items off my Los Angeles Bucket List, so I can walk away with no regrets.