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Sunny Side Up

27 Jul

My hubby and I stopped for Starbucks, then saw this bloke setting up shop. Not five minutes after several attempts to wrangle money out of drivers for his services, a cop pulled up and made him vacate the area.

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I see this woman everywhere and always in the sun. She looks burnt and thirsty, but she never begs for money.

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…and we’re finally here. Though the idea was to head to Malibu, the North side of the Santa Monica Pier provided several wide open spaces on which to set up camp and lay out. So we stopped here. Unlike the bohemoth parking lot located right next to the Pier and Venice Beach – allowing waves of tourists and large families to set up shop, bouncing past your towels with swaths of kicked up sand and shrieking laughter – smaller lots are available the further you drive towards Malibu, thus restricting the flow of beach-goers. So we choose the quiet.

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My size 10 clunkers.  Though I annually refuse to wear flip-flops because they always give me blisters, no matter how long or how often I wear them, I have yet to find an accceptable replacement and usually ruin a favored pair of chassures.   Pain is beauty, right? 

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What I look like at the beach.  My head covered in towels, hats or a book, I try to avoid burning my face for fear of leathery skin and more freckles than I can count.    My pasty skin hardly ever bears a tahitian tan, but I try.  My one crowning moment was after I received a spray tan in Miami.  An old woman from Chile thought I was Brazilian.  
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The trouble with L.A., almost always a bad highway accident resulting in miles of irritated drivers.

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A mile later…
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Another mile…
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And another…
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My hubby and I caught sight of this pimp-mobile just blocks from our house and I had to take a photo.   Though the car is obviously a bit rough around the edges, something like this only comes from love, and so seems endearingly named “Fig” for its purple hue. 

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Dirty Panes, Broken Windows

24 Jul

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I Spy

22 Jul

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La Brea

Paw Prints

21 Jul

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Felines strike me as (on the whole) delicate creatures. They are picky, aloof and sometimes very cuddly; laying across your newspaper, swiping at hanging strings as you prepare for the day – they are a soft ball of not-so-grown kittenhood, the semblance of adolescent behavior always intact. In contrast to their canine counterpart, whom I always imagine sniffing and licking and drooling (I do love dogs, but I can’t seem to remove the imagery) a cat’s paws look soft, more like a quiet invitation to “follow me” than a stomping rollop that says “I WAS HERE.”

Then I realized…holy squishy cat, those tiny paws have claws and are a wee bit mashed into the concrete. No cat would step in wet cement then run around in it, they’re not that oblivious.

Campaigning

21 Jul

A more subtle campaign.

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On Your Night Out

17 Jul

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Happy Friday! Surfing the web this past week led to the find of several articles from New York Magazine and Vogue (among others), touting Los Angeles neighborhoods as the next this and the new that, plus highlighting some great places to eat along the way. I can’t summarize the entire article, but here’s a whiff:

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Photo by Larrie Knights

With the exception of some seriously run-down neighborhoods and sketchy gang territory, it’s hard to pinpoint an area of Los Angeles that isn’t so-to-speak “up-and-coming.” Though I’m sure Jamie Brisick of the New York Times did his homework, a friend of mine said in response to the verdict of Highland Park as the newest addition in charming neighborhoods and low-cost eateries, “I think its funny that the nytimes does these articles on these little ‘up-and-coming’ neighborhoods…when, they are in NEW YORK. they wrote an article on the demise of glassell park and eagle rock (which, hello, is directly next door to highland park; same occidental students…), that was completely out-of-touch and inaccurate. i say: nytimes, stick to your burroughs, leave our barrios to the latimes, thankyouverymuch.” Since she grew up here, and I have just three years under my belt, I’ll refrain from a judgment call here.

NEW YORK TIMES: SURFACING: HIGHLAND PARK

The recommended?
Cafe De Leche
Orecul 77
York on York
Johnny’s

While the piece on Highland Park is focused on the bourgeois artists and local fare, Vogue’s article is decidedly posh. James Steingarten chronicles his visit, alongside L.A. Weekly editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa and her husband Jonathan Gold, to restaurants located in and around Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, read: costly; but he’s right about L.A. Weekly, the local weekly (duh) newspaper. It is a must in L.A. – a well-written, culturally informative, free newspaper.

VOGUE: FAVORITE L.A. RESTAURANTS

The recommended?
The Bazaar
Chung King
Animal Restaurant
Osteria Mozza
Rivera Restaurant

I recommend:

Osteria La Buca: owned by true Italians – the freshest pasta, very romantic.

Street: If you ever wanted to eat hot dogs in a restaurant, this is your place.

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Bon Appetit!