Traveling Light

Packing a bag lunch for the plane

Heading to the Big Apple tomorrow morning for the annual Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau sales mission.  New York is a huge source of business for our community and there are several meetings and receptions planned.  'what's new in Beverly Hills?' - just ask us.

Thought for the Day

The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
  - Muhammad Ali

Another Candle on the Birthday Cake

Thank you for your sweet Birthday wishes!!   Sally [Luxury Travel Specialist, Travel Store Platinum]

A Monstrous Centennial

This October, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrates the 100th anniversary of Universal Pictures with screenings of 13 classic horror films.  Terrifying Tuesdays began on October 2nd and runs through Saturday, October 27th with a horror double feature at Oscars Outdoors!  Last night I took in 'double feature Werewolf night'; both films I had never seen before.  In conjunction with the series, the Academy has an exhibition of rare posters, stills and artifacts, in the Grand Lobby Gallery.  For details, www.oscars.org

Happy Columbus Day

Don't be blue, be happy.

Pooch in Paris

(L) author Jackie Clark Mancuso and (R) Elyse Reichmann,
Alain Mikli Boutique.  Wearing Mikli hand crafted
eyewear!!  Be Seen!

Perrin Paris hosted a charming book signing today for Paris-Chien at their boutique on Beverly Drive.  The adventures of an ex-pat dog was so well received that even the author's dog showed up for the event. www.perrinparis.com

Pitch Perfect

Are you in the mood for a movie with a little song and dance, paired with pretty young things who are as talented as they are hilarious? Well, then you are ready for "Pitch Perfect" which was screened by Australians in Film last evening, infused with dry humor from Aussie Rebel Wilson as an amiable, spacey acappella diva.  A little cheeky and snarky but perfect for the age group they are pitching.

Destroy the Picture

MOCA Grand Avenue held a members' opening tonight for Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void, 1949 - 1962 focusing on one of the most significant consequences of the rise of abstraction in the 20th century.  It was a very exciting selection of work responding to the social and political climate of the post war period.  This exhibit marks the first time that these strategies of assaulting traditionally two-dimensional canvases have been considered together as an artistic mode of production.  Through January 14, 2013.   www.MOCA.org 

Doorbell rings and it's....

You might be expecting Halloween trick-or-treating neighbors but instead, it's the opening number of The Book of Mormon.  Ding Dong: this national tour production matches the verve, if not the sharpness, of the original Broadway production. The musical about two mismatched Mormon missionaries assigned to Uganda is a profane comedy with cheeky exuberance.  Not just a thunderous Broadway hit, it's a flippant assertion of demographic power, the irreverent voice of Gen X.  This 2011 best musical Tony winner can be seen at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through October.

Redland's Conservancy Annual Social

The 19th annual social and membership party, held at the Jack and Norma Marrin Estate on Saturday night was get-a-way destination this weekend.  Redlands is a scorcher by day but by night, the balmy warm night and big band sound was just relaxed atmosphere this city girl required.  Throughout the evening guests could tour the 1916 home and estate grounds with four defined world gardens.  I savored the sit-down-dinner, dancing, silent auction and charming company.  And all for a good cause.

Don Giovanni

Greeting Ildebrando D'Arcangelo
post performance CD signing.

On Friday night, I had the great pleasure of attending the LA Opera.  Don Giovanni may be one of the greatest operas ever written.  The story seems to have originated with a play attributed to a Spanish monk.  Don Juan, as it came to be known, would have many new settings, by certain counts over 1,720 in the centuries following its creation.  Each age, including our own sees in him and his story as a reflection of its own worldview.  Through Mozart's masterpiece, Don Giovanni came a long way from the burlesque libertine of the original and will have an eternal life in the minds and imaginations of opera lovers.  "Chi son io tu non sapra!"

3-Day Weekend

Va-Va-Versace

Versace Boutique and Children's Hospital paired up this evening for a peak at Fall Runway fashions with a portion of all purchases donated for a great cause.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles - the best place for kids where they create hope and build healthier futures.  Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital is the older freestanding pediatric hospital in California.  It boasts more than 110 years of experience as a premier academic facility with a world-class medical team.  The newest inpatient facility for children in the state is the 460 square foot Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion where 85% of the rooms are private and semi-private.  Focusing on a healing environment for all who enter, they care for the whole family.

Dining at the top

Seen here with our extraordinary Luxe Catering Manager, Michelle Sharp, at Mastro's Steak House in Beverly Hills.  Their new rooftop private lounge is now open.  Reason to celebrate.

Let There be Light

The facade of Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel is now illuminated by columns of light.  We've named this one 'crystal blue', one of a thousand variations on the spectrum of color possibilities.

Another Candle on the Birthday Cake

Wendy,  It oh so very sweet of you to remember my birthday.  It put a BIG SMILE on my face….62……..can you imagine!!!!!!  Thanks soooo much, Kenny [Journeycorp Travel]

La Brea Tar Pits

My nieces taking photos of
the creatures caught in tar.

The Tar Pits are still a point of interest for visitors to Los Angeles. Excavation at Rancho La Brea has continued, off and on, since 1913. Many of their excavation techniques have remained the same as back then: Bones are excavated using small hand tools, field data is recorded with pen and paper, and excavators still do their own shoring. It smells funny but the park is fascinating.

A New Production of 'Helen'

On stage with Melissa Volpert.

Euripides, the most subversive of the great Greek dramatists, presented an entirely alternative history of "Helen of Troy" in Helen (412 B.C.), a play now rarely performed. In Helen, Euripides' heroine is no wanton seductress, but rather a pious, faithful wife and a hapless victim of Olympian plots who struggles to make the best of a very bad situation. By a trick of the gods, this Helen never travels to Troy at all, but is replaced by a phantom replica on the eve of her kidnapping by Paris. The real Queen Helen is magically transported by Hermes to the far off island of Pharos in a cloud for safekeeping, where she waits out the Trojan War in an ironic celibacy.  Helen picks up the story 17 years later, as the abandoned, middle-aged queen remains stranded on the island, oblivious to her infamy and ignorant of the war's outcome. Euripides' inventive fantasy of mistaken identities and impossible coincidences ensues.  Through September 29th, Thursday to Saturday at the magnificent Getty Villa, Malibu. 

Right on Time

This evening Patek Philippe boutique and Gearys struck the right note with a perfect reception marking the opening of their new boutique on Rodeo Drive.  Operated by Gearys, this is the first reestanding boutique in the United States.  These two family-owned companies, both dedictate to impeccable quality and style have chsen to embark on this unique endeavor together.  Patek Philippe's clientele include heads of state, royalty, Fortune 500 CEO's celebrities and connoisseurs around the world.  Tonight Gearys invited their friends and VIP's to share in a toast to this wonderful partnership.

Eat, Shop, Drink

The title of Taschen's new architectural book sounds a little like being on Rodeo Drive at the street-side newly remodeled On Rodeo restaurant!

Some of the most spectacular architectural designs of the moment have to do with our most basic needs: eating, drinking, and shopping. Restaurants, bars, and boutiques are the substance of this new book that puts an emphasis—like all volumes of the Architecture Now!-series—on the very latest and best creations.  Look for it at Taschen located on Beverly Drive on on-line www.taschen.com