Santa Claus in Beverly Hills

Last chance to see Santa!  He's at the Paley Center for Media every Saturday in December.  I saw him two weeks ago and told him what a good girl I've been.  He said, "Are you sure?  Not just a little bit naughty."  Okay - maybe he's right.  A little.

Travel Fact

The first California Welcome Center to greet tourists with self-serve wine tasting machines isn't in the vineyard gateway cities of Salinas or Pismo Beach.  t's in Oxnard.  When it opens to the public Friday at its new location in The Collection at River Park, the center operated by the Oxnard Convention & Visitors Bureau will offer visitors one-stop shopping for tickets to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, souvenir dish towels printed with strawberries, and free pamphlets for attractions from San Francisco to San Diego.

First Person Singular

Once again Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills, wins my vote for best holiday windows.  Dedicated to their favorite designers and fashion trend setters, each window bedazzles with the best party picks.  As Diana Vreeland said, "Your don't have to be born beautiful to be wildly attractive."

Flight of Imagination

Seeing Peter and the Star Catcher at the Ahmanson Theater this week was a flight of imagination.  Of course we all know the story of Peter Pan so there is some anticipation of flying.  But it's really about how Peter came to be a 'boy'.  The cast had great fun with the peculiar mermaids and the movable parts of the set.  In this case, there is nothing like the magic of live theater.  Through January 12, 2014.

Pumpkin Pie

You would think that we would have had enough pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.  But for the holiday hostess and I, that just wasn't enough.  Since neither one of us got any pie on Turkey Day, we went straight for the nearest grocery store, and then another one and another.  Only to discover that Burbank was sold out of the famous squash!  The man behind the deli counter at Ralph's pointed us to the display at the front door (which we had passed on the way in).  We walked back thinking that we must have missed something only to find an 8' table, two wooden cartons with some lonely display straw.  Nothing.  Nada.  Rien.  Nienete.  We promptly bought all of the ingredients and baked one.  It was delicious.

The pies were gone by the time we got to the dessert table.

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving to all! According to the National Turkey Federation, the average American Thanksgiving turkey size is 15 lbs. and 46 million of them will be consumed this holiday, the majority of them raised in MN.  In addition to turkey, it will accompanied by 768 million lbs. of cranberries majority of which come from WI.  The Midwest comes through again!  Enjoy each morsel.

The ultimate 'selfie'

Travel Fact

Hotel revenues this Thanksgiving are expected to remain strong amid a 1.5% decline in travel volume projected by AAA.  Hotel spending during Thanksgiving is expected to reach $14 billion, up 3% from last year.

Best in Design

Top interior designers transformed rooms in the historic Greystone Mansion to create the Design House International Showcase, November 2 - 24 in Beverly Hills.  Each room expressed personal creativity inspired by entertainment, fashion, home design and technology.  Cory Martin Events presented a sneak peak this week with cocktails and inspirational people watching.

Children's room with lyrics by Kermit.

Wattles Garden Park

Located in the heart of Hollywood, the Wattles Garden Park is an easy walk, 1 mile to be exact, starting at the front door of this 50-acre estate.  The charming grounds and Wattles Mansion were recently restored and the park is now open sun-up to sun-down off of Curson Avenue and Hollywood Blvd.  The 1907 structure was the winter home of an Omaha tycoon.  Although the garden was closed today, the walkway to the top leads to a Japanese gate and with some challenge to a Japanese shrine.

Formal Japanese Gardens

Japanese Shrine

One of two gateways

Shallow ponds with fallen leaves

Happy Halloween

To reference yesterday's question about werewolves and plaid, yes they always wear plaid.  And so do stitched up rag dolls apparently.  It was a plaid night!

Fashionable at Halloween

Spent considerable time in costume stores and browsing yard sales this month to find the perfect outfit for the howling holiday.  Wishing everyone a very fashionable Halloween!

Fashion Week

It may be the earliest weeks of autumn in Southern California but the events showcasing spring and summer 2014 collections as part of Los Angeles Fashion Week appear to be blooming from downtown to The Grove.  It's that special week when established and emerging fashion designers have the opportunity to strut their stuff.  The creative air in Los Angeles is palpable.

Walking Dead

New season starts on Sunday.  Put your hands in the air!

Alas, the end of summer

Today the sun will move from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere.  It will pass overhead everywhere along the Earth's equator on the date, and the sun will rise exactly in the east and set exactly in the west.  Day and night will be roughly equal length.  Equinox is derived from the Latin for "equal night".

The Roman Pool at the Hearst Castle with its gold and blue color
scheme and stylized star patterns. Built between 1927 - 1943.

Auction of a lifetime

This evening the public got a chance to preview the auction items from two legendary estates at Julien's Auctions Gallery in Beverly Hills.  This landmark auction event marks the sale of the personal property, antiques and memorabilia from the estate of Bob and Dolores Hope and the first lady of comedy, Phyllis Diller.  The rooms contained items from Hope's more than 60 year career in entertainment.  The exhibition is open to the public through Thursday, September 19th.  The live auction begins Friday, September 20th, for two days.

Extraordinary costumes, wigs and jewelry from Phyllis stage and screen career.

Her signature blond wig, long cigarette holder and self-deprecating
humor made her a cultural icon. 

Travel Fact

A new study revealed that web access is the top hotel amenity for business travelers at 62%.  Reaching family back home was the best de-stressing method for nearly half of respondents, at 47%  A vast majority of respondents, 83%, said they would be much happier during a business trip if they have free Internet access.

Enjoy the long weekend

It's Friday!!  Enjoy the long week...it started hours ago.  What are you waiting for?

Herstory

Women's Equality Day was celebrated in West Hollywood this week honoring the Women's Advisory Board's 20 years of service to the West Hollywood community.  Monday was the 93rd anniversary of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.  Keynote speaker was Grammy Award winning recording artist and feminist icon, Helen Reddy.  Her song, "I Am Woman" launched a generation of young women destined to be leaders.

Full Sturgeon [Moon]

     This month's full moon, which rises on Tuesday (August 20th) is not just a Blue Moon - it's also the full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.  Today's full moon qualifies as a Blue Moon because it's the third full moon in the season with four.  A 1946 article in "Sky & Telescope" magazine mistakenly defined a blue moon as the 2nd full moon in a single month (since moth months have only one full moon), and it stuck.
     Although August only has one full moon, tonight's qualifies as the third full moon in a four-full-moon season.  Both Native Americans and early European settles added their own names for the full moons to the lexicon.  The annual August full moon has come to be known as the Full Sturgeon Moon, because sturgeon can most easily be caught at this time of year according to native tribes in the Great Lakes region.  Another name is the Full Red Moon because the weather conditions can make it look reddish when it rises.  And finally, because crops grow tall at this time of year, the moon is also known as Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Pet Friendly

This is the kind of dog I need for the office.  As a 'pet friendly' hotel, even the department heads bring their dogs to work some days.  In sales the pressure is always on and I can't quite believe a goldfish would have the same impact.