Category Archives: Fun

How I Spent 100 Years in Hollywood

Posted in Explore, Film, Food, Fun by

Location: 2301 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood

Unquestionably, if I had to pick one of my absolute favorite places in all of Los Angeles, it would be The Hollywood Bowl. The open sky, a perfect view of the Hollywood Sign right in front of you, and the unique vibe of “Bowl-goers” picnicking and hanging out on the grounds before the start of a live musical show. It’s an exciting place to be, and while the nearly 18,000 seat venue would be intimidating, I always found it to be one of the most intimate places you can possibly be in LA. There isn’t a bad seat in the house (and trust me, our seats were about as high up as you can go). I spent my second night in a row over the holiday weekend under the stars. This time, celebrating a century of movie music with Paramount Pictures.

{Making our way to the high, high (read: cheap) seats} 🙂

{“Bowlers” hanging out before the big show}

{View just as we arrived to the amphitheater}

Host, Jason Alexander; conductor, David Newman; and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, took us on a journey through the best musical scores of our time as Paramount Pictures turned 100 years old. An opening montage comprising 174 feature film clips from their library kicked-off the night. What a treat to look back over some of the most famous movie sequences scored with live orchestral music. After George Costanza Jason Alexander took the stage for a short opening monologue, the night took a turn to highlight those films that are particularly memorable not only in picture, but most importantly, in sound; touching every decade since the 1920’s. The great scenes from Sunset Boulevard, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Godfather Trilogy, Titanic, and Mission: Impossible (among others) projected on the big screen as the full orchestra below brought each frame and line of dialogue alive with the recognizable melody that made the film iconic.

It was a night filled with humor, music, film, and the best tuna on wheat Subway sandwich I’ve ever had (my personal happy point). What a wonderful way to celebrate Hollywood’s only remaining and oldest film studio. Happy Birthday Paramount Pictures! Thank you for your part in cultivating my love and life filled with cinema. Here’s to another 100 years of movie magic and making it to Mission: Impossible 33 (where yes, Tom Cruise will still be alive to star in the film, looking exactly the same, and doing his own stunt work).

Dirty Dancing in the Cemetery

Posted in Explore, Film, Food, Fun by

Location: 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood

I spent Saturday night under the stars Dirty Dancing in the Cemetery. Rest assured, it was completely legit and conducted with the utmost respect. Let me explain…

One of the things that I’ve always wanted to do was go to a Cinespia screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Only in LA is there an organization that actually screens films in a cemetery, and only in LA is there a line 2 miles long to get in.

After a rather hectic day of people canceling and flaking for whatever reason (some valid, some not so valid) I finally made it. A stint in the line that wrapped around the block full of largely 20 and 30-somethings down Santa Monica Boulevard was a sight to see. People camped out in lawn chairs, holding picnic baskets, pillows, blankets, coolers, and lots of Trader Joe’s bags full of goodies from the store. By the time I arrived, the line was already moving so it didn’t take much time to get into the cemetery gates and meet the person holding our spot.

Part of the fun was chatting and people watching as the sun set and the darkness took over. A huge perk of Cinespia is that you can pretty much bring whatever you want. One of the girls in our group brought some wine to share, and some of the people camped around us brought candles, which I thought was extra classy.

Around 8:30 the night’s film, Dirty Dancing, started to mass applause. The projection was crisp, the night air warm, and the grass a bit damp. I’d suggest bringing a low lawn chair and a thicker blanket, as well as a sweater to this one.

For the next 2 hours, I laughed and sang and laughed some more as people commented next to us on certain scenes, or the audience clapped at classic lines from the film (“Nobody puts Baby in a corner”). I even saw my first ever shooting star! (Hey, I live in LA – we don’t see these often.) It flew by just above the screen and everyone gave a huge cheer! It was a great time to say the least, and a true testament to the endurance of cinema. Only in the movies can you have a 1987 film, set in 1963, with 1987 sounding music; and have thousands sitting near graveyards in 2012 to watch it. The best part, of course, was the big scene at the end of the film and the memorable dance between Johnny and Baby. The crowd sang and clapped and some even danced.

The funny thing is that as I got into my car, I had an itch to play the big song from the film’s finale. I fished out my iPod and 2 continuous plays of “I Had the Time of My Life” later, I was home.

The Cinespia season is wrapping up soon, but if you have some time over the next 3 Saturday nights, I highly encourage you to go. Just plan ahead and expect a huge gathering.

You’ll have the time of your life! 🙂

Girl’s Night Out (in the Shade)

Posted in Cocktails, Explore, Fashion, Food, Fun by

Location: 1221 North Valley Drive, Manhattan Beach

Labor Day weekend officially kicked-off with a much-needed girl’s night out! Thanks to my successful girl night in the night before, I was excited and beyond ready to blow off some steam. I’m always up for trying new places and/or hot spots around LA.The night’s venue at a friend’s suggestion: Zinc Lounge at Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach.

I walked into the well-designed ultra blue lit location, looking forward to catching-up with a new circle of friends of mine. In many ways Zinc didn’t disappoint. The drinks were fabulous, the DJ kept us smiling, and as the night progressed the lounge got darker and the music louder. I didn’t order any food, but some of the other girls did and you couldn’t ask for better presentation.  A special highlight? I had my first sub zero martini. It’s a cocktail served in a glass made of ice. I went with the “Honey Money.” Ingredients: ketel one, strawberries, honey syrup, and lemonade. Très sexy!

However, as the night wore on, the DJ lost his touch (and actually played “Sexual Healing” at one point?) and I began to realize that Zinc wouldn’t be somewhere I would frequent very often, but wouldn’t mind meeting a friend for a quick drink or to have dinner. The vibe in Manhattan Beach, as opposed to say, Hollywood, is super relaxed (and I mean relaxed). While many of the ladies brought out the high heels and sexy party dresses, the men looked like they just got back from golfing. Understandably, it was a hotel lounge and Shade caters to a wealthy, older crowd (of which I’m neither). Think “Real Housewives” of (enter any city here). We even had a spotting from a real “Real Housewives” cast member in Adrienne Maloof’s soon to be ex, Dr. Paul Nassif.

Either way, it was a fun night filled with chatting, dancing, and lots of laughter. I even did the running man in heels when the DJ had the audacity to put on “Poison” by Bell, Biv, DeVoe. Hello 1990! It felt great to put on a dress, my favorite purple booties and breakout the more dramatic eyeliner. As always, and regardless of the venue or even the people around you (sun visors, polo shirts and all), it’s about the people you’re with and I couldn’t have asked for better company as we spent a night out in the Shade.

Girl Night In

Posted in Beauty, Books, Dinner, DIY, Fashion, Film, Food, Fun by

The long holiday weekend started off on the right note (if I do say so myself). I spent my Thursday night celebrating with a girl night in. Girl night in? Yes, a girl night in. A night to be home alone and do those things that are completely girly, yet make you feel like a million bucks because you took some time to focus on you. I wanted a night to decompress and prep for the next 4 busy, but fun-filled, days off to come. This included an evening dedicated to a little self-pampering, some relaxation, good food, a glass (or two) of wine, the ultimate “girl night in” flick; followed by some reading while the iPod did its thing filling my humble abode with just the right music. By the time I made it to bed, I had completely reset from the work week and was ready for a very special weekend. Posts to come on all the labor day weekend festivities! Here are some of my tricks to the ultimate girl night in:

{DIY hydrating facial using some of my favorite Dermalogica products.}

{DIY mani/pedi. China Glaze nail polish, color: Sexy Silhouette.}

{Girl night in flick: Sex and the City: The Movie.}

{A glass of my favorite white wine, Moscato.}

{Trader Joes’ BBQ Chicken Pizza. Fresh from the oven and super yummy!}

{Current read: The Cider House Rules by John Irving.}

What are your girl night in tricks? Please feel free to leave me a comment below. I’m always looking for new ideas!

Effortless Style

Posted in Accessories, DIY, Fashion, Fun by

We’ve all had those lazy hair days. You know, the days where you’d rather sleep in for another 20 minutes and just throw your hair back and call it a day? I’ve been having those days lately and while I’m all for ease, I do like to make it look like I still put some effort into something that didn’t require a lot of effort in reality. I’m calling it effortless style.

After wearing my hair back most of the week, I decided to put a different touch to my look by adding a simple brown scarf as a headband. It’s a 2 second trick to spruce up a bun or any pulled back up-do. I put on a pair of chandelier earrings to dress up the look a bit more. I then realized this is also a better way to show off chunkier earrings that would otherwise be hiding under your hair. This gave me further confidence in my excuse to be lazy more relaxed. Win, win! I was ready to go in 5 minutes flat, with 20 more minutes of sleep.

P.S. I got more compliments on my look that day than if I’d gotten up and put those 20 minutes into flat ironing and styling my hair down as I normally do. Needless to say, I’ll be on the lookout for more hair scarves and accessories when I’m out and about. I’m loving this newfound effortless style concept. Enjoy the long weekend!

Who Shot Rock & Roll?

Posted in Documentary, Explore, Film, Fun by

Location: 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City

I always get excited with the changing of the museum banners along many of Los Angeles’s city streets. It means there’s something new to learn about, something new to explore.

If you haven’t been to the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography, you’re missing out. It’s a blend of two of the greatest loves of my life: music and film. Admittedly, I’ll always be more partial to moving film over still photography because of my greatest love in cinema.

I spent a leisurely Sunday afternoon, about 6 weeks ago, exploring the show which highlights photographers who captured the moments of some of the greatest artists of our time behind the scenes. Be sure to check out the engaging documentary film produced for the exhibition that plays in the main gallery space to hear more from the artists whose work hangs on the museum walls. Watching the 30 minute film brings the photographs around you to life. I knew I’d be back before the close of the exhibition because I wanted to know more.

Another wonderful thing about the Annenberg is their dedication to their IRIS Nights lecture series, which compliments the exhibition one step further by offering free public panel talks  and discussions from the artists themselves or distinguished guests in the field.

Last Thursday night, I attended the IRIS Nights Lecture series and had a front row seat (okay, more like 5 rows back actually) where I listened in as 3 women who pioneered the music video industry and the rise of MTV itself, where the topics of discussion. What a treat to hear the stories of Penelope Speeris, Gale Sparrow and Liz Heller. From the conception of one of the first music videos, to the struggles of building the empire that MTV would become, to learning of how the power of “fake it until you make it” truly works when you’re trying to make something out of nothing.

I sat there completely absorbed in hearing how a recent college graduate, Penelope Speeris, got a call one day from a record label executive to shoot an artist and then lace their music to the sequence, creating what would become the music video genre. It was interesting to explore the financial turmoil MTV went through, nearly shutting their doors before a great marketing scheme saved them as portrayed in the words of Gale Sparrow. I was impressed with Liz Heller, who somehow fell into music video production without any experience and had to figure out how to shoot a music video and create a budget to do so.

Unfortunately, MTV has lost the “music,” so to speak, and replaced much of its programming with reality TV. I remember those times when I’d come home from school and turn on TRL while I did my homework, or sat and watched VJ’s take us through the top  10 music videos of the time. Those were the days. So long MTV.

Strawberry Smoothie: A Homemade Jamba Tale

Posted in Breakfast, DIY, Fun, Treats by

I woke up one morning last week wanting something different to start the day. The caveat being that it needed to be quick to make, easy to take with me on the way to work, and ice-cold because I knew a hot summer day was ahead of me.

Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve been collecting ideas for awesome smoothies, but found certain things that turned me off (i.e. Greek Yogurt) within the recipe. So I took a chance, trusted my taste buds, my instincts, and went with an admittedly safe, but very yummy Strawberry Smoothie. My first homemade concoction. Jamba Juice would be proud! Well, maybe not so much. I’m sure they’d prefer I come in and spend $5.00 on one of their smoothies, but you get the point. 🙂

It took 4 simple ingredients:

-1 cup of ice

-1 and 1/2 cups frozen strawberries

-1 cup vanilla yogurt

– 1/3 cup blue agave sweetener

With the press of a button, I had breakfast ready in just a few minutes. I grabbed my reusable travel cup, filled it up, and placed it in the freezer while I finished getting ready for work. 20 minutes later, I made a quick stop to the kitchen to pick it up and out the door I went.

Ode to Bookstores

Posted in Books, Explore, Film, Fun by

Location: 12136 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City

It’s funny how some things just stick and feel so comforting. When I was younger I spent a lot of time hanging out in bookstores. My mom and I would go out on a Friday or Saturday night to the local Borders or Barnes & Noble, grab a coffee (I was hot chocolate at the time) and go our separate ways for a few hours. I would walk over and listen to CDs getting excited when the technology finally allowed you to scan any CD in the store and you could listen to it. I’d wander to another section and skim through a magazine or walk over and find a book that grabbed me with a catchy title, sit and look through it.

Fifteen years later and in gratitude to my mom, this is still one of the things that I love to do occasionally. When I’m bored, when I’m in a not so great mood, or I’m eager to check out a new book; I’ll go and sit in a bookstore, latte in hand, and melt into another place for a while. Last Saturday night, I revisited this favorite pastime of mine. How appropriate that the bookstore I landed in was an old movie theater with the marquee still intact. It gave it a unique charm. Sadly, there was no in-house coffee bar and it lacked some of the warmth that your typical Barnes & Noble would have (warm lighting and lots of seating) but I was happy to be around the books and exploring a new place none the less.

I know that times are changing and it’s becoming rare to have nights like this as more bookstores close or go out of business. I, too, am guilty of the ease and cost of ordering online, but nothing replaces the feeling or the experience of physically being around books. I’ll continue my love affair with bookstores until the last one closes, and my optimistic side hopes that day never comes.

Checking out Emily’s new book from her popular blog, Cupcakes and Cashmere.
Rows and rows of books!

Highlights: The Weekend

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, DIY, Film, Food, Fun, Treats by

It was a complicated couple of days for me this weekend. Suffice to say I went through a myriad of emotions, for a myriad of reasons. (I think the ladies can understand this feeling every once in a while :)).  As the weather decided to be a bit kinder this weekend, so did my take on everything that was happening around me and within me. I managed to keep an eye on the sunshine! Here are a few highlights that brought many smiles to my face:

{FILM}.
Movie marathon on Sunday. Instant mood booster. We even covered three genres. Sometimes you just need a completely lazy day in bed watching movies.

{FOOD}.
The simplicity of grabbing my two favorites from Starbucks: an iced grande, soy, toffee nut latte & a cranberry orange scone.

My sweet boyfriend bringing a big bag of my favorite candy (don’t judge!)

{FUN}.
They say money doesn’t buy you happiness. In this case, I beg to differ and tend to do so when it comes to flowers. $5.00 well spent!

Fresh Basil

Posted in Dinner, DIY, Food, Fun by

To help get through all of the goodies sprouting from her home garden, a friend of mine has been sharing the fruits of her labor with me recently. Last week, the most delicious and sweetest bowl of cherry tomatoes came my way that I sliced up and enjoyed with dinner two nights in a row. Earlier this week, fresh basil came next.

Cooking for one presents its challenges. I find that I’m not home a lot and end up throwing out food more often than I’d like to admit. Since there’s produce that I have to buy fresh and needs to used within a short window of time, I resort to buying certain things in dried or canned form to avoid having to feel the pressure to eat it right away.

Of course, I immediately got the speech that nothing is better than fresh basil straight from a garden.  I was excited to experiment with it and came home one night deciding to use it in a quick pasta dish.

While boiling noodles; I sautĂ©ed some garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil, adding lots of sliced chicken breast, tomatoes, black olives, and the fresh basil to the skillet. To give the dish a bit more punch, I then added 1 tablespoon of Marie Calendar’s Italian Dressing (this stuff is amazing in salads by the way).

I’m certainly not opposed to working with fresh ingredients, but admit that I would need to plan ahead more often that I do. The ease of working with dried herbs is the spontaneity you get in creating meals.

As for dinner, after placing the chicken sauté over the noodles and adding some parmesan cheese, dinner was served!