Etsy-Heaven: Unique Los Angeles Shopping Event

My first blog of 2009 is a little belated but nothing like experiencing an event featuring Swedish tennis and Scandinavian rap stars (to be fully explained in my next posting) as well as some awesome bargain shopping all in one weekend to get me back on the blogging bandwagon.

This weekend was the 2nd Unique Los Angeles shopping event at downtown L.A.’s Californai Market Center (the first, which I wanted to go to but missed was in December, 2008.) This two-day bargain extravaganza is Etsy-heaven; dozens of hand-crafted apparel, jewelry, accessories, stationary goods, baby gear...even plush toys shaped like slabs of meat all by independent designers. And many items up to 50% off.
After easy parking (there was ample street parking, but I parked in the underground lot) and a short line to buy an admission ticket ($5, half of which goes to a local charity), it was time to get my shop on.

Being the experienced/anal power shopper that I am, I had checked out Unique’s vendor list the night before and jotted down a few labels I definitely wanted to visit so I could quickly get in, buy and get out. With over 250 open market-style stalls spread across the penthouse floor of the CMC, I explored each individual aisle like I was at Ralphs armed with my handwritten list of 'must see' vendors.

On a bit of a birthday gift shopping mission—as well as to replenish my sad collection of unmatched single earrings—jewelry was my big focus of the day. And there was plenty of it (maybe close to a quarter of the stalls featured some sort of jewelry.) My first stop was at Melinda Lawton Jewelry, where a simple pair of fuschia-hued teardrop gemstone earrings—and their $15 price—caught my eye (especially marked down since the majority of her stuff online sells for over $150.) In comparison-shopping mode, I made a mental note to come back for them later after perusing what other bargains could be had. My wanderings led me to Ofina Jewelry, where I picked up a pair of gold-filled hummingbird earrings ($10) and an initial necklace on a 14K gold chain which I’ve been on the hunt for over a year ($25). It looked exactly the same as an “S” necklace I’ve been eyeing on Abbot Kinney since last summer for $80.

On my way to Portland-based Amy Olsen Jewelry, I passed by 11:11 Enterprises’ set up of vinyl passport, credit card-holder and condom covers in cool prints. In need of a new credit card holder ($10), I was thisclose to picking the ‘slabs of raw bacon’ print but ended up on featuring a map of L.A. Perfect, as my Thomas Guide in my car is from 1995.

So far, 3 items for me, 0 for my three Gemini friends I was supposed to be shopping for.

Other jewelry vendors worth mentioning included Dark Yet Sunny, Flea Market Girl and Emily Tyrie Collections. I finally picked up a couple of b’day presents before heading to my last jewelry stall on my list. Nous Savons. They didn’t have any necklaces or earrings I liked for my last b’day friend KK, who’s also a big gardener. Luckily for me, the jewelry label also bizarrely sold plants. Hard-to-find absinthe plant. Done.

I traced my way back to Melinda Lawton Jewelry only to discover my fuschia earrings dangling on gold posts just got sold to the customer before. However, Melinda awesomely offered to take apart the remaining silver pair and rework the fuschia stones onto gold posts. All for still $15.

There were way too many cool stores to mention; among them, the most fantastically unique…Knickerockers’ seductive granny panties, Sock Monkey Ghetto's um street-cred enhanced sock monkeys and Mincing Mockingbird's strange bird humor paintings). In addition to finding interesting, decidedly un-mall-like items at wallet-friendly prices, it’s nice to be able to support local designers just by shopping. I definitely recommend going for some retail therapy when the next Unique Los Angeles event rolls around.

Parking: $6 or street
Event: $5
One necklace, 3 pairs of earrings, a credit-card holder and an absinthe plant: $96
Unique Los Angeles

Sun Salutations at Runyon Canyon: Runyon's Free Outdoor Yoga in the Park

With a full-time job looming in my near future, I'm spending the last of my fancy-free freelancer weeks crossing off fun activities off my to-do list which have somehow remained undone despite my 10 month office vacation. Ever since I saw a grassy field full of down-doggers near the Fuller entrance while hiking at Runyon Canyon, I've always wanted to try a session of the outdoor yoga class.

The daily 10:30am classes aren't really advertised (my googling popped up a feature on la.com and a Runyon Canyon Yoga myspace page but not too much else) so I didn't know if the class was even going to be on for sure when I showed up yesterday. I needn't have worried; when I arrived, about 50 other outdoor yogi's were already spread out across the grassy knoll with their yoga mats.

Who are all these people who can take a 10:30am mid-week class? Judging from the attire, it was an equal mix of wannabe actresses (bathing suits and skimpy boy shorts), college students (hollister &/or abercrombie sweats), yoga-lovers (shirtless guys in hemp-looking yoga shorts) and other random freelancer types (wearing a variation of my boring yoga uniform of workout pants from Target and a tank top.)

The green area is expansive so there's plenty of room but the entire field is on a slight incline so the yoga exercises are performed on a bit of a slope. I found the least steep patch of space and unrolled my mat.

Already appreciative over the fact that I'd be breathing fresh air during my vinyasas and looking up at a palm tree fringed blue sky during my up-dogs, I didn't have--or need--high expectations on the actual yoga class. Especially because, did I mention it's free? However, Nicole, our certified instructor for the day was really good; for beginners considering the class, she demonstrated each pose and routine and explains correct body placement and breathing rhythms in great detail so it's easy to follow along. For regulars/intermediates: the class was still challenging with optional advanced poses, and besides, crescent pose and warrior 3 is definitely harder when you're doing it on a 5% incline.

With distractions such as the picturesque outdoor scenery--and a few pesky bugs (not too bad but I'd imagine quite annoying in the summer)--this ain't you're typical new-agey, chi-balancing yoga class, but it was a fun way to add the sunny outdoors into the mix with yoga; the hour class ends with a savasannah where you're lying down with your feet on the grass and your face in the sun--how SoCal-style can you get?

The class was only an hour long, but it was good exercise. I saw a few ambitious types lace up their shoes for a post-yoga hike up the hill but I wasn't quite ready for a double-dose of Runyon yet and headed back to my car instead.

Runyon Canyon Yoga
Daily at 10:30am
Free! (well, they welcome donations, but at the end of the class I saw maybe 3 people out of the 50 drop a couple of dollars in the bag)
Fuller Entrance of Runyon Canyon
Parking: A total bitch. Allow an extra 10-15 minutes beforehand to find a spot.

Sculptured Pecs in Malibu; Getty Villa's Roman Statues & Outdoor Garden

Closed in 1997 for 9 years, the Getty opened its Italian villa doors again in early 2006. After multiple last-minute attempts to check out the Getty Villa, we finally got our act together and called a week in advance for tickets (they're free but attendance is limited with tickets only good for certain time slots each day.) I gotta say, for how much fore planning it takes to get the tickets, I was a little underwhelmed by it all.

The grounds--a replica of an ancient Italian villa buried under the ashes of Vesuvius--are definitely a more fitting backdrop to view the largely Roman and Greek statues and artwork than the modern Getty Museum, but the meticulously clean and orderly villa lacks much personality. I was more interested in the gardens than the artwork and we joined the audio tour of the gardens. The individual headsets magnifying what the live tour guide was saying were great but the guide's information centered around Italian history more than what we were looking at, and we soon lost interest and broke off to view the gardens on our own.
The petite herb garden looked nice but would have been more interesting if it came with plaques highlighting the names and uses of the different plants and the main garden with a rose bush flanked reflecting pool and the sparkling Pacific in the far distance was picturesque but there were no benches to sit and enjoy the space. Overall, the grounds were pretty, but more in a faux-authentic, Disney-fied way.

Inside, the majority of the original artwork has been moved to the new Getty and the remaining art focuses primarily on Roman, Greek and Egyptian sculptures, artifacts and paintings.

The Getty Villa is one of those things that's been on my to-do list for a while, so I'm glad I checked it out but if you're curious on what it looks like without really wanting to be bothered to book advance tickets and drive up to the Pacific Palisades, the pictures here pretty much cover all the highlights of the Villa.

Getty Villa
310) 440-7300 for advance tickets
Tickets: Free
Parking: $10

Artsy Politics: Ronnie Conal's "No Spitting, No Kidding" Exhibit at Track 16 Gallery

I've been on an artsy kick lately (hitting up Bergamot Station, the Getty Center and John Lautner's architecture exhibit at the Hammer in the past couple of weeks), and also on a bit of a political kick (thoroughly into TV's presidential debate season), so I was excited to check out L.A. political artist, Robbie Conal's "No Spitting, No Kidding" exhibit opening at Bergamot Station's Track 16 Gallery this past weekend.

I wasn't familiar with Conal's work prior to the exhibit but was intrigued when I read a profile describing him as one of Shepard Fairey's inspirations and contemporaries. Apparently, Conal has quite a following; several hundred people--a good mix of older, serious artsy-fartsy folks, casually curious art appreciators like me and black-rimmed glasses-wearing Westside 30-somethings--turned out for the event.

Spread throughout 5 large rooms in the 6,000 sq foot gallery, the exhibit is a retrospective showcase of his work over the past 25 years. The eye-catching collection includes large, goopy oil paintings of political figures with pithy slogans (my favorite is the above portrait of Reagan sandwiched between the words CONTRA and DICTION), smaller charcoal-on-canvas caricatures of iconic political personalities and splashy mural-sized collages skewering our obsession with pop culture (American Idol, Michael Jackon and even Alf and the smurfs get an artistic shout-out.)

I could explain the clever and visually arresting art pieces in more detail, but they say 5 pictures is worth five thousand words...





The opening reception invite touted a surprise musical guest by a "Hollywood Bowl" headliner. The amps and guitars set up in the corner clued me in it wasn't going to be the Philharmonic but I was stoked when L.A. Latin/hip-hop/punk band Ozomatli greeted the crowd. The surprise bonus concert capped off a great night of complimentary booze and conversation-starting artwork. Ozomatli played a breezy 6-song, 40 minute set, including a band-&-audience group serenade of 'happy birthday' to artist and birthday boy, Ronnie Conal. The fact that the high-energy concert was inside an art gallery--usually a venue that encourages hushed tones--made it even more fun. Even better was seeing the gray-haired art-crowd contingent enthusiastically bopping their heads to the punky, 8-piece band and grabbing flyers to the 2am afterparty at an undisclosed location in downtown L.A.


The exhibit runs through November 22nd. Whether you agree with Robbie Conal's political philosophies or not, his visually arresting artwork is worth checking out and a great excuse to visit the greatly underrated Bergamot Station art galleries.

Ronnie Conal "No Spitting, No Kidding" Art Exhibit
Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave, Bulding C-1, Santa Monica
310.264-4678
Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 6 PM

Whatever Floats Your Boat: A Session at "Floatation Location's" Sensory Deprivation Tank

Yesterday, I headed to Venice’s Floatation Location to redeem my gift certificate my friend Melissa gave me for a complimentary ‘float session.’

Although sensory deprivation water tanks are purported to be an ultimate relaxation inducer—their website lists benefits including alleviated stress, diminished depression and anxiety, released muscle tension, deep meditation and even freedom from habits, phobias and addictions—the Floatation Location is not for the pampered Burke Williams Spa attendee. Tucked away in a non-descript mini-mall along Venice’s beachfront walk, the bare-bones space has more of a vibe of a home office/reception area...but with two doors leading to a set of super duper bathrooms equipped with a shower and enclosed metal bathtub contraption.

Don’t let the grungy setting sketch you out; the tank is filtered, drained and cleaned after every float session, and the near ton worth of Epsom salts kills off any lingering bacteria from the previous floatee.

Owner Chris Rymarz greeted me and gave me the low-down; “you take off your clothes, shower off any lotions and soaps on your skin then go float in the tank.” He handed me a set of ear-plugs (to protect against salt-crystals in your ears after the water evaporates) and explicit instructions to keep my face dry (so the salty water won’t run into and sting my eyes or nose) and left me to it.

I had no idea what to expect (a coffin-like capsule? A giant dunk tank like at a fair?) but the float tank is like a regular bathtub enclosed in a 5ft-high metal contraption with a refrigerator door opening. I opened the door to find a dark but shallow bath.

I sat down in the 14” deep tub and close the door. Complete darkness.

Being inside a pitch black box is surprisingly not claustophobic at all, the darkness makes the space around you feel more vast and outer space-like than tight and enclosing. The warm water is only about a foot deep, but with 800 lbs of Epsom salts dissolved into the oxygenated water, I had the buoyancy of a cork; as a laid down, my limbs and torso automatically floated to the top. Lined with a black interior, it’s too dark to see anything and there’s no difference if my eyes are open or closed. With my ears half submerged underwater with earplugs, all I can hear is the sound of my own breathing (which automatically shifts to a slow, deep inhale, exhale) and my heartbeat.

Laying on top of water is really comfortable, but I’m a fidgeter so I rotated between the various poses Chris recommended; arms out to the side in a yoga Savasanah pose, arms bent by my head in a ‘hands up or I’ll shoot’ position and entwined behind my neck in a ‘reclining in a deck chair’ pose. Relaxing my mind took a bit longer, but I slowly embraced the nothingness and entered a calm, dreamy state.

Thoughts drift in and out of my head then soon, I feel ready to get out. I have no sense of time and worry it hasn’t been long enough (I want to get my gift certificate’s worth) but when I check the clock, I’ve been floating in oblivion for 70 minutes. I can still feel my achy, knot-filled shoulders and I'm pretty sure the float hasn't cured me of my bad habits, but I feel both super relaxed and refreshed.

It’s hard to explain the experience but the closest description is as if you were sleeping, but also awake so you can consciously enjoy the feeling of snoozing. Floating might not for everyone, but it's an interesting-enough experience to try if you want to block out the world for an hour or so.

Floatation Location
Hours Vary, call for an appt: 310 255-1905
$50 per session

Flying Pigeon, Crouching Dim Sum: Flying Pigeon's Dim Sum Bike Ride

The majority of my motivation to exercise is linked where my friends and I can dine out afterwards (I go to Runyon if I have a craving for Blu Jam Cafe's deliciously eggy-cheesy-bacony croissant sandwiches, feel like a sunset dinner at Reel Inn? Then, a hike and swim at Point Dume is in order, Din Tai Fung's juicy dumplings way out in Arcadia? Well, there must be a hike somewhere near there...)

This Sunday, I satisfied my craving for Dim Sum by joining Flying Pigeon Bike Shop's organized bike ride down to Chinatown for some chinese-style brunch. The newly opened store is located in Highland Park, an area so far away from my apt in Venice that I had to look up where that is (it's near South Pasadena), but at 9:15am on a traffic-less Sunday morning, it took Chrissy and I only 25 minutes to drive there.

Due to a mention on Daily Candy earlier that week, there were about 16 of us that showed up for the Dim Sum Bike Ride. The crowd was cool; no hardcore bike riders, just mainly Eastsiders interested in getting some fresh air and eating dim sum. Adam, the super-friendly and knowledgeable owner, hooked everyone up with a bike (free of charge, participants only need to pay for the Dim Sum meal.) The Flying Pigeon store is stocked with their namesake 'Flying Pigeon' bikes imported from China. These retro-looking, Cultural Revolution-era designed bikes are the most popular selling bikes in China (80 million sold and counting), and therefore, the biggest selling bikes in the world. They come in black, red, orange, yellow, pink and green. Set up fully loaded, the bikes are equipped with a sturdy bike basket, wheel lock, vertical kick-stand, a robust bell and a cool, battery-less bike light which gets activated by pedal-power. The bikes come with one speed but unlike beach cruisers, have brakes and a more upright posture. Being a 5'4 shorty, the 28" wheels were a teeny big for me, but that's what tippy-toes are for, and it was fine.

After a test-run in the back parking lot, we're on the road!
Avoiding major roads, we cruised along a bike route that took us along the Gold Line train, on a bridge overlooking the L.A. river and down through Chinatown. The easy-moderate bike ride took about half an hour--easy enough not to break a sweat, but long enough to make you feel like you earned the Dim Sum meal.

Flying Pigeon rotates their dim sum destinations weekly. This Sunday, we were headed to Empress Pavilion--one of Chinatown's most popular dim sum spots. They don't take reservations, but another perk of joining this Sunday's Flying Pigeon Bike Posse, is that the bike shop called ahead and made prior arrangements so instead of the typical 45 minute wait, we had a table waiting for us when we arrived. The zero wait is pretty much worth the bike ride alone. Dim Sum is unbelievably cheap and fast; waitstaff come around with carts of steamed buns, vegetables, dumplings, banana-wrapped sticky rice, bbq pork etc and diners can just point and order right then and there. Our gluttonous table pretty much ordered triples of whatever was displayed in front of us. Faves included the steamed bbq pork buns, shrimp har gao dumplings in rice paper, chinese broccoli and egg custard dun tarts. Our bill for twelve of us was just $11 each, including tip.

One long bike ride for the day was enough, so afterwards, we pedaled through Chinatown's art gallery alleyway, down the vendor-filled Olvera Street and into Union Station, where we got a train ticket ($1.25) to ride on the Gold Line back to Flying Pigeon. One of the perks of nobody using the public train system in L.A. is that there's no-one to complain if you can take up a whole carriage and load up a dozen bikes in the aisleway during the ride. The store is one block from the Highland Park stop so it was another 60 second pedal before making it back and returning our bikes.

The Dim Sum bike ride was a really fun way to explore the city by bike and by train (in this city, both are novelties in themselves) and as always, a good excuse to eat yummy food. Although you could replicate this on your own, it was fun biking in a group and less intimidating to be pedaling en masse on the streets next to speeding cars. It was also nice to have bike guides who've already mapped out and tested out the bike route for you, so instead of worrying about getting lost, you can just focus on not falling off your bike in public when making shaky turns.

Flying Pigeon does Dim Sum Bike rides every Sunday at 10am and plans to expand with other bike rides to Little Tokyo and nearby wine shops for some vino-tasting. Check out their website for additional details. No need to BYO bike, just your appetite.
Free! (They don't charge bike rentals, just bring approx $15 for Dim Sum)
Flying Pigeon Bikes: $299

Swingin' Times in Korea Town: Hitting Balls at Aroma Center Golf Range

I was uncomfortably naked the last time I was in Korea Town, but on a slow Friday night, Ugly Shoe and I decided to head that way to hit some balls at the Aroma Resort driving range in Korea Town. I've been here once before years ago and still remember it well as one of those cool and random, "I'm not in L.A." activities. That's because the driving range is on the forth floor of an unassuming office building--and you whack the golf balls over a parking lot, deep into the net-protected night sky.

Finding easy street parking right outside the building, we headed up to the 3rd floor elevator to the front desk area where we purchased a bucket of balls ($10 for 143 balls, perfect for sharing between two without getting our biceps too tired) and rented some clubs ($2 each.) There were plenty of serious golfers wielding their complete golf set of irons and woods but as a beginner, I was fine with the recommended 7 iron. We headed upstairs to the 4th floor to hit some balls!

We found an empty tee station among the row of elderly Korean and Japanese men seriously swinging away. I haven't gone to many driving ranges, but this spot seemed pretty high-tech. Instead of a literal bucket of balls, we were handed a punch card that you insert into a machine. The machine automatically tees up your golf ball (it emerges from a small hole by your feet--the height of the tee can also be controlled with a pedal by the golfer) after every hit. The machine also keeps a tally of how many balls you have left so there's nothing to cloud your mind except how to whack the balls as far as they will go. Or, in my case, just simply connecting with the ball.

Ugly Shoe was a pro, lining up his tee and hitting the ball way to the end of the 150ft long net in one fluid motion. After a few (well, many) false starts with 360 missed swings and badly-aimed hits leaving the ball to just dribble off the edge and fall into the net below, I finally got the hang and at least hit it somewhere in the 75ft range. Hitting the balls were fun but the surreal surroundings makes this above par (sorry, couldn't resist) over other golf ranges.

As you're lobbing your balls over the car-filled parking lot underneath, all you see is Los Angeles' open city in front of you; tall office buildings and palm trees silhouetted against the hazy-purple night sky--the panoramic view broken only by flying white balls hurtling through the dark night.

Aroma Resort @ Wilshire Center, 3rd Floor
3680 Wilshire Blvd (cnr of Wilshire & Serrano, two blocks E of Western)
Aroma Resort
$10 for 143 golf balls