One Summer Day Inspired from 500 Days of Summer: Downtown LA

Inspired after watching 500 Days of Summer on Friday night, Ugly Shoe and I decided to take a trip to downtown LA on Saturday to explore the locations which were so well shot and romanticized in the film. Besides the occasional trip to MOCA, Santee Alley or Staples Center, I don't wander into downtown LA that often so it was a good excuse to do some navigating around that part of city.

My favorite scenes in the film are where at the park bench Tom and Summer share on a grassy knoll overlooking downtown LA. My 'where is the location of park bench in 500 days of summer?' googling wasn't too successful but the historical self guided walking map and lady on the other line of the 24-hour downtown LA helpline were great resources. With our downtown map print out, we headed on the 10E towards Pershing Square and found a $5 pay lot between Hill and Olive right around the corner.

Although named California Plaza Park in the film, we recognized Bunker HIll and its shaded park benches immediately (on the corner of 4th and Olive.) The sloped sliver of green grass and broad-branched trees were a leafy oasis amid the dulled Historical section of downtown LA. Looking down, intricately adorned Art Deco buildings and brick highrises in all their faded glory blend seamlessly with squat blocks of parking garages, fast food joints and cracked asphalt-topped pay lots--forcing the eye to search them out amid the concrete sprawl.

Following our map, we peeked into the still impressive, chandelier-filled mezzanine of the Biltmore Hotel, strolled through Pershing Square to find they hosted summer concerts and outdoor films throughout the summer weeks, swung up to 3rd and Broadway to poke our noses through the glass doors of the Bradbury Building--home to both the last scene of 500 Days of Summer and the futuristic backdrop to Bladerunner and took photos of the old-Hollywood opulence of '30's movie theaters-turned-grand storefronts. All the while, taking the advice of the film's protaganist that its easy to miss the glamorous details at street level but all you need to do is look up; curvy crown moldings, fluted spires, mermaids, gargoyles and simple yet striking geometrical patterns perch discreetly along multiple building ledges and windows.


Unlike the awe-striking beauty of other metropolitan cities, L.A. makes you work hard to find its architecheral graces, which oddly made me appreciate what we spotted on our walk more. The one way streets and easy-to-avoid location makes downtown L.A. feel intimidating and not necessarily worth the drive just for a sit at a park and an aimless stroll along its boulevards, but stirred by the appreciative eyes of 500 Days of Summer, we spent an entertaining afternoon discovering an often-ignored, other side of Los Angeles that cost us half the price of our movie ticket.

More info on Downtown LA here and here
Historical Tour starting point at Pershing Square on 5th & Olive
Parking: $5 all day or cheaper at multiple lots or plentiful street parking

Doughnut Forget About National Doughnut Day: Grace Restaurant's 3-Course Donut Tasting Menu

I believe I finally experienced dessert overload for the first time ever this weekend.

Always on the lookout for my interests and tastebuds, my friend J. Nash brought it to my attention that it was National Donut Day (last Friday, June 5th) and she had just the donut-filled festivities for us to honor this sugary celebration.

To commemorate this special high-calorie day, J. Nash and I made a reservation to partake in a gourmet doughnut tasting menu at the la-di-dah Grace Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. Due to the public’s high donut demand, Grace extended the doughnut-love throughout the weekend so we scheduled our donut dinner for Saturday night.

Before going, I had Willy Wonka’esque visions of servers parading around with heaping trays of assorted mini doughnut, beignets and donut holes; a psychedelic medley of shiny glazed, sugar rimmed, nut-encrusted, chocolate covered cream-filled options… Turns out doughnut tasting at Grace was a yummy yet much more civilized, white table-clothed affair.

Our reservations were at 6:45pm. While it was dinnertime—and chef Neal Fraser’s Iron Chef-winning menu offered many lovely options—in interest of our budget and saving room in our bellies, we opted for a doughnut-only dinner.

After an appetizer of some freshly baked, hot-out-of-the-oven bread served at the table, we waited hungrily for our first of 3 dessert courses.
The first—two mini doughnut brushed with a tawny gloss of salted caramel glaze—was my favorite. A perfect composition of salty sweetness and crispy softness. Accompanying the sweet doughy goodness was a scoop of homemade bourbon-laced pecan ice-cream and strawberries. Delicious.

Our second course was a larger, fluffy sugar-puff of a beignet filled with a pistachio cream with a side of chocolate buttermilk marble ice-cream and dried cherries. Not a huge fan of pistachio, I would have preferred a more traditional raspberry jam filled beignet and the homely-looking green hued pistachio cream oozing out of the donut didn’t help. However, the beignet’s yielding, pillowtop consistency and the euphoric effects of our Red Bull-like sugar high made up for the presentation and mild nutty flavor.

By the time our third and final doughnut course arrived, our blood sugar levels had already spiked and were well on their way down towards food coma. Already stuffed with a tummy full of friend dough, J. Nash and I worked hard at polishing our plates, dunking our simple, buttermilk brown butter glazed doughnut into the teacup of warm, rum-spiced milk before finally waving the white flag a couple of bites short.

Grace offered a wine pairing of various dessert wines with each course, but we just stuck to our water and rum-spiked milk.

As we rolled out of the restaurant an hour later, J. Nash and I both agreed that we love doughnuts and thoroughly enjoyed our doughnut tasting outing but probably got our doughnutty fill and won’t need another doughnut tasting for a while….or, at least until 2010’s National Doughnut Day.

Doughnut lovers out there, I would recommend tasting pastry chef, Monica Swan’s designer doughnut creations, however, in this case, less may be more; rather than downing 5 doughnut and 2 scoops of ice-cream in one sitting, I’d suggest stopping by on a Wednesday night during Grace’s Weekly Doughnut Night for a single doughnut dish. (The pistachio-filled doughnut is among a rotating selection of eight creations Chef Swan serves weekly along with doughnut-less sweets such as sticky toffee pudding with bruleed bananas and white-chocolate and strawberry tart with orange blossoms.)

Grace Restaurant
7360 Beverly Blvd, West Hollywood. 323/934-4400
Three Course Doughnut Tasting Menu: $18
Regular Wednesday Doughnut Night Desserts:$12

Sweden is More Than Just Ikea and Meatballs: Global Tennis Showdown

Always gravitating towards 'only in LA' activities--or, in this case, 'only in LA or Sweden'--I jumped at the chance to tag along with my friend Jimmy and girlfriend Greta visiting from Sweden to The Global Tennis Showdown charity tennis match & fundraiser to benefit the Swedish School of Los Angeles. The headlining match featuring 80's tennis Swedish tennis star, Mats Wilander and Will 'Anchorman' Farrell (who's married to a Swedish wife and has a couple of half-Swede kids attending the Swedish School.)
Although the match wasn't sold out, the showdown attracted a pretty decent crowd of curious Will Farrell fans and apparently a who's who of the Swedish celeb pack. My Swedish friend Jimmy pointed out Swedish supermodel and former host of 'Sweden's Next Top Model' Mini Anden and Swedish hip hop Grammy winner, Adam Tensta (who later stepped out onto the tennis court for a surprise Swedish-rap performance) in the stands. Prior to the game, famed Swedish stand up comedian Bjorn Gustafsson pepped up the crowd before launching into a stand up routine which made it clear English was his second language. He could very well be side-splitting hilarious in Swedish, but the translated humor was so awesomely bizarre that when I looked over to Jimmy, he reassured me that "This is for real, Bjorn REALLY is a big time comedian back home!"

Haphazardly umpired by comedian sidekick Andy Richter, the showdown adopted the ping pong point system (first to 15), which kept the game flowing quickly. The first half was a decent game of baseline hitters, volleys and occasional aces from Mats Wilander's end. Just when I was thinking I was basically watching a backyard game of tennis between Will and his celebrity fans, they started to change up the game.

A couple of leggy (as in, on stilts) blondes joined in as doubles partners for a point or two before they began handicapping Wilander by having him hold hands with a gaggle of Swedish school-children as he ran around the court.
Still holding strong, Will then brought out his big guns and hit a couple of forehands with an oversized racket.

Finally, at 14-14, the final showdown point came between Mats and his tag-a-long kids vs. Will saddled with another Swedish kid piggybacked to him. Will Farrell--not a bad tennis player.
Funnyman and piggybacked blondie wins! Farrell 15, Wilander 14.

For a musical reprieve before the doubles match, the forementioned Swedish, hip hop artist, Adam Tensta performed his hit single, "Dopeboy (Do I look Like I Sell Drugs)" Again, I glanced over to Jimmy for reassurance this was wonderfully for real. "Tensta REALLY is very popular back in Sweden. But even for Swedish people, this is a pretty weird event."

For the doubles match, they brought out a UCLA alum and Venus William's former doubles partner, Justin Gimelstob and tennis partner, Rainn Wilson (who, like Farrell, was surprisingly agile and decent at tennis for a slightly doughy comedian.)


The charity match also included a post-match BBQ and silent auction and a performance by the Dan Band for those who paid higher priced tickets ($75) but since we only paid for the cheap seats ($25) we pretty much just perused through the display of brightly hued Bjorn Borg underwear before calling it game, set, match for the day.

The Global Tennis Showdown: $25

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