Tag Archives: los angeles

January 17, 2017 · 4:05 pm

Venice,Mama Hongs, family & friends – la la land!

img_0782I have wandered around the pretty residential backstreets of Venice as a tourist many a time, but never been inside one of the pretty homes — until today. We had a lovely lunch at my cousin’s gorgeous new house, a modern gem of poured concrete and glass with big airy rooms, landscaped gardens with succulents, a tiled hot tub, a cool fire pit and  a fruitful Meyer lemon tree. We walked along the narrow lanes  between rows of small and not-so-small homes admiring the variety of architecture and colorful dr Seuss-ian vegetation. Four year old Lucy rode her scooter down the lanes and around a little circle surrounding a tall thick palm tree. She jumped around on a trampoline in the front img_0789yard of a pretty bungalow (a sign kindly welcomes little kids).

img_0778Dinner was excellent Vietnamese (bun with grilled shrimp and pork at Mama Hongs in downtown Burbank with my friend Susan from San Francisco and her adorable boys (yes 20-something boys can be adorable… especially if you have known them since they were babes) who live here.img_0801

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January 16, 2017 · 3:36 pm

Stough canyon, H2O poke – Burbank 

img_0396My brother and I hiked up a mountainside above Burbank in a recreational area called Stough canyon on a cool sunny morning. I kept stopping to catch the view ( and my breath). Glorious slopes blanketed in dense bright green foliage (after days of rain, which fortunately I missed).

In the distant valley, like a faraway oz, rises the  skyscrapers of downtown LA. A little nature center at the trail entrance has some displays including real snakes that kids might enjoy. La la land!

Lunch was at H2O poke and fish grill, a new place on the main drag in bustling down Burbank (note to self: travel story?)img_0764img_0767

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January 15, 2017 · 2:04 pm

Huntington gardens, Nickelodean Building (The Loud House!) and Armenian chicken- Burbank and near

img_0735Loved my maiden voyage to the Huntington Collections and Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena, a spectacularly situated series of landscaped gardens (Japanese, Chinese, children’s, Australian….) and galleries (my favorite was an exhibit of early American folk art).

img_0739 img_0745My sister-in-law Heather (named here for her bemusement) and I drifted through one lovely setting after another, catching up, enjoying the greenery, flowers, huge trees, even the dramatic white-grey clouds over the mountains off in the distance. We had a light delicious bite of scallion pancakes and mushroom-stuffed spring roles by the reflecting pool outside in the Chinese garden and enjoyed the excellent gift shop (where I discovered that a Nashville painter Vicki Sawyer, whose whimsical bird portraits  I bought several years ago at an east Nashville gallery, has become a brand- I bought napkins, coasters and cards with her birds on them!)

Of course the best sight of the day was my four-year-old niece who knocked on the door of my guest house in lovely Burbank in the morning. img_0759Other highlights include seeing my brother and his fun new digs at the new Nickelodeon building. (He writes for the hit kids show “The Loud House”) and dinner from Zankou zof takeout chicken, hummus, tabbouli, rice with my cousin Scott!img_0762

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March 18, 2016 · 6:10 pm

Testimonials from friends using takebetsywith you in Rome and LA: love it!!

At the Farmers market in LA with my sweet niece Lucy 2015

At the Farmers market in LA with my sweet niece Lucy 2015

Always love when friends report that they’re using tips from this blog while they’re on their trip. That’s why I bother to write this darned thing!

Here’s the latest reports:

  • Yesterday a postcard from L.A. arrived from my pal Polly in Michigan, who wrote “We took Betsy with us and had a tasty lunch at the farmer’s market.”(Click here for details on the LA Farmers Market)
  • Today, a Facebook message from Rome arrived from my Iowa pal Anne: “Just bought a purse and a belt at ibiz. However did you find this place? Thanks for telling me about it!” (Click here for Ibiz details!)
  • With my Ibiz shopping bag, Roma 2014

    With my Ibiz shopping bag, Roma 2014

    14.

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March 1, 2016 · 6:24 am

My second uber ride (in LA..and A OK)

  My second uber ride – the first was about a year ago in DC – went well and seemed well worth the money. iT cost $44 to go from Burbank to the airport and took about an hour and 10 minutes, as we took alternative routes to avoid traffic on the 405. (I left at 3 pm and arrived at about 4:10 pm, an hour and 10 minutes before my flight.

tHe car was spotless and pleasant. my driver was a nice middle aged Filipino man whose other job is working as a caregiver for four disabled people who live in a group home. he had a hardworking immigrant striver’s tale that would put the leading republican presidential candidate to shame. pAst jobs included working as a baker in Saudi Arabia and then as a baker on a cruise ship operating out of Puerto Rico. He has three grown kids and his daughter has been turned down twice recently for a tourist visa to visit him, so he tries to go Back when he can but it’s expensive and it doesn’t sound like he has much vacation time or disposable income. He managed to buy a house somewhere on the outskirts of LA for $85,ooo that he thinks may fetch $110,000 some day. And all this on a $13 an hour salary plus his uber job. And these are the people we want to keep out of our country? Really? 

noW on a plane flying to Tucson to see my dad after a great visit with my brother and his family.

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February 28, 2016 · 7:43 am

gRand central market, the last bookstore, cliftons cafeteria — downtown LA

 I am still not convinced that in a place as sunny, green and vibrantly landscaped as LA, with mountains and the ocean and beaches, it would be wise to live in the faded grandeur of downtown LA.

 bUt it does have its hipster outposts and it was fun to visit them today. First stop the jam packed Grand central Mrket where we had excellent falafel and corned beef sandwiches and of course overpriced espresso in a cavernous old warehouse.

 fRom there we walked past old facades and way too many homeless people along sidewalks with a faint smell of pee to another old cavernous building that houses “the last bookstore” another new hipster hotspot, packed with used and new books and people (mostly used, not new). The craziest place of all was Clifton’s cafeteria, a revived cafeteria style restaurant and bar and handout with three or four meandering floors and crazy western decor, a mock 3 story sequoia, a huge stuffed buffalo encased in glass, and old fashioned selection of cafeteria fare from Tuna salad in a plastic cup to  German sweet chocolate cake. It was a good place to drop,for a bit and sit in stand oversized chairs made of overly shellacked tree bark.

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February 26, 2016 · 7:41 am

cOmmisary, Toro sushi and poke house, larchmont Blvd., salt and straw –an LA day!

  wHat a great day in LA. perfect weather, blue sky, sunshine, greenery, pink cherry blossoms, red and purple bourganvilla, makes my Midwestern winter weary soul explode with joy. Best of all is my adorable niece Lucy, who we got lots of quality time with at the start and end of the day.

iN between, we had coffee at the Commissary which really does make Burbank feel like an industry town. Outside on the patio, everyone except us was talking show is. Some guys were discussing the script for a horror film, a woman was talking about her commercials. Later we met mike for excellent poke, my favorite Hawaiian food which is now in LA as well as NYC. We ate outside at Toro sushi and poke house on Burbank’s main drag.

  nExt stop, larchmont Blvd where we went to a great walk through an elegant neighborhood full of Spanish and Tudor mansions, all beautifully landscapes, many now with drought resistant plantings. We stopped at salt and straw for some artisanal ice cream (skipping the too weird flavored with ingredients like salt, avocado and figs, for some delicious “chocolate gooey brownie” and bought some sanders at the village shoe store near by.

love being here and being with my family here!

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January 11, 2015 · 12:14 am

rainy day in LA : Daichan Japanese Restaurant, Theodore Payne Foundation

Theodore Payne foundation

Theodore Payne foundation

Lucy eats Japanese food

Lucy eats Japanese food

Rainy damp day here so we hibernated a bit then went out on the drizzle to so terrific Japanese restaurant in a nondescript Studio City strip center called Daichan which was packed with people warming up with miso soup and udon noodles with tempura. I had an excellent bowl of mixed poki, the Hawaiian raw fish dish I feel for on the Big Island. Other highlights were the seaweed wrapped quick fried tofu which was soft and fresh inside, lightly crispy on the outside with the slightly salty flavor of the seaweed.

Later Heather and I drove to Sunland, a suddenly rural area with horse ranches and old farmhouses and a nonprofit called Theodore Payne Foundation dedicated to native vegetation, perfect for the drought resistant front garden H is designing, after tearing up a suffering grass lawn.

 

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January 10, 2015 · 4:49 am

Los Feliz walk, Fred’s 62, Nickelodeon, and Portos…Los Angeles

Very Full day. We followed a walk in the excellent “Walking L.A.” Guide by Erin Mahoney through the Los Feliz neighborhood, walking up narrow winding roads near Griffith Park Observatory, lined with spectacular homes, culls of lush landscaping, amazing on-high views of downtown, with the occasional unfriendly dog, black Bentley, and signs warning of “armed security patrols.” A highlight is the amazing FLWright Ennis–Brown House. We also walked down and up several near-hidden pedestrian walkways that reminded us a bit of the hidden staircases between villages on the Amalfi coast.

We walked south on Vermont to a few interesting shops and restaurants south of Franklin, landing at Fred’s 66, a hipster diner, as advertised, with interesting salads, good burgers and sandwiches and breakfast. we drove awhile more around Laurel Canyon, marveling at yet another pocket of wealth, this one a different vibe than Los Feliz, more

Enjoying FLWright house in Los Feliz neighborhood of LA

Enjoying FLWright house in Los Feliz neighborhood of LA

rock star than studio exec neighborhood.

Next stop a visit to Nickelodeon headquarters in Burbank where my brother works on a new show Loud House (looked for it in about a year!) Cool place and glad my talented brother landed there. last stop a terrific Cuban bakery Portos, where the woman behind the counter didn’t just give us little samples but whole pastries to try. Delicious and it worked. we bought a bunch. We have loved our visit and slowly getting reacquainted with LA.

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January 9, 2015 · 5:00 am

LA Farmers Market for tacos, falafel, Brazilian BBQ, crepes and more

Loteria At the LA Farmers marketmakes some mean tacos, among our favs the shrimp and pork, also excellent black beans. My niece had a delicious Nutella crepe at a nearby stall and the Moishe’s falafel. The ambiance alone is great – an old fashioned food hall of sorts (the “farmers market” moniker is a bit misleading) with a series of little stalls around since the 1930s, each with a different ethnic or regional offering. The Brazilian BBQ had a strong following, as did the falafel place. Their is also a best French gourmet food and cooking ware store. All this is surrounded by a very upscale open air mall, sort of Disneyland-esque make believe world with fancy brand mpname outposts like anthropologie and top shop.

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