A Perfect Day in Hollywood

A little bomb squad evacuation on La Cienaga was not going to stop us. We had an itinerary! Thanks to Jeff's expert navigation around the backed up traffic, we arrived in WeHo only slightly behind schedule. Leaving his trusty (but not too rusty) Volvo parked there, we continued in one car down Hollywood Boulevard where just weeks earlier daughter #3 had run in the LA Marathon. We started heading up toward the hills, and after many twists and turns (including a few wrong ones), we arrived at our destination for a picnic lunch from Zinc.

This particular park had been chosen for its fantastic view of "one of the world’s most evocative symbols – a universal metaphor for ambition, success, glamour …" the Hollywood Sign. Suzanne had always wanted to see it up close and it was a perfect day for this FFA.

Many dogs were enjoying the perfect day in defiance of the posted leash requirement. One of the dog owners took this picture of our picnic, and then clued us in to an even better viewing spot. So off we went, further up the hill, to a dead-end dirt road which felt like a secret that few people had stumbled upon.

Our next destination was the historic Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We purchased our tickets and enjoyed our tour of this amazing architectural gem. It was our second FLW tour this year. In January we were fortunate to see La Miniatura in Pasadena.

Although we were an hour behind schedule, we decided to swing by Schindler House since that was near where Jeff's car was parked. Tours are free after 4:00 on Fridays, so what did we have to lose? Wow, were we glad we did not miss this jewel! Suzi and I agreed we could live in this one. I liked the concrete kitchen countertops. It seemed vaguely Japanese even though apparently Schindler never visited Japan. Schindler and Wright did work together, though.

My picture here is of the garden because I loved the way the sunlight hit the grasses.

Suzi and I had tickets to a long-awaited program at Royce Hall with two of our favorite authors, Anne Lamott and Elizabeth Gilbert, but there was still time for dinner as we seemed to have magically gotten on schedule with our itinerary. We pulled into the lot at Barefoot Restaurant in WeHo as a Bentley pulled in right behind us, and I immediately regretted wearing jeans and sandals. Oh well, this is LA, right? The food was fantastic and since we don't adhere to the "no religion or politics at the dinner table" rule, the conversation was stimulating and a perfect lead-in to our evening program. We dropped Jeff off at his trusty (but not too rusty) Volvo and off we went to one of the most beautiful venues in SoCal, Royce Hall.

Could have listened to Anne and Elizabeth for hours. Our perfect Hollywood day ended with a perfect Westwood evening. The 405 waits...time to get back to the OC.

Thrift Store Adventure: A Tribute to Daughter #1

Daughter #2 and I decided to wander the strip mall after enjoying a nice lunch at Cedar Creek Inn. (Unfortunately the Laguna Beach location has closed after many years and we went to Laguna Niguel; still nice, but not the same.)

What caught my eye but a Thrift Store! One I actually hadn't been in! Little did I know that the OC Register had called it a "Hidden Gem" in their Best of Orange County series.

An hour later, we were happily loading up the car with our loot. This thrift store was truly in a league of its own. I had Diana hold the 3 books I had picked out along with the matte white pottery piece perfect for my collection, so I could try on clothes. I opened the door with each try-on so she could nod yes or no. Finally, we were ready to pay.

The clerk behind the counter (a volunteer, no doubt) seemed to be a sweet little old lady, until she picked up my first purchase, a silk blouse (I am a sucker for a silk blouse - this one is the one on the left in the picture). Her eyes got wide and she half growled at me, "Vere did you get zis?" I shrugged and pointed to the blouse rack. "I don't know, over there..." "Oh, well, do you know vere dis is from?" "No, why?" She was carefully inspecting the details of my blouse. "Don't you know zis label?" "No I don't." "Do you ever shop at Bloomingdale's?" "No, I sure don't." "Well, zis designer is probably $400 to $500 at Bloomies." "Oh cool, and, it really fit me perfectly, so I guess I scored, huh?" "Yes, you scored!"

On to the next item (the one on the right in the picture). This was a 2-piece set, with a camisole and an overblouse. I had hung the cami over the hanger hook. She picked it up, and said, "Now vat is zis?" "Well, that goes with that, um, they go together..." "No, ze tag does not say 2-piece!" Diana pointed out that the two items were the same label, same size, and clearly went together. The clerk obviously thought I was trying to get the cami for free. She glared at us and finally said, "Well, you really scored on zis one too, because it does not say 2-piece on ze tag!"

Finally she picked up my last clothing item, a hand-painted silk top (middle in the picture). I said, trying to be nice, "Now do you know anything about this, because it does not have a tag?" She snatched it away, and barked at us, "Oh, no tag, zen you may NOT buy it!" "No, no," I said, "It does have a TAG, it just does not have a LABEL and I thought it might be handmade." She calmed down and resigned herself to totalling up my purchases.

Vintage matte white art pottery piece: $4.00
1 Teddy Roosevelt book for my classroom: $1.00
2 books (which I will sell on Amazon or eBay): $4.00
Silk blouse: $18.00
Handpainted silk blouse: $10.00
2-piece blouse: $9.00

As we exited the thrift store, Diana and I decided to continue strolling the strip mall. What did we see but another thrift store! No, this was a branch of the same thrift store. It was their furniture and high-end items. An invisible force pulled us through that door...

We walked past the very nice selection of furniture and my eyes quickly landed on an unusual 16x20 black and white picture in a frame. I wasn't sure if it was a print or a photograph but I noticed the reasonable $10 price tag and the additional red half-off sticker. I turned around to see who I could ask about this item after asking Diana to get it down off the wall. There was an older man working there who appeared to be nice, so I said, "I notice that the tag says photo, but I was just wondering if anyone was sure that it was actually a photo and not a print." "I am sure, because it is mine," he said. Now this man was considerably more friendly than his counterpart next door, and he proceeded to tell me the story about the photo, including the name of the photographer and the year it was taken. Thinking of my favorite photograph collector, I knew I had to spend $5 for this treasure.

I realized that I had put the photo down on some sort of contraption which then caught my eye. Of course teachers are always spending their own money to equip their classrooms, but with the current California budget crisis, the chances that anyone will actually provide me with a podium for my laptop computer and digital projector are rapidly diminishing. So, I was delighted to purchase this vintage folding projector stand which will be very useful in Room P13. Cost: $10

In the meantime, Diana had spotted a panini maker ($10) which looked unused, and came with two additional sets of plates. Of course, to purchase these items, we had to take the price tags next door, back to the lady who was quite sure we were trying to rip her off. I went to get the car while Diana went to pay. Sure enough, when the clerk saw the tag which said "2 additional plates" she glared and growled just like before, but finally, we loaded up the car and were on our way. We will definitely be returning to this thrift store, and we laughed about our experience and planned our blog post all the way home.

How to Stay Young

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age,
weight, and height. Let the doctors worry about them.
That is why you pay "them."

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts,
gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle
mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is
Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long, and loud. Laugh until you gasp
for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The
only person, who is with us our entire life, is
ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's
family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies,
whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If
it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you
can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall,
even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT
to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them...at
every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.

Worst President Ever

California Budget Woes

I love my job and feel fortunate to be able to say that after all these years. But this is a tough time to be a teacher. Tomorrow everyone at my school will be wearing either pink or black. Pink for the teachers who don't have jobs next year, and black for those showing support for the pink-attired teachers. (Get the pink-slip connection?) Among my colleagues in the regular English program upper grade, I am the only survivor. Morale is very low, stress is high. Please contact Governor Schwarzenegger and your state legislators to tell them their so-called solution to the budget crisis is unacceptable. California is already 46th in the nation in per-pupil spending! Do we really need to slide all the way to the bottom?

California Teachers Association