fresh picked oranges

they taste as good as they look.

in L.A.

ha!

thought I'd give a quick update. we've left the store in the girls' capable hands and came out to La-La for a few weeks. b and I have amassed a great pile of vintage goods for the store- razors, tooled leather accessories, coffee cups, cameras, mechanical pencils, and of course more lighters. we've also been visiting some of our wholesale vendors and now have a great stash of new Poketo goods. some of them have already hit the website for your shopping pleasure.

okay, off to take a shower and then work on the site some more. I'm not one to miss being at home- I usually love getting away. but this time I really miss Brooklyn. (if you've been reading my blog for a while you might be aware of my issues with Los Angeles) bleh! it seems to keep getting worse- with the exception of downtown. we'll be visiting the great and mighty Greg Barnett (who is launching an art show at ebmerc in April) tonite in K-town- I can handle being in a massive Korean neighborhood.

wednesday freebie on green L.A. girl

green L.A. girl is one of my long-standing favorite blogs on the net. being a former L.A. resident and one who's concerned about the environment, it's hard not to see the city as an example of how not to do things. From its dependence on water that travels hundreds of miles over an aqueduct, to its reliance on the automobile, Los Angeles has become the perfect subject for an environmental blog. In response to the city's inherent inefficiency there are myriad innovators figuring out ways, large and small, to handle the region's environmental concerns. People all over are re-imagining the way L.A. could operate, and Siel, "green L.A. girl," is always on the pulse of these ideas and innovations.

So I'm more than happy to be contributing to the twice-weekly *freebies* feature on green L.A. girl. Siel has given away a number of green items such as clothing made from sustainable materials, books on gardening and cooking green, t-shirts with green messages, body products, and of course the ever-popular canvas shopping bag. this wednesday's item (deadling is sunday) is the molliedash chevron bracelet. all you need to do is comment on the blog, and you will be entered into a drawing to win the bracelet. it's that simple!

a day at the beach

yesterday was all about santa monica. first we headed out to the s.m. airport flea market. because if you don't know, southern california rules supreme in the flea market arena. it's such a huge phenomenon that they rotate markets each week of the month. the big three: pasadena city college 1st sunday, rose bowl 2nd sunday, long beach 3rd sunday. then there are minor ones like santa monica (1st and 4th sunday) that still blow away most cities' markets, and fairfax high school, which meets every sunday. the s.m. market is held at their tiny airport, which flies small, private planes. so much is changing in santa monica in the five years since I left. the extra space at the airport used to be a series of dingy hangars with an industrial feel. well, it looked like a small airport. now they've added landscaping, a dog run, a soccer field, a building that houses a s.m. college satellite campus, and the restaurant that opened several years ago is hopping. I found some great stuff at the market- mainly these enormous brass pendants that are horsey themed. I'm not sure what their original purpose was. but they're frickin cool and will make very blingy necklaces.

afterwards we headed downtown to get some tacos at wahoo's. mine were really good- two fish tacos served the real way on soft corn tortillas with cabbage. I had the platter with a side of spicy cajun white beans and brown rice. brown rice! only 25 cents extra. the whole plate was so yummy and healthy. wahoo's is a chain that started in orange county and has a surf-shack vibe. their food is always really fresh and cheap and the people that work there are super friendly. b had a salad b/c he chowed on chashu bao (steamed pork buns) that he picked up at a chinese bakery on the way out of gardena. but even his salad was good.

stuffed, we walked over to the 3rd street promenade. free meter parking on sundays. woo hoo! this area has been santa monica's pride and joy for some time now, an outdoor shopping mall that draws tons of tourists and locals. when I moved to the city in the late 90's the promenade still had plenty of locally-owned shops and restaurants. now it's mostly filled with big chains. but it does seem to have taken another upward turn (it was starting to look pretty crappy a few years ago, getting excessively mall-like) as has a lot of santa monica. the indoor mall at the broadway end, santa monica place, is being dismantled in favor of more outdoor shopping. after strolling through we walked down the stairs of the cliffs, along the footbridge over the pch (pacific coast highway) and down to the beach. it was pretty busy though the weather has been kind of cool, but once the sun came out around noon, it got pretty hot. we strolled south, walking under the pier, and emerging at the *adult playground* as I like to call it. there are several sets of traveling rings, (as I posted about last year) ropes, chin-up bars and gymnastic equipment made out of metal. we watched and i tried doing a few chin-ups. ha ha. then we noticed a big crowd on a patch of grass. there was a capoeira circle and people doing acrobatics and juggling.

after watching we headed back to the car, then drove east on wilshire blvd., through westwood and beverly hills. being a holiday weekend, the streets were amazingly empty of traffic. we went through korea town, by macarthur park in westlake. turning south onto union ave., we went through pico-union, then onto hoover st. and into west adams, passing usc, and exposition park. we took figueroa st. all the way south to gardena, stopping to visit b's friends the bouzas before dinner. as we walk in the door, david looks at us and comments "Lakers fans!" oh god. unintentially, we both had dressed in purple and gold and walked around all day without noticing. no one could care less about team sports than me and b. hilarious! finally we met my cousin and her husband for dinner in long beach.

a little time off

so! b and I are in San Pedro again, back for our once or twice yearly L.A. trip to see friends and family. we have a wedding to attend this weekend. chuck picked us up around 3pm yesterday at Long Beach airport. the best little airport that is NOT LAX. but he told us that he heard that they might be discontinuing Jet Blue service to Long Beach since they're picking up LAX. say it isn't so!

stacy and chuck lucked into a house deal here in Pedro, so they'll be giving up our favorite apartment on the bluff. we swung by the new house on the way back from the airport and we got to see all the work they've been putting into it. it's in the rewall / refloor, rip out part of the staircase stage. the house belonged to a friend who was a middle-aged bachelor pack rat, so, you know. it's a 1920's bungalow that has been extended to the back, has tons of light from each side, a sun room off the master bedroom, original tile in the bathrooms, a full, pitched-roof attic, um, yeah. pretty charming. since they have a one-year old baby, the house will come in handy.

today on her way to work stacy dropped me off at the san pedro farmer's market downtown. spanning a block of sixth street, it has produce, hand made soaps and food items, latin american crafts, antiques, several mexican food vendors and live music. I went straight for the tamales and fresh strawberry-lime juice. yum! the beadwork of the one of the vendors caught my eye and I inquired about buying wholesale. the men selling the work were Huichol Indians from Mexico, dressed in full authentic wear of brightly embroidered white shirts and pants, broad-brimmed hats decorated with large tassels, and their peyote stitch jewelry. I put together a great selection of earrings, tasseled barettes and necklaces. the color combinations are gorgeous. I can't wait to photograph them.

so now the sun is setting and b is napping on the couch. ciao.

run down

alas, the summer adventures had to come to an end. b and I returned on monday to a long list of molliedash projects and requests to fill. but since I carefully collected business cards along the way, I'd like to share some of my favorite restaurants and shops that we visited. starting and ending our trip in gardena, ca., b's home town, we ate at shilla, because we loove us some korean food. driving up north, we were more than pleased by the quality of food at even the smallest hole in the wall. Barron Mexican Restaurant (more of a taqueria) at 449 N. State St. in Ukiah, Ca., had some of the most delicious carnitas tacos I've tasted. While we found that we couldn't go wrong in Northern Cal and Oregon, (possibly the best foodie region in the country) Maui was a bit more of a challenge. But one night on the ride back from Lahaina, we stopped in Kihei where there was a large grouping of restaurants on Kihei Road. Most of them had a loud nightlife scene going on, but we managed to find this great little noodle house amongst them. wokstar offered simply amazing, healthy, tasty pan-asian cuisine, served on their tiny, casual patio with that famous hawaiian hospitality. I loved their iced mint green tea. Exploring Kahalui's industrial park, we found Maui Specialty Chocolates, sampling a few pieces and taking home some boxes for family. These chocolates were outrageously good and bargain priced. We loved the peanut butter cups. Earlier in the summer I had heard Jonathan Gold on KCRW's Good Food recommend Renu Nakorn in Norwalk as the place that introduced L.A. to gourmet Thai cooking. So since we bookended the trip in south bay, we decided to check it out. Wowee, was this place good. We sampled things from the Northern Thai section of the menu, which was a nice change from the offerings at your typical Thai restaurant. On our last day in L.A. we visited the Theosophy Lodge with Stacy for a morning class. I loved it- it's been so long since I've given my brain a good workout. Afterwards, we had lunch at Chichen Itza inside the Mercado la Paloma

While walking through Arcata, Ca., I spotted this great poster in a store window with an image of a plant growing up through planet earth. I went inside Let It Grow Hydroponics to see if they sold the poster. They didn't, but we were amazed by the extensive selection of horticultural and home brew supplies. The place had a really neat peaty, yeasty smell too. In Venice, Ca. a walk down Abbot Kinney Blvd., one of L.A.'s best design drags, was in order. I knew Cory Madley from when I worked at Ritual Adornments, as she had been a former employee, and was purchasing supplies for her business. Cory now owns a shop on Abbot Kinney called Madley, where she sells her jewelry and knitwear, as well as creations by other designers.

I wasn't planning on shopping in Maui, but it was hard to resist. Near our hotel in Kahalui was Fabric Mart, at 55 Kaahumanu Ave. The selection of Hawaiian print fabrics was unbelievable, and the prices were super low. I needed a new bikini, but was having trouble finding something I liked. We stopped in Maui Girl in Paia, and hit bikini nirvana. This shopped is stocked to the gills with their own line of mix and match pieces, and suits by other lines. The owner, Debbie Kowalski Wilson, and her assistant made sure I found the right suit that fit and was flattering. Little notes are tacked up the fitting room, reminding you to love your body and stop judging. It helped! I left the store smiling, with new suit in hand. Or should I say "in bag," because Maui Girl uses ones made of corn plastic. Also in Paia, I picked up some beautiful pendants at Aloha Bead Company, at 43 Hana Hwy.

One of our favorite towns was Wailuku, the county seat of Maui. We were wondering where the hipster part of Maui was, and we kind of found it there. Market Street, the main drag, has a number of pawn shops, antique stores, a coffee house, and a couple of restaurants. Requests, on the corner of Market and Main, is a well-stocked, old school record shop. Across the street is maui thing, a great sportswear shop whose motto is "stuck on good." maui thing's clothing was a bit edgier than in most Maui shops, and their ethic is community-minded and green.

well that's it, folks. I hope to have time to post more photos on flickr. now it's full steam ahead for fall!

echo park

yesterday was fun. we headed up to echo park so I could check out show pony, a shop I've known about for years, but had yet to visit. I found three! great things on their bargain rack, and was really impressed with their collection of new items for fall. the shop has an airy feel to it, adorned with funky accessories and owner kime buzzelli's luscious artwork. show pony's located on a block tucked into echo park's residential area, and shared with like-minded businesses like hope gallery. after our visit, we explored sunset blvd. in echo park, which has come up a lot in the past few years. I am so, so glad to see that Los Angeles is getting hip to the idea of locally-run street level retail. so much of the city in the last few decades has been dominated by suburban-style shopping centers clogged with big-box chains. if they can work on the public transportation problem, as they seem to be doing, the city will greatly improve. car culture means that people zip right by tiny businesses. for now, that part of sunset is still a series of disjointed clusters of shops. making it into a walking destination would be awesome.

hungry for lunch, we headed over to Alegria on Sunset, upon b's suggestion. wow, it was fantastic. the freshest style of mexican food imaginable. I had "ensalada de aguacate y camarones" - mixed baby greens and romaine, a whole avocado, red potatoes, green beans, carrots, and large, seasoned shrimp. to drink, iced "cafe de la olla," coffee brewed with piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar) and cinnamon sticks. yum! the place is beautifully decorated with bright colors, and our waiter couldn't have been nicer.

continuing to hunt around sunset blvd. through echo park and silver lake, we explored some antique shops and found sumi's, a shop full of artisan goods and unique gifts. it reminded me of rare device. heading west on sunset, we hit up a silverlake institution, wacko. the enormous converted warehouse space houses the book shop and novelty store, stocks their line of soap plant products, and is home to la luz de jesus gallery. a must-see in silverlake.

after getting our fill of echo park and silverlake shops, galleries and restaurants, we drove into the neighborhood to catch a glimpse of dodger stadium. I was curious to see it, as it's hidden back in the canyons and somewhat of a mystery. then b headed north to glendale, another area of L.A. I had never seen. I was kind of surprised by how big and built up that area is. we drove around for a while, before winding our way to chinatown. we grabbed some vietnamese food, walked around the chinatown plaza and chung king road, and ended the day with treats from the phoenix bakery!

today

b and I are hanging out at stacy's, waiting for his mom to call. we got in to L.A. around 1am last night, and headed straight to In n Out Burger. After passing so many cattle on the trip up north, I decided I couldn't eat a hamburger and got just fries. Today we're getting ready to leave for Hawaii in the morning.

Leaving Eureka last friday morning, we toured the Humboldt Bay area, including the former logging company town of Samoa. We were fascinated by the peninsula town's uniform, but shaggy look. b had eaten at the samoa cook house years ago, and wanted to show it to me. we peered in the windows, but he advised against eating such a heavy lumberjack breakfast.






following the coast, the next stop was Trinidad. We could see giant, white rocks jutting out of the ocean, and were compelled to stop. It was lovely, and we agreed to spend more time there on another trip.




following the 101 north, we wound through mountain passes and dense redwood forests. we were amused by the many roadside attractions, including houses carved inside giant trees, and the mystery spot.

heading into oregon, the topography and climate changed. california's rugged hills gave way to pristine, pine tree-covered mountains. the chilly coast also turned milder as we made our way up north. still on the 101, we crossed numerous estuaries that let out to the pacific. we were amazed by the huge rock formations sticking out from the ocean.




all along, we passed through tiny towns, crossed old bridges, and saw many logging trucks. after passing through hours of untouched forest, we came upon the areas where logging occurs. It was quite jarring to see this- sections of mountain stripped bare, then various stages of regrowth, turning the wilderness into a giant pine tree farm.

the pacific northwest is known for its coffee, and there are all sorts of drive-through espresso bars in the region. they range from tiny, privately owned shacks to the giant dutch brothers franchise.

okay, it's now 10:35 pm and i need to finish my laundry. argh, I hope to catch up on my posts. see you in hawaii.

laura on the rings

santa monica beach, last tuesday.

stuff

we're in a cheap motel room with wifi in eureka, california. we left l.a. wednesday at noon, drove up to the bay area, poked around point reyes, arriving after it was too dark to camp. drove further north and spent the night in healdsburg, in the heart of sonoma county. the next morning, after a quick swim in the pool and dip in the jacuzzi, we headed into downtown healdsburg for breakfast and a walk through town. then into the dry creek valley for wine tasting. it was my first time in wine country, and I fell in love. sonoma is filled with small, family-owned vineyards, each with its own character. the vintners live right on their "estates," and often the tasting room is part of their home. we loved Preston of Dry Creek, which beyond being a winery, is a fully functioning organic farm. the tasting room is part of a market where they sell their eggs, cheese, bread, olive oil, and produce. guests are invited take the goods outside and picnic in their garden. not only did we pick up some wine and peaches at Preston, but b spotted a table down the road with an honor jar. it was put out by some local residents, and we got five fresh, crisp apples for a dollar!

well I should get to sleep, but lots more to tell and photos to post soon. heading up to portland tomorrow.


We stayed at the L&M in Healdsburg, a motor lodge owned by the same family since the 1930's.


Downtown Healdsburg


Dry Creek Valley

first day

ahh...just woke up from the nap that cured the jet lag. had an unbelievably bad flight last night. was supposed to leave jfk at 5:05 pm via virgin america. soon after the initial welcome and safety announcements, the pilot got on the p.a. to inform us that there would be delays. lloyd, a nice guy and superb pilot, was a poor communicator of bad news. seems the hurricanes that swept through texas and residual bad weather had delayed flights and sent a ripple effect through the takeoff queue. through a grueling eight and a half hours on the tarmac we were given confusing information which changed course a number of times. no food or drink was offered except a ration of a half sandwich each brought in from the airport, and if you walked to the back there were bottles of water. later on I was able to get a coke out of the flight attendants. when we finally got in the air at 12:30 am, the flight was turbulent most of the way, making it hard to sleep.

but alas, b and I spent my first day here at hermosa beach, which made up for the rough night. for those of you who might remember hermosa's gritty past (b kept wondering where the wafts of pot smoke were) the beach town has come up a bit. like I said on my last trip to L.A., south bay is a great alternative to the congested nature of the main part of the city. the beach was nice and quiet compared to santa monica, as we could hear french being spoken by happy tourists as we laid on the sand. on va à la mer.

now...for some dinner?

it's pronounced "pee-dro"

I just returned from a fantastic day of walking and taking photos in San Pedro. It was the first sunny day in the two weeks that I've been here. Earlier I went down to the fishing pier with S&C, and we were amazed by the high waves breaking on the normally placid beach. It was busy with surfers, strollers and photographers, and I ran back to get my camera. The waves smashing onto the breakwater were probably 20 feet high and I snapped like crazy. After I had my fill, I walked along the water to downtown San Pedro. b and I had been in some of the antique shops on our last trip, and I wanted to get another look. Among the best shops are Best of Times Antique Mall, Dwelling, (rustic and exotic antique furniture, objects, and art) Williams Book Store (the oldest book store in L.A.!) and Union War Surplus. (an authentic army-navy that still sells surplus alongside the new stuff) Taking a break for lunch, I tried one of the city's many taquerias, Jolly Burrito on 6th. I was bowled over by the flavor and enormous portion of the fish taco special I ordered. Some of the best pico de gallo anywhere (all the ingredients chopped fine) and a complimentary bowl of chips. 6th Street is also home to the Warner Grand Theatre and Sacred Grounds coffee house where they have live music or poetry readings every night of the week.

Since I had walked some thirty blocks plus two trips out to the pier, I decided to take the bus back to the apartment. I waited about fifteen-to-twenty minutes for the bus, and found out they run only every half hour during peak, and every hour off-peak. Public transportation has been on my mind big-time during this visit, comparing the ease of travel in nyc with the gridlock of autos in L.A. The buses in San Pedro are MTA operated, so it's worth it to check the schedules online if you're planning on visiting. I could go on and on about the loveliness of this little port town. If you like to walk and hike and explore, there's plenty here to do, and you'll avoid the sprawling traffic mess of the rest of the L.A. Long Beach is right across the Vincent Thomas Bridge, spanning the enormous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Visiting there the other day, I was surprised by the size of the city. I spent some time on 4th Street between Cherry and Junipero, known as Retro Row, the place to go for vintage clothing.

Checking the nyc blogs, I see it's been snowing there. ah well, a few more days here in paradise and then it's back to the gritty city! (can't wait!)

L.A. is a great big freeway

the wedding

all photos by the evil genius bryanX.

stuck in L.A.

b and i hit up the Long Beach Flea Market on Sunday. Because of L.A.'s near perfect year-round weather, *swap meets* are a huge event, occurring every weekend, the major ones happening on alternating weeks of the month. Long Beach's is located right near the airport, in the parking lot of Veteran's Memorial Stadium, and has over 800 vendors. I spent an hour making my way through the first row alone. I was lucky in that I veered towards the vendors who had a lot of jewelry and parts first. I wanted badly to look through the clothing racks, which were plentiful and looked inexpensive, but I knew I would never make it through the market if I did. We had a wedding to go to at 5:30, in the valley. here are some of the things I found.

I will probably be here another week, btw.

chillin in so-cal

this is the longest I've been away from nyc since moving there in 2004. my lack of posting in the past week or so is due to what a good time I've been having here in sunny southern cali. b and I have been staying with his sister and her boyfriend up on a bluff overlooking the pacific, in san pedro. out their living room window you can see the port of los angeles to the left and the ocean leading up to palos verdes to the right, with the anaheim hills in orange county straight ahead. I've gone hiking twice in the santa monica mountains, with b in topanga canyon, and in corral canyon in malibu with L and c yesterday. b's niece came visiting from arizona, with her 3 1/2 year old monkey joshua. for xmas he received a game which had a rotating pool of snapping fish, and two fishing poles, and he played with it the entire time he was here, ignoring all other gifts. b gave me a hello kitty waffle iron, my first ever hello kitty item. b's hawaiian mom and sister made a beautiful xmas dinner of organic free-range turkey, shu mei, rice, fruit salad, green salad, potato mac, green beans, enchiladas, and rainbow-colored paradise cake and chocolate cake from king's hawaiian bakery. about a dozen of us crowded into the living room, eating and telling stories, as L and I danced ballet moves over joshua and his fish game. somehow we can't avoid doing ballet when we see each other. in addition to b's sister (s) being a gymnastic coach, she and her boyfriend (c) are musicians. we've woken up most mornings to singing and guitar and mandolin playing. the other day I got the idea to teach them some hebrew songs, and c figured them out on guitar as I taught s the lyrics. I've also taken L's yoga class, and we attended a group meditation led by her and A. we've seen c perform twice, including a gig at sacred grounds coffee house, where a zoot suit-clad employee busted out his tap shoes and danced for a couple of songs. earlier that day we watched team practice at s's gym, getting to see 11 year-olds do walkovers and tuck flips on the beam and giant swings on the uneven bars. today I'm going to head down to santa monica and visit my favorite bead store and former employer, ritual adornments. ciao for now.

driving is fun!

I flew into Long Beach airport yesterday afternoon. The place is so small, the baggage claim is outside. you know, it's casual- it's L.A.- whatever. b's here doing some work with warner bros. for a month, and I'm joining him for the holidays. if this was the type of blog where I ranted, I would tell you about the lovely couple and their baby I had the good luck of sitting next to on the flight. but this isn't that type of blog. b had to do some welding at his friend's house, so I dropped him off earlier today. driving his truck back north on the 405, I was reminded of how much fun driving can be sometimes. six lanes in each direction, baby. now I'm waiting for L to pick me up, and I will take her yoga class. L.A. is uncharacteristically cool and cloudy today. we're staying at b's mom's house in gardena, part of the suburban sprawl south of L.A. as much as people love to hate this city, it is the perfect antidote to nyc. there's only so much stimulation a person can take.