Fabulous in L.A.

What do fab single gals do in Los Angeles? I've been into SATC-mode again and I can see what fab single gals in New York can do on their free time, but what was there for me? I thought this to myself as I drove around aimlessly today. After having lunch with some friends I hadn't seen forever at one of my favorite Hainam Chicken places, Savoy in Alhambra (that's for another day...), I ended up driving around, wondering what to do with myself.

I wanted to find a fab coffee shop with free Wi-fi to sit around and write and work on things, but I couldn't think of anywhere but Panera in Studio City, and after having eaten, it wasn't really the right option. I ended up driving through Pasadena, bypassing Old Town, only because of the parking situation, and stopping at 3 of my different favorite boutique shops, which I know I've discussed here before.

CLOVER -- on Silverlake, was having a 50% off sale on some items, but also had some new items arrive. I love their selection of Tulle sweaters and jackets, along with the cute baby clothes and home accessories. I love buying baby clothes -- not because I pine for having a little one of my own, but because the accessories are so darn adorable AND they're so much cheaper than adult's clothes.

PICKETT FENCES -- Larchmont Blvd. is one of my favorite places to walk around in. Friends tell me I will love San Francisco for this reason, and I don't disagree with them. Not only are there boutique shops all down Larchmont, there's also a nice selection of restaurants there as well. Pickett Fences is my favorite boutique shop, a few stores down from one of my favorite beauty supply shops, Larchmont Beauty Supply. I mean first of all, what a cute name is Pickett Fences?? And they have Orla Kiely, a great selection of shoes, jeans, bags, and comfy tees from Splendid, James Perse and such.

PULP/IL LITERATURE -- sadly, they are now one. Their clearance sale for IL Literature is going on this weekend, but I'm sure most of their merchandise has been gone by now. I tried to stop by to snag something in the final days of the sale, but it was from 12-4, and not 12-5 like I had originally thought it was. Poop.

So that was most of my day. I realized after I had driven halfway to the valley that I should've stopped by LACMA to check out the Chicano art exhibit featuring Cheech Marin's (yes, Cheech) vast collection of Chicano art. I had gone to the San Jose Museum of Art last week, and although very tiny compared to LACMA or the MoMas, it was still nice. I love museum stores (much much more than I love the museum itself) and I love the architecture of museums, especially the new BCAM building at LACMA. Too bad it wasn't just a walk away....

Crudo Bar

If there's one thing that makes a diet difficult for me, it's carbs. Breadbar is definitely one of those guilty pleasure places that I'm in love with for the endless varieties of bread. Their standard menu has a lot of tasty treats, but from now until May 15th, they are offering a Crudo Bar menu with Chef Noriyuki Sugie at the Century City location. It's a tapas-izakaya style bar with both a raw bar and a cooked menu. I haven't tried anything in the raw bar yet, but will probably make my back before next week, since my boyfriend is in love with the black cod slider, which are these mini black cod burgers, served individually on a mini cutting board, with an amazing wasabi tartar sauce and mini pickles on the side. We also tried the striped bass karage, which wasn't too exciting to me aside from the yummy tofu dip that tasted like creamy mayonnaise. Visit the site and take a look at the menu or stop by for your own taste.

**I'm going to Pizzeria Mozza tonight for the second time in less than a week. Yum! More on this great new place later!

Moving.....

Pretty soon, I'll get to pass this on my way to work everyday...

After three years for working at my company, our office is moving further east, to Miracle Mile. To me, it's a whole different territory. While I'm happy for the move and the change, it means another 20 mins on Wilshire Blvd. in the mornings, and that after-work romps to Sawtelle for dinner may prove to be more of a challenge, since it will be further.

I'm trying to look on the bright side of things, and the many many things to look forward to on that side of Wilshire Blvd. I'll be closer to Pulp for one, so it'll be easier to make an after-work stop. The LACMA will be much closer and I'll get a chance to visit more often and pass by that beautiful art of collected streetlamps on my way home...it's sort of refreshing.

Red Mango will now be down the street and I'm soooo excited upon realizing this today! Red Mango is actually the original yogurt shop for which Pinkberry's yogurt shop was based on -- Pinkberry had beat them to the punch here in the states, but I must admit, I am

in love with Red Mango. They have a bigger variety in cereals and toppings, and the green tea tastes more like green tea. I will go back to Pinkberry every so often because there's more locations for one, and also because I've grown a liking to that coffee flavor (when it's mixed with the original).

Another great find that I'm very excited about is Andre's. I grew up with this restaurant, and I love their Veal Parmigiana, their baked chicken with mushroom sauce, and their caesear salad. It's not fancy or pretty or like any Italian cuisine. It's actually a cafeteria style restaurant that's been serving the community for years and years -- since I was a kid! A lot of senior citizens and blue collar workers dine there for their great prices, but they also have great simple food. Their daily specials are great, and you can have an entree, the salad, a slice of garlic bread, and a drink for about $10. It's cash only, though, so be well armed. It really is a find, since it's in the plaza on the corner of 3rd and Fairfax Ave. (where the Whole Foods and KMart are....long before the Whole Foods existed) deep inside the makeshift food court.

It's been a bit nostalgic and wistful packing up the office, but I'm excited (and a bit stressed) about our move. I can't wait to see my new office on Monday! :)

Dallas Edition

As mentioned, I spent a few days last month in Dallas, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite finds from the city:

EAT

Of course, when it comes to food, when you think of Texas, you often think of barbeque. I won't object to that -- I love barbeque. My first time in Dallas, a few year's back, I was introduced to Sonny Bryan's and just HAD to go back. The portions are huge, the barbeque sauce is great, and the price can't be beat, as Rachel Ray has attested. Make sure you don't miss it if you're in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. (check the site link for locations near your visit).



In my working/roaming in the city, I also discovered another great place, across from the Sonny Bryan's on Lovers Lane (yes, that's really the name of the street...). Rise no.1 was a great find in the complex across the way, where I was really there for the Inwood Theatre (but got hungry amidst the working). It's a cozy little restaurant that looks seemingly quiet on the outside, but has a fun and lively interior decor -- a winter garden library-like setting with wall-to-wall bookshelves, ornate flowers, and a chef's station that is the focus of the restaurant. You can watch your souffle being made at the chef's station! What caught my eye aside from the food was a beautiful chandelier made entirely of blue wine bottles, and the . I tried to capture it in a photo, but it was just too blurry :( I had the Rise house salad, which was awesome -- a sweet, light dressing over field greens, and tried the smoked salmon souffle. They have both sweet and savory souffles, as well as flavors of the day. If you love French cuisine and love souffles, you should not miss this place!

ROAM

In my attempts to get acquainted with the city via shuttle, I stumbled upon Mockingbird Station, where the first American Apparel of the city is housed, along with the Angelika theatre complex (which is really why I was there). The shopping center is hard to compare to any of the shopping complexes here -- perhaps The Grove? It's a quaint area with lots of boutique shops, a few restaurants, a stationery shop that I fell in love with, but also had a giant West Elm, giant Urban Outfitters, as well as the aforementioned American Apparel. Definitely a nice place to make a stop if you are on that side of the town.

Giant West Elm in Mockingbird Station

SHOP

Northpark Center is definitely the place. It's what South Coast Plaza only aspires to be. I had heard great things about the mall (Mega mall? Things are bigger in Texas, after all). Not only does the mall house your typical mall stores and a theatre (which again, was my primary purpose for the visit), but it also has a number of high end brands, including Tod's, Ferragamo and Gucci, and high-end department stores including the best Barney's I've ever been to, a Nordstrom, and of course a Neiman Marcus (this dept store was after all, born in Texas). The center houses both fancy and chain restaurants, from TGI Friday's to McCormick's and Schmick's. What marveled me the most was how beautifully decorated the entire place was. There was a mini sculpture garden with gorgeous flowers in the middle of the mall. I wanted to walk around the mall for the entire day, but work called :(

Sculpture and garden in the Northpark Center, in front of Tod's

There were so many other wonderful places that I only got to visit briefly. I definitely want to do a Dallas-Austin-Houstin trip, maybe in the summer.

I'm baaaack.....

Big apologies for the long hiatus. Life has been quite busy, with work, more work, and some vacation. :) I finally got to visit Japan (unlimited Japanese food...divine!), went to two other cities for work during my hiatus, and discovered a whole bunch of wonderful shopping and eating and places to hang out along the way that I'm SOOO excited to share :)

Cross-town Rivalry

Apologies for the delay in posts! What with the Thanksgiving holiday and all, it's been hectic.

This weekend is the biggest game of the Los Angeles college football year (next to the Rose Bowl). It's the annual USC-UCLA game, and the only football game of the year that I really pay attention to. Why? I went to both UCLA (for undergraduate) and USC (for grad school).

However, I have no knowledge of football whatsoever. I've attempted many times to no avail. I will keep mum on who I am rooting for, since I will get stones thrown at me either way. :)

My experiences at both UCLA and USC have been special ones in different ways. I've spent more time in UCLA, so naturally, I know the Westwood neighborhood more, and hope to talk about its many haunts later. My time at USC was mainly during its night hours as a grad student, and I didn't really get to experience the USC school life (unless you count visits to the University Village -- the area has changed so much since I've left school). My UCLA v. USC will be based on...what else? Food :)

Here are my picks for this head-to-head:

Team Bruin:

Lamonica's New York Pizza
1066 Gayley Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 208-8671

I started going to Lamonica's even before I went to UCLA, before the Whole Foods on Gayley sprouted up there. Where else would you find such authentic NY pizza in Los Angeles, and for such a great price? I still crave their white pizza (spinach with ricotta cheese), their large, thin slices. The restaurant itself reminds you of a NY subway station, or at least it does to me.

Team Trojan:

Dino's Burgers
2575 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006
213-380-3554

Dino's is not exactly located in the vicinty of USC, but in its adjacent neighborhood. How grateful am I that my love still lives close enough to this so that I can stop by whenever I have a craving :). Surprisingly, I've had Dino's since I went to UCLA, thanks to a friend that lived down there. Also surprising is the fact that of my years of going to Dino's Burgers, I've never actually ordered a burger. Their most popular dish there is the chicken platter. For $5, you get delicious grilled chicken, smothered with a paprika, seasoning salt, vinegary sauce. The chicken is served over fries, with a brush of this lovely sauce that spills into the fries, making me crave the sour tarty-spicy chicken.

So no matter if you're a Bruin at heart, or love your Trojans, just remember -- food never takes sides and can be loved by a Bruin or a Trojan :)

IzakaYa!

TGIF! Apologies for not posting for over a week -- it's been quite busy! In between all my madness, I realized the other day that this past weekend, from Saturday to Monday, I've had Japanese food for just about every meal. It was a very Japanese weekend, since I also finally saw the Murakami exhibit. :) It was amazing! I think I will go back before it leaves town.

During my week of Japanese food, I actually went to the same restaurant twice in one week, although two different locations. Musha is by far one of my favorite Japanese places to eat, because of the variety of foods they have to offer. They have two locations, one in Torrance, and the other in Santa Monica. It is the now very popular Izakaya food, which is basically Japanese tapas -- bar food, if you will. The plates are smaller, so you get to sample lots of dishes. I've seen a few of these Izakaya restuarants popping up around town, and I'm sort of afraid to try them. Can they be as good as Musha? Their original location, is after all, in the real Little Tokyo -- Torrance is the headquarters of many of the Japanese automotive companies, along with many Japanese markets and restaurants. The Japanese version of Alhambra and Monterey Park, you can say. :)


So, as a run down, 10 reasons why I love Musha so much:


10. Kirin draft - by the pitcher!

9. The decor and the atmosphere of the restaurant, both the one in Torrance and the one in Santa Monica, are how I imagine a busy Japanese bar should be -- filled with good food and great lively conversations. The specials are on a hand-written style menu, and the bathrooms are decorated with writings on the wall. I remember the first time I went to Musha was New Year's, and there was a guest book in the bathroom of the Torrance, for visitors to sign. The walls of the private tatami rooms in the Santa Monica branch are lined with mulberry paper, which fascinated me.

8. The combination of Japanese favorites with much loved Italian and French dishes, Japanese style, which is a favorite in Japan.

7. MFC (Musha Fried Chicken) -- Musha's version of the Japanese appetizer/snack favorite. The perfect crunchiness that goes great topped with a squeeze of lemon.


6. The mini grills to grill filet steak and beef tongue (not gross, merely an acquired taste ;)

5. Cheese Risotto that comes in a block of cheese. Creamy. Delicious. Amazing.

4. Umeshu Soda! I discovered this Japanese treat on my last visit to the Santa Monica branch when a friend who was in town for the American Film Market. It's actually plum wine, mixed with club soda. I'm not really a fan of the plum wine, but this was delicious. Served in a tall glass with a big green plum at the bottom.

3. Lobster Rolls -- Lobster sushi, wrapped in soy paper. The most succulent lobster ever, paired with asparagus and avocado. Triple yum.

2. Grilled Saba (Mackerel) -- Absolutely delicious. Grilled at your table with a blow torch - ingenious!

1. Maple Creme Brulee -- The top is grilled with a blow torch for a crunchy, sugary top shell. Delish!

Musha Santa Monica
424 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 576-6330


Musha Torrance
1725 Carson St., Suite B,
Torrance,CA 92780
(310) 787-7344

Fall Backwards

Happy Friday! What a long week it's been. I'm heading out this week to San Diego -- very excited! I haven't been on vacation in a year, and although SD is only 2 hours away, it's still nice to get out of the city once in awihle.

I'm so excited for the Nantaka Joy site finally launching. :) Check out her blog (linked on my READ list, too) for great design ideas, cute product recommendations, and just a fun read. Joy has my dream job --she designs stationery in her own home with the company of her cats :). Actually, my dream job is to actually open a stationery shop. That sorta reminds me of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. I was also excited to find out that Joy was Thai :D. Yay!! It makes me even more proud. I'm genuinely in love with the designs of the notebooks -- the colorful designs and the beautiful lettering. I am in love. :)

It makes me think of the way I feel when I go into my favorite stationery store. If they gave out punch cards for stationery stores, I would've filled up at least three of them. Pulp (what a fitting name) is on La Brea Ave., between 6th and 3rd. There are times when I haven't gone to Pulp for awhile and I get giddy and excited (I know, I'm a nerd) for all the new things they've received. I want to run through the store, and simultaneously, take my time and peruse through the whole place. I stock up on birthday cards here -- you never know when you'll need one!

These are a few of the ones I bought recently. My favorite one is what I call the Domo Arigato one -- the one of the little boy bowing thank you very, very deeply.

Its sister store, Il Literature is also another store I love to visit for one of a kind jewelry pieces, baby gifts, and kitschy home products. They carry lovely Hobo International bags and wallets, Dogeared necklaces that I love, and handmade rings and earrings that I have to resist the urge not to by them all. The last time I was there, I bought a soap dish that I turned into a business card holder -- so cute. :)



PULP 456 S La Brea Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 937-3505



(Il Literature is two doors down. Parking on the street and complimentary valet in the alley.)

**And don't forget to set your clocks back an hour on Sunday!

The L.A. Culture

Buon Weekend! (as the Italians say). Next Monday marks the beginning of many exciting things to do in Los Angeles. Whenever I'm bored on the weekends, I always find myself at a loss for things to do (aside from shopping and eating, that is). But I am truly excited about the end of October - early November events.

How can I not be? The MOCA is having a Takashi Murakami exhibit!! For those of you unfamiliar with his work, I'm sure you've probably seen it and just didn't know. Think about those playful Louis Vuitton bags that marked the beginning of LV's revolution into hipster-hood. Or even now, when those cute cartoons can no longer be found, the Monogram Multicolore is a remnant of his work for the brand.

Murakami's work

Murakami for Louis Vuitton

Murakami's work is a testament to the influence of Japanese art and pop culture on the world. His work for Louis Vuitton is only a glimpse of what the artist has to offer. I'm really excited to see the exhibit and learn more about him and get to see some of his art. For while I've seen his work through my frequents to Japanese shops (Giant Robot and the like), I have yet to learn more about the art and the anime. This week's LA WEEKLY has a cover story on the exhibit. And how can you miss it with all the banners around town? The exhibit runs from October 29th to February 11th. (The exhibit is having a special opening on October 27th for MoCa members.) I don't think I'll catch it for another few weeks, so if you do get to see it first, PLEASE! Let me know how it is :)

AND, speaking of the influence of Japanese culture on the world, check out this month's issue of WIRED MAGAZINE where they illustrate, in Manga form, the impact of these Japanese cartoons on Americans and the world. Another reason why I am in love with Japanese culture. :)

ANOTHER great event in town is the AFI Film Festival, which runs from November 1-11th, where my beloved ArcLight in Hollywood becomes transformed into the headquarters for the festival, and all things AFI Film Fest. Having visited a few film festivals, Los Angeles is not a city I picture to have a festival, despite it being the hub for celebrities and film production. However, if you're yearning to see a new, unreleased indie flick, or maybe even to catch a glimpse of a celeb, swing by the ArcLight during those dates. If anything, you can experience the great popcorn -- voted the best in town(and wonderful seats) that the ArcLight has to offer.