FOUND: attic

Happy to find there were no real ghosts up there.... Except for Gianni Versace, but that's a long story.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: a dinosaur and a rat

Meet at the corner...


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: LA Questionaire

Everyone has favorites and everyone has preferences and everyone has opinions... having lived in LA for most of my life I have realized Angelenos fall on one side or another when it comes to their favorite haunts. and they are ready for some verbal combat if necessary.

I have developed this list from a couple of conversations I have had this past week with fellow natives, where do you fall?

BURGER: Golden State/ Father's Office

LIBRARY: John C. Fremont/ Hollywood

SLICE: Village / Tomato Pie

DOG: Pink's/ Skoobys

BIKE MOB: Midnight Ridazz/ Critical Mass

MORE TERRIFYING: RIots/Earthquake

FAVORITE HAUNTED HOTEL: Alexandria/ Figueroa

SUMMER MUSIC VENUE: Hollywood Bowl / The Greek

EL MEXICAN FOOD: El Cholo / El Compadre

MARGARITA'S : Lucy's El Adobe Margaritas/

DONUTS: Bob's Donuts / SK Donuts

SKETCHY PARK: McCarther Park / Lafayette Park

OJ VERDICT: Guilty/ Innocent

'STRAM: Canters/ Langers

KARAOKE: Max's/ Orchid

KBBQ: Soot Bull Jeep/ Cho Sun Galbee

GRAFFITI: Chaka/ Revok

PHILIPPES: Double / Single Dip

'SCREAM: Milk / Scoops

STANDARD: Downtown/Hollywood

GENERIC MUSEUMING: LACMA/ MOCA

SANDY : Godmother/ Manchego&Salami at Wine&Cheese

AROUND 2 AM: Benitos/Cactus #1

HOLLYWOOD DIVE: PowerHouse/ Boardners

ICE CREAM SANDY: Diddy Reese/ Coolhaus

NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW LATE NIGHT: Juanitas Truck/ El Chato Truck

CAKEY: Sweet Lady Jane/ Hansens

EVENING FAD DATE: Lucha VaVoom / Derby Girls

90's HAUNT: Paladar/ Nacional

FOUND: farmers got a mic

When my fridge and social calendar are being neglected on nights when I get home late from work, I find the Farmers Market my favorite refuge for solo entertainment. Last night the market did not let me down, it was Wednesday karaoke night. My favorite night... Apparently July 20 there is a summer all-star karaoke competition.... Not gonna miss it for the world.


I have to go to show my support for this duo.






It made me feel a lot less alone, to be in the company of such talent.


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: dad the pripster

Can't you see my dad. Bowtie and toms combo package. It will confuse all of the hipsters. A pripster! Where prep meets hip.

Watch out, a trend is about to die for the eastsiders! Courtesy of a 60+ yr old man, bless his heart.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: 3 of clubs

Is getting a facelift... It's about time! Been over three years since I last frequented said bar.

Back in the day, my Christmas-visits and primary location of underage drinking took place at said establishment.

I have a soft spot for a place where I took many a drunken long walks home. Yes, probably not the wisest area of LA to walk through at 18, but that's what a girls gotta do to get a drink in this fair city.

Thank you 3 of Clubs. Next stiff round is on me!

See you this weekend.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: tunnel season

We are entering the tunnel-
We are officially entering tunnel season.

When I go through it this way- I start rolling my windows down in anticipation.... Ready to soak it all in.

When I go through it the other way I roll up my windows to keep all the salty air inside.


Thank you McClure! For a lifetime filled with transportive memories.


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: Dia de los padres @ Cecconis

So fine, I may have been slightly hungover at fathers day brunch, but we ordered me a hair of the dog (moscow mule & champs). In no time I was back to the chipper loving middle child that he knows and adores.... And obviously expects to be out of sorts on a Sunday morning.


Cecconis was reliably bougie, and yes we had a handful of bedazzled pink sweatsuits to judge, but all in all, there is a reason why we enjoy sitting terrace-side to that circus of tourists and euro-trash... The food and service just makes up for it all.

The gorganzola gnocchi, I mean pleassssse.



And our family loves to gather and poke fun at other people on special days... We spend the rest of the year targeting each other.

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: pound of canters pastrami

Mental note. A pound of freshly sliced warm pastrami and a handful of chocolate dipped macaroons to go, is best for a 1/2 mile walk home from bars.





- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND:a red wheelbarrow

So much depends
Upon

A red wheel
Barrow

Filled with painted
Flowers

Beside the white
Transvestites.

-Lucy Williams Lucy



* i found it on the corner of melrose at 2am

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: strawberry season

They are best when they are growing in your own back garden, in my case, my parents back garden. They haven't changed the gate code yet... Which means it's fair fruity game until the new residents move in.





I guess next time I want to pick up strawberries it will have to be at my parents new farm up in ojai.... I guess it could be worse... They apparently have over 67 different fruit trees growing on their property.

Something tells me free edibles will not be much of an issue in the future....

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND:village idiot

Two hefes and a sticky toffee pudding later.... I'm arranging lighting for a photo of a restaurant logo...


Red filler


White filler


No filler/natural


All leave you with a very different feeling.... Future key grip I am. Thinking I might just put producing aside for the time being.

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: Grow a Pair

I love LA eyeworks, even though I have superhuman eye strength and have no need for glasses of any kind. That, and honestly I have been frequently told by glasses-salespeople my face doesn't want to be framed. (yes, I find that insulting, it's like telling a girl with straight teeth she doesn't need braces, wait...if braces looked cool, ugh. analogy fail)

Regardless of their feelings, I still find their clever monthly messages posted in their windows witty and worthy of a driveby.

In this case, I did a walkby enroute to village idiot.
Yes, we were carrying roadies. It's the responsible thing to do.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: napping Joe

Walked into my apartment to find my friend Joe. No he doesn't have a key. Yes, it scared the shut out of me.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND:emeril & Tom la bonge & dad at Philippes

So a coworker stumbled upon my dad having lunch with Councilmember La Bonge and just so happened to be filming a Cooking Channel show called the Originals and decided to film the group of them eating and chatting.

My friend who wrote/produced the episode, wrote my dad right in.... If you can see beyond bloated Lagasse, you can see the horn-rimmed Mr. Bennett noshing on a double dipped original.

Dad, well done, you got finally some screen time, despite avoiding it your entire tv career.

And now my blog frames this screengrabbed moment for as long as there is an interweb!





- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

LOST: 433

As I sit in my childhood home for the final time....( While it is still technically my home), I can not help but feel grateful for what happy memories it housed for me during my lifetime.



I'm not a "new agey" person, but the vibes/energy/power of this house are on an extraordinary level and provide that safe sanctuary feeling that all home aspire to supply their residents. It could be because it is on the best block, on the best side of the street, in the best neighborhood, in the best city in the world. Full stop. Not that I'm biased at all.



It is hard to close the door to this house one last time. Although the new family who bought it graciously informed me the doors are always open. The sweetest part of this story is that the younger son of the family remembered mine as I did his - Halloween costume this past year. I being an In-n-out girl and he a three blind mouse.... It was wild that we had a connection on Halloween night when I was at the house giving out candy. Only more fitting that we should be passing our home along to them.

On a more somber note: I'm typing this post on my family couch realizing that the sounds of my parents voices that I am listening to now that are echoing throughout these rooms will no longer echo the same way they do now. As they no longer carry the sounds that were held before the Bennett clan laid their roots down, I want to take a line to remember the moments like these that made the house what it is and was to us all.

There was no real privacy in this house and for that reason I am most thankful, We shared every moment with each other all the time. The good, the better, and the best.


I will save the blog from the lengthy list of memories that made this house the best.... But for now, I must pass the salute along and declare: West Is Best! (as it was hung between two trees, written on a sheet one Halloween, to let our across the street neighbors know who was the reigning champs of the HP annual halloween war!)

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: katie's goodbye

Sad to see a good friend move up to SF... But excited for all the adventures she will surely have!


We all gathered together for a ladies brunch- complete with mimosas....pancakes, guava pie, cinnamon rolls....









Sarah's famous eggs and my pepper maple bacon, I mean... Please.

We will miss you Katiekins!!!!


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

LOST: childhood stuffed animals

My parents are moving and in the process I am letting go of some of my childhood possessions. some are easier to shed than others... Yes,troll I'm talking about you. You are one creepy ass mofo staring at me with your masked face.





The bunny was a gift from the easter bunny.... Where are you Easter bunny? The dog was my vacation animal.... Named him Golden. Has a soft leather nose... Just so you know.


The bear to the right never got much love from me. The monkey sitting to it's right actually was gifted to me by the owner of the Pub I frequented in high school. When I found out my favorite pub was closing my senior year, I ran there after school and when I voiced my condolences to the owner, he plucked a sooty monkey and drum from the wall and told me now I have a piece of it's history.

I still have the drum, but sadly the monkey has to go.

There were some good times... Thanks for keeping me company all of these years.

Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: cinespia

First movie in Hollywood Forever Cemetery of the season.... The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. ( herzog was there to intro the film featuring Bogart.)



It always makes me giggle to see how seriously the attendees takes themselves, running to the front of the projection. We sat happily in the back, with just enough real estate for our tushes.


Bro pouring brews.


Say Cheese.....,plate.



The Austrians were representing!!



Katie brought the candle. An essential.


Cheers my dears.



Dobbs: Can you help a fellow American down on his luck?



- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: olive & thyme

There is this quaint little lunch place just down the street from my office in Turdbank.(heh) It's essentially a rich-mans copy of Joan's on Third, but I forgive them... And their prices... It's one of the best restaurant options nearby. There are only so many days out of a month that you can eat Chipotle.


The $11 grilled veggie panini was a disappointment for the price, but the tuna sandwich looked it. It was massive!

Next time. And next time I am ordering a slice of the Carmel Chocolate Cake.

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: pool pod

When I finally peeled myself out of bed... I rooftopped off my day poolside.

Sittin on a pod by the Pool...

Watchin the clouds rollin so cool...




















I couldn't resist taking so many photos. It was just so peaceful and gorgeous, wanted to soak it up with my camera. Didn't do it justice.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: standard downtown

Checked into the room and used my sisters upgrade... Bless her heart... As it was massive! I pretty much could have put my super king bed into the shower.
It was the perfect venue for our "pre-ball pre-ball"!


Christened the room.


Welcoming our neighbors to the hall, Dan gave them a gift.



Witnessed some Sketchiness down the hall.


Woke up the next morning.... Smiled...Closed my eyes again.

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes