FOUND: Thigmotrophism

Dearest Mommykins,

It probably wasn't smart sending me to Flora Grubb's blog, as I now will be requesting that you now make me some living wall art!

My walls are feeling bare... I think they need a little life.

Let's start with the walls in my dining room... I am thinking a vertical Tillandsia garden...

Love,

Lucykins

FOUND: Google-mobile

I felt privileged that I caught the Google Car Cam that drove through my neighborhood this week.

I obviously was tempted to do something "blur-worthy" as a result.

If you want to see what inappropriate thing I did on Google Street View, be sure to google street view my address....

I had a little bit of inspiration with this one.

UPDATE: Google Street View has not updated from this morning.

FOUND: Our Family Tree

A Christmas tree fell on my dad's head. Thank God my mom was there to come to the rescue and remove it.... after a good laugh... of course.

FOUND: Julienne

My friend, Sarah, has been raving about this place for years and I finally got there...

Got there and didn't want to leave.

Julienne, in San Marino, CA, trumps Joan's on Third quality (if that is even possible) and is an establishment with a heart. I pretty much wanted to buy everything, from the cookbooks to the olive oils to the entire pre-prepared food section.

I ended up buying Sarah her favorite: A layered sun-dried tomato pesto and basil pesto Terrine.

To Die For.

I brought it over to her and then insisted she share it with me... that is the kind of friend I am. Not an Indian Giver, but an Indian Sharer. I bought it, now share it!

Julienne Fine Foods

2649 Mission Street
Pasadena, CA 91108-1639
(626) 441-2290

Open Weekdays 7am-10:45am, 11:30am-3:30pm; Sat 7:30am-11:30am, 12:30pm-3:30pm

FOUND: Brewery Holiday Party

Andrea & Big Mike hosted a pretty epic holiday party at their home at The Brewery. It was complete with space heaters, a bar, a buffet, servers and the essential: an Art Board where guests were encouraged to tag, sketch, write, draw, doodle, or- in my case- STUSSY.

(I successfully mastered it in middle school and I am pretty proud I was able to tap into and share my early 90's doodle-bilities )

Great party, Great people. Grate....ful I was invited.

FOUND: Holiday Party #1

Here are the photos from the party I attended below in the Downtown Desert.

The first photo was my failed attempt at a Band photo.

The second was a somewhat failed attempt at Solo artist photo.

The third photo was just an empty hallway to show how undeveloped this building is.

The last few are party pictures.

FOUND: Haas Building (Downtown LA)

I have officially started the holiday office party circuit as a PLUS ONE. I love attending as a guest to an office holiday party. I always say YES to party invites. Most people would find it uncomfortable as an outsider... for some reason I love an excuse to socialize with people I don't know.

This particular party was thrown by a financial firm that basically had a party budget that included handing each person a $100 bill at the door to throw into the fireplace. Ok, so I am exaggerating, but I think it was fair to say that I was impressed. There were two full dinner buffets and two full open bars.. a DJ, a Magician (not a joke), and a gorgeous loft space rented out dressed "all in white". It was pretty spectacular.

LOFT SEVEN is the name of the rental space inside of the Haas Building and I now know where I am going to throw my 30th birthday... sorry California Club... there is a jacuzzi on the rooftop.

FOUND: Mignon

On Saturday, I did something that most people in my neighborhood have never done before: I hopped onto the 16 bus and took a ride downtown.

Now I have always been a huge advocate of riding public transportation and have done a considerable amount during my lifetime. Given my car and multiple bike ownership, I haven't yet found a need for public transportation. Sad, I know.

I decided this weekend that I didn't want to imbibe and drive, so now was the time to explore the transportation offerings in my hood.

And let me say, I was one happy rider, to discover what options are available to me.

For a mere $1.50 I can take a bus from literally my doorstop to Cole's on BUS 16 or 316.

So fine, it takes an additional 10 minutes to take public transportation, but honestly... saved me from having to find the elusive DTLA parking spot... oh and the third cocktail I drank went down a lot easier knowing I had a free cab voucher taking me home.

When I popped off the magical 16 bus, I was thinking I should pop into Cole's for a quick pint pre-ballet and ended up at MIGNON instead. Something caught my eye when I walked by this fantastically cute bar, with only 12 seats. It was probably the fact that it was 6:30pm on Saturday and a sign out front said Happy Hour until 7pm.

Anyway, the name of the bar could not have been any more perfect, as the whole experience could be summed up as being "cute". I had 30 minutes to kill and the $5 glasses for any glass of wine, wet my whistle. Passing time, I nursed my recommended rose and conversed with a downtown-ette about the evolution of DTLA. She kindly walked through with me what to consider should I ever want to move downtown and also advised me the best walking route to the theater. If you go to Mignon, be sure to look up at the light fixtures... clothing hangers.. very cute, indeed!

Mignon

128 East 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 489-0131

FOUND: Nutcracker in Little Tokyo

Catherine and I went to the Marat Daukayev Ballet of the Nutcracker in Little Tokyo at the Japan America Theater. It was just the right dosage of Christmas that I needed to kickstart the holiday!

The only thing missing was the orchestral setup.

Andrei Ivanov, a soloist with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, will dance the part of the Prince. More than 100 students, ages three to 17, who train at the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet in central L.A., will also dance in the production. They’ll be sure to stay on their tip-toes, as Artistic Director Marat Daukayev himself will dance the part of Drosselmeyer.

LOST: Feeling in right arm

Yes, I am hooked, Dodgeball is my new addiction.

I only subbed in to help out my friend, Joe Boo's team, Ball & Oates.

We may have lost, but I played my heart out.

I have determined I am going to join a team, I had too much fun to only do this as a substitute.

I first need to get feeling back in my right arm, it is terribly sore.

My favorite part of the evening, included a field trip to Cha Cha, post game... drenched in sweat for $2.50PBRs.

My favoritest part of the evening, Joe Boo modeling for all of us, debuting his best poses.

FOUND: Holi-desk

My desk looks like christmas vomited all over it.

I have my holiday wreath hung.

I have my Starbucks plastic recyclable cup, complete with candy cane straw.

I have the lights strung up.

I have a glass of wine on my desk. *

*It is "for work purposes" I had to take a photo of a glass of red wine to use on our show. True Story, Amazing excuse.

I am loving listening to the the commentary said under their breath as co-workers pass my desk assuming I am drinking on the job:

"Why are you so special?"

"Been a rough day? "

"Really Lucy, Started already?"

"Pour me a glass"

"Is it time to drink already?"

"What time is it? It's wine time!"

"Why are you so lucky?"

"I wonder which show is premiering tonight?"

"Prop, Smop... I don't buy it Bennett!" - My favorite!

FOUND: CHICK-fil- MY MOUTH!

So it seems as though some crappy fast food chain will be replaced with another fast food chain. Obviously I am not doing a good job of absconding my possible interest in this new development on the corner of Sunset & Highland.

Groundbreaking begins next Thursday, Dec. 16, with the Chick-fil-A cows kicking off the festivities at 10 a.m.

My roommate is a big fan of Chick-fil-a and I have yet to eat there... and clearly I am FASCINATED. I will be sure to have "my people" reserve a table for its opening weekend. Not sure if I want to eat the chicken yet... need to investigate further on the quality of the meat... but obviously would dabble in some fry-action. Always looking for an alternative to the IN-N-Out line at the Sunset & Orange location.... Desperate moments of hunger do take hold of me in the wee hours of the weekend.

FOUND: City Elevator

Went to a holiday party in Downtown LA, there was nothing out of the ordinary there, but when I arrived... the location was completely out of the ordinary.

Now I am very familiar with the various sections of downtown, from the Brewery development to all of the Factory/Toy/Biscuit Lofts... but this building was in a part of downtown that NO ONE lives in.

Basically I was in the Desert of Downtown on Pico.

So we took this rickety elevator up to the forth floor of a very undeveloped building. So undeveloped it was essentially a construction site, except for the 3 apartments that were built out by the tenants.

Now Picture this: $1/sq foot for rent.

The holiday party was swinging and everyone ohhh and ahhh'ed at the masterpiece that was this apartment.

I, of course, spent more time exploring the rest of the construction site/apartment building and ended up on the rooftop where I got one of the most sensational views of DTLA. It was ABSURD. Completely unobstructed and from a perspective I had never seen before. I was tempted to sleep on the roof to see what it would look like in the morning. The skies have been so clear recently that even Mt Baldy has been paying us a visit.

Not sure if I could pull the trigger on moving to the Desert of Downtown, but am tempted with views like these.

FOUND: Scoops West

SCOOPS WESTSIDE!

I knew this was bound to happen, seeing as though all trends start on the East side of this city and move West. (bold comment, but true)

From the Heliotrope store, to the freezer of Golden State... I now have a destination West of La Cienega where I can eat a scoop (multiple, of course) of tasty gelato.

Brown Bread Ice Cream... Hear me ROAR!

Scoops Westside 3400 Overland Ave (at Woodbine) Los Angeles, CA 90034 323-405-7055

FOUND: 'Tis the Season

When the holidays roll around:

I can't help but miss Christmas shopping in London.

From:

Hampstead High Street - stopping for an obligatory crepe, obvi

Old/New Bond Streets

Harrods

Selfridges

Harvey Nichols

King's Road

Spitalfield's Market

Camden Town

Covent Garden

All of the museum shops....

LIBERTY!

or maybe it is just the roasted chestnuts that I am craving.

FOUND: Berlin Political Posters

When I was in Berlin, it was during election season, and posters were the wallpaper to the city.

I was very fascinated to see how they defaced the faces of these politicos.

Not gonna lie, made me chuckle.

Perfectly placed: Clowns at the Park.

FOUND: Succulent Arrangements

These are two of my favorite succulent arrangements that my mom has done!

Just thought I would share them with you...

I am thinking I might just end up starting a succulent blog and drop this whole "LA" thing entirely.

Succulents: Lost and Found.

FOUND: Citizen Cake

My kind of lunch.

My kind of setting.

I was a citizen for a day.

Citizen Cake.

Except I didn't eat cake.

Next time, because there will be a next time.

FOUND: Hollywood Ice Cream Cone

Post- Hollywood Farmer's Market shopping with my old roommate, Rachel, we stumbled upon a sculpture made by an old classmate from 3rd Street Elementary School.

You can find this sculpture in the window of CaffeEtc.

The Ice Cream Cone was made by Charlotte Dean

Saw the photos she sent to us of the building process, it was a treat to actually see it in person.

It was so perfect that I was with Rachel at the time.

FOUND: Date Shakes

A mandatory stop on a trek to Palm Springs:

HADLEY'S

For a Date Shake.

This is where I first discovered my love for the date.

In shake-form.... it is pretty magical.

When you see the sign, pull off the freeway, order a large and share with those in your car.

Just don't tell them it is a Date-shake, until after they have taken a sip.

Hadley Fruit Orchards was founded by Paul and Peggy Hadley in 1931 in Banning, California. Their neighbors were the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. According to members of the Morongo tribe, Paul Hadley often provided tribal members with fruit and dates, fostering a rapport with Hadley Fruit Orchards that remains to this day.

FOUND: Berkeley Called

I found my Calling... at Berkeley.

My dad was a bear and I am hoping one day I will be one too.

I walked the grounds of my father's alma mater and fell in love with the campus.

One day, one day...

I will get my M.A.

in Journalism?

in Design?

hmmm, first I need to master decision-making.