On Sundays, I have time, and with this time, I walk. Sometimes my walks take me into the sinuous hills of Beachwood, sometimes into the sun-baked paths of Griffith Park. Sometimes my walks turn into runs, as I join the motivated, life-affirming achievers that chase …
“Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood!” A week or two after we moved in to our neighborhood, my husband and I both became conscious of a young woman who lived in the building across the street from ours. She couldn’t have gone unnoticed. She looked about twenty-five years …
I asked for a Red Hook cocktail with Bulleit Rye, but the bartender suggested something else. A Red Car Named Desire is made with rye, luxardo, and cassis, with a peel of lemon. At first taste, it was too sweet for my liking, but it …
I live on the East Side, but I work on the West Side. When I moved to Los Angeles, I found this scenario unthinkable. I’d found a place in Hollywood, and while I looked for work, I looked solely east of La Cienega. If I …
During the week of Zooey Deschanel and Pat Morrison’s war of words over Downtown LA, two opportunities arose to experience the wonders of the metropolitan center of the city. The first was the Thrillist Bols Genever Punch Crawl on Wednesday night, and the second was …
My favorite way to spend the 4th of July weekend is at the beach, as I’ve done for the last three years. I have an affinity for Manhattan and Hermosa beaches, as do all of the rowdiest high school and college kids, who enjoy getting …
One month after my return, Paris is with me still, casting itself over my every experience like a transparency overlay. In the morning, when I walk to my driveway and get in my car, another version of me continues walking down a narrow 17th-century cobblestone …
I’ve recently had a new and unexpected experience in Los Angeles: that of a cancer patient. Here’s what I learned: people get cancer. Even if they’re pursuing their dreams. Over the years, I’ve thought about cancer a lot, actually. I’ve made adjustments in my diet …
In the heart of Hollywood, at the foot of Griffith Park and just east of the Walk of Fame lies a street lined with tall, supple date palms. Their green and orange bursts of foliage frame a corridor of sky that leads straight to the …
I’ve always had a thing for cafes. It began in high school, with a search for a personal identity. (That’s an interesting time in a teenager’s life – her first unaccompanied forays into social activities. What one chooses to do, where one chooses to go, …