Exploring Southern California Through Architecture and Fashion
The bartender gracefully slides a crisp menu under my nose. I scan the cocktails, most of which tout ingredients that make my head loll slightly to one side. Dimmi? Dolin Dry? Lillet? Linie? I feel a little uninformed and ill-prepared to order a drink, but I try to act cool because that’s what you do…
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It only started happening recently, but every single time I make brunch plans with a friend, I catch myself googling, “best French bistros in LA.” Then I stop myself. Wait. Why does it have to be French? In the past month, I’ve schlepped across town for baguettes and cheeses, and sat on more woven rattan…
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A little over a month ago, I had the pleasure of spending an evening at the Los Angeles Opera. It was the closing night of a Verdi classic—La Traviata. Still slightly buzzed from a pink gin cocktail I sipped on earlier, I was feeling everything a little extra that evening. (I had the drink at…
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The evening is dark, and the streets are almost empty. I make my way past the doorman guarding the deep, burgundy doors of Raspoutine—a Russian-inspired nightclub in West Hollywood. (Don’t be fooled by the name, this is a French import with a few other locations across the globe, including Paris, Rome and Marrakesh). Once inside,…
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The tour bus rattles as it makes its way up the winding, pristine slopes of Hearst Ranch—an 80,000-acre plot of land that surrounds the infinitely majestic and calendar-pretty Hearst Castle. The crowd inside the bus is typical—a mishmash of locals playing tourist in their state and actual tourists with their petulant, uninterested-looking sons and daughters.…
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“I meant to ask you, have you ever been to Redbird?” I direct-message my friend-slash-fellow-journalist Kristin Vartan on Instagram. Aside from a knack for words, we also have a mutual respect for places with a past— museums, old residences, historic restaurants and cafes. Redbird, I discovered, is that sort of place, and as it turns…
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It’s hot. I walk with a sense of urgency, my heels pinching my middle and little toes every time they smack the pavement. In an utterly predictable bit of kvetching—because I always seem to wear uncomfortable shoes on days when I have to do the most walking—I tell my friend Kristin Vartan how my kicks…
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I stretch my neck forward to look up at the sky through the front windshield, and for a second there, I lose all heart in the work I’m about to do. It’s gloomy, and the sun is showing no signs of ever breaking through the thick ceiling of congregated clouds. When I first discussed the…
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I turn around the corner, and my breath catches in my throat when I see it. It’s almost like the curtain parts, and I’m treated to a grand, extravagant production. Guo Pei’s exhibit in Santa Ana is somewhat like a visual aria—beautiful music wrapped in overheated drama, punctuated by a masterly command of whispered emotions.…
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I started thrift-shopping at Goodwill a little over a year ago, right when I realized 80’s fashion was making a major comeback. I wanted the decade’s euphoric, maximalist aesthetic! I wanted those razor-sharp shoulders! Asymmetric ruffles! Lantern sleeves! And ah, those dramatic turtlenecks, too. Instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars for cool, vintage-inspired looks…
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