Live and Dine L.A.

On a warm Sunday evening a couple of weeks ago I went to "Live and Dine L.A." at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica.  This was a fabulous food and wine event put on by Angeleno Magazine with the proceeds benefiting P.S. ARTS, an organization that raises money to put the arts back into the public schools of Los Angeles.  The event featured some of the best restaurants in L.A. and highlighted some of their iconic dishes and great wines.  We ate our way from one end of the event to the other and along the way were introduced to some great new restaurants, exciting new wines, and lovely people involved with the magazine and P.S. ARTS.  On a beautiful night in Los Angeles., I can't think of anything more fun! And it was all for a good cause.

The event coincided with Angeleno's Annual Restaurant Issue

Tar and Roses is a hot new restaurant in Santa Monica

These wines were excellent

Delicious miniature pot pies from Palihouse Courtyard Brasserie

This dish from Post and Beam was beautiful and delicious!

Black cod with pickled cucumber from Picca

The cooks were happy

Everyone was having fun -- the musical entertainment added to the festivities

We ended with dessert from Cooks County -- Huckleberry Meringues

And some great coffee from Handsome Coffee Roasters

If you live in Los Angeles or visit here next summer, try to go to this event.  It is a great summer night in Santa Monica with some of the best food and wines around.  And you will feel good about supporting a wonderful charity that benefits children.

Summer Beauty

"It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top."

-- Virginia Woolf

Summer can be a great time for inspiration.  It is well known that when we daydream our minds are free to roam and we can come up with imaginative creations or stumble upon creative solutions to problems.  And in the summer, when the pace is slower and we are often relaxing, we can get our best ideas and find inspiration for our everyday life. Sometimes it is just a matter of getting away from our own environment to see things more clearly.  Our thoughts take off and we suddenly come up with an inspired thought or notion, an idea or a plan  At this time of the year everything is fresh and lush, colors are vivid, and there is beauty and fragrance wherever we look.  We may be traveling or staying in our own neighborhood when it happens.  But no matter where,  the mood is the same -- relaxation, surrounded by beauty, and then the great idea.  Here are a few images that might lead to some summertime dreaming and arriving at that moment of inspiration!  

 Bougainvillea at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California

Lush pergola at the Getty Villa in Malibu

A vista in Napa, California that looks like the Italian countryside

The grandeur of nature in Sun Valley, Idaho

Closer to home, a neighborhood country mart on a summer day -- the beauty of a simple red barn

 A midsummer's night dream at "The Plow and Angel" restaurant in Montecito

Contemplating garden beauty in faraway places

Monet's home in Giverny, France

And places nearby, in a neighbor's vegetable garden

 Or in a Pasadena garden that was on the Garden Conservancy tour 

And right on the kitchen table -- hydrangeas and roses from the garden

Let your mind wander and dream, be sure to take notes, because as someone once said, "life is not a dress rehearsal."  Let's put some of these great ideas into motion!   Maybe it's an idea for that book or short story you've always wanted to write.  Or maybe it's a system for organizing your books or files, wherever it is you go for inspiration. Having it organized will make your life and your writing easier.  That is my current project, and I am loving how good I already feel!  How about that gardening or art class you have always wanted to take?  Why not learn a new language? I want to take more French classes, having taken them in the past and would love to pick them up again.  Or maybe joining a yoga class or taking bridge lessons is something you'd love to do.  Of course you could always start a blog! 

There are endless ideas out there for us to execute.  Fall is around the corner and it is always a time of exciting and creative activity.  Let's get ready!  Happy dreaming!  

Simple Pleasures

  How was your weekend?  We have been having the most beautiful weather.  The days are longer, the sun is shining and it is the season for casual get togethers and spontaneous outings --  "Let's drive to Corona del Mar and go to Roger's Gardens"!  (a favorite nursery in the area)   July is here and I am appreciating all the simple pleasures of summer.

  I love to take advantage of the fabulous things to do in my own city.  Recently I visited the gardens at the Huntington Library in San Marino.  When I stumbled upon the Lily Pond, I was in awe of its ethereal beauty.

Visiting the Getty Center to see some incredible art ( the Herb Ritts photography exhibition is there right now) and ending up in the gardens is one of the very best things to do in Los Angeles. 

The bougainvillea arbors at the Getty are just amazing!

 Going to the Hollywood Bowl for a concert and picnic is a Los Angeles summertime tradition.

Visiting a local nursery for inspiration in the garden is a summertime treat.  My favorite is Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar.

Putting together a great stack of books for summer reading is a must. 

Going to the movies!  My current favorite is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with Judi Dench, Tom Wilkerson, and Bill Nighy.  Have you seen it?   It is in the vein of "The Enchanted April."  In this case, it is India that has the power to transform the lives of the cast of characters.

Bakes sales for charities such as "Share Our Strength" are a wonderful L.A. summer tradition.  I go to this one each year.

Favorite cookbooks for summer cooking need to be out for inspiration.

A summer cooking goal, to make Paella!
Photo and recipe via here

Discovering a new summer cocktail -- Blood Orange, Mint and Chamomile Margaritas
Photo and recipe via here

And at the end of the day, we all want to be out on the patio sipping that chilled summer cocktail.  I hope you are enjoying the simple pleasures of the season!