More LA - Joan's On Third

Almost across the street from OK (see previous feature), you'll find Joan's On Third, the gourmet marketplace and café in Los Angeles.
Have you seen the movie "It's Complicated"?  Joan's On Third was the inspiration for Meryl Streep's business in that movie.  For a while it even looked like the filming was to happen right there.

Although, primarily a store, I make sure I have lunch there at least once while in LA.  The sandwiches are exquisite, but leave room for desert!  Of course, if you live in LA you can have your modest or fancy event catered, or just buy dinner to go, and some cheese, and pasta sauces, and look at those cookies!
The single most painful experience I have, every time I step foot into Joan's On Third, is to decide what to get.  Everything looks and tastes so scrumptious!

OK - LA!

 

Now that California is back among the states in which you can marry whomever you love, I would like to dedicate this feature to the store that got us lots of goodies when we go married:

OK, on Third Street in Los Angeles (and on Silverlake Boulevard), myfavotite place to spend money on things I didn't know I had to have.

Of course, the only thing more fun than shopping for yourself is to buy the perfect present for someone else!  Whether is jewelry by a local artist, a Japanese rice paper lamp by Isamu Noguchi, or the perfect cheese knife from Switzerland, you will have no problem getting your fix buying something you or that someone special will cherish for a long, long time.

And the books!  These are usually my downfall, especially when the proprietor, and good friend, Larry Schaffer brings out some unique book from the back, he just knows I can't live without.

 

Support Marriage Equality!

Springtime At Filoli

If you are of a certain age you may recognize this grand, 1915 Willis Polk designed estate as the Carrington mansion from the 1980s prime time soap "Dynasty".

Today, however, visitors flock to Filoli, halfway down the San Francisco Peninsula, to wander around the gorgeous grounds and admire the gardens.

This is the time of the year you'll find the gardens the most spectacular.   The tulips in particular are in full bloom and you'll catch the fragrance of Hyacinths, Jasmine and a few Daffodil variaties.

The mansion itself is very "old world" with an über-formal interior.  The kitchen, with its own safe for all the silver, was the most fun for me to see.  It has a certain "Downton Abbey" feel.

Oh, I almost forgot!  While enjoying your surroundings, try not to think of the fact that Filoli was built right on top of the San Andreas Fault Line...

Alexis: [to Krystle] "I just can't wait for the day when I see you walking out of this house carrying the same two cheap plastic suitcases that you walked in here with".