Local travel – Page 2 – Unhealed Wound

Los Angeles Book Festival—Not for Book Lovers Only

Written by diana on April 27, 2015. Posted in Art, Local travel. 1 Comment on Los Angeles Book Festival—Not for Book Lovers Only

The Los Angeles Book Festival attracts approximately 150,000 people each year and is the largest book festival in the country. Not only booksellers, authors, and publishers attend but also musicians, and local artisans who sell food and clothing. Movie stars present their recent memoirs and children’s books they have written. Cooking demonstrations on some stages promote cookbooks. There is even a tent where you can have your name written in Arabic calligraphy. This annual event, sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, is now held on the University of Southern California’s campus. Authors and publishers...

TBD–Totally Beautiful Dinner

Written by diana on October 29, 2014. Posted in Local travel, Restaurants. No Comments on TBD–Totally Beautiful Dinner

The second San Francisco restaurant in SoMa from the entrepreneurs, Matt Semmelhack and chef Mark Liberman, TBD –“To Be Determined”– serves a very different menu from AQ (their first restaurant located next door). The menu focuses on wood-fired small plates, mostly served in cast iron pans, prepared on a custom hearth and grill in an open kitchen in a more casual setting than AQ. Each dish was amazing. We started with warm Josey Baker bread with corn, cotijo and espelette, followed by a beet salad with grapes and walnuts just touched by a subtle fresh horseradish. Beet...

GORGEOUS: Confronting Beauty in Some Extreme Forms

Written by diana on August 18, 2014. Posted in Art, Local travel. 2 Comments on GORGEOUS: Confronting Beauty in Some Extreme Forms

[Guest post from artist Tracey Adams who currently has her own show at the Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, and K. Imperial Fine Arts, San Francisco. In addition, The Huffington Post interviewed Tracey in “Everything in My Life Is Interconnected” on art, music and math.] Last week I had the pleasure of seeing GORGEOUS, an exhibition of works from both the SFMOMA and the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. The curators mentioned, this exhibition is not about the context or meanings of the objects. Rather, the focus is on what the objects look like and how we react to them. What...

Green Chalk Contemporary–It’s All About Fish

Written by diana on July 13, 2014. Posted in Art, Local travel, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on Green Chalk Contemporary–It’s All About Fish

The year-old gallery, Green Chalk Contemporary, in Monterey, is currently presenting “FRESH FISH “, a show of over 50 artworks contributed by local, national and international artists. Emotionally resonant subject matter, expressive brushwork, vibrant colors, deep and rich paint and ink tones, mixed media, found objects and industrial materials all are evident in eclectic compositions. Squid ink, seaweed, threads, epoxy and glass, and dried anchovies screamed out “FISH.” This exhibit ( part of the Lighthouse District’s Big Splash” events going on in...

SideTour–When You Don’t Want to Feel Like a Tourist

Written by diana on May 19, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle, Local travel, Travel (Domestic). 2 Comments on SideTour–When You Don’t Want to Feel Like a Tourist

On a recent vacation in New York City, we thought we would try out SideTour (www.sidetour.com), an online marketplace for unusual, offbeat experiences and activities. Originally designed not for tourists but for locals who want to discover secret treasures in their own neighborhood, the company has now begun to expand to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. Acquired by Groupon in mid-2013, SideTour continues to gain momentum and expand its repertoire while continuing to keep group size between 5-12 participants on average and costs within the $25-85 price...

Bottega Louie–A Mega Bottega

Written by diana on April 8, 2013. Posted in Local travel, Restaurants, Unhealed Wound. No Comments on Bottega Louie–A Mega Bottega

Bottega Louie opened in 2009 in downtown Los Angeles and is in good company with some of the finest restaurants in the area. The 10,000-square-foot paean to the good life is more than a marble and brass palatial restaurant/gourmet market/patisserie with 20-foot ceilings. No detail has been overlooked. More than three years under construction, Bottega Louie also has a European style bakery and about 200 employees. The bakery creates 800 pastries a day and is a destination throughout the city for its pastel-colored macaroons. In addition there is a counter devoted to 20 kinds of breads and...