FOR THE FOODIES

And you know who you are!
Lunch with my cuties, Sandie and Lisa Girl.
Laurie Pie and Kita have a major discussion about who gets dinner…...
Chinese from Gourmet 88 is the very best!
Sandie Girl was brave enough to tackle my Chicken/cheese Enchilada…..
It kinda oozes out all over but the taste is pretty good…...

 Back to Bar Verde after a very long absence…It’s always a joy to be with Beautiful Mary…..

 Their tacos are unusual and quite tasty…...

 Favorite place, favorite person….At Julienne’s with dear Maggie. There quiche with a spinach crust is beyond belief!

 Maggie spotted this table of total cell phone users….too funny or too sad.  You decide.

Finally, an artery clogging lunch with cousin Carol at Art’s in Studio City. That’s a chocolate egg cream you see next to my hand.  I am sooooo bad!

Seriously, what was I thinking?  This was so high it was jaw breaking! Verdict?  Langer’s next time.

The Loquats are ready to harvest.  Two trees from one amazing Italian seed.May all your days be joyfully fruitful!
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GO INTO ORBIT

…..At The Huntington Botanical Garden’s amazing exhibit on the Celebration Lawn.  This extraordinary experience within a Nautilus-shell-shaped 28 foot ‘sculpture’ is clad in shiny aluminum and you enter an amazing sound experience.

Marsha and Stu, my life long snow bird friends from Chicago who winter in Newport Beach, huddle with brilliant Curator Susan Maxwell before entering the Orbit to hear NASA’S fleet of earth science satellites that monitor our planets vital signs. This sound experience represents the movement of the International Space Station and 19 earth satellites.  As there is no sound in space, each satellite has been given a recorded sound attached to it’s signal and that’s what you hear from a speaker as it’s trajectory is picked up.  For the Space Station, because it’s manned, it’s sound is that of a choir!  'These NASA studies help to unravel the complexities of our planet from the highest reaches of Earth’s atmosphere to it’s core.'

Inside the structure is where things get really interesting, as each satellite flies overhead through space, that corresponding sound is emitted from each of the 28 speakers mounted on the structure’s interior wall.' Visitors walking into the structure hear a new kind of symphony, with a sound interpreting each of the satellites’ various missions: among them a human voice, the crashing of a wave, a tree branch moving, a frog croaking. The “soundscape” was composed by Oakland-based sound artist Shane Myrbeck.'

Here’s a list of the satellites along with their tasks.


I suggest that you go first to NASA’s related interactive exhibit, “EYES ON THE EARTH” in the Mapel Orientation Gallery right across from the yummy new restaurant, 1919. You’ll learn so much and be better prepared to experience the ORBIT.

Susan also graciously gave us a special tour of the ‘GARDEN OF FLOWING FRAGRANCE’ ( Liu Fung Yuan) where I learned quite a bit more than I had known.  Those of you who went on the trip to China with Charles and myself will long remember the Gardens of Suzhou whose architects and artisans built this astonishing garden. This memorable day was thanks to lovely Cris Lutz who you can see to the right in this photo.  It was a joy to share this beautiful experience with her.  Thank you Cris!

I seriously doubt that there’s a rock, pebble, shrub or tree that Susan is not knowledgeable about!

This was quite possibly the most exquisite Chinese Magnolia I have ever seen and I could hardly wait for the next Brush painting class for it to be our subject! As you know if you’ve ever been in class….a flower is never just a flower but represents something so sublime speaking to the harmony of heaven and earth!

This fine fellow, a Canadian Goose, enjoyed sailing amidst the Lotus Pods about to shed their seeds for next seasons growth.

The stunning rocks are all from Lake Tai and one could spend a day just contemplating their complexity! It’s apparent the garden is aptly named as with each season new plants and trees bring forth their heavenly fragrances.
Oh joy! As you walk along each pathway, pause to note each stone beneath your feet has been handset by an artisan!
The newly reopened restaurant, 1919, is a mini Border Grill and you know how great that is!  There are classics like tacos on homemade tortillas, ceviche, and aqua frescos along with sushi at a small plates bar.  So many delicious choices…..Here’s the yummy sandwich ares.
A couple of evenings later there was a most interesting and knowledgeable lecture “From Castles to Tea Rooms: Japanese Architecture and Carpentry Traditions of the Edo Period (1600-1868)
To my utter amazement, this was the last slide….
I just can’t imagine how the photo from my March 19th 2013 blog was found!
So there you have it….LIVE JOYFULLY!

A FABULOUS SOIREE FOR THE CALIFORNIA ART CLUB

….at the home of incomparable Valerie Foster Hoffman, Hostess with the Mostest.

California Art Club Executive Director Elaine Adams, wife of Peter Adams the plein air artist extraordinaire!

Our beautiful hostess whose grandfather painted the remarkable copies of Pinkie and Blue Boy…..
I’ll show you some more of the lovely table areas. Here one in the library,
Well maybe just a little more….

I love these two….Martha and Scott!
Does this photo make me look fat?Lady Vanessa said NO!Exquisite flowers by Amy at Le Jardin Privé!
I wish you lovely evenings filled with love and laughter!!!

LOVE IS A VERB

 ….and no one expresses it more fully than Miss Judith who is the template for doing good and friendship!  As an Executive Advisory Board Member of the ‘Iris Cantor UCLA Women’s Health Center', Miss Judith includes me in her list of guests for the annual ‘LUNCH WITH THE SCIENTISTS’ at UCLA.  During this joyful event, young scientists present their exciting research projects in Women’s health.
The money raised by the Executive Advisory Committee has led to $20,000,000. in funding.  Awesome!
Thank you Miss Judith, I ‘m honored to be amongst the myriad of friends who adore you!
Here’s Sweet Eileen, another kind and caring soul, always ready to lend a hand where needed.
I know I shouldn’t have but dessert was soooooooo good!
It’s all the more time to be mindful and fill each moment with joy!  My number one joy….my students!!!

Class in the studio is always a great joy!
You know the Huntington is dear to my heart and it’s always a joy to connect up with Cris Lutz!
There’s a new menu at the Rose Garden Tea Room and it’s wonderful...
We had to ask what this was but then all you smarties knew….correct….a Gooseberry!
To carry on the luncheon theme….lunch at the Bistro Garden’s with cousin Carol….
More eating…this time at Din Tai Fung with the one and only Lisa B.  Who gets the last Pork Dumpling?
I’m quite proud to say I introduced Lisa Girl to Mango Bobba Slushies and now she too is addicted!
That was so much fun why not do it again with Monique Schenk, my awesome architect! (We had Bobba’s later!)
Trudy was a student of mine years ago, until she and hubby Paul moved to La Jolla.  They came up for a visit and wanted to go to the Tam O’Shanter.  Amazingly it’s still in business and actually crowded!
Afterwards we went toThe Improv Theatre on Vermont to be amongst the 40 or so people it can accommodate.

Just ‘cause I love this photo!

Michael and Hildegard Lindsay have been dear friends for ages.  Michael, an advertising genius, got the idea for a comic book years ago that would unfold the idea of how, in the future, a robot could become president of the United States.  His illustrations, done at that time are finally in book form and it was presented at Vroman’s in Pasadena.

Class at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, as always, could not have been more fun!
After class Nikka and I stopped at Din Tai Fung for an early dinner and of course….Strawberry/Mango Bobba slushes! Then time to pick up Kita at dear Trudy’s!
Wishing you everything sweet and delightful!