Moby Dick reading at Venice Beach

Moby Dick reading at Venice Beach

*This post contains Affiliate Links*

For 20 years the Venice Oceanarium has hosted an annual Moby Dick Reading at Venice Beach! This year it's being held on the weekend of November 19th and 20th, 2016.

This family friendly event is perfect for anyone that wants to hear a few chapters of Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, or come to hear the whole book. You can even volunteer to read!

Whatever you choose to do, bring your chairs, beach towels and snacks and get ready to enjoy some family friendly fun!

See you there!

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Stickhouse Gelato in Santa Monica

Stickhouse Gelato in Santa Monica

As much as I love ice cream, there's really nothing quite like gelato. But gelato on a stick? Well, that's different...

Direct from Italy with love, introducing for the first time in the U.S. Stickhouse Gelato:



Each Stickhouse Gelato bar is literally gelato on a stick that's made with a La Ghiacciola (“The Icicle”), a machine that uses a special microcrystallization process to create a gelato that's thick and dense with flavor.

The Stickhouse Gelato bars, whether fruit or cream-based, are made daily using only the finest natural ingredients as well as locally sourced fresh and seasonal fruit, that can also be customized with your choice of chocolate and nuts toppings.

While I loved all the toppings and pop flavor combinations, I found that the fruit pops were elevated with the toppings, while the cream-based flavors, such as the cinnamon cheesecake, are better enjoyed without a topping.

My favorite pop being the Strawberry with dark chocolate and hazelnut toppings...try it and let me know what you think!

Stickhouse Gelato
223 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Ana Lydia

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Tacos Tu Madre opens in West Los Angeles

Tacos Tu Madre opens in West Los Angeles

Westwood Blvd. is a walking street.

Whether you're in Westwood Village or West LA, we are fortunate to have many restaurants along the Boulevard. But as many restaurants as we have to choose from, locals have always lamented the lack of a casual place that serves inventive Mexican fare.

Fortunately for us, that's the same thing that restauranteur Joshua Pourgol thought to himself as he fueled his California travels with, what else, tacos.

Inspired by his many taco tastings, Joshua used his passion for good food and keen understanding of the West Los Angeles community to begin plans for his newest restaurant Tacos Tu Madre.

Tacos Tu Madre is a casual walk-up dining Mexican restaurant that gives a culinary twist to Mexican taco classics, such as a chorizo and egg taco, that is actually a single tortilla topped with a fried egg, chorizo (piece), chili lime crema and guacamole; while the fish taco gives an homage to our Sawtelle Little Asian Corridor with its delightful panko crusted cod, topped with shaved cabbage, citrus crema, Siracha aioli, and pickled red onions.

A favorite of mine, the ceviche inspired ahi tuna tostada was topped with large chunks of ahi tuna and California avocados mixed with a poke sauce that gives this coastal classic an unexpected sweet taste. While my hubby's favorite, the Korean BBQ taco, is made with crispy Bulgogi meat and topped kimchee, pickled red peppers, and shaved Asian cabbage.

Speciality tacos that I have yet to try, include the French-inspired Duck Confit and foie gras taco, an earthy Braised Ostrich, and a Japanese-inspired Unagi taco that's served with steamed rice and ugai, hoisin, coconut cream avocado sauce, Sriracha aioli and furikake.

Other items on the menu include the street corn side dish (esquites), which is a light twist on the traditional crema-heavy street-stand classic, the frozen horchata drink and the cream-cheese stuffed red velvet churros.

While Tacos Tu Madre is now open for your dining pleasure, it officially opens it's doors on November 1, 2015, with a complimentary taco for everyone that follows them on Instagram on opening day.

Tacos Tu Madre is open from Sunday-Wednesday 8 a.m. to midnight, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m.

Note: Small eat-in area, but great for take-out.

Tacos Tu Madre
1945 1/2 Westwood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
(Street and metered parking)

Ana Lydia

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Join me at Nordstrom's ENCORE Department Fall Trend Boutique Event

Join me at Nordstrom's ENCORE Department Fall Trend Boutique Event

I'm ridiculously excited to collaborate with Nordstrom Westside Pavilion and host the inaugural Encore Department's Fall Trend Boutique Event this Sunday, October 18.

This is the first time that the Encore Department will be turned into a boutique and house all the lovely accessories and jewelry to compliment the stunning fall clothes that Nordstrom will preview this weekend.

While anyone, including my FAB blogger and journalist friends, can schedule appointments with the Nordstrom stylists from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to select their fall wardrobe, I will be hosting an informal gathering for my friends from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

I can't wait to show you my top fashion picks for the fall, share yummy treats and libations, oh-and-ah as you receive a mini-makeover from Trish McEvoy or gush over your renewed skin after you receive a complimentary LED facial.

Plus, with your RSVP you will be entered to win a lovely gift from the Nordstrom Beauty Department, and the first twelve of my bloggy friends that RSVP and join me will also receive gift from my friends at Nordstrom.

To RSVP, make sure to send me an email to let me know you will be coming. (Bloggy and media friends: you can also email to schedule your mini make-over and complimentary LED facial.)

Can't wait to see you!

Ana Lydia

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Visiting the Hammer Museum in Westwood Village

Visiting the Hammer Museum in Westwood Village

September is a huge month in the Los Angeles Art world.

Many exhibits are closing this month, new exhibits have been announced, and this year a new museum is opening in Downtown Los Angeles.

But unlike everyone else that is going to be recommending the obvious, or simply ra-ra over a new museum opening, I want to tell you about a museum that you have probably never been too - even if you live or work in the area:

The Hammer Museum located in Westwood Village.

Let's get the most pressing doubt out of the way: But it's Westwood....

Yes it is.

So yes, you will be stuck in unbearable traffic on the 405 or Wilshire Blvd. to get to the Hammer Museum.

BUT, then you can just park in the museums own parking lot ($3 parking with validation) and not pay a dollar to get into the museum.  You visit the museum 12 times? You earn a Participate level membership.

The Hammer Museum also has a beautiful courtyard and restaurant, which means that even if you don't dine at Ammo, you can bring your coffee or lunch and sit in one of the awesome swinging chairs (that you can also buy if you feel so inclined to do so).

But let's talk about the various collections in Hammer Museum, both permanent and special exhibits: The Hammer Museum offers the most stylistically eclectic art collection in Los Angeles. Period.

From its curated Classical Art collection, to Avant Garde media abstractions, each floor at the Hammer Museum allows us to see how artists from different backgrounds and periods in time, and how they see the world around them.

A few of my favorite exhibits that are ending soon are: Perfect Likeness: Photography and Composition, which ends today (9/13): Mark Bradford: Scorched Earth, ending on 9/26; and, the Afghan Carpet Project, ending on 9/27.

Of course you can't miss the Armand Hammer Collection of classical Art pieces ranging from European paintings from such renowned artists such as Paul Cezanne and Gustave Moreau, to early American works from artists such as George Bellows; and the largest collection of Honoré Daumier pieces. 

Besides exhibits, the Hammer Museum also schedules special events and movie screenings; sometimes free, but other times fee-based. One of my favorite is the Art Talk, which is a 15-minute art discussion every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Check-out their calendar for event dates and more information.

Ana Lydia

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Our Afternoon in Marina del Rey

Our Afternoon in Marina del Rey

Sometimes it's the little things that matter...Like enjoying a picnic after taking a nice tour around the Marina.

So on a recent weekend, my hubby and I picked-up a packed lunch from Uplifters Kitchen with the plan to spend the afternoon in Marina del Rey and take a tour of the Marina on the Marina del Rey Water Bus.

Honestly, I had never heard about the Water Bus until a friend told me about her experience riding the Water Bus. For $1 per person each way, it totally sounded like something we could do even if we ended-up hating it.

Which we didn't. We LOVED it.

The Water Bus was a super casual way to enjoy the Marina by riding a boat without having a boat. Passengers ranged in ages and backgrounds, but the vast majority were locals that parked a bit too far to walk back to their cars. While some were going to the concert being held later that day at the Burton Chace Park, others just planned to ride along for the day and stop wherever the mood struck them.

To start on our afternoon Marina adventure, we picked-up the Marina del Rey Water Bus at the Dolphin Marina stop and got off at Fisherman's Village.

We had a nice stroll, window shopped and even saw a few sea lions at the Village!

Later in the day, we took the Water Bus to Mother's Beach where we walked around the beach and found a nice place to eat our yummy lunch from Uplifters Kitchen. I didn't notice until that day, but Mother's Beach has several BBQ areas and covered picnic tables. Summer music and parties filled the air, while we connected with a few new friends.

It was such a beautiful day in the Marina.

Perfectly breezy, not too hot, and with the absolutely yummy lunch we had in tow, it was hard not to smile and just be.

It's hard to leave the Marina after such a beautiful afternoon, but eventually we had to get back to our Princess Maya, and took the Water Bus to the Burton Chace Park stop.

Once we got off the Water Bus, we noticed families and couples carrying lawn chairs and setting up their picnic spots around a stage. Turns out that the Marina schedules weekend concerts, and that day was no different.

Had we known about the concert scheduled for later that day, we would have stayed a little longer to enjoy the evenings festivities.

The Marina del Rey Water Bus is scheduled from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but activities -ranging from free concerts and movies - are scheduled  throughout the year.

We plan on going back to enjoy a movie outside - and of course take our Princess Maaya - we hope that you join us too!

To learn more about the Water Bus and the various activities planned for this Labor Day Weekend, visit: Marinadelrey.lacounty.gov

Ana Lydia

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Uplifters Kitchen & Cafe Perfection

Uplifters Kitchen & Cafe Perfection

There's nothing that tastes more like summer than a cool ocean breeze kissing your face while dining al fresco on freshly-made foods that use all the beautiful colors of the season.

It was that charming image in mind, that my hubby and I ventured to Santa Monica to pick-up our morning coffee and a lunch basket on our way to Marina del Rey to spend our Saturday afternoon.

Uplifters Kitchen & Cafe had kindly invited us to try-out their food to-go, but instead turned our wrapped breakfast into a leisurely morning savoring artisan scones, enjoying each bite of the breakfast biscuits, and indulging in the delight of finding something so uniquely Uplifters, that we still revel in the flavor explosions that the breakfast porridge was.

To those unfamiliar with Uplifters Kitchen & Cafe, a Hispanic woman-owned restaurant in the Ocean Park district of Santa Monica, it's a year old restaurant and coffee house, that prides itself in making everything using only the finest local ingredients.

Their lunch and breakfast menu has a range of baked goods, sandwiches, salads, frittatas, flat breads and daily specials.

Chef and Owner Elisabet Spaulding

True to form, as most Ocean Park restaurants tend to be, this is a small establishment with only a few seats overlooking the window and a couple of tables outside. But insiders shared with me, that Uplifters will be growing soon (stayed tuned!).

While everything is made in house, fresh bottled juices and drinks are sourced from local (Los Angeles-based) indie producers and brands.

Coffee lovers can rejoice! Stumpton Coffee is offered on TAP (Uplifters happens to be one of a handful of restaurants in the Westside that sells this coffee fan favorite - on TAP).

Uplifters also has a full coffee bar that creates your favorite espresso drinks and most menu items are vegetarian or vegan friendly, and everything can be prepared to-go or delivered to local businesses. In addition, coffee beans are sold to take home and brew yourself, while many of the art pieces displayed can also be purchased.

For now, you can enjoy breakfast and lunch every day (except for Sunday) at the restaurant or order to-go.

View Uplifters Kitchen menu and hours here: (http://www.uplifterskitchen.com/)

Ana Lydia

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