I Don't Really Know What I've Gotten Myself Into, But It Looks Fun!

So I promised a post about Venice sometime soon, and this one is set in Dogtown, through and through.

Recently, I decided to set some personal goals for myself. The first one was to get involved in some kind of community service, and the second one was to more seriously pursue creative activities.

Well, I've managed to get started on the first one, and next week I'll start tutoring high schoolers at a juvenile detention facility (yikes), but more on that later.

I was a little bit at a loss for where to begin on my second goal though, so it was fate when I got invited to the Venice Art Crawl a few weeks ago. The VAC is a monthly art show that is put on by a collection of businesses, restaurants, and galleries in Venice to show case local artists, musicians, poets and other creatives. The Venice Art Crawl has only been around for a year, but it is a fantastic monthly event, and it really brings the Venice community together. As you can see from the pictures below, I had a blast, and decided that this might be a great avenue to get involved in the art scene.

So after a little research on the magical interwebs, I found a potluck/ mixer for the Venice Art Crawl planning committee.

So last night, armed with a home made bruschetta and a bottle of wine, I timidly made my way to a swanky little rooftop in Venice, where I met lots of nice people, drank several glasses of wine, and in under 2 hours, secured a spot in this month's Venice Art Crawl.

That's right, I'm showing in an Art Crawl, next Thursday. My head is still spinning. I think that the people at the mixer must have really liked the bruschetta, or the spinach dip that my friend  Lauren brought, because they didn't even ask to me see my paintings, and offered me a gallery space on the spot.

The best part is, the swanky little rooftop where the mixer was, is actually where I get to show my paintings, along with two other artists next week. So here's it comes, my shameless self-promotion, because this is in fact, my blog.

Please, please come to my show. It would mean the world to me. In case that's not enough, here are some other good reasons:

1. My show is at Venice Breeze Suites, which is a vacation rental property. It's beautiful. The sunset view from this rooftop is to die for.

2. There will be lots of other good artists there, and art is good for the soul. Plus, people will be impressed when you tell them you are "a patron of the arts."

3. I promised the property manager I'd make bruschetta again. You can have some too.

4. It's free. You aren't going to find anything else more fun AND free to do next Thursday night.

5. I'll probably throw in some wine. Trust me,  it'll help you better appreciate the art.

6. You read my blog, and therefore, I assume you kind of love me, and you'll (hopefully) like my work.


Okay, I'll stop the list and just give you the details. Hope to see you next week!

xo, Beach City Girl

P.S. for more information  (and pictures!) about the VAC, check out these links: http://www.veniceartcrawl.com/  and  http://www.venicepaparazzi.com/

Hike to the Hollywood Sign: It's so El Lay.

There are so many tourist-ey things to do in LA. There's the Hollywood walk of fame, Rodeo Drive, lunch at the Ivy, and of course going to the Hollywood sign. They're the sort of things that you think to yourself, "Hey, I live here, I should do that." and then you never do. Up until I came to Pepperdine, I had no idea that you can actually hike to the Hollywood sign. Somehow, even though Campus Recreation leads a hike up there every semester, I never managed to go. I blame it on too many trips to the Malibu Inn and Sunset Bar & Grill  tests I had to study for.

Long story short, a couple of weeks ago, a few of my friends suggested that we go on the hike, and since I'd been putting it off, I thought, "Why not? It's summer, I'm young, and somewhat active, this will be fun."

Well, it would have been more fun if I had remembered to bring tennis shoes on the morning of the hike. Nevertheless, we were already planning on going, so I gamely decided to do the hike in flip flops (in hindsight, this was totally unintentional, but very LA. No one wears appropriate footwear here). We drove up into the Hollywood Hills, passing posh mansions, and cars that cost more than my parents' house. When we finally parked, we saw that the Hollywood sign was fairly close. It just happened to be up a steep trail-less incline.

Un-daunted, we decided the most logical thing to do was to take some pictures. I should probably explain, we were under the impression that there would be a clearly marked path to the sign, but instead of looking up how to get to it beforehand, someone in our group (who will remain nameless) just googled "Hollywood Sign" and that was the means we used to find ourselves at the base of this hill.

After an appropriate amount of jumping pictures and high fives, we stopped a woman who was jogging by and asked her how to get to the actual hike. She told us it was just around the corner and through a small gate, and that the sign was about a half hour hike up the hill. We proceeded to walk around the corner, only to find a small dirt path that dead ended in some trees. So naturally, we stopped to take more pictures.

Clearly, we were very focused on the task at hand. About twenty minutes later, we realized that we simply hadn't walked far enough, because the "trail" up to the sign was actually a large, paved road that went all the way to the top. Yet another example of how well Los Angeles tolerates nature. On the other hand, the asphalt road made the fact that I was wearing flip flops much less of a problem. It also eased the path for the army of mommy-hikers with strollers who were out on that fine Monday morning. Honestly, it was like the 405, only with toddlers in strollers and men wearing baby bjorns.

The hike took us longer than thirty minutes, but that could have something to do with all of the pictures we stopped to take. When reached the top we were greeted with two very interesting facts:

1. There were about fifty people milling around the summit of the hike. Starbucks is probably going to open up a franchise there next week. It was SO crowded.

2. The end of the hike actually spits you out behind and above the Hollywood sign, and there's about 60 feet and a chain link fence that separates you from the actual letters of the sign. This was a tiny bit disappointing, as it meant I could not climb inside one of the "O"'s and stick my head out, which is what I was hoping for.

Even though the City of Los Angeles did not want anyone to use the Hollywood sign as a jungle gym, the view from the top was really lovely. We could see allllll the way across town to the ocean. Ahhhh.

Everyone should go hike to the Hollywood sign. It's a quick, fun hike, you'll get some fresh air in your lungs, see lots of other tourists, and the view is totally worth it. Don't expect a warm welcome from the locals, though.

"TOURISTS GO AWAY"

Big thanks to our epic-hike photographer, LG, for stopping to take a million pictures!

No Bad Days.

So life's been a little...rough lately.
Nothing terrible just the usual, run-of-the-mill, slightly crappy things:

I'm fighting a cold (and losing).

My NCAA bracket is just shot to pieces.

I got hit in the head with a volleyball (more than once) this weekend (this is not news because it happens frequently, but its still not fun).

The City of Hermosa Beach sent me an early birthday present: It's a parking ticket.

My bike has a flat tire.

Glee is a rerun again this week. 

I locked myself out of my apartment.

Gas is $4.19 per gallon.

But you know what? I really can't complain.
I'd like to complain, but I watched Sixteen Candles last week, and if I learned anything from that classic 80's film, it's that complaining is not attractive, and generally makes you no fun and disagreeable to everyone (except for the highschool quarterback, who doesn't yet know what an awful whiner you are). Furthermore, I'm far to lucky and loved to complain about the above things which are really just small nuisances in the grand scheme of things.

In case I needed another reason to appreciate life, when I go for walks in the evening in my neighborhood, this is what I get to see:

Even if I had a terrible day, it almost always ends with that view, and the fact that tomorrow will be better. So like I said, no bad days.

Weekend Stroll

Since moving to Venice, I've been trying to immerse myself in new experiences as often as possible; even if they're a little bit out of the way. This has ranged from going to a speakeasy in Downtown LA, to being invited to the annual Polo Opening Day at Will Rogers State Park. I keep telling myself that most of the time the overall experience will outweigh the hassle of traveling (usually in some traffic). For the most part, I've found this to hold true, but sometimes I get lucky, and find amazing new experiences right in my neighborhood, and such was the case with my visit to the Venice Canals.

I've been wanting to visit the canals for a while now, but due to un-California like rain, a busy work schedule, and several trips out of town, I had to postpone this particular adventure.

Finally, last Saturday, the rain let up, and I was able to convince my friend Bryana to come check it out with me. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there.

I know I'm prone to hyperbole, but this was seriously so cool. The canals are on South Venice Blvd. and you could literally blink and miss them if you were driving down the street; it's like being in an entirely different world.  These tiny, shallow waterways run next to the most beautiful and eclectic mix of houses, and each house comes equipped with its own little boat.


There are foot paths and bridges going from one side to the other, and walking through them, it's easy to forget that Santa Monica is a nine-minute drive away and the beach is even closer.

 I did a little research (because, yes, I'm nerdy), and apparently, the Canals were the idea of Abott Kinney, the eccentric visionary who founded most of Venice in 1905. When they were first completed they were fully functional water ways for several miles, complete with gondoliers. Unfortunately, by the early 1930's with the popularity of the automobile, the canals fell into disrepair and were  mostly filled in by 1940. In the early nineties, some extensive renovation was done, and now the canals are not only a popular attraction, but multi-million dollar real estate as well.

Venice Canals in 1909. Photo courtesy of LA Public Library Photo Collection

Anyhow, enough with my history spiel. I'm happy to say that this is destined to become one of my favorite new spots for a quiet afternoon walk or bike ride, complete with fantasies about owning a $3 million waterfront home, a dog, and a gondola.

Hey, a girl can dream.