Boy Clothes Dripped in Butter Sauce on Vermont

As opposed to being one big city, consider LA as if it's 100 or so neighborhoods all sort of related to each other (though you're hard-pressed to get the relationship between Eagle Rock and Beverly Hills). And in a weird way a neighborhood could even just be a strip -- like a series of blocks all heading north to south.

Vermont in Los Feliz is such a strip.  The good stuff of Vermont is sandwiched between Hollywood Boulevard to the south and Franklin Boulevard to the north.

Or another way to look at is you kind of want to hang right above Hollywood Boulevard where Macho's Taco stand doles out apparently a very decent Mole:

Macho's Tacos (my husband says the mole's the real deal)

And right below Franklin on the north end, which is marked by the historic House of Pies...

As I have said many times, who doesn't like pie?

There's a certain look on Vermont or rather there's a certain look to the east side. It's young, it's free, it's loose, it's comf. And it's about owning your style. Admitting you have one might be first step. And once you admit it - if you're young and a guy - you're going to want to check out Agent asap. 

Upstairs at Agent

Agent (formerly X-Large) is a hip hoppy type store on Vermont down below the Los Feliz 3. I recently popped into Agent when I needed to get my husband a shirt for our anniversary. And though I don't necessarily think my husband or I are really Agent's demographic, I still almost bought some or all of the following.

This t-shirt...

This sweatshirt that seemed really open to anything...

Anything costs $97. That seemed on the high-end of their price point. You heard me. I said Price Point!!!

These nice caps, hats... how are the kids referring to the thing one puts on one's head...???

these alternate modes of transport...

skateboards for 50 bucks

And this shirt, which I think explains a lot...

$30

By the way, you and I know I'm not a young man wearing all that is Delicious and Vinyl, but I like good stuff. And more importantly, here's how I feel about any store I pop into. I'm not going to go back and I'm certainly not going to recommend it if the people who work there aren't nice. All to say, the co-owner was a doll.

Co-Owner on the left, Friend shaking his Hand on the right.  Girl who was pissed about a club thing hanging out outside. **

This shirt has leather patches on the elbows

You seriously should duck your head into this young man-cave. And you don't have to be the exact demographic. The day I popped in? I did in fact find my guy a shirt -- the same guy who doesn't own a bunch of t-shirts that hang down below his thighs. It was $52 bucks and I think he looks pretty fly...what-do-people-SAY-now?

Terry (my husband) in his Agent shirt, flanked by two very attractive ladeez at a houz party in Echo Park

Agent is at 1768 North Vermont Avenue, LA, CA 90027.  Hours are mon - thurs 12-8. fri & sat 12-9. sunday 12-7.

**In other words there was a little drama going on. I heard it all and had NO idea what it was about but it had to do with $10 and getting into a club or something. The guy who worked in the store seemed to have a balanced and fair perspective from what I could make out. 

Mick Jagger and Why I'm Doing This Blog

I wanted people to know just a little bit about why I'm doing this. 

Why Cynthia? Why are you doing this?

It's twofold really. Here's the primary reason: 

Currently I'm unemployed and if I don't have a motive to get out of the house other than work out I'm going to completely lose my mind (see: this morning).

The second reason, and the one that hopefully will outlive the first, is I love small business and do whatever I can to support it. I respect small business owners. I see how hard they work. I find them to be some of the most creative, interesting and inspiring people out here in LA. I also truly appreciate how so many of them provide such high quality service and care so much about what they do. This town can seem so big and if you do some of the typical touristy things, you'll end up at The Grove or whatever Gap or American Apparel happens to be closest. I get that. And I don't mean to put those places down exactly - it's just that there's so much going on here and to me, it's through local businesses not chains that help you really get to know a place and the people.

In fact with so many people doing such exceptional work, I sometimes forget I'm in an industry town. I even think in terms of "This is my neighborhood, this is why it's so great. There's so much culture. Such artisanship. It's so freakin cool." Nothing seems based on film and television. It's just about what tastes good, looks good, feels good, is good. 

In my humble opine.

I want people -- whether the ones who are living here or the ones who are visiting -- to have the chance of really loving what LA has to offer and perhaps appreciate it as much as I do.

Mural in Los Feliz

But trust me, I get it. When I first came to LA I could not get over seeing famous names in the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard. There's Bob Hope oh my God! It's the same when I go away. I make sure I do what's in the tour books. I see the... what I call "the essentials." Like when we were in Paris we went to The Louvre. When we were in Prague, we crossed the Charles Bridge about 100 times. But it was from the local blogs where I feel I really got the kind of direction I craved once the essentials were checked off. That's where I found inside scoops about cool small stores to check out and off-the-radar restaurants to eat at. And I believe it was in those moments I got a glimpse at what it was like to be a local. Not only did I get it, I got inspired. Why not do that for LA? Help people get more of a glimpse of LA than just a place to find a photo opportunity of The Hollywood Sign -- which, by the way, I plan to do a post about.

Ergo, this blog. So you can get a glimpse into the fun stuff after you're done with your essentials.

I believe no glimpse would be complete if it didn't try to cover all your senses. Which brings to mind the other thing I like to talk about in this blog...

MUSIC.

I love music. I love music that would embarrass anyone on the planet to admit they loved, and I love the super cool shit that I believe helps redeem me. Car culture and the music that is played in your car as you ride around this city does -- as cliche as it sounds -- provide a soundtrack to your Los Angeles experience. I like to share what music floored me while I was in the car so maybe you can have it floor you, too. The right tunes can make my day or better put, make the traffic jam I find myself in sometimes seem a little bit more like a concert performance and less like a futile test of my patience.

SPEAKING OF:

I know The Stones are playing tonight at The Staple Center. And no, I'm not seeing them. Money, access, you name it - not going to The Stones. And it's fine. I saw them back in New York or maybe it was New Jersey? It was a long time ago. That being said, The Stones + Your Car + LA= A Very Good Time. 

Graffiti on Cherry Pick's building

I just think you don't have to be at the concert to appreciate Mick. Some of my best Stones experiences have taken place in my car with them on the radio turned up loud. For free you can be Mick while driving up Sunset in Silverlake, singing your lungs out. Most likely if anyone notices you, they'll just think you're talking on the phone. Albeit very expressively.

What a great way to pass the time in this kick-ass city.

To that end...

Los Angeles Car Porn

Here's a little LA CAR PORN for you:

The Store I'm Obsessing Over Today

God knows LA has plenty to choose from in terms of shopping, no matter what your taste or budget.
With so much at your fingertips, sometimes you gotta boil it down. Which means any shop I mention has to have a little extra something if I'm gonna make a point to stop in. In other words, I might not always buy something but I know they'll always have something I like.

Cherry Pick in Los Feliz

Cherry Pick is just that store. It's this sweet little vintage shop located in Los Feliz on Franklin next to the House of Pies parking lot.  It consistently stocks up on some of the finest picked over vintage finds anywhere.

Hot Shoes...

Miu Miu What What?

Jean Shirts...

Lis Claiborne $49

Awesome Sunglasses...

$45

And it's not just stuff you could find yourself. The owner scours the world to find what she puts in her store. Case in point, this frock from gay Paris...

Chiffon Paris Import Tulip Dress $149

God knows where she found this little ditty...

60's Woodstock Patch Babydoll Dress $245

These Pradas are in my size so if you get them, that's fine. Just know you're wearing my shoes...

98 Smackaroos

Hot Mannequin Alert:

It's so much fun being in this store. And the people who work there are very cool. They help you if you want help but they don't follow you around the store asking for your size and junk.

And And And they always have good music on. Me and my good friend here listened to the new Savages record. Yeah that's right. Savages. And I'll tell you something else, I had NO idea who Savages or The Savages are. But now I do. In fact, let me share with you some conversation points in case you encounter a cool person and you want to sound knowledgeable:

1. they played at The Echo
2. they're blowing up right now and...
3. they're from The U.K. 

Because I know, now you know. So we all sound VERY bad-ass. 

I love that.

Edie Hat $35

Cherry Pick is located at 4517 Franklin Boulevard, just west of Vermont. Open mon thru sat, 11-8, sundays 12-7. Street parking available. 

And like I said, it's next to the House of Pies Parking Lot...

If you want some pie, you can kill two birds with one stone. Who doesn't like pie?

Good Driving Music Today

And it's yet another beautiful day in LA. Open the windows, turn it up loud. THIS IS GREAT CAR MUSIC. 

Enjoy! 

Women Are Funny in Hollywood This Weekend

My friend, Cindy, is part of troupe of ladies doing a show Saturday night at M Bar in Hollywood to benefit Planned Parenthood. I know some of these women. These gals know of what they speak and they speak it funny. In other words it's going to be good. Call 323-856-0036 to buy your tickets in advance because this bitch is going to sell out.

And now for the deets:

A few things to know: there's going to be a 2 drink minimum, there should be a valet though you might also be able to find street parking and they serve food if you're hungry. :)

UPDATE:  I just called to make my reservations. Okay, there's no drink minimum but a $10 food order minimum per person. So you don't have to order dinner but it is a supper club and you have to order at least enough to equal 10 bucks. Doors open at 7. They'd like it if you ordered dinner by 7:30 but they serve food throughout the show. The show starts at 8. Valet parking is available for $6.50 and as I said before, street parking is available as well. 

Enjoy!

This Weekend in Los Angeles

Amongst the two billion things you could do in LA this weekend...

The Spring Edition of The Beverly Hills artSHOW is happening this Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm.

Located at The Beverly Hills Gardens Park, this is a really fun way to spend a day.

FREE and happening outside, I'm already inclined. It features 250 artists - and all sorts of art: mixed media, painting, sculpture, photography....

AND there'll be a bunch of food trucks AND a beer garden. Check here for the deets on all THAT sordid goodness.

I think always, in LA, the most stressful thing is parking but in BH it's usually a lot more mellow. 

Just park in one of the BH parking structures and walk on over.

Now before I knew which food trucks would be there, I checked to see if my all-time favorite food truck, the Kogi truck, was going to plant itself at this shindig in BH. That's when I found out it would be in Venice this Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Eric Shin

Photo courtesy of Eric Shin

Parked here from 12 to 2:30, if you've never tried Kogi, I strongly recommend you get on that immediately.

But I digress.

In my search for Kogi I found out about the The Venice Art Walk & Auctions. This is a great event which happens to raise money for a wonderful cause, the Venice Family Clinic. There are bike tours, gallery shows, special exhibitions, live entertainment... FOOD TRUCKS...

If you're interested in the Venice Art Walk & Auctions, I urge you to check the site ahead of time. General Admission, which starts at 1pm, is FREE but limited to registered bidders and tour participants. Now if you want to and can afford a more hassle-free experience - and it goes to charity - for $150 you can purchase what they call a Venture Pass. With that you get early admission, entry into their silent auction at noon, $50.00 off $500.00 plus art purchases and their art walk collectible t-shirt. For $50 (more my speed) you can get a ticket for the art walk (which covers about 20 sites) and the auction.

I know. It all sounds a little complicate-y but it's about art and charity and Kogi. What could go wrong?

Parking. That I can't attest to. I don't like parking in Venice and got a parking ticket last night in the Valley so the whole parking thing has me in a real deal bad mood this a.m. That being said, just do some investigation ahead of time and check here for parking details from the event organizers themselves. Maybe it won't be bad at all and the Kogi truck will be in the vicinity. So either go for art and charity or go for Korean BBQ but whatever you do, get outside! It's going to be a great weekend.

Enjoy!