The L.A. Dime

Photos of the L.A. fire plume from around town.

Based on a recommendation from our friend, Erin, we checked out Descanso Gardens on Sunday. It was an awesome place to be outside, let Sophie run wild, check out some beautiful flowers and ride a train. Much fun was had by all…..

http://gallery.me.com/bradriddell

We had a nice weekend here in the San Fernando Valley.  Tina was off from work on Friday, so after a lazy morning, we went to the beach to visit with New York Sam, and local friends Rachel, Tracy and their three gorgeous kids.  Saturday saw us head to NoHo to visit Mark, Faleena, Caitlin, Jim and Martha for an Independence Day BBQ and impromptu cornhole tourney.  Jim and I needed to play one more game to decide a winner, but decided a cool drink in the shade, and a gentlemen’s tie, was more the order of the day after Sophie took over the boards and bags.

That night, I went with New York Sam to see The Hurt Locker, a riveting film about a U.S. Army bomb squad operating in Iraq. I highly recommend it for those who can stomach the strain.

Sunday, we spent 4 hours watching Wimbledon. Poor Roddick.  He sweated ten times more than Federer and still lost.

Photo Documentation of our 4th in NoHo, and some shots of Sophie at her new Tiny Scholars School:

Yesterday, we got all bundled up and headed to the beach to take our first ever Riddell Family (West Coast) Christmas Picture.  It was 47 in the Valley, so we figured it would be foggy and cool at the water.  Given the multiple computers, TVs, and iPhones all over this house, you’d think we’d check an actual weather report.  Turns out, it was in the low 70s by the time we got set up, and we were in sweaters, having gorged ourselves at Café Crepe waiting for it to “warm up.” Oh, well.  I’m sure you East-coasters are feeling real sorry for us, huh?

The idea was to do something L.A. Christmas at the Santa Monica Pier.  You’ll see the fruit of our efforts below, but none of these are the one we chose.  In the end, I’d say hire a photographer, or get a camera-savvy friend to help, because setting the timer, then sprinting from the tripod to the shot a dozen times in a sweater on a warm, sandy beach, is not the most effective method ever conceived.

Every few months, we try to get out of town on little road trips. Our most recent one, although it didn’t include Brad since he was swamped with writing and school work, was to Big Bear to spend the weekend with our close friends Mark and Faleena and Mark’s parents. We had an absolutely wonderful time hanging out in the cabin by the lake, feeding the ducks, hiking a 5-mile trail along the lake, sliding down the mountain and visiting the Big Bear Zoo. Yes, that’s a real black bear you see there. Thank you Mark and Faleena for having us up!

This time last year I was enduring my epic L.A. Marathon run in sweltering heat. My dad came out to support me then, a life-long coach, providing massages, encouragement and a calming influence. Before we even made it home from the race, we had decided that next year (this year), he would come out again and we would ride the course in the Acura L.A. Bike Tour. This morning we accomplished our mission, alongside my brother, Brian (now an excellent cyclist himself), who made the trip as well. The temperature was much cooler, and the course far more fun on wheels instead of feet. Amidst 15,000 other riders, we finished in a little under 90 minutes (the Marathon took me over 5 hours).

When we lost my grandmother, dad’s mother, Libby — known to family as “Me-Me” — last year, Brian had the idea that we memorialize her, and the chain of markets she owned with her late husband, Lewis, in the 40′s and 50s. Thus, Team Riddell’s Markets was born, with jerseys designed by Mark Dempsey. Joining us today were Jan, Mark, and Atila — worthy teammates, and now welcome members of our family. Here are some shots from the ride:

Short of a missing locking bolt for the crib, which is currently in transit from Taiwan, the Nursery is now fully operational, with special thanks to my Mom and Jan, and to Vicki for making our beautiful curtains. Resting in the crib, keeping it warm, is Ernie. Sitting on the glider is Bobo. The shot of Tina and I is following our first purchase of Dreft, and the first washing of our special onsies designed by family and friends.

…my very oldest and best friend finally came to visit me in LA!! Yes, Kelly Z. left her 3 adorable girls in the wonderful hands of their dad and grandmothers, so she could enjoy a 4-day get-away to the hot west coast. Although it certainly wasn’t under the best circumstances (our beloved Me-Me had just passed away), we tried our hardest to enjoy the sites, while continuing to remember her throughout each day.

I showed her all the usual touristy sites (Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive, Hollywood, Venice Beach, Santa Monica), but we also added the Warner Bros. Studio tour which was pretty cool. Most of all though, we just enjoyed having time to really catch up and share what’s been happening in each other’s lives. My two favorite moments of the trip were probably getting the same Henna tatoos (yes, we’re still in 7th grade!!) and having a little girl in Beverly Hills ask us if we’d like to buy a lemonade for $ .50!!! Worst part – getting sunburned on the beach.

Kelly was my first friend when I moved to the US in 1989, and actually came up to me in the lunchroom at Connor Middle School to ask if I’d like to sit with her and her friends. I will never forget that moment as it was my first day out of the comforting ESL class I had been a part of until that moment. Since then, we’ve managed to remain close through different high schools, colleges, and now 3,000 miles. We still talk on the phone at least once every week, and the post office is making a bundle on the cards we mail to each other frequently.

I have always been one to prefer fewer, but deeper friendships and I am proud to know that Kelly has been there with me through it all. To have someone who knows you so well and understands you so well is truly a gift. I actually have two people like that in my life — my husband is the other – and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to welcome Kelly to my LA home and show her our LA life.

Been lots of Kentuckians infiltrating L.A. of late, including Lexington’s Vice-Mayor, Jim Gray, who had dinner with Tina and I at Lucques last week. It’s fine dining to be sure, but not so hip and dripping in image consciousness as to be off-putting like many of L.A.’s more pricey establishments. And to be honest, it’s not all that pricey considering the atmosphere and excellent food. I had duck. Tina had chicken. We both found the heirloom tomatoes to be the best part of the meal.

A week or so before that, we joined a posse of friends to see Wicked at the Pantages theater. We ate at The Velvet Margarita before the show. It was disappointing. I’ve had better tamales from Trader Joe’s freezer, and our friends Mark and Nancy had to go to their favorite Mexican restaurant a few days later to eat some good molé in order to get The Velvet’s bad molé out of their system. Not worth the wait or the money.

Wicked: loved a lot of the music, adored the performers, thought Winnie Holzman’s dialogue was fantastic, but there were many aspects of the story that just didn’t make sense to me. Some musical-lover friends of mine claimed that story is always subverted to character and spectacle in such productions, and in this case, their notion definitely holds true. I will say, though, that the idea for an Oz behind-the-scenes, having come from a novel, of course, is almost as brilliant as a school for Wizards. FYI — Potter #7, not so good. Average. But I understand. She’s tired from counting all that $.

Our friend, JT, recently sent me a link from The LAist about a wonderful Japanese Garden right here in Van Nuys. Mom and I went today, and it’s gorgeous. Water, fish, bonsai, sunshine, grottos, etc…. You’d almost forget you were in the middle of a large city if it weren’t for the airplanes and the sounds of the sewage plant next door (which you can see from an observation tower in the garden — not so pretty, but surprisingly, you can’t smell much and it’s not terribly loud either). I highly recommend you pay a visit some lazy day and repose by the waterfalls contemplating life and spider webs.

Cousin Shannon Galbraith-Kent visited for a few days, enriched our lives with tales of her PhD. in Ecology and Evolution, and braved the public transportation system to take the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. Yes, she took a bus. Two in fact. She lived to tell about it, and then to make her way to a conference in San Jose (by plane).

After a trip to Universal Studios, where Tasha confronted her life-long fear of haunted houses and survived the experience clinging to my T-shirt, their visit wrapped up at my second favorite sushi restaurant, Katsuya. For service and atmosphere, we prefer Azami in Hollywood. It’s owned and operated by three lovely women, the sushi is great, cool location, and everyone is super nice. Katsuya caters to the Universal crowd, so its sceney, and also very, very busy. It does offer, hands-down, the best sushi dish I’ve ever mouthed, though — the crispy rice spicey tuna roll. It’s unbelievable.

We also took in our local, walking-distance pizzeria, Lido Pizza. Not as good as the Village Pizzeria in Larchmont, or LaRosa’s back home, but pretty darn tasty nonetheless.

And, finally we had great seats to see the Dodgers lose to the Mets. Jake and Aiyana joined. Couple dingers. Couple Dodger dogs. And a cool, Chavez Ravine breeze.

It was a fun visit, and we look forward to a happy return some day soon.