UnHip LA

This Saturday, January 26, 2008, San Marino unveils its new $16 million dollar public library.  The festivities start at 9:15 am and last all week.  Larry Mantle of KPCC’s AirTalk will be the MC.  Authors Eve Bunting, Tony Johnston, Lisa Yee, and more will be on hand.  Curious George will make an appearance at 3 pm and Ben Franklin before him at 1 pm.  Woopie!  I love libraries and this one looks great, chock full of resources and amenities galore. 

Visit the site for more information.

Crowell Public Library, City of San Marino
1890 Huntington Drive
San Marino, CA 91108
626.300.0777
Email: smpl "at" ci.san-marino.ca.us

On their nuptials today in Seal Beach and then reception at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim.  

 

It was a beautiful ceremony and day. And the food was excellent. 

This was the best wedding cake I have ever tasted!  It came from Amazing Cakes of California in Anaheim.  I encourage everyone to buy all their future cakes and pastries from this place.   

One of these things doesn’t belong:

Reading is Power: 

It’s the Year of the Rat!: 

 

The day was INSANELY crowded.  Like all the websites suggest, go as early as possible.  We went around 3pm to look at the floats and look at this madness!  I was fighting for my life in the crowds. 

 

 

Will I ever do this again?  Probably not, but it was good to check this off my Angeleno checklist.  $7 admission.  Free neighborhood parking is possible, but is a long wait fighting through traffic to get it.  Don’t drive up Sierra Madre, take a side street.  There are shuttles that take people from various spots in Pasadena for $3 round trip.  It might be worth it.  Shuttle people also get to bypass the ticket line.  Good luck if you go next year.  The floats are on display right after the parade and the next day.

www.tournamentofroses.com 

 

On Christmas Eve, I volunteered for the Union Station Foundation, taking toys out of storage and sorting them by gender and age group.  Also, ironically, I had to unwrap hundreds of presents that were thoughtfully already wrapped.  You know how organizations always ask for unwrapped presents during the holidays?  Did you ever wonder why?  The Union Station Foundation said they didn’t want wrapped gifts to cut back on the paper trash that would occur after a gift opening fest.  The group sponsors Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in Central Park in Pasadena.  Imagine crumpled wrapping paper all over the lawn, not a pretty site.  Anyhoo, it felt good to work as a team with people and get our work done.  I didn’t get a picture of the mountains of toys in storage, but here are some of the dolls that I unwrapped.  The pile of white trash bag full of dolls against the wall was much higher when we started.  There were enough different toys for each child to get two to three.  That’s nice to know.

To volunteer, visit the Union Station Foundation at www.unionstationfoundation.org.  The organization runs a shelter, offers job training, and provides meals and much more for the homeless and poor.

January is hopping for Whole Foods, both at the new Arroyo Park location and the old one on Foothill.  This month’s free events include teen make-up workshops (a very smart marketing move to lure in youth), a singles mixer at the wine bar on Jan. 10th (I’d like to see that because the space is pretty tight), sake tasting for $5 on Jan. 18th, goji berry juice chug-a-thons and more. All the events I listed are at the Arroyo Park listing.  The Foothills location has good events too, including free tours on Tuesdays at 11am and 5pm about shopping on a budget at Whole Foods.  Participants get a free green bag.  I’m fond of Whole Foods; they have lured me in completely now with their new lifestyle location.  When I get my shoes at Whole Foods, I’ll let you know.

Whole Foods Arroyo Park Calendar

Whole Foods Foothills Calendar