UnHip LA

I visited the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library and Gardens this weekend.  OMG, it is so heavenly - a huge lake with bridges, a cafe, ducks, pavillions, outdoor seating, poetry, art….  It really is grand and a great escape. Taking a few walking laps around the Chinese Garden will be my new exercise routine.  Forget LAFitness, go to the Huntington! 

Membership is $100 for the year and includes lots of specials such as night time strolls around the Huntington (they usually close at 4:30 pm) and invitations to art openings. Also with a membership, I can stroll around the gardens at my leisure instead of feeling rushed to cover the grounds in a few hours because I can just come back the next day.

I will be posting pictures soon.  Come back and see the leaf-shaped windows, really purdy!  When I get my membership, I can take one person with me for freesies.  The Chinese Garden is my new favorite place in the SGV.  The Crowell Public Library in San Marino is also really great (it’s a library that looks like a resort spa).  Both places have a huge list of Asian donors.  My hairdresser told me that the Ritz Cartlon was bought by some Chinese investors, paying $150 million in cash (a good journalist would fact check all this, but right now I am short on time).  Anyhow, these three significant Chinese moves really show the large, wealthy Chinese presence in the upper SGV. 

UPDATE:
Beautiful pictures from the Gardens press office:   http://www.huntington.org/Information/ChineseGardenPressKit.htm 

I went back to the Chinese Garden today 4-26-08.  The day was murderously hot and miserable.  The gardens were beautiful but the weather and crowds just made me very cross. The pond water looked murky. I did have fun winding around the Japanese Garden’s narrow little paths and walking through the bamboo forests. I want to visit the gardens when no one else is there, but that would involve me becoming a higher priced member - they get to enter at 8 am.  I cannot wait till the members’ only evening strolls this summer.  Yes, unhipla has become an elitist.  I want my Members’ Only jacket.  I just find the Huntington Library and Gardens so peaceful; it’s like a little retreat.  If only it wasn’t the SGV summer of hell heat.  I shall try again next weekend.  My goal is to know every inch of that place and find the neat nooks and crannies.

Can you believe it’s $20 to go in on the weekend and $15 on the weekdays?  That’s nuts! 

 

 

 

Hey RSDy!

Happy Birthday!!! 

May this be your year for   !

Ah, the lovely spa week - $50 treatments - is back!  Here’s a blurb from Chilloutla.com, a website dedicated to finding good deals of Socal spas:

Spa Week Reminder:
Spa Week, taking place April 14th through 20th, will be bringing $50 spa treatments to consumers at over 500 spas across the United States and Canada in an effort to introduce a new generation of consumers to the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and to open up the spa industry to the masses. By educating and introducing the health benefits of the "spa lifestyle" to as many people as possible, Spa Week is leading the campaign to change the unhealthy course our Country is navigating. For more information on Spa Week and a list of the participating day spas, please visit SpaWeek.org.

Enjoy!  I know I need it.  The SpaWeek lists looks really great and the treatments last 45-75 minutes.  I’ve been MIA because I started a new job which is sucking up all my time.  I hope to be posting more during the summer.