I just spent a few days in Los Angeles with my sister and thought I’d share the highlights of our girl trip.  We spent most of our time in the West Hollywood area – a great neighborhood with lots of restaurants, shops, and beautiful homes within walking distance. Speaking of walking…I think I wore out a pair of shoes, but it was a nice change from driving everywhere. 

Here are some of the places we went in West Hollywood that you may want to try:

- Urth Caffé on Melrose Ave (see past article).   This is one of my favorite places anywhere -  My lunch (chicken curry sandwich and banana cream pie) was delicious (everything is delicious here) and a great place for people watching. 

 - Shopping on Wilshire - very up scale clothes and furniture shops in a nice neighborhood setting.  Don’t be surprised to see Rodeo Drive like prices.  It’s fun to shop even if you can’t afford to buy a $350 white cotton blouse or a $1000 cashmere sweater.

- Tour architect Schindler’s home on Kings Road - This small 1922 home is surprisingly current in its design.

 - Dessert at Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose Ave.  This bakery/café has wonderful cakes that look as good as they taste.  We enjoyed a slice of seven layer cake and a berry filled English trifle with French press coffee.  While we were there, a steady stream of custom cakes were being picked up for private events.

 - Visit the Farmer’s Market on a Sunday morning – flowers, wonderful fruits, vegetables and rustic bread - just around the corner from Urth Caffe and a fun place to visit on a cool Sunday morning. 

- Stroll around the neighborhood to see homes with beautifully landscaped courtyards and gated entries.

Just a note to you single girls - you’ll find many attractive males in West Hollywood. However a large portion of them are interested in other guys, not girls.

We did venture outside West Hollywood to Hollywood Blvd and on impulse took a guided tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Rodeo Drive.  The tour was really interesting (i.e. – we saw Bruce Willis’ house which is a few feet from Demi Moore’s house) and pointed out several celebrity homes and homes used in well-known movies like Gone with the Wind and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. 

After the tour we shopped on Rodeo Drive, which was closed to motorized traffic for an evening event.  As we wandered from store to store, we saw an army of event planners – most dressed in black — prepare a stage on Rodeo Drive, set-up catering and arranged outdoor displays of shoes for the “Walk of Style” in honor of shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Unfortunately, we had to leave just as the celebs were arriving, but we did catch a glimpse of Tim Robbins.

On our last day, we toured the Getty Villa which is located off the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.  Although much smaller than the Getty Center, the Villa is modeled after a famous Roman villa and has some wonderful gardens and mosaics.   If you plan to go, be sure to get tickets online (free) in advance.  They offer several free tours each day – we got a lot out of the Architecture and Gardens tour.

Tour Info: All Star Showbiz Tours van across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater

I have to confess – I’m a pumpkin fanatic.  I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes and even pumpkin pedicures.  Pumpkins are one of the more interesting fruits out there.  They can weigh anywhere from 1 pound to over 1,000 pounds each and are considered a super food with a rich source of Vitamin A and potassium.  Not to mention that you can carve them to create stunning illuminated art!

October is the peak of the pumpkin growing season.  Here are some places around the country that celebrate this event: (more…)

Here are some highlights from July:

• The Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
• Summer Travel Specials
• Local Getaway - have fun in your own home town
• Summer Entertainment Sampler
• Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, Oregon)
• Win a trip to France!
• Top Ten Bakeries
• Organizing a Girls Trip? Check out TripHub.
• San Juan Islands, Washington
• When the Girl is away…
• San Juan Island Lavender Festival
• Who’s the queen of chick flicks?

One of the great things about summer is that many cities offer a wide range of outdoor concerts and theater performances, many of which are free.  Every year I try to catch at least one performance in the park. Here’s a sampling of some of the free events happening this summer:

New York City:  catch a diverse selection of free summer performances in Central Park.  The Metropolitan Opera’s “Met in the Parks” series runs from August – September and is also free.

San Francisco:  Stern Grove has been offering a free concert series each summer for almost 70 years. This summer you can choose from blues, rock&roll, opera, salsa, ballet and classical music. The grove itself is a beautiful setting and filled with fragrant eucalyptus trees that provide great acoustics.

Chicago:  Grant Park offers free classical concerts from June through August at Millennium Park.  Concerts are held in the new outdoor pavilion with state-of-the-art outdoor acoustic design. 

Austin: the Zilker Summer Musical has been a tradition for almost 50 years.  Every weekend evening from July through August, you can catch the current musical at the Zilker Park Hillside Theater.

San Jose:  their “Music in the Park” event returns this year and is offered free to the public.  This concert series includes such well-known bands like Smash Mouth and Better Than Ezra.

These are just a few -  check your online city guide for local performances.  All you need is a blanket and a picnic basket!

In a recent poll by IMDB (Internet Movie Database) users were asked about chick flicks and almost 17,000 responded.  Here are the poll results for:

Who’s the all-time chick flick queen?   

[Via  IMDB]

Here’s a quick recap of what appeared in June:

• Where the Girls Are
• Chocolate Martinis
• Westin Kierland Resort & Spa (Scottsdale)
• Girl (Trip) Interrupted
• Mackinac Island, Michigan
• Spa Recap
• Vinotherapy
• Deals: Travel & Leisure’s Spa Week
• Stowe, Vermont
• Sharing photos? Try Flickr.
• Flip-Flop Style
• Nantucket
• Booking a Flight?
• Green Valley Resort & Spa (St. George, Utah)
• Beach Reads
• Carmel, California
• Things to do around Carmel
• Women may Benefit from Moderate Drinking
• Want to be on the Today Show?

When we’re on a girls trip we like to try new alcoholic concoctions.  Sometimes they’re a hit, sometimes they’re not.  It’s fun to try them anyway. We like to have the makings for margaritas as a back-up, just in case. 

Here are a couple of recipes for chocolate martinis that you may want to try:

Godiva Chocolate Martini
1 1/2 shots Godiva® chocolate liqueur
1 1/2 shots creme de cacao
1/2 shot vodka
2 1/2 shots half-and-half

Serve in chocolate rimmed martini glass (twist rim of glass in chocolate syrup, then sugar).

[ Via  DrinksMixer ]

Chocolate Orange Martini
2 parts Barcardi O  (orange infused rum)
1 part creme de cacao

Shake with ice and strain. Serve in chocolate rimmed martini glass and garnish with an orange twist.

[Via  Bacardi ]

Don’t have any martini glasses?  Here are some packable martini glasses and some martini glasses with style.

Planning a trip to the beach or lounging at the nearest pool?  Here are a few light beach reads to toss in your bag along with your sunscreen and bottled water:

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella 

Dressed to Keel: A Darcy Cavanaugh Mystery by Candy Calvert

Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews

I did (But I Wouldn’t Now) by Cara Lockwood

The Men I Didn’t Marry by Lynn Schnurnberger, Janice Kaplan

One Dangerous Lady by Jane Stanton Hitchcock