It was a dark and stormy night, but that didn’t stop Classic Eats #14 from being a fun gathering of classic eaters!

The evening started with cocktails at Traxx at Union Station and while the bachelor party that was also there was a bit, uh, loud, their theme shirts were sort of amusing. Luckily their train was called and we had some quieter time to chat about cigars, whiskey and guns.

Soon it was time to eat and we slogged through the pouring rain to Phillipes to partake of the yummy dipped sandwiches. Comfort food on a rainy night — who could ask for more?

I had to try the pickled eggs. They are delicious!

The gang enjoying their feast.

CLOWNS!

Thanks to all who joined in the Classic Eats fun.

As to the farewell part of this blog post — This will be my last Classic Eats as I am stepping down from Blogging.LA and moving on to other things. I have loved my three and a half years of blogging here, the highlight being Hot Dot Death March. I have gotten to know my beloved LA even better than expected and have also gained wonderful friends here at BLA. Thank you for all the fun!

Rain or Shine – we’ll be at Traxx and Phillipe’s! looking forward to seeing you there.

Classic Eats #14 – Downtown Delights
Saturday February 19
5:30 at Traxx inside Union Station
7:00 (ish) at Phillipe’s

Union Station – Traxx – Classic cocktails in a classic location. All your train travel fantasies come true.

Phillipe‘s - They claim to be the original french dip sandwich place! Their mustard is pretty damn good too. I should know.

This blog post might not be safe for work due to language. The links are definitely NSFW.

Walking through the Pleasure Chest last night was a blast. I’m pretty vanilla in my own sex life, but I read. A lot. And finally seeing sex paraphernalia I’d only read about up close and personal was a HOOT! I highly recommend a visit there whether you are looking for a fun gift for Valentine’s Day or need to complete your fetish collection. The store is a brightly lit, clean and happy place. No dark corners or shady customers here. The staff that I did speak to were smiling and helpful. And oh the variety of toys to play with!

The first thing that caught my eye was the OhMiBod set of vibrators. These hi-tech wonders connect to your iPod (or iPhone – yes, there is an app for that!) and set the rhythm to whatever music you choose. Gives the phrase “Plug and Play” a whole new meaning. There was also a large collection of vibrators made famous on Sex And The City. Remember The Rabbit? There is a wide variety on that theme – Hop’n Jackrabbit, The Pearl, The Bath Time Bunny and more. The Rabbit has a lot going on with it – multi speeds, parts for internal and external pleasures, independent gyrating sections, etc. Need something a bit more specific? Try the Sqweel – a ten-tongued, multi-speed rotating, uh, gizmo that only stops when you do or the batteries die. (I couldn’t help laughing when I saw it in action as it made me think of those old alien spaceship miniatures used on the original Star Trek.)

Past the vast vibrator section (There was one named “Better Than Chocolate“!) is a huge section of dildos — all shapes, sizes and colors, including some shaped like fists and hands. There were the Classic Cocks (8″, 10″ and 12″) and the Classic Dongs along with the Ballsy Supercock (One Size Fits Most). Point of order here please: What is the difference between a cock and a dong in dildo parlance? There were also “soft pack” dildos – “flaccid and realistic looking cocks to bulk up your bulge” (not usable for penetration). I guess if the ladies stuff their bras, the guys can stuff their undies. I had just never thought of it before! (And they were quite soft.)

Of course there is a section for anal play with Classic Butt Plugs and Smooth Butt plugs. I’m going to be honest that if I had a choice, I would choose the Smooth. Of course I would have to get the Butt Plug Starter Kit before any of that could happen. There was also a Jellies Butt Plug that made me think more of the awesome shoes I wore in the 80′s than it made me think of a sex toy…

In the back of the store is the BDSM section with some amazing masks and crops and chains and leashes. There were ball gags and even beginner ball gags for those just starting out. The ball gags were right next to the mini feather body ticklers which seemed like an odd juxtaposition, but then, as mentioned, I’m pretty square.

The store is large and there is a whole section of videos, another large section for party games and an entire wall of lube – all styles and flavors. They have testers so you can feel and taste the lube before you buy. There are cute panties and lingerie (not a huge selection, but a there was a variety) and even a smoke shop section. There are greeting cards and candles and valentine themed candy. The book section brings together erotica, sex health and even a cook books. Intercourses has fun recipes for all moods and flavors and is a personal favorite.

An image I *can* include in this blog post.

The Pleasure Chest is a phenomenal resource for sex education. They hold classes and workshops regularly on all topics: fellatio, cunnilingus, masturbation, anal sex, dirty talk, spanking and BDSM (among others). They can even design a workshop to your specific need. They will even help you host parties and fundraisers as well.

When I got there last night, there was a class just starting about Oral Sex. A gay man and a straight woman (I think, I didn’t hear her introduction) gave the class (the class was PACKED!) and from what I overheard while I was browsing, they were really giving a great tutorial on everything from how to talk to your partner about fantasies and wishes to detailed anatomy and how your naughty bits actually work. There was lots of laughter and lots of really good straight-forward information.

Once you buy your costume at Forplay, head over to the Pleasure Chest to get everything else you’ll need for that hot night and life of fun!

The Pleasure Chest (love their logo!)
7733 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood
323-650-1022

And don’t worry – if you are still too shy to actually go to the store, you can always shop their online store!

Classic Eats #14 is on Saturday February 19!

And while normally I set up a voting system and give you options to choose from, I’m going to make it so much easier for all of us. (And by “all of us” I mean me.) Classic Eats #14 is going to be a reprise of Classic Eats #2: Downtown Delights – Union Station and Phillipe’s.

It was two years ago (how time flies) that we had a great gang of folks come down to Traxx at Union Station for a cocktail before walking the two blocks to Phillipe’s where we all had some classic LA nosh and a star sighting to boot! (Adam Arkin)

I want to relive that awesome night and I want you to join in.

Classic Eats #14 – Downtown Delights
Saturday February 19
5:30 at Traxx inside Union Station
7:00 (ish) at Phillipe’s

Union Station – Traxx – Classic cocktails in a classic location. All your train travel fantasies come true.

Phillipe‘s - They claim to be the original french dip sandwich place! Their mustard is pretty damn good too. I should know.

Classic Eats!

Honest to goodness celebrities: Kevin O'Connor and Norm Abram

When you hear Reality Show you might first think of Survivor or American Idol, Top Chef or Project Runway. If you are a fan of PBS you probably think of the first and finest reality show of them all: This Old House. And after nearly 30 years on the air, TOH has come to Los Angeles for its first ever LA remodel. (Watch the video sneak peak here.)

You might find it hard to believe that there is actually anything “old” in LA to renovate, right? Since we are famous for our facelifts and all. This sweet Spanish Revival house in Silver Lake is getting more of a “gentle spa treatment” than an “ass-fat injection to the cheekbones” operation. The original two bedroom, one bath floorplan was fine for the married couple when they moved in 12 years ago, but now with two small kids, it was time for more space and more bathrooms.

This Old House is about education and part of every house redo series includes stories of the local craftspeople who work on various details of the house. Look for visits to the tile company that recreates 30′s style tile for the bathrooms and kitchen, the iron workers making new wrought iron and the roofers who reuse the old roof tiles and tell you the history of how these 70 year old tiles were originally made. TOH will also visit Frank Lloyd Wright houses and Richard Neutra sites so we can all see that LA actually has some awesome architectural street cred.

The homeowners Kurt and Mary were not looking for the limelight (far from it), but were very pleased to have their general contractor approach them to be part of the show. What better record of your home remodel than a full documentation on This Old House? Plus you get to meet master carpenter Norm Abram!! (Seriously that guy rocks the woodwork.)

This Old House: The Los Angeles Project begins airing on KOCE this Thursday (1/27) at 7:00pm. (Check your local listings as different cable/dish providers may have a different schedule.)

Kevin, Norm, Mary and Kurt (Homeowners), Steve Pallrand (General Contractor)

(All Photos by Image Group LA and used with permission by This Old House.)

(Full disclosure: I am friends with the homeowners, but sadly I have not met Norm.)

Aw….And they came all the way from Wisconsin (the dirt all over the car proved it.) Sorry dudes!

(Seen in the parking lot of Norm’s on Pico tonight.)

When you think about “helping the poor and homeless” the concept can be so huge and in some ways abstract that it’s hard to know where to start. Food? Shelter? Clothing? Medical care? Education? Training programs? It’s overwhelming. For me, Help A Mother Out is so specific that it makes it so easy to make a difference.

The facts are these: Diapers and baby wipes are not covered under social safety net programs like WIC and food stamps. And diapers are expensive. And you need a lot of them every day. Poor and homeless families often have to decide between food, rent and diapers. Babies can go without a clean diaper for days, leading to health problems for the baby and more stress for the family.

Help A Mother Out is working to bridge the gap and provide diapers for those in need. While HAMO is based in San Francisco, they have an LA/SoCal branch run by the amazing and tireless Kim Tracy Prince. Along with being a working mom of two, Kim makes time to organize diaper drives and raise awareness of this growing problem.

Earlier this week I attended the final day of the Glendale diaper drive. (I had written about it in November.) A variety of groups, along with Help A Mother Out worked to raise 22,833 diapers in two weeks. Awesome! At the Glendale armory, over 16,000 diapers (I helped count) were there for an official photo and then to be distributed to specific organizations that would hand them out to families who needed them. The overall event was for homeless awareness in general and we handed out diapers to homeless moms with their kids right then and there.

I was particularly touched as I helped a woman who works for Door Of Hope in Glendale. Door of Hope is a transitional housing organization to help homeless families get back on their feet. This dedicated woman specifically works with battered and abused women and children who have left bad situations, sometimes with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs. She had a list of the 11 babies (newborn to toddlers) currently living there who needed diapers. One of the moms was going through chemo and had a one year old. The Door Of Hope woman asked me, “Do you think I could get two boxes of diapers for her?” It was all I could do to A) not burst into tears and B) not put all the diapers you see above in her car.

So this holiday season or even in the New Year — it doesn’t matter when, because there is always a need — please consider donating money or diapers to Help A Mother out. Go to their website and find the “Donate Now” button or if you have diapers you want to drop off in person, click here to find out how to do that. And you can donate diapers online. Click here to find out how.

Every baby deserves a clean diaper!

And if you are wondering about cloth diapers, here is the info about that from the HAMO website:

Our greatest need is for disposable diapers (traditional brand or eco-friendly). However, we gratefully accept NEW cloth pocket diaper kits, similiar to Econobum diaper kits, for distribution to a small percentage of the families we serve. Why? For the vast majority of our partner’s clients, cloth diapers are not a realistic option. We recommend reading the Diaper Divide as a primer on this debate. The Cloth Diaper Foundation is a nonprofit organization that primarily helps families in need get started with cloth diapering, and they accept donations of new and gently used cloth diapers.

Kim Tracy Prince (left) and over 16,000 diapers.

(And yes, I put my money where my blog post is. I have personally donated about 1000 diapers this year.)

There are many ways to give – donating money or time or expertise. Donating blood or platelets (or plasma or red blood cells) is an extra special way to give, to literally give of yourself. During the holidays maybe you might consider taking an hour from all the shopping and wrapping and sit quietly while you donate blood. Or better yet, take two to three hours, lay back, watch a movie in a comfy lounge chair and donate platelets. Or consider a new year’s resolution to donate. Your donation saves lives.

I’ve written about donating platelets before and often encourage people to give it a try. Donating blood and/or platelets is crucial for so many reasons. Here is info from the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center website:

A Cancer Patient can require up to 2 units of platelets per week. (And donated platelets only last about 4-5 days once donated, blood can be stored longer.)

An Automobile Accident Victim can use up to:

• 50 units of red blood cells
• 2 units of platelets
• 10 units of plasma

A Liver Transplant Recipient uses on average:

• 25 units of red blood cells
• 5 units of platelets
• 40 units of plasma

A Stem Cell Transplant Recipient can use up to:

• 10 units of red blood cells
• 10 units of platelets with ongoing outpatient transfusion needs

A Heart Surgery Patient uses on average:

• 7 units of red blood cells
• 2 units of platelets
• 4 units of plasma

Gorgeous life saving platelets!

I hope none of you ever find yourself in any of those situations, but if you do, or it happens to a loved one, knowing there is enough life saving blood and blood products out there will give some relief.

Not everyone can donate (for various reasons) so please call and see if you are eligible, then make an appointment. There are many places to donate around Los Angeles, ULCA’s Center just happens to be nearest to me.

Oh and here’s the part where you get something out of it – other than the joy and satisfaction of contributing a part of yourself – at UCLA (and maybe at other places) they give you thank you gifts of movie tickets or gift cards (jamba juice, starbucks, etc). How nice is that? Plus the yummy juice and cookies waiting for you in the resting area when you are done donating.

Make 2011 a year in which you donate blood or other blood products!

UCLA Blood and Platelet Center
1045 Gayley Avenue
2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA, 90024
(310) 825-0888

This happy Frosty greeted me at an intersection yesterday while I waited for the light. He’s so happy and festive that I had to take a picture. I wonder what is in the present at his feet.

Merry Merry!

(click image to big-a-fy)

(Or a Hanukkah dream come true, I’m not really sure.)

Scoops – that magical place of cold creamy mixes of amazing tastes and flavors – now has a second location on the Westside!  They opened December 1 and are probably doing land office business based on the exultations on twitter recently.

They currently have seven flavors and I hear one is pumpkin eggnog. Mmmmmm. Apparently they pour coffee from Intelligentsia as well.

I’m going to keep this simple:
3400 Overland Ave. (Overland Ave and Woodbine)
Open Monday-Saturday 12PM-10PM.
Closed Sundays
@scoopswestside

(There is a website scoopswestside.com, but it’s only a temp holding page for now.)

Scoops — it’s not just for hipsters with fixies anymore!

Help A Mother Out is a non-profit organization started in Northern California by two moms, Lisa Truong and Rachel Fudge, in March of 2009. They had a desire to help after learning how the economic crisis was hurting families and how babies were going without clean diapers. With $100 and the power of social media, they did an initial diaper drive and raised over 15,000 diapers! Almost two years later, there are HAMO chapters in Arizona, Washington and an LA chapter to help create awareness of the problem and to raise money and diapers for those most in need. The LA chapter is run by Kim Tracy Prince who volunteers her time and energy to get the word out and to get diapers in the hands of families who desperately need them.

What puts HAMO on the Nice List for me is the grassroots nature of women helping women. Two moms saw a problem and took it upon themselves to try and do something about it. They then inspired other moms to volunteer and open chapters in other places. Even while worrying they are not doing enough, what they have achieved in such a short time is amazing! Since May 2009, HAMO has donated over 431,000 diapers. Huggies became a sponsor in 2010 and created the Every Little Bottom program. Huggies has now donated 11 million diapers and are halfway to their goal of 22 million. That is NICE!

If you ever feel the desire to help someone, to solve a problem, to DO something, HAMO is the perfect inspiration to show you that you CAN make a difference in people’s lives. If you can, spread some of that nice-ness and donate some diapers to babies who need them!

Check out the website at Help A Mother Out.

Today kicks off a two week diaper drive in Glendale. As I wrote last week, and you can make a difference to those in need, especially during the holidays, by donating diapers or money to the Glendale specific agencies that are sponsoring this drive. Click here to donate diapers online (via PATH Achieve Glendale). Click here to find a diaper drop off location in LA.

You may have heard that today is something called [checks notes] “Black Friday.” I quote Wikipedia here:

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season…On this day, many retailers open very early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season.

To me, it sounds like a nightmare, but hey — to each his own.

Why not support your local small businesses by shopping with them tomorrow on the brand new tradition of Small Business Saturday? You know there are many business in your neighborhood that you love and want to keep around.

One of my personal favorites is The Traveler’s Bookcase. They are tiny but carry  so many amazing books — cookbooks, art books, travel guidebooks, travel writing and many awesome accessories for all your travel wants and needs. They may not be able to offer steep discounts, but they will offer personal service and a lovely inviting atmosphere. (Their couch is a comfy place to fantasize about your next adventure.)

Why should you support small businesses? Here are some interesting facts* that I just learned:

• For every $100 spent at local small business, $68 returns to the community.
• Small businesses employ half of all private sector employees.
• Small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms.

In these wacky economic times, keeping small businesses in business is more important than ever. If you can, please consider supporting your favorite small businesses this holiday season!

*I learned this on the Small Business Saturday website and you can learn more about the effort there too.

Next Wednesday, December 1, Help A Mother Out is having a diaper drive in Glendale and you can join in the fun and give help to those parents and kids in need. At 10am there will be a morning social to kick off a two week diaper drive. The sponsors of the drive – the Glendale Domestic Violence Task Force, Glendale Rotary Club at Noon, and PATH/Achieve Glendale – will be on hand to tell you more about how diaper needs affect the community. Here are some tough facts to start:

• Nearly 4,000 families in Glendale earn less than $10,000 per year and it can cost up to $1,100 per year to diaper a baby.
• Diapers are not covered under food stamps or WIC. Babies left in dirty diapers face great risk for diaper rash, staph, and urinary tract infections.
• At any given point there are 42 women and children in Glendale homeless due to domestic violence. Homeless families in crisis need diapers.

You can get your free ticket to the morning event here. Please make sure to get your ticket so that the organizers know how many people will be on hand. Please also bring a package of diapers and/or wipes to the event. There will be additional drop off sites around Glendale (and I’ll follow up with more info on that in a post next week.) Or if you can’t make it but would still like to donate diapers, you can donate to PATH Achieve Glendale right here. For more info on Help A Mother Out, click here.

HAMO Glendale Diaper Drive
Glendale Police Station
Wednesday December 1, 10:00am
131 North Isabel Street
Glendale, CA 91206

Please do what you can to help families in need. I will post more info about this diaper drive next week!

To all my busty sisters out there! Jenette Bras is having a HUGE sale this coming Friday. She’s calling it “Black Bra Friday” and you must go.

From 10am to 6pm everything black in the store is on sale – bras, panties, camis, slips, corsets, you name it. Discounts range from 20 to 40% off. If you have been waiting to buy some gorgeous support for your gorgeous rack, head on over to Jenette’s.  While others will be muscling through crowds to get the latest electronics, you will be shaping up nicely in a beautiful new bra, aided by the expert care of Jenette and her crew.

Gents! Don’t think you aren’t invited. If you have a lovely busty gal in your life, gift certificates are 20% this Friday as well.

Black Bra Friday
Jenette Bras
Friday, November 26
10am – 6pm

“Where the Alphabet Starts at D!”