If you’re looking for something fun to do tomorrow (ie: Saturday) night, Pehrspace, that neat little performance space that always has quirky and amazing stuff going on, is hosting the Dress Show.  Curator Dawn Anderson asked several of her local artist friends, including people working in fashion, advertising, music, and acting, as well as the visual arts, to create dresses out of beautiful, eclectic and unconventional materials.  I sent Dawn a quick email and asked her what kinds of dresses will be on display – she told me that there are dresses made out of bamboo and rope, out of onion and garlic skins, and that many of the pieces are multimedia and interactive.  DJ Mike Bell from Lymbyc Systym will be spinning during the show, and later, the bands Hot TV and Moses Campbell will play sets.  Pehrspace is really wonderful – if you’ve never been, you should go, because they showcase a lot of new, local bands, and bring in cool artists, and are non-profit and awesome!  It’s one of my favorite places to hear music.

As an unrepentant fashionophile, I am particularly excited to check out the Dress Show, and I also thought this would be a great moment to talk LA dress shops!  So, dear, readers, where are your favorite places to go dress shopping in Los Angeles?  I tend towards vintage shops myself – I love, love, love Ragg Mopp Vintage in Silver Lake (because they always magically have wonderful things in my size) and I’ve been known to wander between the racks at Golyester on La Brea, mostly just coveting things because they tend to be slightly out of my budget.  And I love digging through the racks on Sunday afternoons at the Melrose trading post, and since I’m known to be marginally handy with a sewing machine, when I’m feeling crafty I scour the fashion district for fabric on the cheap.  What are your favorite frock shops?

The Dress Show runs from 7pm to Midnight, on Saturday May 8^th, at Pehrspace (325 Glendale Blvd., 90026), and admission is free so you have no excuse!

Luscious!

Jenette Bras (where the alphabet starts at D*) is having a tea party this Saturday, May 1st to celebrate their 1st anniversary. You are invited!

All bras and knickers by British brands Freya, Fantasie, Fauve and Elomi will be 15% off. Spend $100 and you’ll be entered into the raffle to win a babydoll by Twist called “Teatime.”

The special guest at Tea will be Frederika Zappe, fit specialist from the above English brands.

The best part: Not only do you get tea and goodies to nosh and beautiful bras to try on and buy, but 15% of the day’s proceeds will be donated to the “Jenette Bras Supports The Girls” campaign. Jenette Bras is partnering with CASA Glamour Gowns (who give girls in foster care in Los Angeles donated prom dresses) to provide beautiful bra support to go along with the dresses.

Not only will you get some gorgeous support for your own girls, but you can provide support for LA’s gorgeous prom girls.

Jenette Bras 1st Anniversary Tea Party
Saturday May 1st
12-4pm

4308 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, 90029
Call to RSVP: 323-665-7490

Or sign up on the Facebook Event page here.

*If you don’t know what this means, this is not the bra store for you, but tell all your well endowed friends about it!

Well, more specifically, The Grove plays Pandora in the movies, tomorrow. Head there after 2 PM (that’s the press check-in time; the actual event starts a bit later), and you can see yourself turned into a Na’vi, just like whatshisname did in Avatar.

Sadly, this does not involve climbing into a tank and transferring your consciousness into an actual ten-foot-tall blue cat-person. Nor does it involve riding dragons or having awesome trippy ponytail-USB sex with a digitally manipulated Zoe Saldana. And instead of being surrounded by the primeval forests of a faraway world, you’ll be surrounded by Barnes & Noble and Wetzel’s Pretzels.

No, here’s what happens: The digital-effects journeymen at InWindow  Outdoor will use facial-recognition technology to morph shoppers’ faces in real-time into the big blue natives of Pandora. And you can presumably watch yourself on a screen, in Na’vi form.

Sadly, there’s no news of this on The Grove’s own site; I found the item on the movie news website chud.com (warning: site is lousy with those pop-up ads that boink into existence when you hover your mouse over highlighted phrases).

Need a ladder for a one-time project but don’t want to buy one? Out of town and want to borrow a bike for the weekend? Do you have a garage or attic full of stuff that you only use once a year? If so, NeighborGoods can help.

NeighborGoods is an innovative place where you can save and earn money just by sharing stuff with your friends. You can choose to share your stuff only with people you know, or you can expand your network and rent your lawnmower to a stranger, you decide. You can also post an alert to your NeighborGoods community when you need something.

If you’re still not sure exactly how it works, check out the short video below that explains how NeighborGoods can make your life a lot easier and a lot less cluttered. Oh, and you just might save the world too.

Sign up for NeighborGoods and start sharing now! Visit neighborgoods.net for more information.

Spring arrives with the buzzing of the bees, the blooming of the flowers and many birthings of babies. Mazel tov to all the new parents out there and to the new babies: welcome!

Full disclosure: I’m not currently a mom, but I am an auntie and have many friends with offspring so I do know one thing. Those little guys grow pretty fast!

If budgets are tight and you love recycling then Goo Goo Swap could be just for you. It’s sorta the Southern California Craigslist for all things kinder. There are listings for everything from toys to clothes to furniture and even listings for services like photographers and mommy and me yoga classes. There is a also section for mom’s on the nest with postings for gently used maternity clothes and exercise dvds.

Goo Goo Swap looks like a good way save a few bucks (or make a few bucks) on that pair of shoes that Junior might only wear once in his easter portrait.

Click here for: Goo Goo Swap

I’m giddy that a new Trader Joe’s is opening in Hollywood on the Corner of Selma and Vine (just below Sunset).  I’m not sure what that says about me…

I guess that I’m attached to their frozen french Gruyere pizzas and I like Pinot from Santa Ynez that is priced several bucks lower than other retail places.  Yes.  But I’m also impressed that they consistently get organic vegetables and fruit… by the same grower as Whole Foods, that is two dollars less! It doesn’t make sense to me because for the volume they do, Whole Foods should be able to get discount prices too,  yet over and over again, I find the same products at both stores with wildly lower prices at TJ’s.

In any case, I’m excited that in two weeks or so I can roll down the hill and get my market tasks done in the hood!  Yay!  The revitalization of Hollywood is working!

I know times are tough and sold ad space is sold ad space, but did you really have to run the Stihl ad on page 16 of the front section of today’s paper? You know, the one partially pictured at right that among a whole passel of fossil-fueled devices features a certifiably badass leafblowing dude sporting the latest in righteous gas-powered leafblower technology beneath the headline “This Spring I Want Something Lightweight” (and to which I answer “Try a fucking rake, blowhard.”).

The reason I ask isn’t because of anything wrong with Stihl, just the primary subject matter of this specific ad because for the last 12 years or so there’s apparently been something you folks there in your downtown bunker might not have heard about known as a citywide ban on gas-powered leafblower use or more officially “Los Angeles City Municipal Code 112.04(c),” which nutshelled says: “Gas powered blowers cannot be used within 500 feet of a residence at anytime.”

See the problems with the devices are myriad: they make a whole mess of noise pollution, and while making all that noise they’re also creating a bunch of air pollutions what with the harmful emissions they shit and all the particulate matter they push off the ground and into the air. Overall it’s a lose/lose but it appears a lack of prevailing wisdom on the subject (or maybe you knew and just don’t give a crap) allowed you to shill for Stihl, and having done so you gotta know that a whole bunch of yard-warrior homeowners are gonna go grab them some of that anti-green goodness and start using it on any given Saturday or Sunday morning, probably around 10 a.m. Hopefully they’ll all live next door to wherever you all get up in the morning.

You see where I’m going with this? Yeah: NOT a very conscientious, connected decision there, guys. Not by a longshot. In fact if there was a Lame Hall Of Fame, I’d nominate you for the Way Out Of Touch category. So in an effort to help you help yourselves and your paper from looking so idiotic in the future, after the jump I’ve put together a quick list of other things your ad sales department might want to just say no to, no matter how much money that four-color half-pager might bring in. It’s far from complete and some of the subjects you’re probably familiar with, but it should give you a place of responsibility and integrity from which to start:

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Formerly every Saturday at Micheltorena Elementary School, the “Silver Lake Art, Craft & Vintage” flea market will now take place the last weekend of every month, both Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.

While I don’t know the specific reasons for the change, I have visited this flea market on several occasions and always found it lacking in vendors. The space is large enough and the vendors that are there have a decent selection, but to draw a crowd, I think they simply need more. Perhaps moving the fair from every Saturday to just one weekend a month will encourage more vendors to participate. I also think it would be more appealing if they offered a broader selection of “arts” and “crafts” vendors, as it is mostly just vintage clothing. I love shopping for vintage clothing, but if you’re going to bill something as “Art, Craft & Vintage,” you might want to strive to carry an equal selection of those things.

For more information on the fair, visit their web site at silverlakeartcraftvintage.com.

If you drink Diet Coke, here is a deal you will want to take advantage of fast. The 99 Cents Only Store on Sunset and Maltman in Silver Lake is selling Diet Coke, four cans for only 99 cents. Get on that!

Trader Joe's in Silver Lake. Photo courtesy of Yelp.com

I have been shopping at the same Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake for years and somehow never knew about their weekly drawing for a $25 gift card.

All you have to do is bring your own bag, or basically not use their paper or disposable bags when you check out, and the cashier will give you a raffle ticket that enters you into their weekly drawing. I’m not sure if every Trader Joe’s offers this or just my local Silver Lake store, but now that I know, I’m going to be sure to bring my own bag from now on.

Do you know of any other stores offering a similar incentive? Drop a comment here and let us know.

Mink's feral cat photo used through Creative Commons

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, the Stray Cat Alliance is having a giant indoor “yard” sale at 2201 Westwood (the site of the former Hollywood Video store on the corner of Olympic). The sale runs Saturday (Caturday as some would have it) 30 January from 8am to 3pm and Sunday 31 January from 9am to noon. The Stray Cat Alliance are those folks who care for strays, trying to match them with people, neuter and spay where needed and generally do what they can to work toward a “no kill nation.” So yeah, come buy things and help save the wild kittehs

To donate items, please email: info@StrayCatAlliance.org or call (310) 281-6973

To volunteer the week before or during the sale, email: SCAVolunteers@gmail.com

I always want what doesn’t exist.  In this case, it was an old, and possibly discontinued, model of a small electronic appliance that customers seem to prefer over the newer models.  However, after some online searching, I found that the item indeed exists, only at Fry’s Electronics.   I didn’t know anything about Fry’s, except that I pass by the one on Route 1 in Manhattan Beach every so often, and one time a passenger in my car cheered when she saw the place.

So I made it to Fry’s yesterday, and was quite pleasantly surprised.  Fly the friendly Fry’s after the jump

Shiny Fabrics courtesy of John_X

So, I’m planning to trek downtown to the Fashion District tomorrow.  I like to think of myself as pretty handy with a sewing machine, but not handy enough that I feel like dropping a lot of cash on fancy fabric would be a good idea.  (My number of sewing successes are outnumbered by my sewing failures by about ten to one, but my dreams of being a fashion icon will never die!)  The Fashion District is my most favorite place to go for fabric and sewing supplies on the cheap, plus it’s also a really vibrant, fun part of town.  But the rows and rows of fabric stores selling polyester at 1.99 a yard can be kind of overwhelming if you’ve never been before, so here’s my survival guide for making it out of the Fashion District in one piece.

Wear comfy shoes. You’ll probably end up doing lots of walking.  Also, parking in the Fashion District is (predictably) not good, so I’d suggest taking Metro – I usually take the Red Line to Pershing Square and then walk over, which isn’t too bad of a stroll.  While the district is pretty big, most of the textile merchants are in and around Maple Street, between 8th and Olympic.

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The old Fox Hills mall in Culver City, where I have been many times, was a somewhat sleepy place.  Not any more.  In time for this past Christmas, the expanded and renamed Westfield Culver City shopping center unveiled itself to huge crowds.  The mall appears to be doubled in size, and now includes Target, Best Buy, H&M, Coach, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Manna Korean Barbeque, and a completely redone food court, er, “dining terrace.”  And it now has room for key elements of any good shopping mall: a giant Christmas tree, and new cars on display.

take a tour, after the jump

Scent Bar in West Hollywood

One of my favorite places to spend a leisurely afternoon in LA is surprisingly not in my precious Silver Lake, but across town in West Hollywood. When I have an afternoon to kill and need some time to myself, the Scent Bar on Beverly is like a little slice of heaven floating on a pastel tuft of cotton candy.

The Scent Bar is more than just a retail store hawking the usual perfumes. Here they encourage you to hang out as long as you like, sampling some of the most rare and exotic fragrances that you won’t likely find at the beauty counter in Nordstrom’s.  My favorites include: 10 Corso Como, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Comme des Garcons, and Costume National, but their selection is truly endless.

For the commitment phobic, you can buy sample sizes of most of their perfumes too, check them out online at luckyscent.com.