Krysta Grasso, 27, is the owner of the crochet brand Unlikely Fox. Surrounded by a sea of colorful yarn, 27-year-old Krysta Grasso lounged on her bed in her West Adams apartment as she crocheted a custom order. With the yarn in one hand and a crochet hook in the other, she intricately worked in more…
Crossing up and over the fabled Donner Pass in the northern Sierra Nevada and descending to Lake Tahoe is one of those essential rites of passage for Californians. But forget doing it in a car. Now is the time to hop on board Amtrak’s long-distance California Zephyr and see the amazing snowpack from the comfort…
The first time I called Scott by my ex’s name, we were lying side by side. The morning air was already heavy with the salty tang of Redondo Beach’s humidity. “It’s OK,” Scott whispered in saint-like understanding; seemingly unbothered by my blunder, he suggested we get out of bed and salvage our day. We had…
Miss Dior Avenue pop-up comes to West Hollywood (Christian Dior Parfums / Marc Patrick/BFA.com) Sometimes you need a 1960s-inspired style adventure. You’re in luck thanks to the new immersive Miss Dior Avenue experience that has popped up this week on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. ( The pop-up event isn’t too far from the Pacific…
Alexis Fischer was excited to jump back into the dating world after being single for two years. The professional dancer-turned-entrepreneur took time to heal from her breakup with her ex-boyfriend of nearly four years. She also wanted to focus on building her business, the Move by Lexfish app, where she teaches virtual Pilates, dance and…
To say it’s difficult to date in Los Angeles is almost like saying the traffic is bad. Yes, we know! But what if dating didn’t have to feel so debilitating? What if we could create the healthy and fun dating life that we crave so badly? One that would make us excited about the possibility…
Michael Arceneaux at the Hollyhock House. Arceneaux wears Loewe shirt, Isabel Marant denim jeans and jacket, Louis Vuitton shoes, Akoni glasses. (Gabriel S. Lopez/For The Times) Forty-eight hours of torrential downpour betray the natural logic of Los Angeles. Submerged roadways, mudslides and record-setting rainfall have transformed the Southland city into an obstacle course out of…
Come spring in California, after even a little bit of rain, people start asking the big questions: When does the Wild Flower Hotline start up and will this year be a superbloom? The first question is easy: Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline resumes on March 8, and updates every Friday into June. You can…
It’s hard to know what to do or say when a loved one is in the throes of a devastating breakup. No matter what you try — talking about it, not talking about it, vilifying the ex, coming up with fun distractions — they remain consumed with grief. Is there a right way to ease…
When I opened the door of my apartment, something felt off. The way the click of the lock echoed in the room was wrong. It was too resonant. The furniture usually absorbed the sound. But the couch, the rug, the dining room table — what used to buffer the noise of the tiled living room…
Walking through the garden of designer and sculptor Vince Skelly’s Claremont home is a distinct local sensory experience. Following a decade living in Portland, Ore., “I just want it to feel like Southern California,” he says as he grazes a palm over a salvia plant, releasing its aroma. Since returning in 2021, the self-taught artist…
For some Los Angeles galleries, home is where the art is — or in the laundry room, also known as Quarters Gallery, inside Nina Muccia’s two-bedroom Los Feliz duplex. The 32-square-foot space marked its first anniversary in March with a group show, “Hoarders,” of 50-plus works on clothespins, the breaker box and shelves usually reserved…
Book Review Painted People: 5,000 Years of Tattooed History from Sailors and Socialites to Mummies and Kings By Matt LodderWilliam Collins: 352 pages, $21.99If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. One of the most stubborn misconceptions about tattooing is that it…
With a comfortable stroll, Sean Bankhead stepped into Evolution Studios dressed in a black Nike sweatsuit. It was January and the Atlanta-based choreographer had just completed a day of rehearsals in Los Angeles. He took one whiff of the stuffy studio following a day’s worth of dance classes and sessions, commenting, “Smells just like I…
A queer bar. A bedroom. A freeway. A swap meet. A billboard. “At the Edge of the Sun” celebrates the places, connections and references that make up a scene of artists and friends in L.A. The self-organized group exhibition showing at Jeffrey Deitch is about the choices, as Maria Maea says, that these artists have…
Under red lights, a man in a cowboy hat swings his partner around a crowded dance floor. House and disco play from a makeshift DJ booth. A tattooed woman with long, red fingernails grips a Buddha-shaped beer bottle. A fashionable couple takes selfies in matching red trucker hats emblazoned with the words “Thai Angel.” They’re…
Under the canopy of the enormous olive tree that shades his home, Daniel Gerwin’s 11-year-old son ascends the tree’s gnarled trunk like an expert climber while his brother, 7, reads a book a few feet away inside the house. Standing nearby, architect John K. Chan, who recently renovated the interiors and designed a modern 500-square-foot…
As the Ferris wheel reached its apex and Sam leaned in to kiss me, I felt like Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts. After years of singledom, I was having my romantic comedy moment, and I was in shock. But why not believe it? Hadn’t I earned it? At 28, I’d never had a serious relationship.…
If there was an award for the most wellness-focused couple in Los Angeles, Jay Shetty and Radhi Devlukia would take the cake. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the…
I’ve never given much thought to my scalp. Aside from the occasional subconscious scritch-scratch or vigorous shampooing, it’s kind of just … there. A necessary but often-overlooked cranium cover. But the humble scalp is the focus of an increasingly popular wellness trend: elaborate Chinese and Japanese-inspired treatments at so-called head spas. At these businesses, visitors…
Beyoncé revealed she hasn’t always been “flawless” when it comes to her hair. The “Break My Soul” singer got candid about the roots of her new Cécred (pronounced “sacred”) hair-care line, revealing in a cover story for Essence that she struggled with psoriasis during her childhood. “The relationship we have with our hair is such…
On the first new moon in February, not long after Pluto had entered Aquarius, Shima Moore stood like a priestess in flowing white robes behind a podium in the Los Angeles Ballroom at the LAX Hilton. She was there to officially open the 22nd Conscious Life Expo with a 12th dimensional stargate meditation. “When we’re…
REI will close up shop in Santa Monica at the end of the month, marking the second move out of a busy downtown area this month for the outdoor retail giant. REI Co-op’s location in the heart of Portland closed earlier this month. In both cases, the company has either already opened, or soon plans…
In December 2022, I was at Zara in the Glendale Galleria, helping my sister find a coat suitable for a funeral, when he first messaged. “How are ya?” It was a loaded question. My 27-year-old brother went to sleep the week before and never woke up, and our family didn’t know why. I was a…
Mike had me cornered. He’d graduated ages ago, but his tastes hadn’t. He still went to high school house parties to drool over girls who read Sassy and got their braces tightened every four weeks. “Hey,” he said to my padded bra. “Hey,” I grumbled back. Adulthood had given Mike a power he was eager…
When it comes to healing from grief, there’s often not a simple answer, but there are some recommended standbys. Therapy, of course, is essential, and maintaining close contact with a community also is often recommended. And maybe, perhaps, a bit of slime? Such was the case for Karen Robinovitz, one of the co-founders of the…
It’s Valentine’s Day, so of course, my thoughts have turned to love. My love of candy. See’s candy, specifically, which I can (and do!) buy for myself. Opinion Columnist Robin Abcarian I’ve been single for 13 years or so, ever since I came home from work one day and found a manila envelope on the…
Los Angeles is a city that demands you go outside. The weather, the vibes and the ever-present feeling that anything is possible. The only things stopping you are time and traffic. The clothes we wear reflect that, from cargo shorts to open-toed sandals, camp collar shirts and tank tops. This is a place where romance…
Lynn Bufka isn’t sure how she’s going to get through the next nine months. The licensed psychologist, stress expert and spokesperson for the American Psychological Assn. usually watches the news on TV each morning. But with a contentious presidential election coming up, lately she’s been reluctant to pick up the remote. “I don’t want to…
For decades, one of the world’s most unusual and unlikely amusement parks sat forgotten in shipping containers about two hours north of Dallas. Its visitors? Raccoons, some snakes. All the while, the glorious and outlandish rides of the little-known Luna Luna lay preserved and untouched. Only these were no ordinary attractions. The creations of Luna…
“Looking for banter!” It’s a dating app standard, among the Billboard Hot 100 of bio banality. Along with a passion for food, travel, plants and “The Office” (yes, still), the ability to banter, whatever that may mean, has become a common prerequisite for earning someone’s swipe right. The number of U.S. Tinder users who listed…
We are living in an age of placeless possibility: a time when we can instantly get in touch with another person no matter where they are on the planet through any number of media. We can catch up with friends and family, network, and even date virtually. We can connect with hundreds simultaneously Zooming in…
On a recent Sunday afternoon, L.A. gallerist Lauren Powell and about 30 others trekked up a steep, sinuous Griffith Park trail. The group hauled enormous framed paintings 2½ miles to the top of the hill. Nearly everyone was dressed in pastel-colored, tie-dyed shirts or other sunset-hued garb. The procession of artists, curators, collectors and art…
Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy Aerial view of Luna Luna in Moorweide park. Hamburg, Germany, 1987. Photo: © Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy Luna Luna, LLC (Sabina Sarnitz / Luna Luna) In 1987, an amusement park opened in Hamburg, West Germany, where all the rides and games were also contemporary art: a carousel by Keith Haring, a glass…
A new Pixar-themed daytime parade and enhancements to the “Star Wars” attraction Star Tours — The Adventures Continue are coming to the Disneyland Resort in 2024. Numerous festivals and celebrations will also dot the theme park calendar for the upcoming year, which was unveiled Monday morning by the resort. Returning in 2024 is a reimagined…
Death Valley’s temporary lake, fed by one powerful summer storm, is down to inches as it dwindles in the park’s Badwater Basin. But as it evaporates, other parts of the national park are reopening. In the aftermath of an Aug. 20 storm that caused widespread flooding and forced the closure of the park, the shallow…
Goth Shakira wearing Acne Studios dress and gloves, Kachorovska shoes and Jéblanc earrings. (Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) One might follow Goth Shakira for their “whimsigoth crypto nun” looks posted from the bathrooms of Tom Bradley, for their poetic takes on digital existence, for their deep cuts of darkwave en Español…
I met one of my exes on Grindr. He was an astrological match, and our Virgo/Taurus vibes were palpable. But was that enough for a real relationship to bloom?
At first glance, the scene unfolding on a leafy, half-crowded patio in West Hollywood looks like any other gastropub on a Sunday afternoon. In one corner, a table of nine celebrates a milestone birthday around a vase filled with 21 delicate pink roses. In another, a table of five carries on three conversations at once…
“Grandfather! Look over here!” calls Rita Earl Blackwell, her New York accent dissolving into the whipping wind. Wearing an electric blue jacket emblazoned with the words “Tell Your Dog I Said Hi,” she crouches low to film a dawdling old pug named Jojo with her iPhone. On this blustery morning, Jojo wears a hooded jacket…
In a cozy pool house in Holmby Hills, 33-year-old Liana Levi counts backward from 10 as I move my leg in a slow circle. “Think happy thoughts,” she says as the deceptively simple movements cause my muscles to shake on the Pilates reformer. Her distinctly Californian voice wafts over a Bad Bunny-heavy playlist. She has…
“At 6601 West 82nd Street, there is the biggest naked coral tree I have ever seen. It’s stunning. Instead of spreading wide, which many do, this tree is both wide and about 50 feet high. In the summer, it’s full of dense green leaves creating beautiful shade, and as the name implies, it is naked…
We often go into the holidays with the best of intentions: We’re not going to spend too much this year. We won’t overcommit. We’ll keep doing all those self-care rituals that prevent us from descending into a rage state at the holiday table when Uncle Wilbur insists on asking why we’re still not married. We’ll…
At first, Cathlene Pineda was reluctant to join the Atwater Village Moms’ Facebook group. The jazz pianist and composer doesn’t particularly like Facebook, and she’s wary of online communities. But she acquiesced because, as she put it, “Some other moms were like, ‘You have to be part of this group.’” After joining in 2021, she…
In a neighborhood filled with homogeneous Midcentury Modern residences, Brandon McBurney’s Palm Springs home stands out thanks to its 10-foot-tall lime green doors that face the street. “I wanted something that would stand up to the history of the Palm Springs front door,” says Josh Agle, the artist popularly known as Shag, who designed the…
For a moment, I fell under the spell of Bryan Johnson. Bathed in early-morning sunlight, the 46-year-old L.A.-based tech centimillionaire and longevity celebrity didn’t look much younger than his age, although he claims to have the wrinkles of a 10-year-old and organs that are several years younger than his lifespan. We were standing at the…
In a TikTok that has been viewed nearly 1 million times, a woman explains that her husband’s approach to calming down after an argument is “by being in my skin, attached to me like a bug on a rug.” As someone with an avoidant attachment style, it’s the exact opposite of how she handles conflict,…
These days less than before, we gather in a room, my grandpa closest to the TV, and watch as two people beat each other up. There is always food — someone makes pozole, someone brings a Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready. The chorus of collective winces rises and falls and at least one person in our home…
Throwing pottery on a wheel can be a love-hate relationship. Becki Chernoff knows all about it. “Many people fall in love with clay when they take their first class,” Chernoff says as she sits at the potter’s wheel in her Pasadena studio. “But others become frustrated because it’s too hard and decide it’s not for…
I had been married for six weeks the night I met Anthony. Tall, olive-skinned with electric green eyes, he was so handsome my cheeks were flushed when I walked through the front door of his shared Venice Beach home. I was in L.A. from Seattle visiting my sister for the weekend. Crossing paths with her…
They say you shouldn’t sleep where you work, but Pixar chief Pete Docter means it at as a compliment when he says that Disneyland’s reimagined Paradise Pier Hotel — now branded to the Emeryville-based animation powerhouse — is like “walking into Pixar.” An exaggeration, sure, but the Pixar Place Hotel entryway that greets guests echoes…
When NASCAR reached out to Ozzie Juarez, artist and founder of Tlaloc Studios, to make a trophy for the NASCAR Mexico Series race, inaugurating at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum this Sunday, he knew it had to ring true to his own style while answering one primary question: “If I was a Mexican racer and I…
LONDON — Over the bar of a 200-year-old pub in southeast London hangs a sign: “For the people of East Greenwich, by the people of East Greenwich.” What might sound like a pithy slogan is in fact the truth. The Star of Greenwich, which almost closed for good last year, has been saved by the local…
My dad was born in 1952, the Year of the Dragon. He’s an immigrant from Taiwan who came to the U.S. for graduate school at San Jose State University, and he worked as an engineer until his retirement. In some ways, he’s the reason I never took Chinese horoscopes that seriously. The other members in…
Many of Lanny Smoot’s best-known inventions are, at least to nonengineers, more like magic tricks. Floating disembodied heads, a lightsaber that actually expands, retracts and glows and, in his latest sleight-of-hand, a reinvention of the floor. Yes, a floor. Smoot at 68 is the most accomplished modern inventor at the Walt Disney Co., headquartered in…
If you’ve read our coverage of accessory dwelling units, you know that they are one of the most popular housing solutions in California, with almost one-fifth of the newly permitted housing units in 2022 categorized as ADUs. With mortgage rates high, California’s ADU laws constantly changing to help alleviate the housing crisis and the median…
You know that feeling when you’re on a first date with someone and you instantly hit it off? When the conversation is flowing effortlessly about a niche show you both like, you can’t help but grin like a Cheshire cat. When it feels like fireworks are popping off in your belly, that’s called chemistry. But…
Tearing out your lawn can be a tough decision, especially if you have children or dogs who love to roll and play. Or — no judgment here — maybe you just enjoy the visual serenity of a swath of green in a region where the hills go brown in the summer. The good news is…
For the story “The greatest trees of Los Angeles,” writer Ryan Bradley and photographer Devin Oktar Yalkin went on a quest to find the city’s most beloved trees. Among their many finds: the coastal live oak in Orcutt Ranch, East L.A. icon El Pino Famoso and the bandaged-with-care grapefruit tree in the Japanese American Cultural…
There is a sycamore in the front yard of my grandparents’ house, the house where my father grew up. It is a giant, towering over the home, the yard, the whole neighborhood. Last spring, when my grandmother was fading and the tree was coming into leaf, I stood under the sycamore for a long while,…
Founded by photographer, director and multimedia artist Bibs Moreno in 2021 with Aloe Garza, Frutas is a living, breathing archive of Latinos and other people of color in L.A. who exist outside the binary, for whom subculture and style are an obvious religion. (Courtesy of Bibs Moreno / Frutas) Thumbing through the pages of Frutas…
When Sabrina Zohar first started dating her boyfriend whom she refers to as “tech guy” in her popular TikTok videos, she was doubtful about their connection for one striking reason. He barely texted her. After matching on Hinge in 2022, they went on several dates and saw each other at least twice a week despite…
After a year of hardship — shootings, war and uncertainty regarding artificial intelligence — the Pantone Color Institute has announced that Peach Fuzz, a warm and fuzzy hue between pink and orange, is the Color of the Year for 2024. Looking back at 2023, you can’t help but wonder if one of Pantone’s most popular…
Welcome to the Los Angeles Times News Quiz. I’m Adam Tschorn, senior features writer, former game show question-and-answer man and your weekly quizmaster. Each Friday, I’ll serve up 10 handcrafted, California-focused, multiple-choice questions based on stories that appeared in The Times (in print or online) over the previous seven days. This week, we’re taking a…
My eyes scanned the crowd in the arrivals area of Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport. Then I saw her face, framed by a curtain of espresso-colored hair, peeking out from behind a cement pillar. We had never met before face to face, but I knew Stacy and everything about her. Her arms reached…
On the stand-up stage, comedian Kate Berlant is a lot — a lot of exaggerated faces, a lot of abrupt free-form physicality and a lot of on-a-dime thematic pivots. She’s brought that same frenetic theatricality to both the small and big screens, including last year’s Emmy-nominated sketch comedy special “Would It Kill You to Laugh?”…
To say it’s difficult to date in Los Angeles is almost like saying the traffic is bad. Yes, we know! But what if dating didn’t have to feel so debilitating? What if we could create the healthy and fun dating life that we crave so badly? One that would make us excited about the possibility…
At the tail end of a long studio session in preparation for her first full-length album, the L.A.-based artist known by her monomial Yendry is reminiscing on Zoom. “A lot of things have been happening to me,” she says of her electric rise as a singer and performer over the last few years. “And I…
Festival season has begun at the Disneyland Resort, with the annual Lunar New Year celebration landing at Disney California Adventure. Over the past decade, Disneyland’s Lunar New Year festivities have swelled from relatively modest weekend events to extravaganzas spanning multiple weeks and overhauling entertainment and food offerings at the theme park. Running now through Feb.…
Paddleboarding just got simpler with the omission of one major element: water. Los Angeles’ marinas, canals and channels have long been hubs for paddleboarding activities, but on a recent weekday afternoon in January, boarders flocked to the back patio of a physical therapy studio in Westwood. About half a dozen of them lay face down…
The night I met Buff Ben, I was coming from a Hinge date. The night had started auspiciously. My date was a fellow screenwriter who had worn a Hawaiian shirt, smiled and asked a few good questions. Then he had dropped the act of polite curiosity and begun reciting his accomplishments aloud. Not wanting to…
Thwack! Thwack! Thud! Oh, thank god, my whole body exclaimed. After a few swings, the razor-sharp pick I clutched lodged firmly into a cascading frozen waterfall. Shards of ice exploded from the point of contact onto my face. A taste of blood. At least the hold seemed solid. I raised one foot and kicked the…
Common and Jennifer Hudson, have a lot in — well, common. They’re Grammy, Emmy and Oscar winners. They were raised in Chicago’s South Side. On Monday they both revealed they’re in happy relationships. “I’m in a relationship that is [with] one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met in life,” Common said during his…
Actor, comedian and musician Craig Robinson (“The Office,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Hot Tub Time Machine”) is upfront about his ideal L.A. Sunday. “It’s spent at home chilling,” he said. “My day is a blank canvas.” The star of “Killing It,” a two-season sitcom that finds him playing a python-wrangling fictionalized version of himself (all 18 episodes…
Back in August, Eris Nezha and Petra Conti stepped in front of a crowd at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. They looked at each other. Nezha nodded at Conti, who smiled in return. Then, they danced. Through the lifts, twists and turns, the two caught each other’s eyes through each moment. The crowd gathered that evening…
The older I get, the more I enjoy acting like a kid. I jump at every opportunity to do backflips in the pool and absolutely love seeing the circus when it’s in town. I’ll giggle over banana splits at Fluffy McCloud’s and relish the silly moments when my friends want to watch an animated movie…
Welcome to the Los Angeles Times News Quiz. I’m Adam Tschorn, senior features writer, former game show question-and-answer man, and, as of today, your weekly quizmaster. Each Friday, I’ll serve up 10 handcrafted, California-leaning, multiple-choice questions based on stories that appeared in The Times (in print and online) over the previous seven days. This week,…
Close your eyes and imagine Los Angeles. You might conjure palm trees, beaches and blue skies. Traffic-clogged freeways, the downtown skyline or the taco truck on your corner. You know the looks of this city. But do you know its sounds? The rhythms and noises of a location can be as unique as a signature.…
The bar was almost full when I walked into the restaurant. The hostess greeted me with a smile, a slicked-back perfect ponytail and a red lip to finish her look. As she asked if I needed a table, I spotted a man at the bar in a light red Patagonia puffer jacket with two seats…
One night as she was lying in bed, Becky Feldman wondered, “Do I remember how to have sex?” It had been at least a decade since the L.A.-based writer and performer tried to have intercourse. She had avoided it throughout her 20s for a few reasons: 1) She thought dating or being in a heterosexual…
Louis Vuitton SS24 pop-up in WeHo Louis Vuitton pop-up in West Hollywood. (Brad Dickson) Louis Vuitton has brought the Pont Neuf and its SS24 collection to West Hollywood. Through mid-March, the brand is featuring the first collection designed by Men’s Creative Director Pharrell Williams — complete with ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories, luggage, jewelry, trunks and leather…
The style gods of Los Angeles walk among us after the sun goes down. (Nichelle Dailey / For The Times) Fashion metaphors are usually forward-facing.You’ve got to look the part. Dress for the role you wish to inhabit. Style is a means to an end — a goal. An ambition. A designation or title. A…
Murrieta Hot Springs, a palm-shaded haven of steaming streams and coveted mud just north of Temecula, has been home to a Christian Bible college, a TV-free vegetarian commune and a popular mostly Jewish resort. Now comes a new chapter that will open the grounds and waters to the public for the first time in nearly…
Jeanette Marantos started writing for the Los Angeles Times in 1999, doing Money Makeovers until 2002. She returned to write for The Times’ Homicide Report in 2015 and the Saturday garden section in 2016, a yin and yang that kept her perspective in balance. In early 2020, she moved full time into Features, with a…
Since 2014, a recurring art show dedicated to cats has captured common feline actions (commandeering a pet parent’s lap, unflinchingly staring down an onlooker, shredding upholstered furniture and sweetly nuzzling) and just as many fantastical ones. The Cat Art Show returns this week to celebrate a milestone. Starting Friday, the “Cat Art Show: The Tenth…
New Bedstuy “You Are Holy” T-shirt. (Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) A padded waffle shirt worn by Miguel on the cover of a magazine, a hoodie with a furry mohawk stripe worn by Jay 305 front row at L.A. Fashion Week. A certain kind of person is drawn to New Bedstuy…
Since her usual hazardous waste disposal site closed last year, Dashiel St. Damien has accumulated 20 pounds of batteries and a bag full of lightbulbs. St. Damien, 46, a designer who lives in Mount Washington, knows these items shouldn’t go into her usual curbside bins, but has struggled to find a new, convenient place to…
You might be reluctant to stay at a $475-a-night inn that warns of flashing lights and foghorns throughout the night, or bans one-night guests from bathing, or requires that you be ready to climb a ladder above roiling seas. But then you hear those four words: Lighthouse on an island. The East Brother Light Station…
If you’ve spent any amount of time on TikTok or talking to your 12-year-old niece, you’ve probably heard of the Stanley cup by now. The 40 oz. insulated tumbler with a handle has led to long lines, fights and a crazy resale market. We’re only 11 days into the new year, and already some marketers…
A shopping spree at Santee Alley, oysters at Grand Central Market and reunions at Micky’s in West Hollywood are a few must-dos for the drag queen and comic.
Last weekend, when my family was shopping at Costco, one of the free sample lines caused a shopping cart traffic jam. It was the new Bibigo Korean-style crunchy chicken with sweet & spicy sauce, featured in this month’s Costco coupon book (it’s $4.50 off!). I got in line. If there’s anything Costco shoppers can’t resist,…
The thought of the approaching holidays and having to attend the firm’s end-of-year party without a plus-one made me gasp. That’s why I turned my attention to my dating app. Thankfully a blue-highlighted super like from a tall, dark and handsome fellow woke me up more than my latte did. He was 80 miles from…
Arezu Aghaseyedjavadi signed up for her first Barry’s class in 2017, motivated to give the high-intensity workout a try after noticing how fit everyone seemed when she flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles for weekly work trips. She lost 50 pounds in the first year and got hooked. More than 1,500 classes later, the…
Years ago, when they were feeling lost and directionless and leaning too heavily on their vices, Edgar Fabián Frías cast a spell on themself. As part of the process, the L.A. based artist, therapist and magical practitioner decided they would pull a tarot card and get whatever they selected tattooed on their arm. As luck…
Almost every day for the last two years, Vincent “VDogg” Hubbard has stood outside the Louisiana Fried Chicken at Manchester and Normandie avenues with a suitcase full of cocoa butter and a traveling chess set. Slight in stature, with a gap-tooth smile and a blunt tucked into his beanie, the 44-year-old is South L.A.’s preeminent…
In a quiet backyard nestled in the Sherman Oaks hills, seasoned jazz musician Larry Goldings begins to play the punchy opening notes to Van Halen’s “Jump” on his prized melodica. Standing beside him is dancer Melinda Sullivan, who soon strikes the glam metal of her tap shoes on a 27-by-35-inch piece of wood, providing a…
Channel your inner adventurer. You may have seen “Nyad,” the Netflix film about Diana Nyad, in which the American distance swimmer (played by Annette Bening) swims to Florida from Cuba outside the protective confines of a shark cage — at age 64. “I don’t believe in imposed limitations,” she says matter-of-factly in one scene. And…
The step-and-repeat says, “Perceive me, I beg you.” Schiaparelli speaks this same language: of spectacle. (Angella Choe / For The Times) We are drawn to them like moths who want to flex in front of the flame: Step-and-repeats, the backdrop for our memories. We pose in front of fake roses at bougie brunch spots on…
Even if you didn’t feel the ground move beneath your feet during Friday morning’s 4.2 magnitude SoCal earthquake, or the 4.1 shaker that rattled nerves (if not windows) on New Year’s Day, you might have felt those quakes — in an emotional sense — precisely because you missed out on them entirely. And that could…
I was a worrier. An overthinker. A planner. But plans don’t always work out. So I shut my eyes and pointed at a map of Los Angeles. I lifted my finger to reveal Mt. Wilson, a 5,710-foot peak in the Angeles National Forest northeast of the city and home to a 120-year-old astronomical observatory. I…
Connie Zweig first encountered her inner ageist on a cloudless spring day in Santa Monica about seven years ago. The author and retired psychotherapist was enjoying lunch at her favorite vegan restaurant, Real Food Daily, when an old woman walked in and sat at the table next to her. The woman’s clothes were worn and…
My New Year’s resolution this year is simple. This weekend — my first back in L.A. after visiting family for the holidays — I will drive to the 101 freeway entrance by my house and I will … get on it. Simple as that. But far easier said than done. I haven’t driven on the…
Bobby Kim, left, and Ben Shenassafar, a.k.a. Bobby Hundreds and Ben Hundreds, are co-founders of the brand. Over the last 20 years, The Hundreds has been hundreds of different things to hundreds of different people: a study hall; a clubhouse; viral before viral; a line out the door; a pioneer in the blog space and…
Mail gets sent to the dead all the time — ads, renewal notices, unpaid bills. But if you want to send a letter to someone you’ve lost with the chance that they’ll actually receive it, there’s a box at a Los Angeles post office that carries a mysterious power. Postal Service for the Dead, started…
We tend to look to the new year as a new beginning, as an opportunity for a fresh start. Aspiring for something different, something better, we devise resolutions in hopes of making ourselves healthier, more productive, more successful … but really, the end goal is to be happier: to feel satisfied rather than wanting at…
You’ll need a reservation to drive into Yosemite National Park by day this summer, even if you’re not spending the night. The National Park Service announced Wednesday that it would impose an updated version of the reservation requirement that it tested in the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022, when pandemic-wary rangers were looking to…
Celina wears Sami Miro Vintage top, Red September pants, Naked Wolfe shoes, Serpenti earrings, Chrome Hearts necklace, Androhmeda cross charm necklace (in hand), Gucci rings. (Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) You know a Celina Rodriguez joint when you see it. The creative director brings a dreamy, close-read quality to her collaborations…
Hometown: Apple Valley, Minn. When did you start doing OnlyFans? I was very early to OnlyFans. I started in 2017 and did it for one year while living in Minnesota, but I made less than $10,000 in one year. It wasn’t until I relaunched in 2020 that things began to pick up, and now, I…
They are animals familiar to every Californian: a mountain lion, a coyote, a dolphin, hummingbirds and butterflies, rendered in a way you’ve never seen before. The smiling creatures, eyes glinting, float before a constellation of multicolored dots swimming in a sea of cerulean blue. The pattern was created by 34-year-old Yukari Sakura, one of several…
Skaters give shape to the divine. From left to right: Robert Neal, Briana King and Junior. (Sam Muller / For The Times) Peer through the fence and squint: The artists on wheels are at work, just doing the damn thing. “Creative” is an overused term, too flattened by overuse, too non-descriptive to label skaters’ movements.…
Soraya Hannah Yousefi didn’t kick off her career with an internship or an entry level position; she began with a box of air dry clay and an Instagram account. It was May 2020 and her life was feeling upside down as she graduated from Cal State Northridge with a degree in communication studies. Yousefi was…
When I read the news that Silver Lake’s Café Tropical had abruptly closed, memories came flooding back — memories of a time, a place and a boyfriend. I met John at a dimly lighted Los Feliz duplex, at one of those “friend of a friend” parties I found myself frequenting during my first year in…
Saptarshi Majumdar likes to say he always has the best seat in the house. Sometimes it’s next to the DJ booth at Koreatown’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang nightclub, while a music video is being shot. Other times it’s at the Hollywood Palladium, for three sold-out Four Tet performances in a row. Almost every weekend, it’s…
At first glance, Matt Smith seems too chill to be a knight. His “shining armor” is just a backpack, a floppy bush hat and a pair of hightop Vans skate shoes designed by his friend, pro skateboarder Lizzie Armanto. But talk to him for just a minute and you can easily spot the determined zeal…
Of the dozens of Sunday Fundays we’ve published, no celebrity has name-dropped as many sponsorships or brand deals throughout the conversation as effortlessly as Paris Hilton. And that’s to be expected. She is the influencer of all influencers, after all. From her velour, candy-pink Juicy Couture sweatsuits to her army of extravagantly dressed puppies and…
Countless iterations of Barbra Streisand currently occupy six storage lockers in the Coachella Valley. There — sandwiched between corrugated metal walls and hefty layers of dust — the star’s iconic profile graces thousands of items, ranging from posters and record jackets to clocks and nesting dolls. It’s not unusual for Streisand to be everywhere: She…
During the middle of a Sunday morning jog through West Hollywood with a run club, marketing executive and digital strategist Mark Baroth exclaims: “I hate running!” Later on, when I mention it to Soho House Run Club founder Raymond Braun, he bursts into laughter. He’s used to these divisive feelings. “Running is polarizing,” he says.…
Prevailing notions of responsible landscaping and gardening in California have long focused on a single metric: water use. By ignoring the importance of native plants, this formula disastrously undermines biodiversity. Most of California lies within one of just five temperate biodiversity hot spots on Earth and the only one in North America. We have an…
Want to know how much your friends are worth? Meet Flip, the shopping app that will put a price tag on every single person in your phone’s contact list. Cajole one of them into signing up for the app, and you get cash — up to $130 per person — to spend on Flip. “The…
That discovery sent me down a rabbit hole that not only eventually revealed a clearer backstory to Beverly Grove but also the vast resources that can be mustered in just a few mouse clicks by any L.A. dweller curious about their own ’hood’s history. Before I get to those, here’s what I’ve managed to puzzle-piece…
Blxst at the Supervsn and Union holiday party at Soho Warehouse. (Emmanuel Camacho) The line wrapped around Soho Warehouse for the Supervsn Studios X Union holiday party this month. The question was less: Who was all there? And more: Who wasn’t? Pushing through the thick sea of bodies bobbing their heads to Keyshia Cole and…
I was still doing an internship across town at SpaceX before I started as a postdoctoral scholar in astrophysics at Caltech. But I managed to snag an invitation to the Caltech department party in Pasadena at astrophysicist Kip Thorne’s house, which had 1960s vibes, replete with a Richard Feynman sketch of a naked woman, a…
A new parade, resurrected shows and a revamped attraction: Disneyland has laid out its 2024 calendar, and it’s heavy on entertainment and festivals. If you’re planning a trip to the Anaheim parks in the next 12 months, here’s what to expect. Olaf, Anna and Elsa perform on a float inspired by “Frozen II” as part…
If you are among the millions of people in Southern California celebrating Christmas this year, let me say that I truly love your holiday. The colorful lights strung across your yards bring me joy each winter. I love your festive foods — tamales, roasts and all those cookies — and I’ve been singing along to…
Santa’s Village had become a ghost town, closed for nearly two decades. Rides had been auctioned off, much of its electrical equipment was stolen and bark beetle-infested trees — destined for an incinerator — had once taken up residence in its parking lot. But after an extensive cleanup progress, the park, built in 1955 in…
The Rev. David Brown walked through a shady tunnel of mature redwood trees, past a trio of camera-snapping tourists, and entered Wayfarers Chapel for the weekly Wednesday afternoon prayer service. “Militant atheists who don’t believe in anything feel something in our chapel,” Brown said of the 100-seat glass and wood sanctuary designed by architect Lloyd…
I was walking in Venice with poet Tom Laichas when he showed me a hard-to-describe object protruding from the strip between sidewalk and street. It was about the size of a fire hydrant, made of cement and decorated with faded hippie hieroglyphs. “If you unearth it, you get to some pre-Easter Island god,” Laichas imagined.…
Bailey Prado pearl and piercing strap clasp purse. (Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) The thing about a Bailey Prado piece is that it feels like it was made by someone who loves you. The designer is known for her handmade crochet, a medium that she extends to matching sets, rhinestone cut…
As a lively group of elderly women scurried onto a shuttle for a shopping day on a recent Tuesday afternoon, Carla and Jack Weingarten could be found snuggled under a blanket inside their Los Angeles apartment, watching “I Love Lucy” episodes on repeat. Carla, who’s 100, and Jack, who turns 105 on Dec. 25, used…
“WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?,” 2023, 84 x 60 in, Maine wool on monks cloth (Angela Nguyen / For The Times) The question “Where do we go from here?” is the center of this entire rug. It’s a saying that reflects getting around L.A. Where do we go from here when it comes to…