jenjoy

Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA

This little jewel of a museum has laid hidden from me in plain sight for 15 years.  I sat across from it during the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade.   I drive past it every time I visit Pasadena, yet I had never taken the time to introduce myself.  What a shame.

The Norton Simon Museum is the perfect museum.  Perfect in size.  Perfect in crowd attendance.  Perfect in layout.  Perfect in collections.  Okay, maybe a bit too much Degas, but can that really be a complaint?


The exhibits are all taken from Norton Simon's personal collection.  His fascination with Indian and Asian culture can be viewed in the basement, the  numerous Degas scattered in the entry court and 19th Century Wing, exquisite Dutch paintings in yet another wing. 

 
 

Outside is a harmonious sculpture garden with winding pathways, lilly covered ponds and gently flowing water fountains.  An elegant but casual cafe hides in the corner and helps you imagine a tranquil afternoon of good food, imaginative art and wonderful friends.

If you live in Los Angeles, you owe yourself a visit to the Norton Simon Museum.  If you don't live here, make sure to include it on your things to do when you visit.

The details:

Norton Simon Museum of Art
411 W. Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91105-1825
626.449.6840

$8 for adults, $4 for seniors, children and students Free

Monday	12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday	Closed
Wednesday	12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday	12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m.
Friday	12:00 noon - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday	12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday	12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m.

Medieval Times

Knights. Jousting.  Beautiful Horses.  Princesses.  What is not to love?  Even though the cheese factor is over the top, if you just give in, have a couple of drinks, you'll have a blast.

Surprisingly, during a recent visit to the Medieval Times in Anaheim, California, the food was good.
Tomato basil soup, roasted chicken, BBQ rib (notice that is NOT plural.  Singular rib), potato and apple dumpling type desert.  Eaten with your fingers, slurped from your soup bowl the fare was tasty and hot.

Our Knight, the Blue Knight, was a tall dark handsome young fellow with locks of flowing curly black hair. He fared well in the games but eventually fell to the evil Green Knight. 

The visit to Medieval Times was a birthday celebration and our romantic Blue Knight gave the lovely birthday girl a red carnation. A fun time was had by all.

Medieval Times
7662 Beach Blvd
Buena Park, California 90620

ADULT - $53.95 (+tax)
CHILDREN 12 & UNDER - $36.95 (+tax)

check the website for show times and reservations

Babu's Birdy Bagel Brunch

The first Sunday of every month, Babu invites his friends over for a bagel brunch.  Babu is an African Gray Parrot and his friends are other Grays, Cockatoos and a menagerie of other "birds of a feather".

My friend Julie and I were invited to join the party this month.

Held at the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary , bird lovers from across two counties flock to this converted house to bond with friends, snack on fresh NY bagels, fruit and fresh squeezed juices.  Human and birds alike enjoy the treats.  Keep an eye on your plate because a friendly parrot may help themselves.

Julie and I were befriended by Matisse, a beautiful Cockatoo, who is looking for a good home.  He is known as a Casanova, loves a good head rub and if he really takes a shine to you, will regurgitate his breakfast to woe you.  As romantic as that sounds, trust me when I say its not.

Take time to wander through Sanctuary, talk to all the wonderful birds there and enjoy the beautiful setting.

Here are the specifics:

11A-1P
First Sunday of Every Month
$10
RSVP  805-969-1944

2420 Lillie Ave.
Summerland, CA

Birds attending must have a well bird certificate from an avian vet.

Los Angeles Metro

Lets build a subway system in earthquake country.  Sounds like a good idea!  NOT!   But in an area that is congested with traffic, every little bit helps.

I have taken the subway into Hollywood a few times and really enjoyed it.  It is usually crowded but not overly so, the stations are clean and it eliminates the headache (and expense) of parking. 

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Andi,  and I took the subway all the way into downtown, to the LA Times Travel and Adventure Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center.   We took the red line from Universal City to the 7th Street Metro Center stop, where we had to pick up the blue line. 

I was sorely disappointed.  There were no clear signs indicating directions between the lines, no posting of major stops.  We found ourselves milling about with other riders, wondering if we were going the right way.  We eventually found our destination but not without frustration and irritation.

Frankly, it was easier navigating the Budapest Underground than my hometown of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Times Travel and Adventure Show

February 14th  and 15th, the  LA Times sponsored the Travel and Adventure Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown.  WOW!  What a spread.  Over 500 exhibitors, a zip-line, a dive pool and trip giveaways (I am still waiting to hear what I won--I'm sure I won something!)  Four stages highlighted dancing, cooking, destination workshops and special guest speakers such as Samantha Brown and Rick Stevens.
It was overwhelming.

Overwhelming fun.  Walking the aisles, talking with the travel experts about personalized African safaris, chartered yachts to the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica Adventures and so much more.  I was ready to run away and travel the world.

If you are in the Los Angeles area and missed the show this year, make sure to go next year.  And if you live elsewhere, make sure to check out your local travel show.  It may inspire you to take that dream trip! Or give you ideas for a new destination.

Malibu, beaches, and meditating

The tide is dragging the seaweed up from the depths of the ocean and stringing them along the crustacean covered rocks that litter the beach, creating prehistoric creatures that move with the flowing water.   I am relieved to have them as my company, happy to be rid of the throngs of Angelenos I left behind in the San Fernando Valley.  When I first stumbled upon my little beach haven, I was doubtful that I could find peace here, with the busy four lane Pacific Coast Highway racing behind me.   I marvel at how the ocean suddenly stops the onslaught of humanity in its tracks, the offensive traffic noise drowned out by the crashing waves, the multitude of people ending where the water begins.  As far as my eye can see there is nothing but water. 

Two weeks ago I meditated for the first time.  Or should I say the  only time.  After several failed attempts in the intervening weeks, I had almost given up.  But the sea beckoned me, blew me kisses of promises of tranquility and I gave in.

Sitting on my bright pink towel, toes buried in the sand, I tried just forcing thoughts from my head.  They fought back, bombarding me with images of tsunamis, work and my grocery list.  Remembering the lessons learned from my first meditation session, I began to concentrate on my breathing. Rapid, open mouth,shallow breaths.  Fixing my sight on the begging swells of a wave, I breathed with it, watching it break into white frothy water, reaching for my feet.  Before long I am in a rhythm, my body following its own course, and I just am.  There is no other way to describe it.  Voices, distant car sounds, the chilly wind all fall away and there is only the ocean and me.  Then it happens.  As the water pulls away from the beach, gathering its strength for the wave, it pulls me too.  I feel the tug in my belly, not once but twice and it is as if I am the wave and the wave is me and I am floating in endless time.   The sea and me...we are as one.   And then that moment is gone.

The ocean showed me the calm and stillness within me through the thunder and swells of the surf.  It is a start, the beginning of a long and wondrous relationship.