Westside Cover Co

Finnish friend has a company for 

re-upholstery, slipcovers, making pieces of furniture,

especially sofas

in Culver City of LA

Very nice workshop!

By the way, Pierce Brosnan's chairs got new upholstery here...

www.westsidecoverco.com

Sprinkles

Best cupcakes in LA!

Had strawberry cupcake and orange cupcake

- the look is quite ordinary but the taste is spectacular

- so smooth and rich in real flavour

AbFab!

Sprinkles in Beverly Hills

9635 Little Santa Monica Blvd

www.sprinkles.com

- the online calendar gives a day-by-day list 

of what's available 

Main Street

Beginning at the bottom of the Third Street Promenade

Main Street leads from Santa Monica to the heart of Venice

The '30s-era Santa Monica City Hall on 1685 Main Street

Cute little doggie in the front of a hair salon on Main Street
- the most interesting stretch of Main St runs between
Pico Blvd and Rose Ave

Had both manicure and pedicure in this nail spa on Main Street
- superb pampering experiment,
making the nails was like Chinese art,
they are real professionals here
- walk-ins are welcome 

Eclectic and funky Weego Home interiors shop on Main Street

Happy modern murals
One example of public art displayed along Main Street
- Edgemar Center for the Arts
and California Heritage Museum are also found here

No snow-boarding in Venice

but Big Bear nearby is already open!

Interesting chandelier on a shop window

By the early '70s, the majority of the neighbourhood's
attractions had been demolished,
and Main Street itself had become a slum.

 Sculptor Paul Conrad's Chain Reaction (1991)
- stainless-steel and copper-link chin statement
against nuclear war

Today Main Street is an upmarket strip
- dating from the early 20th century
- a wide range of largely independent shops,
coffeehouses, restaurants,
 beauty salons and first-rate art galleries
are found on Main St

Jonathan Borofsky's Ballerina Clown
on the corner of Main Street and Rose Avenue

View from a side street of Main Street to the ocean

Food on Main

Galley on 2442 Main St is the oldest restaurant in Santa Monica

- American cuisine

Urth Caffe on 2327 Main St

- organic coffees, teas and food

Lula on Main St

- Mexican cuisine

Among these there're 2 Starbucks,

plenty of other coffeehouses,

lunch restaurants, Bravo pizzeria 2go

Flora

Blooming in LA during November

Lemon tree

Orange tree

No idea what this tree with bright red flowers is!

Or this one with pink flowers and huge fruit in the same time!

Dropped from a Xmas tree?

Abbot Kinney Boulevard

Abbot Kinney Blvd is my favourite street in Venice

- unique, independent boutiques, cafes, restaurants,

hair dressers, art galleries... simply everything 

Some facts of Abbot Kinney's (1870-1920) work:

The Venice recreation area opened on July 4, 1905. 

Unfortunately for Kinney, the majority of the inhabitants of Venice of America 

did not share his interest in art and culture. 

By December 1905, Kinney knew his dream of creating 

a great cultural mecca had failed.  

The character of Venice succumbed to the beach-goers and 

summer holiday guests who frequented the community's many amusement attractions. 

Venice came to be known as the "Coney Island of the Pacific." 

By mid-January 1906, an area was built along the edge 

of the Grand Lagoon patterned after the amusement thoroughfares 

of the great 19th and 20th century expositions. 

It featured foreign exhibits, amusements, and freak shows. 

Trolley service was available from Downtown Los Angeles and nearby Santa Monica. 

Visitors were dazzled by the system of canals complete with gondolas 

and gondoliers brought in from Venice, Italy. 

 . 

Funny face!

Interesting looking roots of a palm tree

Hair dresser salon on Abbot Kinney

Lovely paper shop with a huge variety of cards

- bought there a cute extra small notebook

Abbot Kinney Boulevard

Alexis Bittar is on Abbot Kinney

(already mentioned that on the previous blogging)

Viennese espresso by Julius Meinl

Something for a beach house

Cushion with NY flavour

Scandinavian interior decoration from Huset

The art gallery where saw that picture of funny face

Joe's on Abbot Kinney

- best restaurant in Venice and probably in whole LA!

- the food is gorgeous, imaginative but yet simple

Tasting Kitchen's also good 

The door to Tasting Kitchen

Famous Gjelina restaurant 

Gjelina

Alexis Bittar

Earrings from Alexis Bittar's signature Lucite line

- hand-carved and hand-painted collection

Licorice Dust Skinny Bracelet

sprinkled with black Swarovski crystals

from Dusted Lucite Collection

 

Alexis Bittar launched his jewellery collections in the early '90s

- he began designing and making lucite and

semi-precious jewellery,

selling it on the streets of SoHo

- his bold designs quickly caught the eye of store buyers

from world-renowned museums, luxury department stores

and high-end specialty boutiques

Alexis Bittar in Venice

1612 Abbot Kinney Blvd

Other locations:

8383 W 3rd St

Los Angeles

1100 Madison Ave

New York

465 Broome St.

New York

353 Bleecker St.

New York

1942 Fillmore St.

San Francisco

www.alexisbittar.com

See's Candies

 Wow, See's Candies!

My favourites!

 There's a See's Candy shop on 1227 Wilshire Boulevard

in Santa Monica

Milk chocolate, dark chocolate & white chocolate

mixed with different kinds of nuts

The company was founded in 1921.

See's is headquartered in South San Francisco, California 

with kitchens located in both Los Angeles and South San Francisco 

delivering fresh chocolates and candies to over 200 See's shops

 in the West where See's Candies are a "Happy Habit®".

www.sees.com

Ugg, Ugg!

 As the weather is not boiling hot all the time,

not even in Southern California,

bought this pair of cute Ugg "driving" shoes 

at the Grove, West Holiwood

(ok, Ugg is not a US brand, so shouldn't be bought here,

but the price is so much better than in Europe...)

Bought this ultra light down jacket 

in Patagonia at Main Street in Santa Monica

- the Us label Patagonia is an environmentally friendly brand
saying:

There’s a reason that ‘recycling’ 

comes last in the mantra: 

Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle.

Who's On 3rd?

Found it!!!

Magnolia Bakery in LA

Vanilla-merenque  chocolate cupcake, yummy!

Magnolia Bakery on West 3rd Street

looks almost as cute as the one on Bleecker Street in NY

W 3rd Street between Beverly Center and the Grove

has nice independent boutiques, cafes and gift stores

- Magnolia Bakery is in no. 8389

Benefit for lifting make-up,

Le Labo for handcrafted scents,

Alexis Bittar for striking jewellery

- all on W 3rd Street

Polkadots & Moonbeams for chic clothes

on no.8381

- at no. 8367 is its vintage counterpart

Brad Hunter's own brand of upscale lotions & potions

at no. 8318

Funky Noodle Stories for designer labels

on no. 8323

Also worth mention is Sigerson Morrison boutique

for shoes & bags,

and Joan's on Third deli-cafe for lunch

Beverly center

- even though this lamp looks rather gorgeous,

the mall itself is almost ugly

Everything from Louis Vuitton to Prada is available here,

but as just said the atmosphere is cold and unattractive,

a pity! 

8500 Beverly Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA

www.beverlycenter.com