Category: Fun Days

It’s a nice day for a drive to Topanga Canyon

Today, we decided to take a nice leisurely drive to Topanga Canyon. Since Ed loves to drive and Carrie loves to be a passenger, it was a pretty good arrangement! Topanga Canyon is a quaint little place chock full of wonderful restaurants and fun stores to shop in. It’s almost like a little mountain town – very scenic, not too crowded, it’s really something to think that it’s a part of L.A.!

We ended up having lunch at a quaint little Mexican restaurant called Abuelita’s.

Yum, chips and salsa – two of our favorite things.

We even got to sit outside on the beautiful patio and enjoy the crisp air. It didn’t even feel like we were in California out there!

We’ll being going back to Topanga someday soon!

Christmastime at Club 33


Thanks to Carrie’s awesome job, we got to go to the legendary Club 33 at Disneyland on Friday night for some fine cuisine, good company and Disney cheer. We’ve been waiting for this for a LONG time, and now we finally go to go! Club 33 is one impressive place!

First things first, after entering the “secret” entrance, we were immediately transported into a timeless supper club, where people are dressed well and you are treated like true VIPs. After being seated at our table, we were asked if we’d like a drink! Cocktails at Disneyland? We’ve reached a new level, Cosmopolitans have never tasted so good – especially with that exclusive Club 33 swizzle-stick!

We had to take in all the surroundings – and there was a lot to take in. The fine china, for one:

And all of the classy menu items …


Tough choices!

Ed decided on the Veal, which was delectable, and Carrie chose the John Dory, which if you’re unfamiliar, is a very tasty white fish. The presentation was just 5-star!

Afterwards, we got to sit on the balcony and watch Fantasmic! It was pretty cool to see Disneyland from above … it was awesome, actually.

A lovely night indeed!

p.s. Only 10 more days ’til Christmas!

A Day in Little Tokyo

Today was a fun filled day of art and Japanese wackiness. We headed up to Little Tokyo to catch the amazing Murakami exhibit at MOCA and then on to the Giant Robot retrospective at the Japanese American National Museum. Both were fantastic and made us want to reach our goal to visit Japan sooner than later!


First things first – Murakami. Nothing can be wackier, and nothing made us happier than to see this work being featured at MOCA. The trademark Japanese anime style has infiltrated our culture and shaken things up as much today as all of the big time artists in the pop art movement did in the ’60s. Murakami’s world is a different world alright, and we like it. You feel like a child, but at times the subject matter is very adult. You can’t take pictures in the museum, but we managed to find a few out there on the good ol’ world wide web.




The space was so transformed into this crazy land that the walls in some areas were covered in eyeballs – or flowers – and bright splashes of color were everywhere. Then of course there were the sculpture pieces that looked like space age plastic cartoon characters that were adorable and disturbing all at the same time.

We loved it!

After taking in all of the Murakami madness, we decided to stop by Starbucks – after all, the red cups are here, and Carrie couldn’t be happier!

Next up was the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). We hadn’t been there before, and were glad to finally visit. Giant Robot is a magazine that we’re both big fans of. Basically, it’s an artsy magazine featuring work by edgy artists and art school students that features hip pop culture references and tongue-in-cheek humor. It’s super cool and pure eye candy to look at.

The art was awesome and we were excited that they let us take a few pictures inside.



JANM also has another really interesting exhibit going on at the moment called Common Ground and it has tons of photos, posters and objects telling the story of 130 years of Japanese American history. It was pretty amazing and we both were pretty moved by it.

As it turns out, the museum also has a super cool gift store and we know that one day in the future when there is a cool little baby Kim, we will have to buy this shirt:

All in all, it was an inspiring day – and we say if you haven’t gone out and caught an art exhibition lately – get out there and see something!

Pretty Smart!

Ed’s loved the little Smart car that’s been available in Europe for years and has been extremely excited about the Smart finally coming to the US soon. Anyways, the day draws nearer and they’ve set up a temporary space in Venice that showcases the car in this amazing modern house on Abbot Kinney. We don’t know what blew us away more…the house or the car!


The Smart House is located at 1319 Abbot-Kinney. It’s three stories, very modern and very open. There was a Smart downstairs (and ones you could actually drive out in back…more on that later). We were both dying over the honeycomb screen and chairs.

The next two floors included the main living room and kitchen, as well as additional chill areas. All in white!

And finally, the best looking espresso machine ever…

The space is being used as a Smart art gallery as well. Lots of cool and witty pieces, mostly Smart related.

However – on to the car itself. It’s tiny and meant for really congested urban areas. You see them everywhere in European cities. It’s no “toy” car though…Smart is a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz and is meant to survive crashes as well as any normal-sized car. Anyways, it was smart (knee slapper, we know) to locate this temporary Smart space in Venice on Abbot Kinney…one of the most congested and hip areas of LA.

The Smart is not only efficient (averages well over 40mpg), but it’s a very fashionable and stylish little piece, with body panels that are removable should you want to change colors on a whim. And inside, you’re met with cool shapes and fabric patterns, and it’s huge given the tiny exterior. Basically, this is a car as a fashion accessory as much as it’s a mode of transportation.

Driving it shows it’s a real car…it doesn’t feel unsafe and in fact feels particularly solid. Here’s Ed about to take it for a spin.

Anyways, we hope this car does well. We like everything the car stands for – the efficiency, frugality, and high style. Heck, it’s the only car that has a permanent place in MoMA’s collection for its design! And props to the Smart House too – the presentation of it all totally successfully communicated the Smart “lifestyle”. For more modern greatness, see the pics here.

And, another draw is you might even have a celebrity sighting while you’re there like we did…Jessica Biel was there today checking out the Smart House with a few sidekicks. Go check it out!


Fun in your own backyard


What a Saturday it was for us – our dear friends Kristen and Steve got married and of course that meant it was a big day. Today was therefore a perfect day for a chill day of experiencing the unfamiliar familiar.

After all, with a sweet new test car from work (and therefore free gas – thank god since we recorded an abysmal 14 mpg for the trip – YOW!), why not? We present the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited! Ed has loved these since they came out and today was a perfect day for some top down cruisin’ down PCH!

Yes, we’ve lived here all our lives and have been down this road before, but it’s been a loooong time and we’ve never done this drive together. But you know, rediscovering something familiar IS a lot of fun. Especially when you’re experiencing it together for the first time. We started our mini road trip at Bolsa Chica and just headed on south, taking in the scenery. Southern California beaches really are beautiful and for all the griping about real estate prices and the cost of living, well…we guess this is why!


We think we’ve broken down what each of the major beach areas represent. Huntington is a pretty laid back surfer town, albeit with a lot of tourists. Newport is incredibly wealthy – lots of orange skinned long blonde haired middle aged ladies with shih-tzus and leopard print pants driving Escalades. Laguna is genuinely pretty, with a borderline bohemian feel in parts. Dana Point is just kinda there, and finally San Clemente (which was actually new for both of us) was really nice, with a nice pier, a good restaurant on the pier, and a lively yet relaxed atmosphere. For all the talk of Orange County’s homogeneity, we certainly saw a lot of different faces of OC beach life.

Anyways, it was the perfect summer day in the perfect summer car. Proof that you don’t have to always travel far to experience something new! It’s often all about the context.