As new members of LACMA, we wanted to plan a little outing to check out the California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” exhibit, as well as introduce Ruby to one of our favorite L.A. hangouts – Canter’s Deli on Fairfax. So we made our way up for a little food before getting our dose of culture!
Ruby was tantalized by all of the selections available on Canter’s ginormous menu
She was definitely a fan of the pickles!
Ed had to get his Corned Beef Hash, and I went for some old school Cabbage Rolls …
After our Canter’s fix, we headed to LACMA for this awesome mid-century modern delight. We didn’t get to stay quite as long as we wanted, but here are some highlights nonetheless:
Probably the most fun part was the giant installation that was there formed of all of these yellow translucent yellow bands. We all had fun playing inside!
Then – we decided to take advantage of the Member Appreciation Days that were going on that weekend and visit OCMA as well with free admission! Don’t let the Orange County location fool you … they have some of the edgiest modern art on display and we LOVE their exhibitions! We were lucky enough to catch State of Mind: New California Art circa 1970 and Two Schools of Cool, which were both fantastic!
5 years as Mr. and Mrs. Kim, and this was a milestone anniversary for many reasons! We tend to really go big for anniversaries … we’ve spent them in places like in Miami, Buenos Aires and even The Grand Canyon! So this year, it was tough to think of a way to make this one just as extraordinary (especially with the one-income budget we’ve been adjusting to, and our sweet little baby at home!). But thanks to a really fabulous mother-in-law, this year was no exception. Halmoni stayed with Ruby at our house and got us a room at The SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills!
When we arrived at the SLS, we were told that we’d be receiving an upgraded room … score! As you can see, the rooms are breathtaking and have a modern look that we always die over. We especially loved the leather lounge bench near the window. The SLS’ interior was designed by Phillippe Starck, and we are huge fans. We’ve made special stops in many of the hotels he’s designed, just to gawk. We checked out The Delano Hotel when we were in Miami, we checked out the Clift Hotel when we were in San Francisco, and we saw The Faena Hotel (a masterpiece!) when we were in Buenos Aires. Needless to say, we couldn’t wait to see the SLS.
Just a few more pics of our room …
Aside from the room, we decided to indulge in dinner at the very swanky modern latin restaurant, Rivera.
The restaurant is probably the best take on a modern latin theme we’ve ever seen, and it was very cool inside and out. We thought the food was just okay, though.
If we were really big shots, we could pay for one of these many bottles of tequila embedded in the wall. If you pay a large sum of money, they put your name on one, and you get to have them pull it out for you every time you visit. Big league kinda stuff!
We were pretty anxious to return to the SLS, where a very famous chef, Jose Andres has his very famous restaurant, The Bazaar. We couldn’t get a reservation, but we knew we wanted to grab some cocktails and sample the goods at the on-site patisserie. We ordered cocktails, just a few bon-bons, and two cupcakes. :)
The best part was knowing that we could sleep in and not have to worry about waking up before we were ready to! We rented a movie in the morning (Woody Allen’s, Midnight in Paris) and ordered room service for breakfast! 12 quail eggs sunny side up for Ed, scrambled egg whites with squash blossoms for me, a side of chicken sausage and French Press coffee were delivered to our room as we watched TV. It was pure decadence!
Ruby had her first lunch date today at Tender Greens in Culver City with her fabulous friend Olive. Olive was kind enough to share an order of organic sweet potatoes with apple and Ruby treated Olive to a veggie flavored Mum Mum. They were a real hit and attracted lots of attention – two women even walked past our table and thought they were twins!
Mommies are foodies, and the babes are obviously foodies … so the real question is, where to next?
To celebrate Ed’s birthday, we headed over to MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary Building to see one of the coolest exhibitions ever, Art in the Streets. This show is HUGE and it shows just how far street art has come from back in the day when people just called it “grafitti” (It’s so much more!). If you really wanna get a good look inside the people who’ve helped catapult the Street Art movement, check out the documentary “Exit Through The Gift Shop” – you won’t be disappointed.
Here are a few highlights!
Hard to see, but this is me standing in front of a bunch of teensy pictures of grafitti art on trains.
Ed and Ruby in front of one of the Shepard Fairey walls
(Does something look familiar about his work? You probably know him from this hugely popular poster!)
Banksy
Mister Cartoon’s Low Rider Ice Cream Truck
Day-Glo room
Fun alley
Spray paint retrospective!
God Save the Queen!
And finally … after all that art … over-stimulation!
Its really tough to put into words what an impact that exhibition has, even if you wouldn’t consider yourself a street art enthusiast. You should see it in person, too!
Here we are again – at the end of another month! So much has happened in the last few weeks, its almost like we’re living with a new little person! Yes, emphasis on the “person” – Ruby has officially made the transition from “newborn” to full on “baby”! She has quite a little personality shining through … she makes lots of sounds, bats her eyes and smiles at people, “tells us” if she’s bored or tired, and shrieks with glee if she really likes something. She is completely aware of the environment around her, and now does a whole lot more than that newborn baby routine (AKA eat, sleep, poop – repeat). And, we also have to mention her new found independence … Ruby sleeps happily in her own room now, in her own crib (Much harder on us than it was for her!).
And now for some three month stats …
Not sure about height/weight, but boy has she grown! The general consensus is that she’s a tall little girl … she outgrew her 0-3 month clothes because her toes had reached to the end of most everything, so she’s now in 3-6 months. If I had to guess, she’s probably 24 in. long now, and at least 13.5 lbs.
Current likes:
Her exersaucer!
“Standing up” (she’s determined …)
Bath time!
Eating toys
Talking to Mommy & Daddy
Current dislikes:
Getting out of the bath tub
Taking naps – there’s just too much going on in this girl’s world apparently!
Notable events:
Sleeping in her crib now!
100 Days Celebration (check it out here if you missed it).
1st trip to the museum
Rolling over from back to tummy
One big change this month was Ruby got a lot more social. She’s been to Stroller Strides (an exercise group for Mommy, where you do a LOT more than just push a stroller!), Baby Yoga, and she just started a class at My Gym in Huntington Beach. It’s a cute class … she does little baby exercises and has free reign over all of the equipment in the space. She didn’t mind at all when we stuck her in the giant ball pit … she just sat in there and looked at us like, “What’s the big deal?”
Also very exciting for Ed & I, Ruby had her 1st trip to the museum! We headed up to LACMA to check out a few current exhibits and introduce Ruby to some of the iconic modern staples.
Here’s Ruby meeting Jeff Koons … (along with Michael … and Bubbles …)
She also got to meet Andy …
Along with a little modern German minimalism for good measure …
And, she also became familiar with the new gallery of Korean Art … a gorgeous collection!
It was a big day, and after taking in all of that culture, she was exhausted!
And finally, as mentioned … Ruby is really into “eating” her toys. After a month of experimenting, she has tried to stick just about every single finger in her mouth, as well as her entire fist. Now that the fingers/fist are old news … she wants big shiny toys in there now, and she’s not going to accept it if its just not physically possible!
She’s probably going to hate me for this later, but here is our little genius … extremely exacerbated by this darn object. Fun or frustrating? You be the judge.
