I DON'T KNOW WHY......but a sudden urge to straighten out a shelf in the garage swept over me. It started off with dusting various bottles of 'emergency' beverages and moved to the center of the shelf where there was a big box marked ... XMAS!Now I must have seen that...

...when we were at the home of Rose and Ken Nielsen (President of Woodbury Univ.) for a Christmas brunch for Woodbury supporters.To digress, amazing Rose is senior director of development for the School of Architecture and she has been the driving force behind its new...

...will cost you $1,400 more this year but please don't let that stop you from sending out your tokens of love. I was thinking about that this morning ... not about the swans, but about all of us, each in our own way, bustling about buying gifts. It seemed to me that...

The short of it is that yesterday I had a studio visit from a fellow artist who went to the SAME GRAMMAR SCHOOL! How amazing is that!!!Victor Fisher is a sculptor of renown and his wife Phyllis creates some amazing silver jewelry. While they live in the Newport area,...

as they say, "at the end of the day" ...Stacey had accomplished the impossible ... assembling and decorating the Christmas tree in the downstairs entry. Now before you say, 'bah humbug' permit me to give you a little background on this task. Just getting the tree and...

It was most strange, something like burning paper, just in the living room. Did I burn some pre-Thanksgiving dish? We searched and searched ... nothing but this strong smell of burning paper. O.K., call the fire department!The sirens were coming closer, would the...

I know, I know, we grumble about seeing Christmas decorations going up BEFORE Thanksgiving but honestly, I HAD TO DO IT!Thanks to Stacey Rosenbaum (who got her tree trimming advice from hubby Joe) the tree was up in the studio with all the toys scattered about in time...

Besides being a joyously loving, caring person, Carol O'Toole is a gifted fine artist so when the invitation to see her work at the SGFAA Gallery opening reception arrived we marked the date in red! The members of the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association were exhibiting...

We asked Alfred Tse for a restaurant recommendation and he suggested 'Mission 261' on South Mission Drive. It's right across the street from the wonderful San Gabriel Mission.Along with the Mission, the historic building housing the restaurant is worth a trip to San...

Scotty, do not beam me up. I have been transported and think perhaps I'll stay a while.Where have I been for so long? Certainly not in Silver Lake for it is a magical kingdom. To quote Wikipedia, "There's a bohemian vibe and neighborhood feel with an eclectic...