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I officially started celebrating my July 20th birthday last night. My cousins, Amie and Carol took me to dinner at Hurry Curry on Sawtelle Blvd. in the Westside's version of Little Tokyo. I call the area Mini-Tokyo. We managed to stroll the Boulevard a bit and check out some of the great little shops. Dinner was delicious....I'll review the restaurant at a later date.
As we were walking down the street, my cousin Carol related a long-forgotten story to me about our grandmother, Ethel Bloom and this area of Sawtelle. By the time WW II rolled around, the Bloom family was living on the westside of Los Angeles near Barrington and Pico. Ethel was a realtor. Most of the Sawtelle area consisted of little shops and nurseries owned and operated by Japanese. Ethel had friends and business associates in this area. When many of the Japanese were moved to internment camps during the war, my grandmother "held" a few properties in the area for some of her Japanese friends so they wouldn't lose their property to the government. After the war, she "sold" these properties back to the families that owned them. Ethel Bloom was an admirable woman!
So, even though I'll be doing various things with other people in my life this weekend to celebrate my upcoming birthday, I will give myself some time to check out a few events happening around town this weekend.
Modernica is having its huge warehouse sale. OMG! They have the best modern furniture EVER! This is their 20th anniversary sale and it should really be fantastic.
This week the Original Farmers Market is celebrating its 75th anniversary with various activities. Today (Thursday) is a big day, with a giant cake and birthday card shaped like the famous clock tower. There will be live music all day too! I'll be there later today for the WeHo SnB.
I'm meeting up with some of the goils early in the evening to have dinner at the ever popular Dupar's Restaurant, the cornerstone of the Market!
July 20th, 1969 was the day that Apollo 11 landed and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon....on MY birthday! It was very exciting. There are a number of exhibits, lectures, etc. at the Griffith Park Observatory to commemorate this historic event.
As we were walking down the street, my cousin Carol related a long-forgotten story to me about our grandmother, Ethel Bloom and this area of Sawtelle. By the time WW II rolled around, the Bloom family was living on the westside of Los Angeles near Barrington and Pico. Ethel was a realtor. Most of the Sawtelle area consisted of little shops and nurseries owned and operated by Japanese. Ethel had friends and business associates in this area. When many of the Japanese were moved to internment camps during the war, my grandmother "held" a few properties in the area for some of her Japanese friends so they wouldn't lose their property to the government. After the war, she "sold" these properties back to the families that owned them. Ethel Bloom was an admirable woman!
So, even though I'll be doing various things with other people in my life this weekend to celebrate my upcoming birthday, I will give myself some time to check out a few events happening around town this weekend.
Modernica is having its huge warehouse sale. OMG! They have the best modern furniture EVER! This is their 20th anniversary sale and it should really be fantastic.
This week the Original Farmers Market is celebrating its 75th anniversary with various activities. Today (Thursday) is a big day, with a giant cake and birthday card shaped like the famous clock tower. There will be live music all day too! I'll be there later today for the WeHo SnB.
I'm meeting up with some of the goils early in the evening to have dinner at the ever popular Dupar's Restaurant, the cornerstone of the Market!
July 20th, 1969 was the day that Apollo 11 landed and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon....on MY birthday! It was very exciting. There are a number of exhibits, lectures, etc. at the Griffith Park Observatory to commemorate this historic event.
Labels: family, Food, Friends, Los Angeles
posted by Ellen Bloom @ 8:05 AM
5 Comments:
Ethel of the Eastern Stars has all my esteem. I wish someone had been able to do that for my grandparents.
Oh my, what a lady Ethel was! I love that story so much.
Happy early birthday! I just happened to be at the Farmer's Market on their Taste of the Farmer's Market night on Tuesday and looked around for you. Hope you're enjoying your vacation!
I've heard Sawtelle called Little Osaka before, but I think I prefer Mini-Tokyo :) And Ethel sounds like a wonderful lady.
Happy birthday to you!
Ethel was waaaay cool!
I'm so salivating to go to that Modernica sale. I'm might have to pop in.
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