Mid-Town Crossing

Building Site of Mid-Town Crossing, Pico, San Vicente, Rimpau, Los Angeles, 2011

The other night Larry and I were at the Tawada Grill on Pico for dinner. This is close to the intersection of Pico, San Vicente and Rimpau, home of the former Sears Roebuck store in Mid-City. This triangular site has been under construction for years. The name of this new shopping center is Mid-Town Crossing. A few chain stores have been built along the perimeter.

The center of this huge lot will become a Lowe's Home Improvement Store, along with a J.C. Penney's and a few other mid-range chains.

Sears Roebuck & Co., Pico & Rimpau, Los Angeles, 1943
L.A. Public Library Archives, courtesy of Foster & Kleiser

It will be convenient to have a Lowe's nearby. I'm just wondering how the funky stores on Pico Blvd. across from this behemoth will fare. So many of the little shops on this stretch of Pico are family-owned. Will they be able to compete with the chain stores? Will they benefit from the added traffic? Many of these buildings haven't changed since the 20's and 30's. You can still see remnants of beautiful Art Deco style architecture. Time will tell.

directly across the street from the new Mid-Town Crossing

2011 Photos by Larry Underhill

Quiet Weekend

Ellen's & Larry's Home Entertainment Center

This was a weekend of errands, home-improvement projects, crocheting with friends, listening to some tunes and just generally enjoying our beautiful Los Angeles weather.

We're Very Hi-Fi - Low-Tech

House

Our home improvement project is moving right along. It's all very exciting! Next step is to work on interior colors, paint, tile, linoleum, etc. We've decided to paint our new addition a different color from the house...possibly a soft olive green with beige trim. The house will be beige with olive green trim. Woo Hoo!

Have a marvelous weekend!

Progress

A little more progress on our home improvement project.

The concrete foundation is poured and the floor is going in. The plumber is working today. Below is the pile o' lumber just waiting for the room addition to be framed.

Our Excellent Crew

Post-T-Giving

2010 Decorations

The decorating has begun! One day after Thanksgiving, the Christmas decorations come out. We haven't even finished off our turkey leftovers and people are already celebrating the upcoming holiday season. Chanukah starts  at sundown on Sunday, December 6th, early this year. I haven't even found my menorah!

The office looks great and smells like pine!

Decorations near the Office Kitchen

Reception Area Decorations

Office Christmas Tree

Santa Claus and his reindeer are flying over Wilshire and Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. This was a major event when I was a kid. We'd walk out of Blum's and look up to see Santa...thrilling!

Santa and his Reindeer, Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills decorations. Crystal Chandeliers encased in Lucite. Lah-Dee-Dah.

Here's a vintage photo from 1937, taken by Herman Schultheis. This is Wilshire Blvd. in the Miracle Mile area, looking east at Burnside Ave. I don't remember Santa flying over the Miracle Mile. He looks grand!

Miracle Mile, 1937. Photo by Herman Shultheis

I haven't begun to decorate at our house. We're in the midst of some home improvement inside and we still have the Thanksgiving balloons from Thursday's feast perched over our doorway!

Festive Thanksgiving Balloons

What are your favorite holiday decorations?

Vintage Photo Friday

Automobile Club of Southern California, published by USC Digital Library

This is now the site of a new shopping center call Mid-Town Crossing. The new Lowe's Home Improvement Store is here, along with the usual Starbucks, Panda Express, Wells Fargo Bank, AT&T Wireless and Foot Locker. New buildings just do not match the beauty of the Art Deco lines of the old Sears!
I'm not even going to post a photo of the new building. It's totally unremarkable.

Sears Roebuck, Pico & Rimpau, Los Angeles, 1943
L.A. Public Library Archives, courtesy of Foster & Kleiser

Have a great weekend and remember to notice the buildings you drive by. They may not be there tomorrow.

Improvement

Widen That Driveway!!!

We've done a lot of work on our little house in the past two years. Now it's time to beautify the front a bit. We poured a new driveway last summer. The new driveway is level with the sidewalk. It seems that over the years our front lawn had built up into a little hill. So now, when you step out of the car on the driveway, there is this ledge of dirt/lawn beside it. This will become a river of mud during the rainy season.
I've always been bothered that the driveway was the walkway to the front door. Larry and I decided that a dedicated walkway, exclusively leading to the front door would be better. We're finally laying a walkway level and next to the driveway, with a few more steps up to the existing front stairs. Eventually, I'd like to add some guide lights along the walkway and maybe some decorative plants too. Home improvements are ongoing.Next up: Paint that peeling window trim!!!

Calendar

If you are lucky enough to have pre-registered for Stitches West in Santa Clara, California, congratulations! This weekend there is a yarn-a-rama-a-go-go happenin' there! I won't be attending this year, but I have in the past and it's a blast! If you can travel up the coast, you may not be able to get into any of the classes, but you can attend the Market! It's awesome!

I have a private knitting party to attend in Burbank on Saturday morning, then I'll be zooming across the City to see my Fairview Knitter friends in Santa Monica in the afternoon.
Also on Saturday, just in case you haven't had enough of Mardi Gras, one of my fave restaurants in this fair City, Uncle Darrow's, is having a Mardi Gras benefit party with music on Saturday! The gumbo at Uncle Darrow's is sublime! AND, if you go you simply must try their shrimp po-boy sandwich!

Esotouric is conducting an interesting tour on Saturday: Tom Waits' LA: Crawling Down Cahuenga.
If you're a fan of mob movies, the "Godfather" trilogy is screening at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, part of the American Cinematheque.
Undiscovered Chinatown is held on the first Saturday of every month: The L.A. Chinatown Business Improvement District offers a monthly trek through the alleyways and courtyards of Chinatown.
This is the final weekend to view the Crocheted Coral Reef at Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica. Don't miss it!
Here's an event to sign up for NOW: The Modern Committee of the L.A. Conservancy's tour "City of Seekers: L.A. Spiritual Legacy. From the website: Los Angeles is home to a number of religious sites and organizations, many of which are deeply woven into the city’s history. “City of the Seekers” will celebrate this unique identity and the architecture that embodies it.
The Modern Committee ALWAYS puts on the BEST tours! We are definitely attending this one, even if it means I have to miss some knit groups!
Whatever you decide to do, hope you have a marvy weekend! If you have any other suggestions in and around the City of Los Angeles, please leave them in the "Comments" below!

Mercado la Paloma

Mercado la Paloma

Larry and I were dateless this past Saturday night, so we decided to cruise down to the Mercado la Paloma for dinner. We'd visited Holbox, a newish fish restaurant last May and we wanted to go back. Last time we had ceviche and the shrimp torta. This time, we tried the chiles rellenos de pescado appetizer and the pescado al carbon. Both were delicious! 

Spicy Chiles Rellenos stuffed with fish

Blackened Fish

I like this place. It's a fairly quick drive from our house on a Saturday night, providing nothing is going on at USC. There's a big, free parking lot and many food choices, including Thai, Ethiopian, Oaxacan, Mexican and more. There are also some cool gift shops.

Gift Shop at Mercado Paloma

All of the fish at Holbox is SO FRESH! The chef, Gilbert Cetina prepares everything on the spot. Even the corn tortillas are handmade. On Saturday Chef was offering 4 types of oysters!

On our way home we stopped by the new University Village at the northern end of USC. The Village is a MAJOR improvement over the 3-2 Market, decades ago, when I was a student at USC. Wow! I'll share pictures tomorrow.

Sometimes, It's O.K.

I'm talking about mansionization in Los Angeles.  SOMETIMES, a McMansion is preferable to a really bad remodel. There have been many homes torn down all over the city in order to build larger homes. These larger homes are usually multiple story and built out to the edges of each lot. Most of the older homes in my area of Los Angeles, built between 1925 and 1935, have driveways on the side of each house that lead to a garage in back. These new homes have the driveway and garage in front of the house, thereby giving at least 10-14 feet more building width for a new home.

Large modern homes, in progress in Los Angeles (above and below). The older homes in the neighborhood are dwarfed by the new homes. 

I drive down South Genessee Avenue five days a week on my way to work. I've noticed a house for sale on this large lot. This house has been severely remodeled over the past 75 years. Rocky Mountain stone was added to the front exterior, probably during the 1960s. There was a huge 2-story addition to the rear of the house added later. This addition is out of scale to the front of the house and really looks tacked on.

1547 South Genessee Ave., Los Angeles

Yikes! This is one BAAAAD remodel!

Which City Inspector approved this remodel?

The other day I noticed a "for sale" sign on this house.  Good!  Tear it down and build a big, modern, well-designed monolith here!  It will be an improvement (IMHO)!