Anniversary Day

March 3, 1992, Downtown Los Angeles

We travelled to the lovely City of Artesia yesterday only to find out that most of the stores and restaurants in Little India (Pioneer Blvd.) are closed on Mondays! I suppose I should have investigated further. This area seems like a fun place, Tuesday thru Sunday. It's about 3-4 blocks of old 60's mini-malls and stores converted into Indian shops and restaurants. The sidewalks were empty on Monday. I'm sure, when the stores are all open, there must be lots of street activity. We'll definitely come back.

Not to worry, we had a "Plan B." The City of Whittier is about 10 minutes north of Artesia, so we remembered that we've always wanted to visit Oceanic Arts. Perfect! We drove up there and it was closed for lunch! Foiled again. We found a little spot for lunch nearby that had been recommended, Juan Great Fiesta (heh, heh..get it?). It was a clean and acceptable place for lunch. We dined on chile rellenos (delish) and tacos (fair). The best part...I suppose, compared to the rest of the clientele (high school kids), we looked rather ancient, because the cashier gave us a senior discount without even asking! Hah!

Then, we toured Oceanic Arts warehouse. WOW! This place is fantastic for all of your tiki necessities. We've met the owners (LeRoy Schmaltz and Bob Van Oosting) several times at art shows around town. They're always asking us to visit. Neither one of them was there yesterday, but we had a great time snapping photos and seeing all of the fantastic props. You can buy or rent any of this stuff. The prices are very reasonable. Oceanic Arts builds props for movies, restaurants, etc. They've been in business since 1956. I picked up some mini-tiki cups in gorgeous colors. I plan to use them in a group as bud vases when they're not in use as cocktail glasses!

We drove back to Mid-City West and rested up a bit, then drove over to the AMC Theater at the mall in Century City. First, we visited the Container Store for some closet organization ideas for our new closets. Then, we had a delicious Pinkberry treat. Finally, we headed upstairs to the theater to see "Coraline." It was a really good movie, but very scary. I definitely would NOT recommend it for children unless you want to frighten them.

All in all, it was a great day off. Today is our REAL anniversary and we plan to go somewhere fun for dinner. Thanks to EVERYONE for your sweet anniversary wishes!