My favorite place in the world: The Huntington Library's Succulent Gardens.

The summer of 2009 (the roughest summer of my existence), Matt & I serendipitously stumbled upon the Huntington Library on Free Day while job hunting around town. Even though we had an entire day of desperate employment hunting planned, we seized the moment and took advantage of the free entry to the gardens. We spent the entire afternoon on the grounds and barely made it through the incredible cactus garden before closing.

A year later, my parents visited (to see their pregnant daughter up close) and I returned to the Huntington with them to show them the birthplace of my found-love for these plants. They encouraged me to get a membership and patronize such a beautiful and important nonprofit, as well as engage in the important, regular ingenuity provided by the timeless grounds and changing exhibits.

Now, 2 years and a kid after that first visit, it's time to renew our membership and reflect on the inspiration that first came from losing ourselves in succulent maze.

(best pregnancy picture ever)

I found out Adam Wallacavage has a show at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City!

My heart is pounding and I can barely type...

I love Adam Wallacavage's cooky, turn-of-the-century-turned-tentacle chandeliers (I had another post on his earlier work and, myself am working on some sculpture) and I am enraptured and flabbergasted that his newest works are down the freeway from me in Culver City's Corey Helford Gallery!

His latest is truly breathtaking. I cannot appreciate enough how elegantly Wallacavage traverses the line between macabre and quirky. There is nothing cute about his work, so I don't mean to make light of the otherworldliness of his cephalopodian sconces and lamps - they are impressive, ostentatious, and striking. Subtle in their absurdity.

Since my last encounter with his pieces, it much has changed - the composition of the chandeliers seems to take precedence over his previously trademarked gaudy embellishments. The design is much more three-dimensional, as well, with multiple angles and breadth in mind whereas previous works featured specific intersections. Even his colors are handled differently (and wonderfully); he hasn't relinquished tawdry contrasts and saturated tones, but he's given more attention to the transitions between his generally two-toned palettes. The shades move over the pieces in a more organic form, giving fleshy depth to the skin of his meandering tentacles despite the outlandish hues.

The fact alson that I get to use this dusty vocabulary excites me! When I look at these pieces, it seems almost that some words were created for aesthetic encounters such as this:

I found an incredible set of post-WWII photos.

One of the perks of working in storage facilities is cleaning out the abandoned units. You would think its the kind of job that belongs on Dirty Jobs, and often it is (one time we had a customer who's doggie hotel went bankrupt and as a result he was able to keep is stuff in storage for 3 years without paying OR accessing it... this included dog food that attracted crickets which attracted spiders which attracted beetles...); but slightly less often there are units that are full of things that just needed a little TLC.

Last month we cleared out the unit of a deceased music teacher. The other side of treasure hunting is the tragedy that usually brings you to such circumstances. I don't know anything about the death of this particular individual. I suspect that his unit was deemed abandoned because the family members were unaware of it and, when they did find out about it, the amount due was so high they opted to let it because our site's property.

Even though I never heard his story and met any family members, I could tell you that he was a saxophonist and an aspiring (or maybe accomplished!) composer. He really liked cheesy laughs and had books and books of awful one-liners and knock knock jokes. This must have made him popular with his high school students because there were cards and plaques from student honoring him. From 1951 to around 1954 he had a small camera with which he took pictures of himself and servicemen stationed in Japan; especially the all Black army band.

One of my co-workers and I decided that the pictures were too cool to toss with rest and, before another guy whisked them away to be presented to potential buyer, I managed to snap some iPhone pictures of the album. I've been begging him to give the pictures to me if the buyer doesn't take them. I really hope I can scan them and get them to the California African American Museum.

I visited Avila Barn & Gopher Glen

On Monday, my mother-in-law, Sarah, and my sister-in-law-in-law (who is wife of my brother-in-law & mother of my nephew, Isaac, who is 11 days older and twice as big as Petra!) went on an adventure to Avila Beach, which is not too far from San Luis Obispo.

The intent was for the Los Angeles daughter-in-law (me) to get some much needed fresh, sea air with a stop over at Gopher Glen to pick up some apples for Sarah I (Yiayia to Petra). But Sarah II (aunt to Petra) and myself have become very fond of homemaking since becoming mothers - particularly the part that revolves around food:

As Proto Yiayia ("first/great-grandmother" to Petra) says

"Greeks don't eat until they're full, they eat until their tired" and "Now you have a Yiayia. You're Greek."

And so we also ventured to Avila Valley Barn.

Oh what treasures of food and kitchen we found there! The shelves of each place were stalked

with all kinds of jams, jellies, and spreads while each table held rows and rows, boxes and boxes or fresh-from-the-farm veggies and fruits. There was honey from apple orchard! Fresh apple sauce! Apple butter! Apple fillings! Fresh apple pies! Apple turnovers! Apple Cider ice cream! And did I mention the apples? OH THE APPLES!

I made out with merely a sample of each...

Not only was the farm a farm complete with hay bale rides to their pumpkin patch, it also had a "saloon" with jars and jars of candy and buckets of fresh ice cream. At each end of the complex were stores with old-timey toys, kitchen goodies (including the most incredible

Honey-comb themed tea set), and busy bakers and roasters.

For those of us who like to touch our food, tend to the soil and wonder at its creation, Avila Barn is a truly magical place.

Below are some enticing and panoramic photos of our adventure -

(click to large panoramas)

Avila Valley Barn:

Gopher Glen: