The Getty Villa

May 15, 2013 by mymateriallife

We were back in LA again last weekend, this time to attend a nephew’s college graduation.  We had one day for sightseeing and this place was first on my list.  Have you been to either of the Getty museums?  There are two:  the Villa features antiquities from Greece, Rome and Etruria, while the Los Angeles Center features European and American works.  They are the best deal in town.  All you pay for is the parking – $15.  The inspiring architecture, […]

Categories: Architecture, Places • Tags: california, getty museums, getty villa, malibu, travel

Madonna Inn-spiration

April 11, 2013 by mymateriallife

I could never be someone who makes disparaging remarks about the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.  Some people find it garish or kitsch, but I find it original, unique, a special treat.  All the rooms are different and decorated with things your eccentric aunt might have picked up on her travels years ago.  Like that beautiful, probably silk lampshade shown above.  I love how it’s lined with that checked fabric.  It’s so uplifting to find an object – a […]

Categories: Architecture, Places • Tags: california, madonna inn, san luis obispo, travel

La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings

February 25, 2013 by mymateriallife

This is a favorite dinner in our house; even the cat goes crazy when he smells these wings baking in the oven.  Having just visited the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles last week, now seems like a good time to share this dinner idea with you.  I got the recipe for the wings (a reader contribution) from the February 1999 issue of Gourmet magazine.  The wings are baked in a sauce made from red wine, soy sauce, sugar […]

Categories: Places, Savories • Tags: cooking, dinner idea, gourmet magazine, la brea tar pit chicken wings, la brea tar pits

Mood LA

February 21, 2013 by mymateriallife

One of the things I learned in the March issue of Threads magazine (read more about it here) is that Mood Fabrics of Project Runway fame has a shop in Los Angeles.  I was very happy to learn this because I was about to make a trip there.  I’m just back from that trip and though the West Pico site listed in the article has closed, we did find Mood in a very nice, large and light-filled space on La […]

Categories: Clothing & Accessories, Places, Sewing • Tags: cloth magazine, design, fashion, fashionary, mood fabrics, project runway

At Land’s End

January 22, 2013 by mymateriallife

San Francisco • January 21 • 2013 For delicious ocean-front dining on a budget, try the Chicken Taco Supreme . . . Taco Bell, 5200 Coast Highway, Pacifica, CA 94044

Categories: Architecture, Places • Tags: camera obscura, cliff house, land's end, ocean beach, pacifica taco bell, san francisco, sutro baths ruins

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch House

September 30, 2012 by mymateriallife

We had my birthday brunch at The Ranch House in Meiners Oaks (right next to Ojai) last Sunday.  This is a restaurant that was founded by Alan and Helen Hooker in the 1950s.  My parents took me there to celebrate a good report card or something like that when I was a junior or senior in high school.  I can remember the dress I wore, but everything else is a little fuzzy.  I never thought about it much until Saveur […]

Categories: Places, Reading Material, Sweets • Tags: alan hooker, beatrice wood, buttercream mint frosting, golden cake, ojai, saveur magazine, the ranch house restaurant

Ganna Walska’s Garden

September 27, 2012 by mymateriallife

Have you heard of the book, The Secret Language of Birthdays?  Just last week I was telling my friend Camille that this book said that people born on my birthday are all about the search for beauty.  I explained that this was the reason I wanted to celebrate the monumental birthday I had coming up on the weekend with a visit to Lotusland, an incredible garden in Montecito near Santa Barbara that I’d seen in magazines.  I suppose the biggest […]

Categories: People, Places • Tags: gardens, lotusland, madame ganna walska, the secret language of birthdays

The Pulgas Water Temple

September 14, 2012 by mymateriallife

Do you know this place?  It’s enchanting, isn’t it?  These are camera shots from our visit today with our friends Jill and Annie.  If you’ve ever visited Filoli you were very near the temple.  I hadn’t thought about it for the longest time before reading Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series this Summer; he makes a reference to St. Bernard’s Well in one of the books.  I had to look it up online and what I found reminded me […]

Categories: Architecture, Places • Tags: pulgas water temple

More Mary Blair

August 26, 2012 by mymateriallife

Aren’t these wonderful?  They are 16 x 20″ prints that I ordered at a Disney Art On Demand kiosk located in the Off The Page shop in the Hollywood area of Disney’s California Adventure earlier this month.  They arrived last week.  I’m not even sure where they’ll go, but I just couldn’t resist them – not after discovering Mary Blair last year.  I was hoping I could refer you to a website where you could order your own, but I […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Paper, People, Places • Tags: disney art on demand, mary blair, mary blair plate set, walt disney family museum