Riviera View

Dwell on Design is hosting a weekend long design extravaganza (my words, not theirs) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. One of tonight's events is a restaurant design competition. Below is more information about the competition as well as some, but not all, of the restaurant finalists. The votes are in and the winners will be announced this evening. Do you have a favorite? It's hard to tell from the photos alone, but I think I'd vote for the Lab Gastro Pub, or this first one, AK Restaurant and Bar. AK Restaurant and Bar architect: PADesign, designer: Dn/A, Photo:Alen Lin Bottega Louie designer: view design studio, Photo:Vam Y.K. Cheung Chaya Downtown architect & designer: Poon Design Inc., Photo:Gregg Segal Drago Centro designer: Felderman Keatinge + Associates Photo:Keith Gresik Luau architect: Kelly Architects, designer: Loree Rodkin, Photo:Richard Rubins Rivera architect: Osvaldo Maiozzi, designer: Sotto Studios, Photo:Eddie Sotto Huckleberry architect & ...

Here's a great blog to start off your week, Tongue in Cheek , written by former California girl, Corey Amaro, now living in the South of France. If you've fantasized about falling off the face of North America - or any continent for that matter - for the french life, you' ll love this blog. Here's a gal who actually did it. Not to mention she writes beautifully, and takes great photos, giving you a true sense of how it would feel to live there. Corey's post on finding antiques in France is a fun place to start . Or visit her ' french style ' page where the images are drool-worthy. all photos - corey amaro Thanks Corey, for the daily inspiration.

This could be cool... From the LA Film Festival Website : Thom Mayne in Conversation with Frederick Elmes Conversations and Talks (60 mins) Directed By: Thom Mayne Fri, Jun 19th 7:00pm James Bridges Theater $12.00 Pritzker prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the renowned architectural firm Morphosis , comes to the Festival to share his passion for space, light, and cinema in a conversation with award-winning cinematographer Frederick Elmes (Blue Velvet, Synecdoche, New York). - from The Morphosis site Images of his Morphosis' work below. Let's start with a California structures, shall we? San Francisco Federal Building. Cal Trans (sans the orange vests) Downtown L.A., photographer: Roland Halbe Crawford Residence, Montecito, California, photographer: Kim Zwarts Venice Beach House, photographer: Richard Barnes same house, bath - photographer : Tom Bonner Moving East Cooper Union - NYC, photographer: Iwan Baan a...

Great photo shoot of Cameron Diaz in this month's Vogue .

SUMMER CONCERT! Ke Po`okela Cultural Foundation, Inc. presents Halau Hula o Hailialohapumehana Ho`ike - Na Wahine Ali`i June 20th 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Hermosa Community Theatre 710 Pier Avenue Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 Tickets $15.00 ”Hula has allowed me to stay grounded and connected to my roots, my heritage, my home, my family….. Most importantly, hula has helped me to evolve into the person I am today. I believe because of hula, I’m more appreciative of everything that I have. I’ve been very blessed and am very thankful for all the wonderful people that have touched my life and that continue to touch my life. Hula is like an ebb flow, it is a constant flow of giving and receiving. Much of what is taught in hula; all of the virtues, protocol, etc. can and is applied in everyday life. When one can truly understand and applies what is taught, life does become much easier. What I’ve come to realize through everything that I have been exposed to, whether it be through hula, my faith te...

image hijacked from here . This week in the Riviera the weather can't decide. Should the fog roll in and out with mist and fuzzy rain? Should the sun pop out and stay awhile or hide behind the clouds? Yesterday it was thunderstorms and hail - my son and I briefly danced through it in our backyard - watching the sky for errant lightning bolts. Today we had a little bit of everything from sleepy morning fog, to warm midday sun, to evening coast winds. What's the weather going to bring tomorrow? I guess the only way to know for sure is to wake up and face the day.