See the woman in the pink dress? You have to look closely in the lower center of the photo–she’s standing at the corner of the railing on top of the Rocket Dog Shoes building on 9th & Broadway.
Seconds after I turned off my camera she did her best Rose-on-the-bow-of-the-Titanic pose…
Got paper? Got folding skills? Think you can make it float? Those are the lofty challenges that bring out the best in the friendly competition of the Paper Yacht Challenge that’s coming up on Thursday, June 26th from 5:00-7:30 at City National Plaza Fountain at 5th & Flower Streets in DTLA.
Whether you come to win or to watch, this is one of the best summer afternoons of the season in DTLA! If you’re considering entering, here’s a peak at what your competition was up to last year:
It’s not just about a pretty boat–it’s what makes it across the water that matters! For more insight, check out the video from last year.
Along with the race, participants compete in a nautical costume contest, enjoy live entertainment, eat tasty treats from local participating restaurants, and bid on silent auction items.
This fun Downtown Los Angeles community event is where ingenuity, enthusiasm, paper, water, and wind will combine to raise money for a wonderful cause: Hope Street Family Center, a community health, education and recreation resource of California Hospital Medical Center.
Entry fees are: Student – $10 per boat Non-student/Individual – $35 per boat Company – $50 per boat
For all the details on how to register click HERE to download your registration form.
See you there Cap’n!
If you’re a boomer you remember the song that tells the San Francisco-bound to “be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.” That song, released in May 1967 and sung by Scott McKenzie and written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, was pretty much the only memorable song that McKenzie ever recorded. It had the distinction, however, according to Wikipedia; of being “the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s.” Having grown up in the Bay Area during those years, the song has a lot of memories and still goes with me on my iTunes today.
Now I just came back from a busy 9-day visit to San Francisco and flowers were the last thing on my mind–my hair was blowing wildly in the cold wind off the Bay and I was frequently freezing as I traversed from the City to the East Bay to Silicon Valley. No matter where I was, there was a chill in the air at night, but in San Francisco it was an all-day thing where the typical summer day looked like this:
Which made me think about these great scarves and shawls I saw at Unique LA at the Late Sunday Afternoon booth. I sure wished I’d had one with me! One of those fabulous shawls would have so easily folded into my briefcase and whenever the fog rolled in, I could have swirled it around my shoulders, my arms, even my head and been warm and cozy with no real added weight in my bag.
There’s also something very retro-San Francisco about Late Sunday Afternoon scarves and shawls- they consider each one they make to be a prayer shawl and they knot and bless each one for the individual who wears it to have Love, Adventure, Happiness and Mystery. 
The guys (yes, it’s dudes that design and make these scarves) go beyond just their words–they are also creating a scarf/blanket/ backpack called “The Voyager,” that’s waterproof on the outside, with a pull string on the outer edge turning it into a backpack with straps and fleece on the inside for warmth. They intend to use a portion of their profits to provide homeless/houseless beings their own Voyagers.
So you can do a good thing for yourself and someone else by checking out the Late Sunday Afternoon website–or if you want to meet the guys behind this great Venice, CA-based company, you will find them July 26 & 27 at the free-to-attend Renegade Craft Fair in DTLA’s Grand Park. As long as we live on the coast, we’ll always (thankfully) have cool evenings–so why not look cool and be warm with a little something from Late Sunday Afternoon?
With Father’s Day coming up on June 15th, I started thinking about what I’d like to give Jay…that would make my life better…isn’t that what wives do? We buy our husbands new T-shirts when we can’t stand the old ratty ones, we get them organizers so they can clean up the mess in the garage, or we get them sessions with a trainer so we don’t have a panic attack every time they eat a bag of Fritos .
Living in a loft, though, has taken several of the go-to Father’s Day items off my list…the new set of barbecue tools, a lounge chair for the back yard, a new rake. But I have hit on an item that would give Jay the freedom to do something he really loves to do…but up until now I don’t allow…keep reading!
Here’s the deal…we love having lots of tall bottles of cold water in the refrigerator. At dinner you can grab a few and put them on the table –no ice needed, no filling a pitcher and they’re great for entertaining, too. We buy the bottles of Lorina Sparkling Sodas at World Market and then reuse them as water bottles. But note the bottle on the right in this photo I’m not saying this happened, but I have to wonder…did someone drink out of THAT bottle?
So I’m thinking the perfect Father’s Day gift would be a custom bottle from Spoken Glass that has either “Dad,” “Jay,” “El Jefe” or some other endearing term lovingly inscribed on the bottle. Then–anytime my wonderful husband, and devoted father to Nick, wants to chug from one of the glass bottles, he has his own personal bottle to down as much agua fria as he can guzzle in one standing.
Here’s a sample of a custom option
Spoken Glass also does some really fun things with wine glasses. You can customize them with your own inscription or you can choose from their clever creations. Here’s one that resonates:
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I could see Jay liking this, too–and so would I. Depending on the pour level, I’ll know whether to let him leave SportsCenter on during dinner or engage him in a meaningful conversation about our relationship.
There are stories about water having its own energy and a theory that connecting it with a positive message gives off more positive energy. So maybe the message for Father’s Day will be I ♥ Jay!
Whether you’re looking for something different for Father’s Day or like the idea of customizing the vessel for your beverage of choice, check out the Spoken Glass website. Conor Gaffney, the founder of Spoken Glass, makes the bottles locally in Venice, CA with passion and purpose best stated by this quote on his website that he attributes to his momma “Keep The Positive Vibration”!
