Los Angeles Greater Area
Local women-owned businesses to support
You’re gonna buy stuff. Why not give your bucks to LA women who are putting their hearts, souls and skills into their companies? Wine and flowers, beauty and fashion, artisan bread and breakfast tacos: here are some female-run places to discover.
The early flower fields are ba-a-ack
COVID closed the Carlsbad Flower Fields just two weeks into last year’s season. Now nearly fifty acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus flowers are blooming again, and the riot of color is glorious. Note: you must have prepurchased tickets–no admission will be sold onsite.
You can now hike from Crenshaw to the beach
After 20 years, the last section of the Park to Playa trail is complete. It unspools thirteen miles of very LA attractions, from the daunting Culver City Stairs to the breathtaking Baldwin Hills Overlook, the Ballona Creek bike path and the ocean at Playa del Rey.
The return of Tomatomania
The NY Times called it “the tomato freaks’ Woodstock.” We call it the world’s largest, liveliest tomato seedling sale. Watch for classes, sales events, tomato tastings and impromptu social gatherings all month at nurseries and gardens across the Southland.
San Francisco Bay Area
Celebrating Women’s History
Did you know that March is Women’s History Month? Here’s how to celebrate (safely) all across the Bay Area with events ranging from an online discussion on what it means to be a woman to a conversation with California’s First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Old-school Chinatown Eatery Saved
Some good news, at last, on the San Francisco restaurant front. The 100-year-old Far East Café, one of the last remaining banquet restaurants surviving in S.F.’s historic Chinatown, has been prevented from shuttering. With a big assist from the city, two neighborhood non-profits, and the landlord, Far East will continue to dish out Cantonese and Chinese American favorites like wonton soup and egg foo young for the foreseeable future.
All that and dim sum
Many San Francisco neighborhoods have been impacted by the pandemic, but Chinatown has been one of the hardest hit. In an effort to help preserve the rich history of North America’s oldest Chinatowns, a group of students recreated the district block by block virtually via the popular Minecraft video game. You can almost smell the dim sum.
A picture really is worth a thousand words. The visuals are truly remarkable in this story about physically moving an entire 100-plus-year-old San Francisco Victorian from 807 Franklin Street to its new location at 635 Fulton Street. Easy does it.
