The Weekend Feast for November 25th -27th

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration! I certainly did. Now, what to do with the 3 lovely days ahead?

Perhaps you have visitors in town? What a perfect opportunity to see something of Pacific Standard Time.   If you are hosting parents I suggest you head directly to the Getty.

Home to the completely accessible Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, the center piece exhibition Pacific Standard Time, a visit to the Getty offers a totally L A way to spend an afternoon.  Your guests will love the whole experience: the tram ride, the glories of the buildings and gardens, the wonderful view. The galleries are of a human scale, allowing you to linger or to move quickly through an exhibit if it doesn't catch your interest and the cafe is very good.  I can practically guarantee that your visitors will love it.  Here's everything you need to know about a visit to the Getty. 


If you are planning to do some holiday shopping you need to know that tomorrow is Small Business Saturday.

An initiative of American Express, the event is designed to draw attention (and business)  to small shops and the unique items they offer.  Many businesses are offering discounts or other incentives.  Check out the Small Business Saturday Facebook page to enter your zip code and find participating businesses. You can also register your American Express card for a $25 rebate.  Note, dear readers, that while this may sound like an ad, it is not. I don't own a small business ( I don't even own an American Express card) but I like this idea and I encourage you to support it.


Here comes the ad ( ;)) See that cute kid reading in the Barefoot Books banner in the right hand column?  Barefoot Books is the must-know publisher of some of the most beautiful childrens' books you will find. They are also my advertiser.

This weekend Barefoot is offering 20% off your purchases and free shipping (for orders over $60.)  I love, love, love so many of these beautiful books and my kids do too.  You can find some my favorites here.

I am especially fond of the books that come with cds. We spend so much time in the car and these wonderful stories have kept my kids entertained for hours.

And I swear I'm not bragging but my kids have terrific vocabularies.  I attribute that, in large part, to the many hours they spent listening to stories, both recorded and read aloud by one of their parents.  Did you see Thomas Friedman's editorial in New York Times last Sunday? He writes that we parents need to take responsibility for our kids education, that we can't expect schools to do the job alone.  Obviously I agree with this - I am the person suggesting that you take your kids to a museum.  And we do read aloud to our kids. My husband has read aloud to the boys almost every night for 13 years.  Geez when I think about that it makes me want to be nicer to him...
BUT - I also recognize that sometimes people are just exhausted. The idea of reading aloud at 8:30 at night to a couple of squirmy kids when all you want to do is make yourself a bowl of ice cream and sit on the couch in front of the TV, well, it's just too much.  And, that, my tired freinds, leads me back to well written stories on cd. See how I did that?

 I highly recommend almost everything from Barefoot Books ( I'm not crazy about Princess Stories) The independent company publishes books for kids age 6 months to 14 or so. They also have several books available in Spanish and French  (you can use my trick of using early reader books in Spanish to help my kids with their Spanish vocabulary)

Click here to see some of my favorites and then click around the site with your kids, there's a lot of fun stuff to see.  If you are filling a box or a stocking for others as a part of your Holiday giving, consider putting in a book or two.  A small, portable friend can be a real blessing to a child in need.



And speaking of giving to kids in need this season, here's a terrific, only in LA way to spread the love -

It's the Hollywood Christmas Parade, Sunday the 27th at 6:00 pm benefiting Toys for Tots.  Starting on Hollywood Blvd at Orange, the U-shaped parade route will travel east to Vine, south on Vine to Sunset Boulevard and west on Sunset, back to Orange. Find a viewing spot ( it's going to be a lovely, clear night) or possibly, watch it on TV.  Frustratingly, I can't find any information about how to view the Parade on TV but I will keep trying and will update you if I learn anything.

Enjoy your weekend!