Los Angeles, CA

A recent CNN poll showed that one of the most thriving cities to live in for singles is Stanford, CA. Nice to know if you want to commute in the name of love-

Been there, done that…

Tomorrow, August 2nd, former fashion entrepreneur Murray Moss will open a 3,500-square-foot gallery space at 8444 Melrose Avenue. Moss, known for the SoHo gallery since 1994, will feature furniture, lighting, tabletops, and objects tricked out in a fire-and-ice illumination. The space will be embellished with a Swarovski Crystal Palace installation of eighteen 8-foot high Vertical Glitterbox chandeliers by Georg Baldele, with a 1938 Steinway Baby Grand fire-sculpted by Maarten Baas as the focal point.

The Melrose gallery will be his first outside of New York.

In my quest to sing the praises of all services which provide convenient delivery services, Pax Organica is an 100% certified organic home delivery to keep your daily fruit and vegetable requirements in check. Not to mention your java jones…

They also have a selection of “tree-free” paper, cards, notebooks, etc., made exclusively from hemp, tea, and coffee. While their site is “getting a little work done”, you can still place your orders by calling 1.877.TO.GO.PAX (within Southern California only) or 323.466.1705.

The Los Angeles opening of the theater adaption of Wait Until Dark, the 1967 suspense movie, is this Friday. But you have until September 2nd to get your nerve up.

Where: Raven Playhouse
5233 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
323-960-5770

Time(s): Friday 8:00pm
Saturday 8:00pm
Sunday 7:00pm

Tickets: $20.00

Tomorrow, Best Friends Network wants you to bring your canine friend to the LA Riptide vs. San Diego Drago Lacrosse Game so you can get in for FREE!

Date: Saturday, July 28th
Location: Home Depot Center
18400 Avalon Blvd
Carson, CA 90746

The Dog Event starts at 5:30 pm, with the game following at 7:30 pm. But you have to register prior to the event. Each admission is priced at $5 per ticket with one owner per dog FREE. Dog ticket sales, optional donations and $5 of all dog owners’ guest’s sales for the East side of the Home Depot Stadium will be donated to Best Friends Animal Society.

I used to live vicariously through the prowess of Martha Stewart, buying food processors, ramekins, melon pitters, and all the culinary toys necessary in creating weekly recipes that usually ended up - er - underwhelming. My lesson through that delusional phase? Leave it to the pros.

Although I hung up my color-coordinated apron, my inner prima donna still demands the taste of a gourmet meal. So until my Prince Charming shows up with the glass slipper and the piping hot casserole, California Chef Services satisfies my craving for good home-cooked cuisine.

Owner & Executive Personal Chef Denise Macuk whips up weekly delivery, bi-weekly deliveries, or single orders. Clients are the extremely busy, ill, calorie-conscious, vegan, or just-plain-pampered (that would be me). There are even gift certificates available, great for the holiday season. Or for culinary-challenged souls.

Call 805-499-7604 to discuss your dietary requirements, food preferences, and meal delivery schedule.

Children are our most valuable resource. So when one becomes ill, all conceivable measures should be taken to restore their vibrancy. At Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, a volunteer team called Love on 4 Paws brings out the big dogs, little pups, and cuddly cats, all with one thing besides wet licks in common; to assist in the healing process.

Love on 4 Paws is an animal assisted therapy program, whose trained volunteers commit to a minimum of three monthly visits of bringing their own pet- dogs, cats, rabbits- to provide fur-covered therapy to ill children.

If you’re interested in volunteering your time and sharing the love we know comes unconditionally from four-legged family members, this is the way to do it.

For those who crave scheduled tea with the Queen, Maxjet will begin servicing four times weekly between London Stansted and Los Angeles (LAX), starting August 30th.

Good news for Victoria Beckham, in case she forgot to pack bowls from her Tupperware collection.

Photo courtesy of Johan Hazenbroek www.johnc.nl

To me, celebration is synonymous with sweets. And I can’t think of a better way to indulge in both than with a custom cake from Cakes by Laura. Whether you are an author with a book release (above), a pampered diva that loves all things wrapped in Tiffany Blue boxes, or a blissful bride who wants a memorable centerpiece, Laura C. designs custom cakes, cupcakes, and cookies to fit your specific celebration. And for the souls like myself with dietary restrictions, she has dairy and sugar-free cakes and fillings.

Located in San Fernando Valley, Laura services all of Southern California. Judging by the testimonials, she’s got the gilded wooden spoon. Hmm… I think I need to order a martini glass-shaped, red velvet cake-

Sugar-iced, not cream-cheesed.

Ladies, here’s the perfect way to sneek a boutique-chic shop-on while absorbing some q-time with a prospective beau; Artist Patrick Haemmerlein will be showing a new exhibit of his work at Rimo, in conjunction with Hive Gallery & Studios.

That would be the Splendora Classifieds, a savvy, virtual infusion of an eBay-esque/Craigslist treasure chest. I applaud anyone who makes my shopping experience as convenient as checking my inbox.

Imagine being able to shop for shoes (those Roger Vivier NIB fucshia satin heels are teasing me in the wrong size!), a job with 401K AND an LV purse in a one-click, non-bidding atmosphere. And the best news is that your tiara awaits you when you join their BFF Lounge, giving you access to prizes, exclusive offers online and presence within a chic network.

I don’t think I ask for much when it comes to a man’s attributes: culinary skills, honesty, and the ability to formulate a sentence. But what definitely classifies as a deal breaker is possessing talons for toenails. I can think of one ex in particular that’s in dire need of detailing at Mark Matthew Fine Gentlemen’s Grooming Club, the posh, men’s-only spa located at 12175 Ventura Blvd., 2nd Floor, in Studio City.

What better place to get a haircut, facial, and a quick fingernail buff. Additional services available are a line of grooming products to purchase, dry cleaning, and shoe repair and shine, making it a one-stop maintenance visit. The decor is a manly man’s playground: flat panel TV’s, jazz music, complimentary drinks, and leather club chairs, which dissolve any perceptions of personal grooming being a feminine thing.

Because we women like attractive feet as much as you men do.

Whether your musical tastes equate to cardio-impacted beats or lullaby-enhancing notes, today’s venues are ripe for the picking:

Fergie Verizon VIP Tour
Where: House of Blues Anaheim
1530 S. Disneyland Dr.
Anaheim , CA 92802
Info: (714)778.BLUE
**********************************************************************
Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Classics Under the Stars
Where: Hollywood Bowl
2301 North Highland Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90068
Info: (323) 850-2000
***********************************************************************
Boz Scaggs
Where: The Grove of Anaheim
2200 East Katella Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92806
Info: (714)712-2700

This is how Los Angeleans:

Live well

Laugh often

Love much

The recent chastising of the bottled water industry for its role in plastic bottles choking our landfills has many questioning what is important; the health of the consumer or the earth’s. I, for one, will not be puckering up to any faucets or garden hoses, thanks to a water advisory in Upstate, NY years ago - something to do with dead larvae. Traumatic enough to convert me into a life-long, bottle-guzzling consumer. Companies have now developed a market with a fashionable appeal: Norwegian-born Christopher Harlem was inspired by his California college days to package his native VOSS water within a chic, tubular-encased glass bottle, and the overly-hyped, Swarovski-clad Bling Water, whose “it” bubble burst months ago.

Before it became trendy to tote high-end H2O, the world’s first bar to sell water exclusively was L.A.’s The Water Bar in 1985. As innovative as it was, it sank, proving to be way ahead of its time. Others have tried and failed, with the exception of France’s 1997 opening of Colette, still pouring designer aqcua ten years later. Chappaqua, NY’s Via Genova is now the watering hole du jour, getting recent press as the luxury water bar.

Parched West Coast palates have the Water Gourmet for now, but something tells me the levee on water bars will be breaking soon.