Southern California Guide

Named the Best Travel Accessory for 2012 by Travel & Leisure, the award winning Grace Carter Stylish ShoeCover has created, as the name appropriately describes, a beautifully designed, easy to use protective shoe cover for all kinds of inclement weather.  Shoes have long been a woman’s major fashion accessory but the problem of protecting them […]

Just in time for a trip abroad, I discovered a practical new travel accessory.  Brincatti Easy-Fill Travel Bottles are just that — wide mouthed — easy to fill with my favorite beauty products and the perfect size for airline carry-ons.  The plastic carrying case features four plastic bottles, one with a sprayer plus labels so […]

by Valerie Summers More than a century ago, real estate baron Henry Huntington brought super-surfer George Freeth from the surfers’ paradise in Hawaii to the Southern California seaside resort of Redondo Beach.  This exciting new addition to the fledgling beach town proved only the beginning of the diverse community which it has become. Today, vacationers […]

After a two-hour tour through the always fascinating Annenberg Space of Photography in Century City, my friend and I mulled over where to have dinner.  Departing from the huge office complex housing the Annenberg, we glanced around and both fixed our eyes on Craft, a short walk away and a restaurant with a reputation for […]

In the charming, rustic open-air Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, I was deeply touched by the story of the aftermath of the 1988 crash of Pam Am 103 over Lockerbie Scotland, the first of what would become many senseless acts of terrorism.  Inspired by a true story, The Women of Lockerbie, by Deborah Brevoort, […]

Attending a performance of the Pageant of the Masters each summer at the Irvine Bowl in the picturesque town of Laguna Beach is a tradition I always look forward to.  Every year I am captivated by the astoundingly accurate recreations of life-sized great works of art which magically appear on stage accompanied by live orchestral […]

A human cast of more than 40 in addition to a cast of amazing life-sized equine puppets brought what was originally described as a children’s book to life on the Ahmanson stage of the Los Angeles Music Center.  The author, Michael Morpurgo disagrees.  He feels that the tale set during World War I in England […]

Casa del Mar, one of Santa Monica’s most luxurious hotels, has added a new recreation/health feature for the enjoyment of its guests.  ElliptiGO, Inc., a San Diego based company has created the world’s first elliptical bicycle now available at the Casa for rides along the bike path of Santa Monica  beach.  Bike  riders  enjoy a […]

Shades of Gray — no not that book — it’s a new one man play written and performed by Tom Dugan — Robert E. Lee- Shades of Gray at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills.  Mr. Dugan, whose critically acclaimed one-man play, Nazi-Hunter — Simon Wiesenthal, is back bringing to life another perhaps misunderstood historical figure […]

by Valerie Summers The iconic blue and yellow striped tent is back on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier.  An excited crowd gathered  under the gigantic tent in anticipation of what was in store.  The newest Cirque du Soleil continues to amaze and delight audiences with its unique themes, amazing talent and comedy.  […]

The Skirball Cultural Center’s original exhibition, Women Hold Up Half the Sky opens October 27 and continues through March 11, 2012.  Inspired by the book penned by  Pulitzer Prize winning journalists Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, this unique exhibit presents a call to action. […]

Cirque du Soliel has done it again!  Iris — A Journey Through the World of Cinema debuted last night at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, home to the Oscars.  Appropriately named after that colorful part of the human eye which gathers light and enables vision as does the lens of a camera, Iris offers a salute to […]

San Francisco has outdone itself as a cultural mecca. This season, straight from the Musee National Picasso in Paris, more than 100 Picasso masterpieces are displayed at the de Young Museum in  gorgeous Golden Gate Park and there is just enough time to catch the extraordinary Gertrude Stein collection at the San Francisco Museum of […]

Old Town Temecula was born with the arrival of the California Southern Railroad and the feeling of bygone days remains with history and charm.  It’s a historic town with ongoing year ‘round festivals and festivities.  Through the first Friday in September, Friday Evening Hot Summer Nights is the place to be for the whole family […]