Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Tuesday's Happenings

A new week and a clean slate for this week....how exciting is that????

We had a packed full week last week and this week is wide open - for the moment.  I am sure it will fill up quickly, but it is fun to anticipate all that I could accomplish.

Last Thursday we had an exciting visit to downtown Los Angeles.  It is funny that I have lived here for so long and have never really explored the history of downtown L.A.  It was a walking tour directed by a friend whose great grandfather was an architect and designed many of the buildings so the walk proved most interesting. 

Of course City Hall was on the list of must sees.  I have read recently that they are going to renovate it and open it once more.  It has been closed for many years, I believe since the 1994 earthquake.  There is much history there including the Charles Man*son trial, the Sir*han Sir*han trial, and the autopsies of Marilyn Mon*roe and Bobby Ken*nedy.



From there we toured a few more of the older buildings.



The old L.A. Times building

The outer wall of the new building recapping history.


Wedding, divorce....the choice is yours.  There was also a sign saying they did taxes.  That's what I call one stop shopping.

The stark contrast of old and new with the winged Dis*ney Concert Hall.

One of the most interesting of all was the gorgeous Bradbury Building.  It was unusual in it's day because it had an open skylight rooftop.   Now used as an office building, many of the gorgeous elements remain.  The iron work on the inside is AMAZING!!!  My pictures do not do it justice.




Still working elevators.


A little brighter view of the amazing iron work.


Along the route was the historic theater district with the million dollar theater of Sid Grau*man.  Again, the building was gorgeous. 







With all of the walking a beverage stop was welcomed and what a stop it was.  The pause was at the Edi*son.  This was once the power source for much of the downtown area and has been converted into the most incredible bar.  One descends two flights down into the heart of the old coal burners and workings of L.A.  It was discovered during renovations of a building and they decided to keep it as it was and do the conversion.  It was quite dark inside and the pictures that I took really do not show its beauty, but if you ever get to L.A. be sure to make it a stop.



A bit more walking and then it was off to dinner at the private California C*lub.  We had our own table set up in the library and the food and service was amazing.



We then had a couple of little ones for a few days which kept us jumping. ....and cleaning!!!

Saturday evening we had a small dinner to celebrate some momentous events in my family.  The evening was warm and we ate outside and had a great time. 



The 65ers with their new Medicare cards!!!


My retiring sister and hubby.


Married 25 years!



The gals - sister, baby sister, SIL, me, DIL#2 and my mom


Standing - brother, son #2, BIL.  Seated - BIL and hubby.

Sunday afternoon I locked myself in my sewing room and didn't come out until I had to cook dinner.  It felt fabulous!  It is amazing how much I miss just a little bit of creativity.

I finished my ALQS quilt.  There is still time to work on one if anyone is interested.  They have to be finished by October 3rd.  I needed to get mine finished because September is going to be really busy for us.   The flowers are origami and the quilting is a try at some swirls that Wendy had given instructions for on her blog.  She does the most amazing FMQ on her Bernina.



I only added three more flowers to my garden this week.  I decided to give a purple one a go this week.  I just couldn't wait to see how it was going to look.


I am planning on heading to my "fun room" now and play a little.  I am planning on finishing up the binding on my Christmas Cactus quilt so I can use it this year.

30 comments:

  1. Love your tour~ the old architecture is fascinating! Thanks for taking me along! :) Cute flowers too. Have a happy week!

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  2. It looked like a fun trip Mary. Always enjoy you tour and photos - Hugs Nat

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  3. What a fun tour of downtown LA, and a wonderful day altogether. I hope you had comfy shoes on! I remember another long walk you took when you weren't prepared - can't remember where it was, though!

    Sounds like a wonderful week, and I'm sure this one will be as well.

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  4. Wow great tour! Congratulations to all too!

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  5. Wow! I immediately recognized the LA City Hall building, which I haven't seen since my youth :) I grew up in So.Cal, my Dad worked across from the ol' Tar Pits (as they were called back then) & he was transfered to the East Coast while I was in my teens, where I still reside. Thanks for the memories :)
    You are blessed with a beautiful family! I thoroughly enjoy your stories/fotos!

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  6. It always amazes me how long it takes to actually see what is on our doorstep. Can you believe I lived on the slopes of Table Mountain for 21 years before I actually went up to the top of it?? It was there, so there was no hurry. Hmmm. Time to open our eyes and go and see and enjoy!
    Your celebrations look great - such fun to celebrate important milestones together. And yes, I know how wonderful it is to immerse one's self in creativity. I am zapping through things at the moment. And my mind is leaping ahead to Christmas and potential gifts too. So much I want to make!

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  7. Downtown LA has some amazing architecture. Unfortunately, we only seem to be that area after dark headed to some place specific and don't take the time to enjoy the sites.
    Looks like everyone had a great time on your patio.
    Your ALQS quilt is amazing. I love the little origami flowers.
    Your yo-yo flowers are precious. I really like the purple one :)

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  8. What a great tour you took us on.
    It that one photo it looks like the building is falling apart.
    Your yo-yo flowers are just beautiful, I wish I could do that.
    Hugs

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  9. Thanks for sharing all the neat pictures of your tour. Love the iron work--could be an inspiration for a quilt design! Your yo-yo flowers look really neat--something I haven't tried. Have a great week!

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  10. I love the tour. Wow, is all I can say for everything you did last week. It makes me tired to think about it.

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  11. Taht tour sonds like it was very intersting. I love looking at architecture and being given a tour by somewon who knows would be fantastic!

    Congratulations on the family birthdays, retirements and wedding anniversaries!

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  12. Loved the LA tour....want to get thee some day. i am curious...why do you put the * between the words? never seen that before.

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  13. Lovely tour. The iron work pictures were my favorite.

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  14. Thanks for the tour, Mary! :) Beautiful architecture.

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  15. What a fabulous tour of L.A. I've been in the Bradbury building and it IS amazing! and it looks like you had a lot of fun things to celebrate.

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  16. P.S. Interesting about the Edison building. Our rental cabins at Huntington Lake were built for the workers who built the dam at Big Creek, four miles down the road from us, where there is a big hydroelectric plant, run by Southern California Edison. So all the water/energy in Huntington, which is so close to Fresno, all goes down to your area.

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  17. Oh my goodness so many wonderful sites to see! Just beautiful architecture!!!! I would like to see it all some time when we get back to the west coast. The last time we were there, many years ago we spent our free time going to Disney and Knott's Berry Farm and touristy places like that.

    You must be away now, I do hope you are having a wonderful time. We just got back from the Acadia thing in NYC. It rained the whole time but we had a good time anyhow. Did come home a day early as we weren't sure they were going to have the US Open due to the rain plus with so much going on here at the house I felt I needed to be here. There are always questions and more questions during the day! They are working 11 hour days now so it's rather tiring but I'm glad they are pushing to get it all done. xoxoxoxox

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  18. I love to go into LA too....we ALWAYS stop at Philippes for a beef dip when we go to a dodger game...its been there forever..and dont forget the Pantry on 9th and Figueroa....so much history there..
    Sounds like you have been BUSY!!!!

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  19. You have been busy! Thanks for sharing the great pictures.

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  20. Isn't it funny how we can live in one place for so many years and yet never do the touristy thing in our own area!! I would love to take that downtown tour, the architecture of those old buildings are absolutely amazing. If only walls could talk, what stories they could tell us of what went on through the years in those buildings:-) I got a giggle out of the Wedding Chapel...imagine being able to get a divorce or get your taxes done there as well! hehe

    Oh my, the iron work inside the Bradbury building is indeed beautiful...such intricate work. The elevator reminded me of the one that used to be in the old Woolworth store we had downtown in Sudbury. The building has since been torn down but I'll never forget the elevator:-)

    I see you've been enjoying some more fun times with your family:-) So many wonderful celebrations!!

    I'm glad you've been having more time to spend in your sewing room, I know how much you love being creative:-) Your work simply amazes me!!

    Much love xoxoxo

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  21. Family photos of the big people this time, not the children. Like your red specs Mary.
    Looks like a great dinner venue in the club. Very homely.

    'Old and new' had to smile.

    Enjoyed my trip to LA.

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  22. I forgot to say it's the same the world over. The last places we seem to visit are those on our doorstep.

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  23. A wonderful tour of the buildings Mary! Very interesting!!!
    Looks like some wonderful family time together! Awesome! 8-)
    Your ALQS is looking wonderful!

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  25. OH WOWEEEEEEEE!!!! What gorgeous Architecture! so loved the tour! I have been so out of the bloggy world!!! So happy to be getting back! Kedric gave us a little scare as he was in the hospital for 5 days! but I am back and theres lots to be Blogging about;)
    I hope you are well! lots of love!

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  26. Haven't "seen" you around...hope all is well and you are upto something fun with your family or friends.

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  27. WoW! You always take such lovely trips. Thank you so much for sharing. Love that little quilt you made, cute! Cheers!

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  28. I LOVED your trip, Needled Mom. I'm a nut for old buildings. That's 50% of why I enjoyed San Antonio so much.

    You have a lovely family. Love the comment about the medicare cards. Tee-hee!

    A whole day sewing! Now THAT sounds like a vacation! Your flowers are just beautiful! And I really love those yo-yos. :o)

    xo
    Donna

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  29. Hello, I'm a beginner crazy quilter and love to see the pictures! I also love the last one with yo-yos on it. Thanks for sharing so beautiful works.

    Greetings from Brazil - Sandra

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