Myself, wearing a red maxi length dress with a small print of tiny leaves, standing in front of the Pantages

Inside the Pantages Theatre: Hollywood’s Art Deco Fever Dream Movie Palace

November 11, 2021, 2 Comments

Over the weekend Patrick and I finally had the pleasure of seeing Hamilton, which also meant we got to go to the iconic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The Pantages Theatre welcomed Los Angeles citizens on June 4, 1930, becoming the last movie palace built in Hollywood. Designed by B. Marcus Priteca and owned by Alexander…

A rounded room with a gold chain curtain and small display cases housing Oscars. A small round red velvet couch sits in the center.

Celebrating Movie Magic at the Academy Museum

November 9, 2021, 3 Comments

Over the last few years Hollywood has been working hard in the former May Company building, overhauling it to turn it into the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Earlier this fall it finally opened, and we visited last weekend. Fair warning, this post includes spoilers of classic films such as Citizen Kane and Psycho. With…

Screencap reading "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" with additional text reading "Filming Locations"

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Filming Locations

August 25, 2021, 3 Comments

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood has quickly become one of my all time favorite movies. Quinten Tanatino’s love letter to late 1960s LA is full of wonderful details and used many beloved SoCal institutions, including a number that are accessible to the film buff! While many of the locations in the film, they “play themselves”…

Close-up of the neon sign atop the shack's red roof reading "Tommy's Hamburgers & Hot Dogs"

Tommy’s Burgers Turns 75

May 28, 2021, 5 Comments

Before embarking on our Koreatown tour, we stopped at Tommy’s for a bite, and it just so happened to be their 75th anniversary! This small shack might not look like much, but it’s here where chili burgers first made their mark in Southern California. Born to Greek immigrants in Oklahoma City, Tom Koulax arrived in California…

Looking into our kitchen from the dining room. Cream and pink tile counter sits atop cream cabinets with copper hardware. Upper cabinets, also cream, sit against green walls. Text overlay reads "Our 1954 Home Kitchen"

Our 1954 Home: Kitchen

September 9, 2020, 13 Comments

You’ve seen the kitchen here and there on the blog, in the background of various posts and in my Cooking with Vincent series, but today we are finally giving it a proper post all its own because we recently did a (partial) kitchen redo! Our kitchen is directly behind our fireplace, which sits in the…

Myself wearing a straw cowboy hat, black mock turtle neck, olive capris and white pointed flats.

Screen Style: Janet from Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood

July 15, 2020, 2 Comments

Early on during the COVID-19 quarantine, I asked for blog post ideas, and someone suggested that I write about how we were coping with the whole situation. Well, one way I’m coping is watching Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood repeatedly. Like, I’m not joking. I’ve watched at least six times in the last five months.…

The Fleeting Resurrection of the Iconic Aquarius, Hollywood’s Psychedelic Theatre

August 1, 2019, 2 Comments

In my last post I mentioned that Quentin Tarantino brought many long gone 60s LA icons back to life for his film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, just to serve in the background. One of these icons was the Aquarius Theatre, which is just down the street from the Cinerama Dome and across from another…

Myself, wearing a white t-shirt reading "Hollywood" in red letters, and images of the Hollywood Bowl, Farmer's Market, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and the Capitol Records Building, standing in front of the white dome that is the Cinerama building. A red, white, and blue sign reads "Pacific Cinerama Theatre.

The Pacific Cinerama Dome – Hollywood’s Most Uniquely Shaped Theatre

July 30, 2019, 1 Comment

Over the weekend Patrick and I went to see the highly anticipated Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, but we chose to see it at the iconic Cinerama Dome, which is used, albeit extremely briefly, in the film. Across the front of the Dome was a banner advertising the film 1969 Krakatoa: East…

The red neon sign outside which reads "El Coyote Mexican Food"

The Kitschy Mexican Restaurant Where Sharon Tate Had Her Last Meal

April 11, 2019, 3 Comments

On August 8, 1969, four people, including young actress Sharon Tate walked into El Coyote and sat down for what would unknowingly be their last meal, for just a few hours later they would be brutally murdered by members of the Manson Family. El Coyote first opened in 1931, on First and La Brea by…

The Abandoned Movie Ranch of Corriganville

March 6, 2017, 5 Comments

Over the weekend Patrick and I visited Corriganville Park, the former location of Corriganville, a western backlot and amusement park of sorts from 1949 to 1965. Corriganville was built by movie and TV actor Ray Bernard, but better known as Crash Corrigan. After going on a hunting trip in Simi Valley with fellow actor, Clark…