Category: SoCal Life

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Current Events MOMocrats SoCal Life

Local Politics: The LA Mayor’s Race

Garcetti for LA Mayor
The sign is still on my lawn.

We are voting for LA’s Mayor on Tuesday. Find your polling place here.

My daughter couldn’t wait to show us the YouTube video they discussed in her AP US History class last week. “It’s hilarious,” she said.

You know what’s not hilarious? We’re having an election in Los Angeles next week, and this guy is the Republican candidate for Mayor.

My understanding is that this municipal election will feature a non-partisan ballot; there are no party “tickets,” just a long list of candidates. Kevin James is the lone Republican on the ballot. There is also a Socialist and four or five Democrats (I’m not sure of the political affiliation of at least one of the candidates).

I’m not too worried about Kevin James winning the election, although I would feel a lot better about that if he’d acted like this at the one debate I attended. Instead, he came across as funny and only moderately conservative (even if I had a hard time making sense of some of his answers to questions about the environment). That makes sense when you are running in a city that skews blue. And when you read the positions of the candidates side by side in this terrific interactive tool published by the Los Angeles Times — there isn’t a whole lot of difference between all the candidates’ positions. Even those of Kevin James.

They all want to fix our city’s fiscal problems, our transportation issues, grow our tax base by eliminating excess taxes, and get rid of the massive red tape you encounter whenever you try to get anything done here. They all claim to support public education. No one is advocating the issues that make me see red, like teaching creationism or revoking Obamacare.

So when you’re facing a slate of candidates whose stated views are all pretty similar to your own — and without a lot of polarizing issues between them — how does one choose?

Unfortunately, I tend to focus on superficial qualities. I confess that if I’m given a choice between a male and a female Democratic candidate, I have always gravitated toward the female. For the last couple of years, my involvement with the MOMocrats has led me to associations with groups dedicated to electing more women to office, like EMILY’s List and Women’s Campaign Forum. I spent much of last year working on a project we call Run, Mama Run – which consisted of an interactive map showing female candidates in races all over the country.

In this year’s race for Mayor of Los Angeles, there are TWO highly qualified female candidates in contention: City Councilwoman Jan Perry and City Controller (and former Councilwoman) Wendy Gruel. So which one did I decide to support?

Neither. I’ve decided to endorse Eric Garcetti. And not all the reasons are superficial (although some are).

Let’s start with those:

Eric Garcetti & MOMocrats
Eric Garcetti meets MOMocrats SoCal Mom and Queen of Spain. Photograph copyright 2012 Daphne Brogdon

Garcetti’s campaign actually did some blogger reach-out over the summer, and I had an opportunity to chat with the candidate one-on-one over a fabulous lunch at the late, lamented Campanile. He impressed me with his understanding of the problems we face in this city (he should – he was President of the City Council) and his vision for fixing them. I learned that he was a Rhodes scholar and a professor at Occidental College (teaching diplomacy and world affairs) before embarking on his political career.

Most important: He really listened to my concerns, and even followed up with me by email after reading my post about it.

When I posted photos from the meeting to Facebook, I received comments from other political folk I know — all fans. “He’s the real deal,” one of them told me.

A political campaign is not all that different from marketing a product: a testimonial from someone you trust counts more than any 30-second ad.

What really put me over the top for Garcetti was learning that he was the candidate endorsed by NOW (over the two female candidates). The reason is his support of CEDAW, the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Garcetti is on the record as a supporter, and has vowed to implement the treaty in Los Angeles if elected.

I can’t find any mention of women’s issues in connection with the female candidates. Perhaps because they are women, they don’t feel the need to speak out on that?

At any rate: I’ve made my decision. I’ve made my endorsement public. I’ve even placed a sign on my lawn.

Now let’s hope I remember to vote on Tuesday!

 

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Food and Drink SoCal Life

An Evening at LA Live

LA Live at Night
Photo shot during the holidays at LA Live. Copyright 2012 Donna Schwartz Mills
Photo shot during the holidays at LA Live. Copyright 2012 Donna Schwartz Mills
Photo shot during the holidays at LA Live. Copyright 2012 Donna Schwartz Mills

The milestones continue for my baby girl:

  • She can now drive herself to and from school (when I’m feeling benevolent about letting her use my car).
  • She’ll be taking the SAT in a couple of weeks.
  • And last night, she attended her first concert.

“It’s not my first concert,” she corrected me last night.

That’s true. A couple of years ago, she and her cousin caught a band at a club all the way in Upland, thanks to the generosity of her dad and uncle, who accompanied them. And several years ago, she and that same cousin saw The Cheetah Girls at Universal.

But Ed Sheeran last night was her first time seeing a legitimate musician perform in a large venue — without parental chaperones. True, she and her friend had to depend on us to get to the Nokia Theatre (her provisional drivers license does not allow her to take underage passengers). But we bid her goodbye at the end of the line waiting to get in to the theater and for the next four hours, they were on their own.

And so were we.

We have been Megan’s parents for nearly 17 years, and “date nights” have become an increasingly rare occurrence for us. This has less to do with her than the stress and pressure of the bad economy. My husband comes home too tired to go out, and with college looming just a couple of years away, we tend to talk ourselves out of activities that cost a lot of money. This concert forced us to get out and try to have a good time.

I was determined to prove we were up to the challenge, even though we are kind of rusty at it. The Nokia Theatre and the complex that has grown around it have been city attractions for over five years, but we had never spent an evening there together. For longtime residents of Los Angeles, it’s a little bit of a shock to see LA Live in all its neon glory.

“It’s like our own Times Square,” my husband marveled.

A performer on stilts beckons guests into the Moroccan-influenced lobby of the Figueroa Hotel. Copyright 2012 Donna Schwartz Mills
A performer on stilts beckons guests into the Moroccan-influenced lobby of the Figueroa Hotel. Copyright 2012 Donna Schwartz Mills

And with a concert about to begin, the place was packed. Any concerns I had about the concert were filed away when I noticed that the crowd consisted mainly of  teenage girls (and the parents who brought them).  Satisfied that this would not be a rowdy show with rampant drugs and underage drinking, we bid the girls goodbye and walked down the street to a place I discovered when I attended the LA Auto Show in November: The Figueroa Hotel.

We are both fans of historic buildings, and this one qualifies (by LA standards, anyway): It was dedicated in 1925 as a YWCA residence, and was converted into a hotel during the Depression. It was given a Moroccan-inspired makeover around the time that LA Live debuted, and its proximity to the entertainment complex makes it a natural venue for tourists and business travelers. During the Auto Show, it was the venue for a lavish party hosted by Hyundai. The minute I stepped into the lobby, I knew I had to bring Gareth there some time for a drink, because he would love it.

And he did. He had to spend some time walking around the tiled pool area before we settled in for drinks in the adjacent Veranda Bar (which is where the heaters were located last night). We sat down, we drank, and we even talked about things that had nothing to do with the kid (this is rare for us these days). This was a win-win!

We had an 8:00 reservation at Katsuya, back at LA Live – so we finished our drink and walked on back.

Katsuya is one of those restaurants where the interior design (by Philippe Starck) is as much of an attraction as the food; exactly the type of place we rarely visit any longer. It is very bright, very modern and the Japanese-fusion signature dishes are very good. I am allergic to some kinds of seafood, so I cannot tell you how my husband’s shrimp and crab orders were — but my seared tuna sashimi with avocado and salsa was out of this world, as was the salmon roll dotted with caviar.

Obviously, Katsuya is not a destination if you are on a budget, at least, not if you are trying out the “signature” dishes they are known for. I was tempted to go for the Omakase tasting menu which would have allowed us to sample most of these — but that costs $75 per person. (“You know we’re going to end up paying that much anyway,” I said.) But Katsuya also offers a Prix Fixe option for just $25, as well as some Bento boxes for about the same. Now that I’ve tried some of the signature dishes, I may opt for the budget options the next time. But that salmon and caviar roll might be too hard to resist. Our bill did come to $140, but that included our drinks, so we did spend a bit less than the Omakase would have cost.

It was a little after 9:00. Our daughter’s 8:00 concert included TWO opening acts. We were going to have to kill some more time.

“Let’s get dessert,” my husband suggested.

Our first thought was to find ourselves a comfortable perch at the JW Marriott, which is just across the promenade from the Nokia, but the lobby turned out to be crowded and we found its modern decor to be cold and uninviting. It was also literally cold last night, and we were both woefully unprepared. We walked back out and decided to try Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant.

“We’re actually out of dessert,” the hostess said. “But let me see what I can do.”

Yeah. I have never heard of a restaurant running out of dessert, either. I realize it was a Sunday night — but a holiday weekend with a sold-out show at the theater.

A manager approached us with a card. “We’re so sorry. Come back with this card and we’ll give you 20% off AND free parking,” he said.

Now that’s how you do customer service. Instead of being upset about being turned away, we walked out feeling good about the place.

The Farm was still serving dessert and coffee. Gareth ordered the blackberry cobbler. I don’t usually get dessert, but last night I made an exception and asked for the apple crumble.  Both  were served hot and came topped with vanilla bean ice cream. I tried to eat it slowly, but that was tough. It was just too good.

It was approaching 10:00 and we could see the staff preparing to close. We finished, paid our bill and made our way back to the hotel lounge, where we found a couple of empty seats that allowed us to keep our eye on the Nokia.

I ordered one last drink for the evening: a taste of Lagavulin. “I consider this the price of renting these seats for the next hour,” I said, estimating the cost at around $30. It was actually $26 — and I think it was a double shot, because I did not finish it. It was hard to estimate its volume, as it  was served in a short tumbler, filled to about a level of just 1/2″.

From our vantage point inside the hotel, we could see that the show had ended. Masses of teenage girls were pouring out of the theater and running back toward the parking structure, looking like a 21st century version of “Hard Day’s Night.” Our daughter and her friend eventually caught up with us and we made our way back there too and we passed the crowd of girls, all waiting expectantly to see the singer.

My daughter shook her head. “I guess they don’t know he already left,” she said. I’m not sure how she knew that he was gone, but I’m just as certain she was right.

It was a good night for all of us. My daughter and her friend got to see a favorite singer perform live. My husband and I got to spend some real quality time with one another, without the distractions we have at home. As that, as they say, was priceless.

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Original Blogsta SoCal Life

Soggy SoCal Friday

This is one of a series of old blog posts I’m re-publishing in honor of my 9/10’s of a decade writing SoCal Mom. This is from February 2005 – and coincidentally, we’re in the middle of another storm surge, although thankfully, not one fueled by an El Nino weather pattern.

Rainy Day in SoCal.
What my back yard looks like after two days of rain.

Visitors to Southern California in the winter are often surprised (and disappointed) to learn that it does indeed rain here. Not too often; over the last couple of decades we’ve been in this cycle of a few drought years followed by an El Nino powered onslaught and Eyewitness News images of houses sliding down the hills. Then we’re advised that we still need to conserve water because it’s gone dry again.

We’ve had 2 inches of rain today; over 26 inches so far this year… and it’s ONLY February. This is about 10 inches more than we usually average in an entire year.

And the natives are not happy. Something funny about Californians: I’ve never met any other people who complain about the weather as much as we do. That’s because we think it’s our birthright to enjoy pleasant, sunny skies and warm temperatures EVERY SINGLE DAY. And if it’s not perfect, we’re NOT HAPPY.

We complain about the smog. The heat. The wind. The cold. But most of all, we complain about the rain. (You should hear us when we have a combo situation — like cold & windy… or hot & windy… or cold & windy & wet… like today.)

But you know who the worst complainers are when the weather strays from sunny and 70? The folks who came here from somewhere else. They may be used to worse weather in their old home towns, but they thought they’d left that all behind when they moved here… and by golly, all that sunshine thins their blood or something, because they tend to really resent it when it’s gone.

But that’s not all. After they’re finished complaining about the rain (you expect any minute they’re going to threaten to sue somebody), they start in on us – Californians who would have warned them that even in paradise, a little rain must fall.

The biggest complaint of other state transplants is that Californians don’t know how to drive in the rain. But I think it’s the other way around.

Californians know that because it rains so seldomly (most years), moisture makes our roads especially slick. And because most of Los Angeles is built upon a river basin, the streets tend to flood. That combination (and common courtesy) means that drivers should slooooow down. (For example: trying to get your small car through a flooded intersection while some hulking SUV thunders in at 40 mph and causing a mini-tsunami to hit your windshield, temporarily blinding you.)

Everyone I know who ever had a serious car accident did it in rainy weather. You hear it on the news: 5:00 a.m. on a rainy morning and there are SigAlerts on every freeway because some jerk cut off a truck and it jacknifed, (and that person is usually someone from somewhere else.) The result is that everyone’s day is even lousier because traffic is at a standstill, and to make matters worse — IT’S RAINING.

I personally refuse to leave the house on rainy days if I can get away with it. You’re taking your life in your hands out there.

Of course, I know it’s not like this in the rest of the world. When we visit my husband’s family in the U.K., it rains all the time. And when we visit in the winter, the cold winds are blowing so hard that those drops are coming in horizontally – like bullets.

But over there, people don’t let it stop them from getting out and doing things. Children play (properly outfitted in raincoats and wellies), people walk about and it’s no big deal. At first, this was a shock to me. Now, I take it in stride. Over there. Because if the weather is cold and damp and dreary in the British winter… well, that’s what I expect. Can’t complain about that.

But rain in California? That’s downright unnatural.

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SoCal Life

Wordless Wednesday: On a Clear Day in Los Angeles

copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills

I’ve been busy over at MOMocrats this week. So I hope you will allow me to share some photos I took over the weekend, when the air was clear and you could see for miles and miles. We were with friends down in San Pedro, and we drove back through downtown Los Angeles. The city looked so beautiful that I took out my camera and started snapping — from the freeway. I didn’t stop until we made it back to the northern San Fernando Valley.

Downtown Los Angeles - Looking East from the 10.
Downtown Los Angeles – Looking East from the 10.
copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills

 

The 110 East through Downtown Los Angeles
Getting onto the 110 through Downtown
copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills

 

LA Live
Passing Convention Center/LA Live entertainment hub
copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills

 

The 101 in Hollywood
The 101 in Hollywood, entering Cahuenga
Pass copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills

 

Universal Studios
Universal Studios is the gateway to the San Fernando Valley
copyright 2013, Donna Schwartz Mills

 

North on the 170
North on the 170; on a smoggy day you may not see those mountains
copyright 2013, Donna Schwartz Mills

 

West on the 118
Looping onto the 118 West, you can tell we’ve had rain because the hills are so green (they are usually brown) copyright 2013, Donna Schwartz Mills
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Food and Drink Health and Fitness SoCal Life

Easy Organic Eating with SPUD

119_4329Over the last year, I’ve looked on with envy as friends have posted photos of gorgeous organic fruits and vegetables delivered right to their door. Envy, because most home delivery services I was familiar with did not venture into the northernmost reach of the San Fernando Valley (where I reside). And because I was convinced that such a service would not work for my family’s unpredictable meal schedule. And because I was convinced that such a service would be too expensive.

But it’s January, when the year is young and I am open to trying new things. I already committed to jumping into New Age-y mumbo jumbo by creating a dream board, which included a goal of adopting healthier practices. And my friend Yvonne of MomsLA asked if I would be interested in writing a review of SPUD.com (the appropriately acronymed Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery company). As this would be a review, there would be no payment (as you would have in a sponsored post); just a credit to purchase some of their products so I could see for myself how the service works — and then write it as I see it.

So once we determined that SPUD.com does indeed deliver to my neck of the Valley, I was in.

SPUD offers weekly “harvest boxes” of pre-selected seasonal produce at a flat rate. I have lots of friends who subscribe to this service, which accounts for the number of calls for recipes on Facebook when they receive vegetables they’ve never before tasted. Since my husband and daughter are picky eaters, I decided this was NOT the best option for me. SPUD also gives you the ability to customize your harvest box by indicating the items you would like to have — as well as those you abhor.

I figured I would keep this in mind for future deliveries.

SPUD also offers special juicing boxes, and is even offering a January special that includes free produce if you buy their high-end juicer.  I’m not ready for this, and don’t know if I’ll ever be. I’ve seen lots of diet fads in my lifetime, and this just strikes me as another one of those things I would be all gung-ho about at the beginning and then peter out after a few weeks (and a $359 investment in equipment). Maybe I’ll sample what’s available at the juice counter at Whole Foods and see if I like it.

119_4335

Fortunately, box subscriptions are not the only option for customers of SPUD. It’s a full-featured website offering a wide range of the same products you find at your local supermarket, with an emphasis on organic and/or locally grown produce and products — with the convenience of once-a-week delivery.

So I went in and selected the items I was pretty sure I’d be able to use within a week. This included:

1. The largest heads of organic cabbage and cauliflower I’ve ever seen

2. A couple of ruby red grapefruits and some lemons

3. Satsumas

4. Bananas

5. Russet and Fingerling Potatoes

6. Green onions

7. Rosemary and Basil

8. Fresh ginger

9. Avocados

And since SPUD offers other kinds of grocery items, I also picked up several bags of my salt & vinegar Kettle Potato chips (a favorite snack of my husband and daughter), some organic canned goods, and some of the Amy’s frozen vegan entrees my husband likes.

There are other items I could have ordered; some I should have ordered. This is something I always say whenever I get groceries online; I am always wishing I’d thought to ask for one more thing. Then again, this happens to me all the time when I do my IRL shopping, so I guess that’s just par for the course.

The groceries were not cheap – but they were not outrageously expensive, either. I expect to pay a premium for organic, as well as for the convenience of delivery.

And I actually used the produce, which scotched my fear of letting any of them go to waste:

Day 1: I made my favorite recipe for roast chicken with potatoes (with lemon and rosemary). I realized I could have also ordered an organic chicken from SPUD.

Day 2: I cut up the grapefruit and avocados and added them to some greens I had on hand for a fresh take on salad.

Day 3: I cut up that huge cauliflower and the rest of the russets and roasted them for this Indian spiced recipe with a bit of that fresh ginger.  I added some of the green onions for color. It smelled divine and tasted even better.

Day 4: The ginger and the fingerling potatoes got used in one of our favorite dishes, which also included the canned organic chickpeas I ordered from SPUD. (Next time, I will make sure to add more carrots and onions to my order).

Day 5: I made stewed cabbage:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, very finely sliced
chopped parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
5 whole cloves
3 1/2 cups chopped green cabbage
salt and pepper
2/3 c vegetable stock or white wine and water mixed (I usually use the latter)

Heat the oil in a pot and gently cook the onion, carrot, bacon, herbs and cloves for about 15 minutes. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper, then add it along with the liquid (stock or wine/water mix). Mix all the vegetables thoroughly, cover the pot and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove lid and simmer another 5-10 minutes to reduce excess liquid before serving.

The original recipe is from this cookbook, and calls for butter (instead of oil) and bacon. This is the vegan version, and is nearly as tasty (because everything is better with bacon).

Ordering from SPUD was easy, convenient — and forced me to do some actual cooking. And now that I’ve depleted my initial order, I’m trying to decide what to get the next time.

I might even reconsider that juicing thing.

DISCLOSURE: I was not paid to write this post, nor did I make any guarantees that the review would be a positive one. I did receive a one-time credit for my first order, so that I could fully experience the service for the review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SoCal Life

A Night in Old Hollywood with Cirque du Soleil

Dark Knight Rises @ Dolby Theatre Hollywood, C...
Dark Knight Rises @ Dolby Theatre Hollywood, California (Photo credit: prayitno)

Last night, I got to cross another item off my bucket list: I finally caught my first live performance of Cirque du Soleil.

I’m kind of ashamed it has taken me this long: Cirque has been performing on and off  in Los Angeles since 1984, when it made its US debut at that year’s LA Arts Festival. I was busy. And broke. And that has been my excuse for the last three decades.

I only attended last night’s performance of Iris because we received an email deal last month, announcing tickets at 40% off. We later learned that the production is closing its doors for good on January 19th, after more than a year in residence at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. I’m glad we got in to see it just under the wire. And I’m sad we won’t be able to see this production again.

I was expecting to be wowed by the troupe’s display of acrobatic prowess, and I was not disappointed. What absolutely amazed me was how fitting this production was to its Hollywood location.

Animated sequence of a race horse galloping. P...
Animated sequence of a race horse galloping. Photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge (died 1904), first published in 1887 at Philadelphia (Animal Locomotion). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Iris is a tribute to the motion picture industry that put Hollywood on the map. The show was a valentine to the movies, going back to classics of the silent era and brought back memories of productions I studied back when I was a teenage film geek.

Graphics projected above the proscenium recalled the earliest of early silents, beginning with Eadweard Muybridge‘s serial still shots of a horse in motion and continuing on to the moon from the first science fiction movie, Georges Melies’ Voyage to the Moon, with state-of-the art special effects, circa 1902.

Griffith-intoleranceHollywoodHighland1It is also fitting that the Dolby Theatre — home to the Academy Awards — is housed in the Hollywood & Highland shopping center, which took design elements from the set of DW Griffith’s 1916 masterpiece Intolerance. That set stood for over three years on the corner of Sunset and Virgil (where the Vista Theater is now).

Those visual cues definitely added to my enjoyment of Iris, but them wasn’t necessary to appreciate what the Cirque folks created. At least, not if you ask my husband and daughter, who were just as entranced by the show without making those connections.

Musso1A note to folks attending a Saturday matinee at the Dolby: It’s a good idea to make dinner reservations in Hollywood ahead of time. Frankly, it has been such a long time since we’ve been out to dinner on a Saturday night that it never occurred to me to do so, and all of the restaurants in the Hollywood and Highland complex were packed. We decided to explore the Boulevard and ended up at Musso and Frank’s, which has been around since 1919 and was a hangout for luminaries of Hollywood’s golden age, like Charlie Chaplin and Humphrey Bogart — as well as literary giants like Faulkner, Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The interior of the restaurant is all dark wood, red leather booths and old-timey wallpaper, and the menu has barely changed in 90 years of operation — except for the prices, which are high. The place was just as busy as the others we had tried, but we could not think of a more fitting way to end an evening celebrating  old Hollywood.

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Celebrities Current Events SoCal Life Television

Huell Howser: A SoCal Inspiration

Huell Howser at the Nisei Week Grand Parade, L...
Huell Howser at the Nisei Week Grand Parade, Los Angeles, California, 19 August 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My husband was such a fan of Huell Howser that he called me from work yesterday when he heard the news.

We both enjoyed watching the venerable human interest reporter with the seemingly endless curiosity about our local treasures.

Howser was such a presence on local public television that most Angelenos may have forgotten that he started in LA on CBS owned and operated Channel 2. At first glance, his “aw, shucks” manner did not seem to fit into the jaded, life in the fast lane aura of 1980’s Los Angeles — but his wide-eyed curiosity, enthusiasm and love of people were infectious. He became a local icon after he found a permanent home at public television station KCET.

I remember a Los Angeles magazine profile proclaiming with an envious tone that Huell Howser had the “best job in the world.” He made a career out of just talking to people — regular people, not celebrities. People who were passionate about what they did. And Howser was just as passionate. He was as fascinated at a trade show for owners of pizza restaurants as he was when he got up close and personal with the Hollywood sign. He visited parks, highlighted obscure people and history — and always seemed to have a good time doing it.

What Huell Howser did so naturally is what I have tried to do here on this blog (that is, when I haven’t been gazing at my own navel). My favorite posts are the ones where I’ve explored something new: a city, an attraction — something that piques my curiosity until I get some answers. I cannot think of a better role model.

Last night, I tuned in to Howser’s show, which KCET continues to air in reruns. I watched him ooh and aah over a music college on Hollywood Boulevard (who knew?) There was an on-air acknowledgement of Howser’s passing at the end of the program (shot two years ago), and no indication that the station would let a little thing like death get in the way of their programming — so we lucky Angelenos can continue to enjoy this man who never lost his wonder of people and the world around him. The rest of you can still view some of his old shows for free on iTunes and on his website here.

RIP, Huell.

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Celebrities SoCal Life

The Night My Kid Met Betty White

Betty White
Betty White signs books at the Grove Barnes and Noble.

Betty White is a national treasure.

My 16-year-old daughter has loved Betty ever since she stole “The Proposal” from Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Thanks to that movie, a whole new generation fell in love with the sweet and salty persona that have made her America’s grandmother.

As a child of the 1960s, I was already a fan. Betty White has been a TV presence since the beginning of commercial television. I grew up watching her on Password and the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and then as a young adult, enjoyed her turn on The Golden Girls. I even got to witness her work ethic, humor and grace first-hand during the 1980s when I worked at the Tonight Show. (The words “We booked Betty White for the sketch” would bring a smile to the jaded faces of the staff and crew – we all knew that for at least one night, the jokes would hit their mark and our boss would be happy. Which made all of us happy, too.)

But I was as surprised as you were when Ms. White became an icon for our nation’s youth.

My daughter keeps a list of celebrities she has come in contact with (after all, this is Los Angeles!) and ones she’d like to meet. Betty White was at the top of the latter.

On Friday, I received an email from the Grove shopping center, notifying me that Betty White would be signing her photo book, “My Life at the Zoo,” at the Barnes and Noble there. When I mentioned it to Megan, she begged me to take her — even though this is her finals week and it would cut into her study time. She assured me it was all under control.

“I really want to meet her,” she said.

What could I say? After all, it’s Chanukah.

Great Customer Service at Barnes and Noble for The Betty White Book Signing

So yesterday morning, I pulled up the email and followed the “more information” link to get the details (i.e., what time to be there). That’s when I learned that this would be a wristbanded event, and that wristbands were being distributed at 9:00 AM.

It was already 11:00. Could they have given out all the wristbands already? And even if I wanted to, did it make sense to drive to the Grove twice in one day?

So I called the store. I explained the situation: that my daughter was a huge Betty White fan, but we live way out in the Valley and she doesn’t finish school until 3:00 and it would take us at least an hour to get there. Would there even be wristbands left by then?

“Probably not,” the sales associate said. “But let me check with the event staff.”

She put me on hold for what seemed like just a second. “Given your situation, they’ll put a couple of wristbands aside for you.”

I don’t know what that says about the world we live in, but the fact that she asked, that she didn’t just end the call, that she was able to solve my simple problem with a simple solution — well, it made my heart soar. Granted, we aren’t talking about an author of Mick Jagger or Martha Stewart celebrity — but it’s been a long time since I’ve experienced customer service like this. Kudos to Barnes and Noble at The Grove.

They didn’t even ask me to pre-purchase Betty White’s book. But since I was going to have to do so anyway, we finished the sale over the phone. The woman assured me that the book and wristband would be waiting for us that afternoon behind the checkout stand.

“Did you get the name of the store employee you talked to?” my husband asked.

No. I figured her shift would be over by the time we got there, so what’s the point?

“Don’t be surprised if it’s not there,” he said.

The Book Signing

I spent much of yesterday preparing for our trip to The Grove. I packed up her laptop, just in case she needed it to study for her exams. I figured we would leave immediately after school and make use of the wi-fi in the bookstore’s cafe.  And since her camera takes nicer pictures than mine, I charged it up for her. The store said that photos would be allowed from behind the rope line. I wanted to get one.

The associate I spoke with that morning was good as gold: our book and wristband were indeed waiting for us. I asked when we needed to get in the line.

DSC00216
Waiting for Betty White.

“You should be back by 6:00. She’s really popular.”

Megan did not need the laptop or cafe wi-fi to study for her exam in calculus, so we grabbed an early dinner at one of the center’s restaurants and got back in plenty of time for the line. Her wristband displayed a large “C,” so we were directed to wait with the rest of that group on the store’s second level.

There was also an “A,” “B” and “D” group, as well as a stand-by line, who were told they would get a chance to meet the star if she was up to staying past the allotted time.

The folks there ranged in age from quite elderly people on down to young hipsters with assorted tattoos and piercings. I sat beside a woman who runs a business selling animal portraits in the style of Leonardo da Vinci. She had brought one to give the famed animal lover. It did look amazingly like something da Vinci might have sketched.

By 7:00, the store was pretty crowded with Christmas shoppers as well as Betty fans. The actual book signing was taking place on the level above ours. This particular Barnes and Noble holds celebrity book signing events ALL THE TIME and so I should not have been surprised at how efficient they are at it. It only took a half hour to get to the head of the line.

And there she was. We had been told that she would not personalize any of the autographs, but that did not equate to her being unfriendly. You could hear that recognizable voice as she greeted each and every person who had waited to see her. She looked exactly the way she looks on television (which means she looks pretty damned great — hard to believe she’s turning 91 years old).

Betty White
Betty White at last night’s book signing at The Grove.

I moved to the area behind the rope line. I wanted to get a shot of her signing Megan’s book. And since their encounter took a total of about 30 seconds, I needed to do it fast.

But I had never used her camera before. I did not get the camera on until their encounter was finished and then I could not locate the zoom. And so when push came to shove, I could not even snap a picture.

That’s because I somehow managed to set the camera on video mode. So I unknowingly shot this (including my disappointed exclamations that I didn’t get the shot):

 

DSC00232So I don’t get any prizes for photojournalism on this one. But I did get to drive home with one very satisfied teenager, who got to meet one of her favorite celebrities and even has something to show for it.

And she got an A on that calculus final.

Nothing to disclose on this one! No money or product was awarded me in exchange for this post.