Show Me Your Mumu Opens In Venice!

I'm so excited to report that Show Me Your Mumu has opened their flagship store here in Venice, right around the corner from Abbot Kinney Boulevard on California Avenue (next door to Salt & Straw). This is especially great because Show Me Your Mumu is the company of my friend and former downstairs neighbor, Cammy Miller (and her partner, Cologne Trude), and because a big chunk of my wardrobe is made up of Mumus (most from the incredible sample sales that they throw fairly often).

Mumus are great because they have gorgeous prints, are super comfortable, ultra-stylish, and you can pack your frocks and pull them out of your luggage looking great and ready to go. Rare. The styles are pretty ageless too, as I've given them as gifts to everyone from tweens to my Mom, and they all look great. You can be skinny, big, short, tall ... you'll always look good in a Mumu. They're all extra versatile too, for instance, say it's a bit tight in front, you can turn it around and have the back be the front ... just be creative!

All the Mumus are made, as the say, "In the Gorge USA", in a warehouse in downtown L.A., but the spirit of the clothing is purely Venice, where the owners continue to live. From two college girls slinging dresses out of their apartment in New York, to having a tiny shed in Robin's Sculpture Garden, to them now having their first real brick and mortar location, it's all been a dream come true. And now, just walking across the street to check out the new 'Mu is pretty dreamy too.

Congratulations, Welcome, Love, and Happy Mumu Monday to Show Me Your Mumu!

Show Me Your Mumu
529 California Avenue
Venice

Abbot Kinney Peep Hole

I was racing down Abbot Kinney on my way somewhere the other day, when something on the corner of Andalusia stopped me in my tracks. A metal box with "Peek!" scrawled across it.

Of course, you have to. I peeked, and was delighted to see an old-timey photo of Venice, Abbot Kinney the Man era, as a kind of 3D diorama inside.

The little plaque beneath the box explained the history, and I noted that it was done by Venice Public Art  - aka Robin Murez, formerly of Robin's Sculpture Garden on Abbot Kinney. Murez lost her eclectic space on the boulevard after 12 years (as so many of the original shops and businesses have in the great money grab/rent ruining Abbot Kinney's charm), and has re-located her studio to 2935 Main Street in Santa Monica. Somehow that doesn't seem right.

These surprises around town honoring the history of Venice are the mission of Murez and her Venice Public Art projects. From murals of Abbot Kinney and the camels he envisioned cruising around, to the labyrinth on 6th and San Juan, Murez keeps coming up with creative and fun ways to keep the legacy of Abbot Kinney and Venice alive. She sticks with it, even when some local people have her arrested for painting little blue waves on the streets that used to be canals (Give me a break. We NEED more fun and originality around!). Store owners (or creative/anarchist artists that want to help!) that have spaces for sculptures or paintings (or who knows what could happen!) can contact Murez at www.venicepublicart.com.

Take a peek when you're strolling down the boulevard next time. Better yet, surprise people yourself! It's way more fun around here when that kind of thing happens.

Venice Home and Garden Tour 2013 - Simply Lovely

The 2013 Venice Home and Garden Tour lucked out and got one of the most gorgeous days ever to strut its stuff. This was the 20th Anniversary of the day that for many is a highlight of the entire year, and this year's tour focused on the Abbot Kinney (and adjacent) to celebrate.

There were only a few stops actually ON Abbot Kinney, but they were pretty cool. One house had a bamboo garden in back that was so serene and calming (due to the "water features") that you would never know all the AKB hubbub was going on right on the other side of the house. A real retreat.

There's always a lot of ground to cover on Garden Tour day, so you gotta move if you want to see it all. It's also wise to ride your bikes, way speedier and stealthier. I can't imagine driving from place to place, you'd waste half your time looking for parking. Some stops were way over on Vernon and others way over on Rialto, so you hoped the folks wore their comfy shoes too.

A cool thing about the Tour is that many of these places you fly by all the time, having no idea that these wonder spaces exist within. One sort of regular looking house on the outside might have an absolute dream garden behind it, and you'd never know from going by it every day. Unless you make friends with them - the best idea - or have that green Tour wristband once a year.

The highest rated green LEED house on Brooks was impressive in its use of recycled water with a mill wheel and gutter system going on, and lush vegetation all over. It drew crowds.

The rooftops were often as dramatic as the gardens below, and showed how to be very green -living again.

One house/artists' studio was right next door to where I just lived for a year. I never knew all this creation went on inside those walls. I'd almost never seen the owners, save for a quick "Good morning," as we came or went sometimes. Cool place, guys! Good art!

I liked that the Venice Heritage Museum had place markers along the Tour route, so that you could understand a little bit about the place you were traipsing around, if you were a new visitor, or a local that doesn't get out much. I was happy to see one honoring my friend, Bobby Brown. He would have loved this, saying he was "Jam packed and jelly tight!" (Whatever that meant). RIP, Friend.

I'm just touching on my favorites, because otherwise this would be five years long to read, and you should maintain your own sense of wonder until you get to discover some of these places for yourselves. I had a nice moment with a couple of strangers - to where I said, "I'm glad we had this moment" and they said, "Me too" - when the sun shone in just perfectly on us in this little hot tub nook in a gorgeous orange-hued cottage on Altair, and it was so beautiful when we all looked up, away from the throngs of people queuing through the homes, that it prompted that grateful, acknowledged moment. Sweet.

I love color.

There is a lot to look at over at Robin's Sculpture Garden, back on Abbot Kinney. There were photos and projects and camel topiary prototypes and mosaics and a spinning fortune wheel and all sorts of good stuff. Robin Murez told me how she'd recently been arrested for painting little waves on the streets that used to be canals around Venice. Arrested?! Yes, art is a crime still sometimes here. In this case, a felony. Dumb. I need to hear more, but we had an important engagement to get to ... called watching The Kentucky Derby.

"The most exciting two minutes in sports" always happens the same day as the Garden Tour, so the tradition tends to be stopping in at Hal's for a respite (Mint Julep, of course) in the middle of the Tour to watch the race. Someone at NBC must have been fired this year as there were no graphics on the screen down the home stretch, and in the loud bar, no one had any idea who won. National Buzzkill.

The Tour must go on, and after visiting a few cold and sterile bachelor-looking pads/boxes, we were treated to what wound up being my absolute favorites. Again, just cruising down Rialto, you would have no idea that behind the astro-turf looking fence walls would be a lush, resort-like paradise of a backyard.

You just wanted to sit here and relax all day ... and I could have, because my dear and darling friends, Harry and Russ, live here! Their place is so great, a renovated four-plex Craftsman that Russ surrounded with his own epic landscape work (Russ Cletta Design Studio).

We had some good laughs/Modelos here, (A lady who lunches type told Harry that she could tell it was a man's kitchen. He said, "Well, a gay man's, so I guess it's for both." I'm still laughing. With her.) and then zipped off to try and beat the clock to cram in as much as we could.

I think Harry and Russ's place was tied for my favorite with the one on Santa Clara listed as "Quirky Venice." It's so beautiful, with interesting things to look at at every turn. Artist Simon Maltby designed his own home and studio, and the creativity is everywhere, both in function and beauty. Like his swinging fireplace!

I love this place for its color and art and total uniqueness. It's all very airy and open, with a courtyard between front and back structures.

A sun room must be so pleasant to have breakfast in, with the plants under the glass floor at your very feet.

A door had palm leaves embedded in its panes of glass, making the whole place feel organic to and in its surroundings.

Inside the house, it was ultra-cinematic, with a hacienda feel that was both homey and deluxe at once. Of all the places we'd seen that day, this was the one I'd most want to actually LIVE in.

Maltby was kept very busy answering the many questions the Garden tourists had, as most, I'm sure, had never seen anything else like it. A true highlight.

There is a trend these days with stones and gravel for landscaping, and I'm not that into it. It feels cold and uncomfortable to me, even when you throw some color at it. I like to be barefoot outside, and these kinds of spaces aren't inviting for that. To me.

The clock was ticking, and we made it to Tour co-founder Jay Griffith's impressive gardens on California - another total retreat you had no idea was there -  and then sped on ...

... Alas, to no avail, as when the stroke of 5:00 pm hit, it was done. I saw a lady come out of a Tour stop on 6th and take down the sign. No nonsense, no begging. It was over. The house next door was a stop as well, but the sign was still up, so I poked my head inside. I saw this -

- and that's it, as a Docent on his bike was packing up and riding away. Wow. This stunning get-away behind a fence I've walked by hundreds of times! That is the magic of this wonderful every year day. You make discoveries each time that refill your gratitude and make you so happy to call Venice home. Now it's just up to me to go make friends with the folks behind the ones I missed ...

Congratulations to Barbara Bauman, the Garden Tour's indefatigable motor running it all, the Founders, Co-Chairs, Commmittee and Volunteers ... It was another smashing success, and an absolutely lovely day for everyone who partook in this important fundraiser for the Neighborhood Youth Association.

THANK YOU so very much for again showcasing the beauty of our community's places and people!

Abbot Kinney Holiday Strolling

Well, maybe it was bright, sunny and pretty warm this last weekend, but that didn't stop Venice from kicking off the Holiday Season with some good old fashioned neighborhood fun - and SNOW! The Abbot Kinney Holiday Stroll was adorable again this year, and just made me so happy and grateful that we here in Venice really do have a sense of community, and aren't afraid to have a good time together, whatever the time of year.



For the second year, the Brig filled up their parking lot with snow and let kids more accustomed to boogie boards and sand fly down the icy, snow covered hay bales that stood in for the real sliding hills that these kids have mostly never seen.


Carolers belted out a catchy tune about Christmas on Abbot Kinney, the food trucks rolled in - as usual, they covered up the infamous Brig camel-toe with a bow for the occasion ...


... there was a little holiday craft area for kids ...


... and the cutest, happiest Santa Claus ...


... listened as the kids made their toy requests and pulled on his beard.


Neighbors stopped and talked, shoppers juggled their bags and their coffee cups, dressed up dogs went on a parade up and down the boulevard ...


and wound up back at Robin's Sculpture Garden for music and aerial circus fun.


Fun, in fact, was the entire day's m.o., and it was evident everywhere you looked.

Michelle the Elf greeted you at the decked out Zingara, where we popped in to get some apple cider and look at all the great gift ideas. Firefly, Ananda, Huset, and Principessa were also tied for trying to kill me with cuteness the most. Most of the shops were decorated by now for the Season, and added to the festive atmosphere with their twinkling lights as the sun set ever earlier.


These magical times fly by in the hustle and bustle of trying to get everything done, and it's days like this that remind us to stop and enjoy it all, and indeed have some FUN.


As I stood on the corner and looked at it all going on around me, I stopped and thought the thought that I so often do ... I love Venice.


Happy Holidays!! May they be merry and bright wherever you are.

The Circus Comes To Abbot Kinney!

The Circus came to town last Saturday at the opening of the Zircon & Wish Aerial Circus happening in the one ring space of Robin's Sculpture Garden right there on Abbot Kinney Boulevard! I couldn't wait to attend opening night, as I'd been hearing about the work going into it for quite a while. It was about time some REAL crazy stuff happened on the street vs. the usual hullabaloo about parking or food trucks or restaurant seating or strollers or whatnot crazy- MAKING. THIS was something I could get behind as what I always wanted Venice to be in my mind when I first heard about the place as a kid.


Kids of all ages enjoyed the premiere of our own Venice Circus, and many in the audience came prepared in costumes of their own, in the true spirit of the idea.


The theme of this circus is Alice In Wonderland, so the set was done up with that story's props; a clock, mushrooms, big perfume bottle, etc. A mime-type guy named Chico was going around painting the white roses red before the show as people got seated (after visiting the concession stand, of course).


He was soon joined by fun, sociable kids from the crowd, getting into it with hula hoops from Hoopnotica. One young boy from the neighborhood even showed off his rookie break-dance moves. {I love when kids just go for it, without any fear or self-consciousness like that. It gives me hope that there will still be cool people in the future. Phew.}


Robin Murez of Robin's Sculpture Garden, the woman and the space hosting the event, introduced the night as the first ever performance of the Zircon & Wish Circus in her space (which will continue on weekends through the Summer!), which is a perfect magic spot, such as it is scattered about with her giant heart sculptures and over-sized blown glass blades of grass. It really does feel like down the rabbit hole a little bit, on just a regular day. Just as I was thinking about that, a White Rabbit came out, muttering about "I'm late!"


While she ranted on about it in that drama club silly voice way that kids find hilarious, an Alice slowly descended from the ceiling of the aerial structure that has been rigged high above the ground. With the May sky gradually growing grayer (and chillier) over Venice, it was pretty dope and dramatic looking as "She" (Alice was a guy to begin with) swirled around the rope, making it look extra graceful and easy.


Alice drank from the "Drink Me" bottle and soon shrank into a little doll, getting some laughs. The doll drank again (with help) and came back as a giant female Alice on stilts. She jumped rope and hula-hooped and danced and made the little kids laugh, until the Mad Hatter interrupted it all to dazzle with more aerial tricks.


With no net, by the way. That takes some serious brute strength, both mental and physical, as it was pretty high up there.


A Lady Elaine sounding (Mr. Rogers, remember?!), hookah-smoking Caterpillar came out and queened it up, spouting smoke and great lines for Venice, like "We're all mad here!" (which I like to think we tend/hope to be, in the Kerouac-ian sense, like: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”) ...


... and "I hope you have your head fastened on tight!" as she offered up a lick of mushroom to Alice.


The Cheshire Cat came out and spun from a hula hoop attached to the rope, with such feline grace and natural strength that a little girl yelled out, "Nice job, Kitty Cat!", making us all laugh - with her. The Queen of Hearts erupted out of a veil of smoke machine haze and shouted, "I love croquet!" We do too, Queen of Hearts!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (Zircon and Wish again, as they play many parts) came out and did power moves on the red silks hanging from the aerial apparatus, and everyone's necks were craned upward as they balanced and lifted each other with such fluid ease that it seemed like anyone could just hop up there and cruise around on it. Until I heard a guy in front of me say he could never even climb the rope all the way up back in gym class.


Circuses always bring up memories ... o 0 O (thought bubble) I remember skipping the box seats my Mom won to the Circus back home because it was the same night Michael Jackson was performing on the American Music Awards, the time he first did the Moonwalk. I still think I made the right choice - that thing was exciting!

[Amid all of this, I could hear people going by on the sidewalk, heels clacking on their way to Wabi-Sabi or The Tasting Kitchen across the street, wondering what the heck was going on in this space right on the boulevard, with dudes hanging from giant red drapes, spinning overhead a bit like a cross between Cirque du Soleil, Pee Wee's Playhouse, and a scene from Bruno. It gave me immense pleasure to hear that renewed wonder in the voices as they came across something splendid by complete surprise.]


The Tweedles entertained the crowd with their magnificent feats, and then it was over, to introductions and applause. You could tell the crowd was delighted, that for most of us, we all just walked on over to the Circus that night! And would now walk on to the next venue, party or home, having been reminded that life itself is a crazy Circus. Venice was founded on the ideas of a Circus Ringmaster kinda guy, and that is the spirit that has hovered over it all - and persists - exactly because people like this have their dreams, and make them come true.


Join the fun (and be inspired to create your own!)! The next Circus weekends are June 11th & 12th, and June 25th & 26th.


Zircon & Wish Aerial Circus
@ Robin's Sculpture Garden
1632 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice
Venicecircus@gmail.com



*Tickets are steep-ish ($25) for a somewhat short show, but there are discounts for those saying "White Party" at the gate. They're also pretty cool about working with the locals to make it affordable to bring a slew of kids out for a night of fun and fantasy, right up the street.