The 'Ride'...

In SoCal culture, your vehicle is not just your mode of transportation, but it's your 'ride.' Not just a utilitarian purpose, but an extension of who you are and how you present yourself. People are intrinsically attached to their wheels here. This is apparent in the many car shows that seem to take place monthly all over southern California from the classics to the hot rods to the 'fast & furious' lovers. A couple of weekends ago, I came across this show of classics (photos above) while driving through downtown Monrovia. They had a number of beauties there. Design was key. Gotta love'm!

The Eagle Has Landed...

But in our case it is, 'the HAWK has landed!' Having just landed on its' perch, our 'G' from Gaylord, our neighborhood red-tailed hawk shows off his open wing span. From that vantage point he keeps an eye on all, just like Santa Claus. You better be good.

Thank you to our Craig for the eagle eye and getting the quick snapshot.

Hot Sunday...

This past Sunday, brutally HOT Sunday, while running errands with the husband, as I drove east on Colorado Boulevard, in Pasadena, we passed the Norton Simon Museum and he voiced he had never been inside that museum. I was shocked and thought he had done everything already and I proceeded to state even my mother, who lived in New York, had visited the Norton Simon twice in her lifetime. So, I turned around and pulled into the parking lot of the Norton Simon Museum (no time like the present!)

For the next 3 hours, while enjoying the cool a/c, we perused the amassed collections of artwork they hold there. They have an incredible selection of the classic European masters in their permanent collection galleries... Van Gogh's, Degas', Picasso's, Modigliani's, de Goya's, Cezanne's and the list goes on. A stroll through their beautiful sculpture garden reveals a number of Auguste Rodin and Henry Moore masterpieces. And when you go downstairs, you will lose your mind over the Asian arts collection with all of the gorgeously detailed deities and iconography from the Buddhist and Hindu religions. It is pretty breathtaking throughout. The husband went through a few rolls of film and I sweetly remembered walking those galleries with my mother and the 2 girls I raised a decade ago. A good afternoon.

The weather is supposed to be warming up again this weekend, so escape into the world of art history. For more info, go to their website at nortonsimon.org . Admission is only $12.00 per adult. 

October 1st...

Coming AVAILABLE for a October 1st move-in date;

***RENTED***- Bachelor, 9th floor, 330 sq ft, north facing with views of the 'HOLLYWOOD' sign & Griffith Observatory, $900/month.***RENTED***

Pictured above, one of the other original to the Gaylord, Oscar B. Bach chandeliers hanging from our beautifully ornate lobby ceiling.

Classic Lobby...

If you lived at the Gaylord, you could be enjoying this lobby. The hanging wrought iron light fixture in our lobby and original to the Gaylord, pictured in the photo above, was designed by Oscar B. Bach. Mr. Bach also designed most of the metalwork you will see on the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building in New York. There are a few other cast iron light fixtures in our lobby by Mr. Bach. They are beauties!

Coming AVAILABLE for a late September move-in date;

***RENTED***- Bachelor, 11th floor, 495 sq ft, north/east corner unit, spectacular views, $1100/month.***RENTED*** 

A 2nd Floor One Bedroom...

The apartment may not have the views, but it does have the grandiosity of coming in at over 1000 square feet! Coming AVAILABLE for a mid-September move-in date;

***RENTED***- One Bedroom, 2nd floor, 1050 sq ft, north/south exposures, $1650/month.***RENTED***

Here (photo above) the living room to this apartment, as shown in 1932. Remember back then, the Gaylord apartments came completely furnished with some of the best and most extravagant pieces. This was high living! Just look at that kidney shaped side table in front of the sofa... Regal! I would love to have the art deco side table sitting in front of the windows... Killer. And, what about that baby grand in the corner!?! Where did that go to? I am sure several of our current musically talented tenants would like having that piano furnished in their apartments today.

(Photo courtesy of the USC Digital Library.)