Beautiful Downtown Burbank

For my 58th birthday, Doc and I decided to go for a trip up to Burbank. This is a neighborhood in Los Angeles that borders Hollywood to the east. I think it was the show "Laugh In", that used to open with the words "Coming to you from beautiful downtown Burbank". We wanted to go to the antique shops and see the town. This is what I wore for the first leg of the trip:

Just a comfy pair of purple yoga pants and a dolman sleeve top. Also, Skechers for walking.

We stayed at a boutique hotel called The Tangerine. There was a lot of orange in their decor.

 It was a small hotel, and looked like a remodeled motel. But it was nice.

The room was small, but very comfy.

Here's a better look at the mural on the wall. The Tangerine was easily walking distance to the studio tours.

There were also a couple of weird sculptures in the room.

 Here are the toiletries. I always snag them to bring home. I haven't used them yet. The brand is Gilchrist and Soames.

After checking in, we walked 1.5 miles up Hollywood Way to a neighborhood called Magnolia Park. It starts at the corner of Hollywood and Magnolia.  There are lots of restaurants, shops, antique stores and other types of retailers, with plenty of treasures awaiting.

We ate at a Cuban restaurant called Porto's. It was packed, and very loud inside. You place your order at the counter, get a number, and then find somewhere to sit. Then your food is brought to you. We sat outside.

 On top, Doc's tuna melt (so cuban !!!) I had the Cubano sandwich with plaintain chips. The blob in the middle is a piece of chocolate cake. It was all very good.

Then we went a'wandering. The first shop of interest was a store that sells all the clothes you see on TV shows and in movies. Each round rack had a sign that told what show the clothes were from. As you can imagine, it was mostly small sizes for the ladies.

 The stuff was pretty inexpensive to start with, and this day, they were having a 75% off sale. It was two stories - this is a view looking down to the main sales floor. I'll show you what I got later.

We passed by the Mystic Museum. There is a gift shop out front, and then an actual museum in the back. We didn't go in the museum. We did spin the wheel and got some lucky numbers. Look out, lottery !!!

Being so close to the entertainment industry meant that there were a lot of businesses that were associated with the studios.

We also saw a non-working British telephone booth, so of course....

See this thing that looks like a torture device? When Doc moved into the office he has now, there was one of these in the closet, left behind. It is in much better shape, and is all white enamel. We always wondered what it was.

Here is the answer. It's in our attic - maybe we should sell it?

Also, there was one of those mobile pop-up shops called Beautiful Things. We went in, but there was really nothing to buy. They had like 5 hand knit things.

On the way back, we passed by these weird houses. They were tiny, poorly constructed, and looked like gnome houses.

The unusual chimneys were especially interesting.

It looked as though the chimneys originally had openings to the front that were bricked in at some point.

They were right next to modern apartment buildings.

I looked them up. They were known as the Seven Dwarf Homes, and were built in 1950, made to look odd on purpose. They are 840 square feet, and one is for sale for $555,000. Welcome to California real estate prices !!!


As I said, Burbank is all TV stations, radio stations, and studios. I went to the Tonight Show up there once. When it was over, Jay Leno came out in his Corvette, stopped at the gate, and signed autographs and posed for pictures with everyone who wanted to. He even let people lean on his car. He was so gracious.

This is the street sign one short block from the Tangerine.

Doc asked what the thing in the distance was.

 It's a water tower, used for sets. We could look into the lot and see a set that could be used for a European street, or for an American street in the 30s.

In the hills right behind the tower is Toluca Lake - the home of Bob Hope and Miley Cyrus. The top of the ridge is Griffith Park. Then the other side is the Hollywood Hills.

Speaking of which, that is where we went on Sunday morning.

There are numerous entrances to Griffith Park, and many well marked and populated trails to hike on. When you get to the top, the Griffith Observatory is there. Here is the beautiful view.

In this view, you can see both downtown LA, and downtown Hollywood.

Looking to the east, the Santa Susana mountain range.

The Observatory has shows that you can go in and watch, but I have done that before, and Doc wasn't too interested.

It was a beautiful day - all sunshine and mid 70s.

Here I am, on the steps. It was actually a little warm in that fleece jacket.

Here is the famous telescope.

As we left, I posed by the railing.

Wait a minute !! What is that in the distance?

The famous Hollywood sign.

You may recall that someone recently changed it to Hollyweed. It's now back to normal.

We had to park about 10 minutes down the hill and hike up to the Observatory, since it was so crowded. On the way back, we came across a man who was hiking off trail and had passed out. Doc climbed over the fence, and went down to help his panicked son - the man was sliding down the ravine.

Between the son, another bystander, and Doc, they were able to stop him from sliding further. While we waited for 911 to respond, Doc managed to find out that the man was diabetic. He gave him some granola and orange juice as he was flopping around, and after that, he woke up quickly and became reoriented. He had lost his glasses and gotten sick, but he perked up. The paramedics had to use their hoist to get him back over the fence. I was really scared that he would pass out again, and take Doc and all the rescuers down with him, but that didn't happen, thankfully. We also found his glasses, so everything worked out. He was Australian, 70 years old, and named Phil. He was most grateful.


So what did I get at the Previously On shop?  Three things. I don't know what show they were from, because the tags are all in code.

First up, this cool Day of the Dead seed bead bracelet. It has magnetic closures. I got one like this at the Chakra Shack in Laguna Beach, and I wear it all the time, and love it. This came from a different shop, but I don't remember the name.

Then, I got this dress that is a 30s replica. I know it's a replica, because it's polyester, and has overcast edges instead of hand sewn hems.

It has a lot of detail, both front and back.

Then I got an eyelet dress by Susana Monaco. I will save it for next summer.

And finally, a chartreuse silk blouse.

Want to see how it looks on me?

I am wearing it with an Alfani gauze skirt and a Dolce and Gabbana belt.

On top, a Cache jacket with lining in the same chartreuse color.

The jacket is forest green tweed with chartreuse flecks. Then it is covered in black organza.

My weird green resin necklace makes a re-appearance !!

On my right arm, my creepy green ring from Nnordstrom, a gold bracelet, and a peridot bracelet.

On my left arm, a watch that was my mom's - lapis band, opal face, and amethyst accent stones.

And here is the dinner I made lst night, just for kicks - chicken with yogurt sauce, mixed sauteed veggies, and rice with Siracha sauce.

Whew. Let's link:

www.beautybymissl.com, www.colorandgrace.com, www.stylenudge.com, www.notdeadyetstyle.com, www.pinksole.com, www.bylaurenm.com, www.mybowsandclothes.blogspot.com


See you all soon!!!