My dog does not deign to dig, but will gladly partake of carrots and radishes laid out for her delectation- after the crunchy cicada course.

Glad to see it meets dogbed standards as well 😁

Also, do not underestimate the value of getting out of the relationship and moving forward- torch as little money as possible in the legal process and give your STBX (soon to be ex) as few kibbles as possible (check out the ChumpLady blog for a supportive community and innumerate examples of people who are much happier now, as well as a guide to some of the lingo). The term “grey rock” gets used over there a lot, and I think that fits both what the lawyer is telling you to do and a good approach to aim for with your stbx wife, now and forever.

OP should go over to the ChumpLady blog and get the support of that community- gotta start learning the art of grey rock. 🪨

Have you been to Art & Practice in Leimert Park? It’s smaller/newer, but deserves to be on everyone’s list!

Other good hikes: Los Liones and Temescal Canyon Trail up in the Palisades. Visit the Getty Villa and eat at Malibu Farm Pier Cafe.

This looks awesome- thanks for sharing!

If you visit downtown Culver City and the artsy parts to the east (shoutout to Thinkspace gallery), the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook has a great view and will let you choose between a mini-hike and the giant stairs. The Conservatory for Coffee and Tea has amazing coffee, is family-run, and attracts good people. They’re only open M-F till 2pm, but the Village Well Bookstore also has a cafe, and there are other good options nearby (Millcross is a little ways away but probably wins for the best food/coffee/outdoor patio- and you’ll pass the old gun store across from the mosque, both landmarks on their own ways).

Thats awesome! If you ever get a chance to see any of the Rogue Machine productions, they are fantastic. Although I have a feeling that some of the names in the festival you shared will end up showing up on their playbills as well in a few years 😁

For dance, also check out the classes offered by Viver Brasil, performances at the Broad/SMC (especially Invertigo Dance Theatre), and maybe the Pieter Project. Also Santa Monica Dance Home. See if there’s any happenings in Pasadena/Claremont and Long Beach too.

Free arts and music events are good places to mingle and meet someone in that 30-60 age bracket 😄 The Getty has good events, Art & Practice is great (along with the weekend street market)

Did they used to meet on Sunday mornings at the Masonic Lodge on Venice over by the Hare Krishna center?

I think the last two photos are renders of the space OP is moving into?

Also, consider skipping the spin cycle and letting it drip dry a bit first- they do this in Japan, and it saves ironing. But linen responds well to ironing and steaming and all that, so go ahead and invest in those tools if you don’t have them already.

Getting everyone involved a copy of Bleak House as a Christmas present might have made them appreciate how much worse it could have been 😅

If you ever start that and need a helping hand, feel free to reach out- part of my own eclectic experience has been in helping other nonprofits get started, especially in that pre-funding/bootstrapping phase

Check out the California Botanic Garden in Claremont to scope out some showy natives, and visit the Huntington Gardens (they have some free/cheap days & summer nights I believe) for inspiration- the desert garden is 🔥 this year - look up pictures on Instagram too to get a feel for the plants in different seasons

Might be more cost-effective for now to get a good low-key at home system for hair removal (isn’t there a zapper/puller that isn’t quite laser level for this?)- if your wife and she can learn to do at-home waxing/sugaring or even just shaving (or Nair?) Having the skill to self-wax can pay off down the line.

And hopefully you can help your daughter love herself as she is and be able to also appreciate at the same time that grooming is a skill that she can be proud of acquiring and that can give her some agency over how she presents herself to the world. If she’s into Webtoons (hopefully without spending coins on them 😅), she might enjoy “True Beauty” in a couple of years- or you can read it together as a family (at a pace where it stays free- never any to encourage anyone spending $ on it, unless you buy the book version or sth)

I would start your networking and job search before you move, because YMMV.

LAUSD high schools in general aren’t fantastic, but if your kids get into the magnet program they can attend a different school and will be in the higher-achieving track, with motivated peers and full access to AP classes, etc. My high school had something like a 95% graduation rate from the magnet program, with kids going to UCs and Ivies, etc, and something like a 25% graduation rate for the non-magnet kids. We had fantastic teachers, but that’ll change over time, so do your research.

Bet she could bake a mean blackbird pie, too 🐦‍⬛

Why don’t you buy a few of those tiles to use as trivets? You can glue little cork feet to them. Or consider using them as accent tiles with less expensive ‘neutral’ tiles

I’d microchip the baby

When was asymmetry in fashion? Obviously not in Heian, but was it just an Edo thing? I remember seeing old woodblock print books of kimono design patterns where it seemed to be dominant, but I can’t recall when they were from (late 1600s? Mid 1700s?)- maybe the bias was in the book, too- a narrow slice of time/ one designer.

Have been here with someone who will live in infamy as Latex Man; can confirm 😂

Museum of natural history events? LACMA summer nights? Art gallery openings, KCRW events, music events…