What We're Talking About This Week

 

San Francisco's food scene has been getting better and better recently, but with sky high rents, some of the most inventive meals are served in pop ups around the city.  Here's a list of some of the best options over the next few weeks.

 

LA is having a bit of a renaissance architecturally right now, and this article breaks down some of the best new buildings in the city.

If, like us, you have dreamed many times of spending the night in Versailles, the opening of a 20 room hotel in the French Palace by 2020 is extremely exciting.  We'll start saving now...

Last night, Universal Studios finally opened the doors to the long awaited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Within the Potter themed park, you can go through Diagon Alley, drink butter beer, and ride the Hogwarts Express. Learn more and buy tickets here.

What We're Talking About This Week

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are hosting their annual Easter festivities in Golden Gate Park on Sunday. There are Easter Egg hunts, an Easter Bonnet contest, burlesque and many musical acts. Our favorite is the Hunky Jesus contest, and this year they are adding a Foxy Mary contest as well.

Growing up we would sometimes visit the Queen Mary with our grandparents. We are excited about the Easter Champagne Brunch they are offering, it looks like a great reason to make the trek to Long Beach. There's also an Easter egg hunt, face painting and a petting zoo, and you can tour the ship.

We're fascinated by Seph Lawless's photos of Disney's River Country, the Florida waterpark that was permanently closed in 2001. The water park opened in the 70's, and used fresh water from a nearby lake. A boy died in the 80's from an infection from the un-chlorinated water. It's been left to decay, and the plants that have overgrown the space have created a haunting landscape. 

The Broad recently opened in downtown LA and we are especially excited to see Yayoi Kusama's piece: Infinity Mirrored Room - The Souls of Millions Light Years Away. Only one person can view the piece at a time, and the space is constructed with mirrors and LED lights, to create a sense of infinity.

We loved the Oscar de la Renta exhibit at the de Young, so it was great to see these photos of the opening night gala on Vogue's website. Curated by Andre Leon Talley, it was great to hear what a fan de la Renta was of the Bay Area: he loved The Slanted Door, and would stop at a peach stand on the way back from Tahoe. 

What We're Talking About This Week

Science is pretty fascinating sometimes, like in this BBC story explaining what would happen were you to fall into a black hole.

San Francisco's South of Market, or SoMa, area has been in a dramatic transformation recently, but the changes started nearly four decades ago.  We love these photos, by Janet Delaney, now on display at the city's de Young Museum, documenting SoMa's shift in the 1970s.

We talk about our favorite foods a lot, but yesterday was National Burger Day, and instead of indulging, we just spent way too long reading this list of Bay Area burgers we need to try.

The country's largest design fair, Dwell on Design, starts today at the LA Convention Center (plus in various homes, etc.) and runs through the weekend - see all the details here.

 These museums opening around the world are giving us a serious urge to travel - the Fondazione Prada Milano and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris are both unbelievably amazing looking - but we are happy that one of the top 5 new museums is right here in Downtown LA!  We will definitely be heading to The Broad as soon as it opens in September to see their contemporary collection.