COOKIN' CREOLE

Image from http://www.mystcritic.com

One of these days I'm going to get out and do the restaurant reviews as part of my re-discovery around L.A. For now I was just going to mention Harold & Belle's because I know it's a very popular spot and I've never heard anything but favorable reviews about it. But I found a website that reviews the best creole restaurants around L.A. I thought, why just suggest one. You can check out his link and get a few more places to try.

I'm going to try it myself one day... you'll see.

Note that the mystcritic.com where I got the picture gave a great review of Harold & Belle's as well. You never know what else they might recommend.

THE JEWELRY MART

If you live in L.A. and like jewelry, and I mean the "real" stuff, I doubt that you don't know about The Jewelry Mart in downtown Los Angeles. If you don't know about it, where have you been!? I worked with numerous women who loved their gold, diamonds and other stones and the only place they would get it was downtown. I have a couple of pieces. Nothing gawdy, but the prices are great and the quality is top notch. I am by no means saying you should not always be on your P's and Q's when buying here. I don't do enough shopping down there to quarantee you anything with anyone. But if you're looking for good quality at reasonable prices, I would suggest checking out The Jewelry Mart.

I had the fortune of going to specific vendors that other women at work knew very well. I can tell you the pricing is competitive because they have to be to compete with all of the other vendors in this area. To give you an example, when you walk into many of the doors you will find that there are numerous vendors with individual stalls. It's not like walking into a mall and there might be three jewelers who basically have all the same stuff. We're talking a couple blocks of jewelers from one end of the block to the next, on both sides of the stree, with numerous vendors inside each door you enter.



If you're looking for some serious jewelry at least go check out the Jewelry Mart. It's down around, and not limited to, Hill Street and 7th Street.

I thought I lost my bracelet a while back and thought I'd go in one of the jewelry stores in the mall to price what it might cost to replace it. Let me tell you, after having bought things at the jewelry mart (and again, it's not much but it's mine - LOL!), I was really disappointed with the quality and lack of selection. Luckily I found my bracelet (thank God). But I vowed that if I ever buy anything again, it's the Jewelry Mart for me.

Did I mention that, at least the last time I bought something, you could pay on it, like a layaway plan? You can afford something really nice without credit.

THE FASHION DISTRICT

The Fashion District is located on the east side of downtown Los Angeles and stretches for blocks and blocks in the vacinity of, and hardly limited to the area around, Olympic Blvd between Los Angeles Street and Maple. If you exit the 10 freeway on Maple there is even a sign stating The Fashion District. This will include the infamous "The Alley". You can find anything here - children's clothing, men and women's clothing, suits, shoes, fabric, notions, bridal gowns, bridal fabrics, upholstery fabrics, purses, sunglasses, luggage, costume jewelry, etc. - and it's all discounted.

If you live in L.A. and you don't know this area, shame on you!

If you're planning on visiting L.A. you've got to try to make it to the Fashion District. I haven't been in a while but I just drove through it on my rediscover L.A. venture. I'm not saying it's all designer clothing and designer outlets but you never know what you might find in the Fashion District and there is a little bit of everything for everybody. And if nothing else it will definitely be an experience.

Feel like shopping? Remember The Fashion District and I'd suggest leaving early unless you don't mind being in the midst of the crowd of people you'll run into.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

I worked in downtown Los Angeles most of my working years. My job prior to the one I have now, I worked on 3rd and Grand for nearly 20 years.

I remember old downtown L.A. when most of the "big" stores were on Broadway. I remember when the tallest building downtown was City Hall which is now dwarfed in comparison to other buildings and is no longer the heart of downtown. In this picture it's the smaller white building on the right that comes to a peak. I can vaguely even remember taking the trolley with my mother and the sparks from the wires which is probably why I remembered it from such a very young age. It was the place everyone went to shop and had the best movie theatres around.



Broadway now is run down and laden with nothing bus discount stores. All of the major stores moved west into places like the Broadway Plaza when malls became the new rage and building became skyscrapers. It has certain changed over the years but change isn't always a bad thing and the buildings are beautiful.

Pictured below are just some of the buildings and focal points of downtown Los Angeles - The Music Center, MOCA, the main library, Walt Disney Concert Hall. I will mention that the Water Court between the California Plaza towers is spectacular and host a string of evening concerts in the summer. There are pictures on the water court in the slideshow below.