Don’t know what’s so funny here.

Warning: Spoiler to follow.

It was a Sunday after two nights of crazy Halloween partying and I just wanted to enjoy a harmless, mindless movie. A comedy. I remembered the commercials for Prime: “older” woman dates much younger man and tells all to her therapist, only to find out that ::gasp!:: her therapist is her new lover’s mother. Sounds fun.

We went to the Arclight, stood in the ticket line alongside Dave Navarro and clingy but cute Carmen Electra, and paid the $14.

OK, I usually judge a movie by the previews since I figure they pick them according to the target audience. Hmmm, one stupid movie preview after another. That Nanny McPhee movie looks so uninteresting. Oh yeah, there was some seemingly Fatal Attractionesque film directed by Woody Allen of all people and starring Scarlett Johansson. Audience: “Wha-?”

Prime itself started off promising. Uma Thurman is adorable as the just-divorced Rafi who stumbles into a love affair with a 23-year-old. Nice! And Meryl Streep is such an amazing actor. Just her little reactions to certain situations, things that you take for granted and then think, “Of course that’s how a person in her situation would react.” Anyway, what started off as a romantic Woody Allen-type comedy quickly disintegrated into a very sad love story. I mean sad as in melancholy, not pathetic. I thought that maybe the lovers would overcome the overprotective mother and society’s restrictions on them…but they don’t. And in the end, to drive home the point that it didn’t work out, they play the saddest version I ever heard of “I Wish You Love.” Such a beautiful rendition by Rachael Yamagata.

My friend and I walked out of the theater in tears. It made us think of our own travails in love and as Meryl Streep’s character said, “You love, you move on, and that’s OK.” Stupidly simple but true. Anyway, you could wait for this movie to come out on DVD. No need to rush to the theater. It’s quiet, some funny moments but nothing special. Definitely don’t see it if you feel depressed and want a laugh as it ends on a sad note, like, “Oh well, such is life.” Rottentomatoes.com gave it a rotten 46% out of 100%.

Yet ANOTHER reason to go downtown? Bar 107 and its late-night 8-11pm happy hours virtually every night, unless there’s a cabaret show. Check the calendar. And Bar 107 also offers $1 rum shots on Thursday nights and DJs almost every night. For October, Friday nights boasted a Dancing Downtown event, doesn’t say the same for November but I guess stay tuned. Thing is, I don’t even think they charge a cover for their dance parties!

The bar offers a haven to those “tired of the Hollywood bullshit” with its “New York feel with Chicago attitude.” I’m taking that to mean, it’s where you go for the big-city feel but downhome personality? The crowd consists of USC co-eds and artsy loft dwellers enjoying the kitschy decor. Anyhoo, sounds like a cool bar to me, AND since it’s near other cool Historic Core bars like the Golden Gopher, Broadway Bar and Big Bill’s, you could grab your best guys and dolls and make a Rat Pack-like night of it.

From LA.com:

[Owner Vianey] Delgadillo hit flea markets and antique shops to find decorations like a disco ball, vintage pin-up photos, plastic deer heads (one wearing sunglasses), an Indian statue, a light-up rooster, biblical paintings, a jukebox and the type of oversized clock you’d normally find at a marketplace. Surprisingly, her assorted treasures don’t clutter up the space, painted red to match the candles and vinyl booths; they give the four-room venue a cozy feel….Hoping to foster community and provide a much-needed quirky edge to the district, the bar has hosted a scooter rally party and will welcome a Derby Dolls fundraiser [November 18].

107 W 4th St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 625-7382
Cross Street: Main Street

My friend Beth told me about this winery located near Downtown L.A. A winery near downtown? I imagined a vineyard in Skid Row….that doesn’t sound very tasty. But apparently it really is.

About a hundred years ago, the L.A. River was lined with wineries, but then Prohibition jolted the wine industry. San Antonio Winery survived only because its founder, Santo Cambianica, made a deal with the Catholic Church to supply its sacramental wines. And Beth, a self-professed “big whino,” can attest to the quality of their wines as she partook of the winery’s free wine tasting. Turns out the vineyard isn’t in Skid Row but rather Monterey and Napa Valley with other sources in Santa Barbara, Paso Robles and Sonoma–yes, Wine Country. San Antonio just bottles the stuff in the Los Angeles plant.

There’s also a lovely restaurant on the premises called Maddalena Restaurant, where if you get lunch, the wine tour is free. Otherwise its $2.75. And, as I said, the wine tasting (with three tastes maximum) is always free.

About Maddalena, from CitySearch:

A vaulted hall, stacked with wine barrels, is filled with downtown businessfolk and loft-dwelling artists eating cafeteria-style lunches. California-inspired dishes are tasty and pair with the house wines, available by the bottle or the glass. Penne pasta with salmon is paired with vodka sauce, while spinach-ricotta ravioli is flavored with a medley of herbs.

For those who want to learn more about wine, the winery also offers seminars which include lunch or dinner and run about $65 a person.

Other Eastside friends know about San Antonio and absolutely love it. L.A. has its own winery after all. Who knew?

737 Lamar St
Los Angeles, California 90031
(323) 223-1401
Cross Street: Main Street
Wine tours: weekdays 12pm-2pm and weekends 11am-4pm

What a cute gift to give to the certain someone in your life who believes in sound body, sound mind; who shops at Whole Foods religiously and does yoga regularly; or who simply appreciates something that seems “so L.A.” The tonics are all-natural fruit and herb beverages formulated according to traditional Chinese medicine, and are cited to feed “the body and nourish organs back to a state of health and balance.”

There are different tonics available depending on your needs, such as the classic tonics sampled in the 6-pack; as well as the “soft tonics” that sound comfortingly familiar like ginger ale and root beer tonics; and the ever provocative-sounding “sex and morning after” tonics which promise to stoke sexuality in both men and women.

But in the Elixir mini set ($21) you get six 53ml samples of:

Depth Recharger (mixed berries and herbs) “replenishes the deep reserves of those whose reserves have been depleted by overly active stress-filled lives.”

Liquid Yoga (apricot and herbs) “calms the spirit, relaxes the senses and nourishes the heart.”

Mind Over Muddle (raspberries, plums and herbs) is a mental prowess power tonic that is said to stimulate blood flow and oxygenation to the brain through the use of Ginko Biloba thus enhancing mental clarity.

Power Plant (lemons and herbs) is a revitalizing jump-start tonic that increases energy and “harmonizes the ying” through the use of Guarana.

Tame the Elements (lemons, honey and herbs) is a “fight-the-good-fight” tonic which “boosts immunity and relieves toxicity.” Billions of people use this base herbal recipe as an herbal remedy “at the onset of a wind-cold or wind-heat attack.” Meaning cold or fever, perhaps? Clever.

Virtual Buddha (peaches and herbs). I love the sound of this one. It’s an “elation-by-the -glass” tonic/liquid path to enlightenment that “calms the spirits, nourishes the heart and tonifies Qi.” Aaahhh…

So are you supposed to drink these straight up or what? Interestingly enough, Elixir’s Web site offers drink recipes where you can make cocktails out of these little tonics.

Examples:

MindControl
2 oz. raspberry vodka
1 oz. Kazi mix
1 squirt of Mind Over Muddle
splash of soda
Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a lime

Afterglow
2 oz. Maker’s Mark
2 squirts of Depth Recharger
Pour into a 7 oz. martini glass
Garnish with a brandied cherry

Strange that in the MindControl cocktail, the tonic that is said to enhance mental clarity is mixed with vodka…something I know doesn’t.

Elixir Tonics & Teas
8612 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, California
310-657-9310 or www.elixir.net

From the sounds of things, it seems like all the cool kids are partaking of the sinister celebrations in Sin City this year for Halloween. But for those staying behind to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve, there are always the hotspots du noir of Hollywood. The following club parties are so hot and so now, they haven’t even been around more than a year! Heh.

Friday, October 28th

PUMPKIN at Club Xes
Presale: $30
Ticket Sales Stop at 10pm, October 27th

Not billed as a first annual but Pumpkin at Club Xes is advertised as “Hollywood’s Premier Halloween Party.” DJ Jason Shibuya will be spinning all night and there will be a costume contest and giveaways. I haven’t seen this event on any of the city guides’ Halloween event lists so either it’s very exclusive or they have sucky PR. But it’s supposed to be one of Hollywood’s hot, uberhip clubs.

From AOL City Guide:

XES bills itself as a high-energy dance club more along the lines of Garden of Eden and Barfly than the celebrity-minded scenes of Ivar and Deep….The scene mandates MTV attitude with a strong showing from professional athletes and record producers of the area. Adding an element of hip-hop to an area already drizzled in celebrity nightclubs, XES proves that funk still lives in Tinseltown.

Xes
1716 Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90027
(323) 461-8190

1ST ANNUAL HALLOWEEN MYSTERY at The Day After/Montmartre Lounge
Presale: $20
VIP tickets: $30
Presale ends: 7pm, October 28th

At 9pm sharp, guests will be invited to experience tricks and treats at this “A-list masquerade and costume party for the Southland’s Halloween themed club jet-setters.” The night promises a 5-hour film festival, themed cocktails, psychics and tarot readers, chilling effects, three dance floors, rooftop patio and celebrity appearances. With the VIP tickets, you get access to private areas and “hosted drinks throughout the evening.”

The Day After/Montmartre Lounge
6757 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90028

Saturday, October 29th

1ST ANNUAL HAUNTED HELLOWEEN at Spider Club
Admission: $20 (no presale available)

The oh-so sexy Spider Club, Avalon’s VIP venue, will be featuring a very special Halloween celebration the 29th of October. Jamie Barren & Shawn Antonio’s haunted extravaganza (and LA.com’s official Halloween event) will feature DJ Surge, magicians, dancers and creepy decor. You must dress for the occasion (Spider Club is all about dressing to impress) as there is a costume contest: 1st place gets dinner for 2 at Avalon’s late-night restaurant, Honey; and 2nd place wins a bottle of vodka. Sounds like a promising night with lots of dancing and fabulous people/costume watching.

Spider Club
1735 North Vine Street
Hollywood, California
(323) 462-8270

Monday, October 31st

1ST ANNUAL CABANA CLUB TERROR Presale tickets: $20 VIP tickets: $30 Pre-Sales End: 6pm, Oct. 31 DJ Graham Funke will be spinning the newest hip hop and rock from 9:30pm-2am at this exclusive Hollywood club. There’s a $250 cash costume contest where the winner also receives gift bags & gift certificates along with a free bottle of limited edition Asom Broso Anego signed & numbered. Cabana Club will also feature “Hollywood’s biggest haunted house.” From the guys who brought you the White Lotus, this newish hotspot has hosted many an exclusive A-list party. Should be quite a scene. Cabana Club 1439 Ivar Avenue Hollywood, CA 90028 (323) 463-0005 Cross Street: Sunset Blvd.

1ST ANNUAL HALLOWEEN FRIGHT NIGHT at Basque
Presale Price: $15
Presale Ends: 6pm, October 31st

Basque will be hosting its 1st Annual Halloween Fright night. The club, formerly Deep, will be dressed up as a haunted French villa. Special ghoulish cocktails, a burlesque vampire show and DJ Coolwhip promise to thrill and chill you. The club asks that you wear “your scariest, sexiest and coolest costume so that you can win $1,000 in cash and prizes.”

Since Hollywood Blvd. is closed for Halloween night, exit Vine off the 101 Freeway and take it to Hollywood, or exit La Brea of the 10 to Hollywood.

Basque
1707 North Vine Street
Hollywood, California
(323) 464-1654
Cross Street: Hollywood Blvd.

I can see for miles and miles: Not from the exhibit but, rather, an equally cool site of panoramic shots.

The thing that bugged me about New Year’s 2000 in L.A. was there was no Times Square, no central area for Angelenos to converge on to celebrate the millenium together. The New Year’s TV specials showed shots of different cities celebrating: Paris’ Eiffel Tower, SF along the Waterfront, Sydney’s Opera House. Everyone gathered around/near these landmarks cheering, fireworks blazing ahead….and what was the shot of L.A.? The Hollywood sign! Who goes there?

But eventually I came to accept the fact: Los Angeles is a sprawl. No one walks in L.A. for that reason. No amount of freeways or metro lines will bring us closer together. I’m a 310, he’s a 213 and ::sigh:: never the twain shall meet. So when I heard about this photography exhibit at Design Within Reach, I was interested.

The L.A. Panorama Project is a collection of the favorite L.A. views of such famous Angelenos as David Hockney, Julius Schulman, Ed Ruscha, Elke Sommer and Angelika Taschen. For the past four years, German shutterbug Peter Loewy has captured the Los Angeles that people know and love, in its entirety in one sprawling panoramic shot. Here, you get everything from a shot of the bustling Farmer’s Market to the static Downtown skyline.

Design Within Reach
8070 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 653-3923
Admission: Free
Exhibit runs thru November 3rd
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 27th 7-9pm

This is awesome. The North American Halloween Prevention Initiative (Beck, The Arcade Fire, David Cross, etc.) has come out with a single called “Do They Know It’s Halloween?” Both a trick and a treat, this satire — as well as a charity-benefit song — will donate all the proceeds from its sales to UNICEF.

You can either purchase the original version, the radio mix, the Disco D remix, Th’ Corn Gangg Remix ($1.99 each) or the whole bundle for $3.99. There’s even a ringtone of the song available for your creepy enjoyment.

Here are just some of the boys and ghouls involved:

Arcade Fire’s Win & Regine Redd Kross’ Steve McDonald Beck R.E.M.’s Joey Waronker David Cross Sloan’s Chris Murphy Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Smoosh’s Asya & Chloe Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore Sparks’ Russel Mael Sum 41’s Stevo Malcolm Mclaren Postal Service’s Jimmy Tamborello Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O

For a truly frightful sight of blood and gore…just kidding, for a cute and artsy treat, check out the video.

Bender: Sporto, do you get along with your parents?
Andrew: Well, if I say yes I’m an idiot, right?
Bender: You’re an idiot anyway. But if you say you get along with your parents, well then you’re a liar, too.

–From The Breakfast Club

If you can recite every line of Weird Science word for word, tear up whenever you hear Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” or chuckle to yourself when you remember the parade scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, you’re a neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie, and you’ll be thrilled to hear this. The King King in Hollywood is presenting an original play as a tribute to John Hughes, the one adult who understood teenagers in the ’80s, and made movies about ‘em. He launched the careers of Charlie Sheen, Eric Stolz, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack and the not-so-successful spinoff, the Brat Pack.

What’s in this tribute play? I’m not sure but apparently there will be live theater, interactive film clips and a 14-song medley. I wonder if that means there will be sing-alongs? Awesome! I LOVED Hughes’ movies growing up. Molly Ringwald was my fashion idol, Jake Ryan was my dream guy and I wished I had a friend like Ferris.

The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore it. They think it’s a righteous play.

King King Hollywood
6555 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA
Info (323) 960-9234
Cross Street: Whitley

Doors open at 7:30pm
Performance every Sunday through November 20th
Cost $10 at door

Remember how I said that you were better off going to Fantastic Sam’s than to Rudy’s Barber Shop in the Standard on Sunset? Well, I found out that there’s a new Rudy’s on Melrose, and by “new” I mean a year old (it opened Labor Day 2004). I needed a cheap, hip haircut fast so I thought I’d give them a shot since my regular salon is closed on Sundays. Located on Melrose, east of Fred Segal, I thought this one would be better because you can find hassle-free free parking on the street and since it’s not in the middle of the hot, hip Strip, I figured the wait wouldn’t be too bad. So I called an hour ahead of when I estimated I’d get there and put my name on the wait list.

Once there, I was welcomed by a promising sight: not every chair was filled and there was a long wooden bench along the wall where customers could wait. The guy at the counter marked me off on the list when I checked in, but warned me that they were short and backed up. So I sat for about 20 minutes and rocked out to the clubby music playing at nightclub levels on the salon’s sound system before my hair stylist came to get me. Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot, nice. Other customers in the shop consisted of one guy who wanted to get rid of his mullet, one more down!, and a woman who was getting her long hair dyed bluish red.

Kenny, my hair stylist, seemed like a nice enough guy. He had short, hip hair, promising enough, but did he know how to handle long hair? He asked me what I wanted and unfortunately I wasn’t able to dig up a picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones’ newest do in time so I had to describe it to him. He seemed like he understood and proceeded.

Now unlike all the other times I’ve been to Rudy’s on Sunset, this time I opted to pay the extra $20 to get my hair styled and blown out. I figure if I was going to get it cut so short that I should comfort myself with the extra pampering. And I was semi glad I did that. After Kenny blew dry my hair and styled it, he went back with the shears to do some touch-ups. My only complaint was that he was a touch caveman with the way he handled my head, pulling my hair with the brush to get it straight and hitting me a couple of times in the head with the blow dryer. In the end I was semi-happy with my shorter do, just because it looks more polished and more grown-up. Yeah, I think it makes me look older. A bit of a drag. Hmm…We’ll see what the public thinks.

I asked Kenny how much it would be to get my longish hair dyed and he said it’s about $65 and up just for a single process but the other stylists might charge about $100 and up. When I asked him why his price was low, he said because he didn’t believe in charging so much for something that was so easy to do. So I might just come back again to get my hair dyed bluish red. We’ll see.

In any case, I’d revise my review about Rudy’s, at least about the one on Melrose. Great for a cheap cut in a hurry. Sure, Fantastic Sam’s is cheaper but for the extra $5 or $6 you pay at Rudy’s you get your hair washed and styled with Bumble & Bumble product…and the anecdote of telling people you got your hair cut on Melrose.

8019 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90046
(323) 653-6078
Cross Street: Fairfax Avenue
Mon-Sat 9am-9pm; Sun 11am-7pm

EDIT: I ended up purchasing Bumble & Bumble hair tonic spray lotion cuz I saw that’s what Kenny used before he blew dry my hair. And it had made my hair so soft. The cashier said that he uses it when he doesn’t wash his hair. It has tea tree oil in it which replaces the natural oil in chemically treated or dry hair and it soothes the scalp. It’s also best for thick rather than fine hair. The first wash after the salon, I used it and it still made my hair soft. Love it. Surprisingly, at Rudy’s the spray is $22, but on Amazon it’s $22.99.

Jeepers! Halloween Weekend is only a week away and you’re still not dressed up but I’m sure you have lots of places to go. By now, all the costume stores are teeming with scrambling shoppers but all the good stuff is sold out!

Fear not, hopefully this’ll help:

Costumes in a Hurry
For one-stop costume shopping to take the hassle out of searching for the right this and the perfect that, ferget thrift stores and try Ursula’s Costumes in Santa Monica or Aahs everywhere.

Ursula’s Costumes Incorporated It’s best to go to Ursula’s midday like lunchtime since the closer we get to Halloween, the longer the line outside the store after work gets. Inside there are aisles and aisles packed with a variety of packaged costumes to choose from–all with pictures on the outside so you know what you get. Ursula’s also has a wide selection of wigs, props, accessories, and even elaborate costume rentals in the back room to choose from. The only thing missing are shoes.

2516 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403-4616
(310) 582-8230

Aahs
Aahs, particularly the one on Wilshire in Brentwood, has the same packaged costumes deal and you actually get to try them on (with the salesperson’s help) before you buy. However, I don’t know how this will work when the aisles get more crowded closer to the holiday. I noticed that for the women’s costumes, Aahs places matching accessories like petticoats and hosiery next to the costumes for your convenience. And not only are they separated into men and women sections but by theme, i.e. storybook outfits, school girls, nuns, princesses, etc. There are even costume suggestions where the staff puts outfits together around the store. My favorite? Willy Wonka. Gotta love those bug-eyed swirly sunglasses.

3223 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403-2332
(310) 829-1807

Hot Topic Or if everything is sold out and you’re absolutely desperate for a costume, go Goth–at the minimum it’s black clothes and black kohl around the eyes. And where do Goth kids go 365 days of the year? Hot Topic. This store always has the makeup, hair dye, spiked cuffs, fake tattoos, and black everything to help you pull this off. They even have shoes! (They sold out of the $30 platform mary janes I was looking for but I was able to find a better replacement in black knee-high boots for only 50 bucks.) You could be a Goth dark angel, Goth vampire, Goth prince/princess, or the Japanese Goth equivalent, a Harajuku kid. Click here to find a store in your area.

Hollywood and Highland
6801 Hollywood Blvd. Ste #345
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 462-2590

Santa Monica Place
220 Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 260-8617

Universal City Walk
1000 Universal Center Dr. Ste. 161
Universal City, CA 91608
(818) 762-5633

Hair! Makeup!
Easy-peasy, hit a really well-stocked beauty supply store in your neighborhood if you want to avoid crowded costume shops and just take care of your Halloween do. Find a beauty supply store that has the temporary hair dyes, styling product and hair accessories. Some even sell wigs, hair pieces and hair extensions. I was able to find a natural-looking wiglet to add some oomph to my hairstyle in a beauty store off Lincoln for a reasonable price.

For makeup, check out your local drug store for cheap and fast or Sephora where you can try on the makeup first. MAC has the most outrageous colors ranging from lime green eye shadow to black-purple lipstick. Or you can still try and schedule an appointment with a MAC counter the day of your party to get your face done by a professional makeup artist. The MAC Web site even has Halloween looks complete with makeup suggestions that you can print out and bring to the store.

From Boogie Nights

After reading up on the Buffalo Club for my “Wine Tasting Under the Stars” posting last month, I honestly never thought I’d patronize the joint. Many people on CitySearch complained of extremely rude service, verbally abusive staff and overpriced food and drinks. And the fact that they charge a cover turned me off completely. But since my girlfriends and I were long overdue for a girls’ night out, I dragged myself over there. And, surprisingly, I had a fabulous time. But here’s what I think made that possible.

1) I didn’t have to pay the $10 cover. I was there with two of my other girlfriends (good-looking girls) and we were dressed up. The bouncer waved us in to “pay” the bartender inside, but once inside after speaking with the bartender, he let us go on ahead.

2) The bouncer wasn’t letting people in who didn’t have reservations and fortunately we actually had a well-attended party to go to inside.

3) I wasn’t there for dinner and I didn’t have to pay for drinks as the guys we met up with took care of that. But I don’t think I would have minded paying for my own cocktail as the whiskey and Coke I ordered came in a tall glass, was pretty strong and oh-so tasty.

So that all knocked the chip off my shoulder about the place. I was able to enjoy the disco cover band as my friend and I hit the dance floor and just danced the night away. I felt like I was in Vegas because of the onstage cheesiness of the guitarist wearing an afro and the singer sporting a shirt unbuttoned to his navel, but they performed great renditions of crowd-pleasing disco hits.

The scene itself consisted of really good-looking men and women in their 20s and 30s, maybe some random 40s, enjoying the flattering mood lighting on the outdoor patio under the Chinese lanterns. And for some reason I didn’t get the meat market vibe, either because I didn’t mind the eye candy so much or because we didn’t have overaggressive men coming onto us. We were just able to enjoy our girls’ night out.

So if the stars align for you, too, then check out the Buffalo Club and enjoy. If they don’t, you can always head over to the Arsenal, Bar Copa, or the recently renovated Busby’s (get there before 9pm to skip the cover) to get your groove on.

1520 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 450-8600
Cross Street: 14th Street

Unfortunately, I didn’t find out about the Nov. 1st 7:30pm screening that features Paul Reubens giving a Q&A in time so it was sold out before I could get a ticket. But due to popular demand, Arclight threw in a second screening at 10:20pm. However since it seems to be past Pee Wee’s bedtime, Reubens will only be introducing the movie. Now I’m thinking it may not be worth it to stay up so late on a “school night” just to see PW briefly. It would be cool to see Pee Wee’s Big Adventure on the big screen, but still….worth it? Eh. But if YOU think it’s worth it, buy your tickets now because they’ll most likely sell out FAST.

Arclight Hollywood
6360 W Sunset Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 464-4226
Cross Street: Vine

EDIT: This event is SOLD OUT.

Is she a gold digger? A borderline alcoholic? Depends on what’s her poison.

To make up for the Sephora post I did for the ladies in the house, here’s a great guide for guys going on a first date. Perusing LATIMES.com’s CalendarLive, I came across this insightful article on personology by cocktail by Nicole Roberge. That’s right, how to judge a girl by the drink she orders. Apparently the writer interviewed men about what they think certain cocktails say about a woman. Besides stating the obvious of the refined wine drinker or the fun-loving margarita lover, it covers Sea Breeze sippers and Red Bull/Vodka party girls.

Here are just some of my faves:

Gin and tonic: Guys are split on this one. Some say it signifies a sophisticated woman; others say it is someone looking to get drunk.

Cosmopolitan: A bit trendy, and some guys view it as snobby. Also, it shows someone with expensive taste. So if the guy’s paying the bill, steer clear of this one, especially if the date’s going badly. He doesn’t want to have to take out a loan to buy you drinks.

Whiskey and Coke: Borderline alcoholic. Someone who is a bit sassy, will speak her mind and won’t care what anyone thinks.

Red Bull and vodka: An absolute party girl. Save this one for the club.

Smirnoff Ice/Mike’s Hard Lemonade/wine cooler: He probably won’t appreciate this drink choice; unless your date is at the 7-Eleven, get a real drink.

Mudslide/white Russian: Any drink with milk in it scares guys.

Sea breeze/Midori sour/amaretto sour: A bit of a good girl. Someone who likes to drink but doesn’t like the taste of alcohol.

Tequila: Guys dig a tequila drinker, but some claim “she is a keeper” just for the night though.” Avoid at all costs if you don’t want to end up seeing his sheets. Otherwise, bottoms up.

As for what’s my drink of choice? I’m a whiskey and Coke girl. Read into that what you want.

EDIT: LA TIMES just added a guide for women to judge THEIR dates.

So I was just sitting here minding my own business, eating a creme brulee and surfing the Web when lo and behold I find out that O-Bar has a nightly dessert special they like to call “Sugar Rush Hour.” ::Gasp!:: Every night from 10:30pm to 1am, pastry chef Meadow Lyn Ramsey offers her beautiful desserts to those who make dessert-only reservations.

From reading reviews, the big cookie dessert seems to be the crowd favorite. And the O-Bar has gotten many sugar-sticky thumbs-up from past patrons reviewing on CitySearch in terms of the food and ambience. Drink specials are available each night, in addition to the daily dessert selection. Now, who, you may ask, would want sugar after 8pm? Why night owls and post-party people who need a sugar fix, of course.

Here’s just some of what they offer:

Cinnamon Creme Brulee $7
Baked Custard and a Caramelized Sugar Topping, Served with Homemade Gingersnap Cookies

Old Fashioned Gingerbread $7
Lighter-Than-Grandma’s Gingerbread Cake Topped with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream, Candied Kumquats and Pomegranate Sauce

Autumn Apple-Walnut Crumble $8
Slow-Cooked Granny Smith Apples and Spices covered in a Brown Sugar-Walnut Crumble and Caramel Ice Cream.

Thomas’ Decadent ‘’O'’ Cookie $12
A Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked to Order in an Iron Skillet, Topped with Three Scoops of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Covered in Gooey Chocolate and Caramel Sauces

And the thing that seems great about O-Bar is their other innovative events like Sunday Share where you share a large family-style dinner experience with other patrons; and their Thursday night event called “SMACK” where with a 5-minute countdown the bartenders frantically serve as many free cocktails as possible during that time. And repeat it every hour. Intriguing.

And they have a happy hour 6-8pm daily with drinks at half-price, also from 11 pm until closing on Tuesdays for their Late-Night Cocktail Hour event.

8279 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Reservations: (323) 822-3300
Cross Street: Sweetzer Avenue