Merry Christmas Downtown

Hope your holiday is a wonderful, fun occassion.. full of celebration and surrounded by those you love.

Guinness "slide" starring OBD

Many downtown neighbors will spot old bank district locations in this fun Guinness ad filmed at 4th & Main in early October...

The office scene was filmed in the Historic San Fernando Building..

* video is embedded from youtube user "scottmkaplan"

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving Downtown Neighbors! SeanYoda & I had our Thanksgiving dinner last night.. so we'll be enjoying leftovers from here on out..

We got most our fixings from Trader Joe's..


stuffed turkey breast w/ cranberry stuffing..


cornbread stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, gravy, and roasted veggies.. ("meat veggies" yum!)


OMG! Something's missing!! LOL.. we forgot to take out the cranberry sauce we'd picked up at Costco on Tuesday.. oh well!

pie...


it only looks like Seanyoda is going to cut his thumb off.. picked up the pie at Fresh & Easy.. good stuff!


meeko's pie.. yummy!

Hope your Thanksgiving is yummy.. no matter how you celerbrate..

all done!

The folks at Gilmore Assoc. have put all the decorations up around the Old Bank District.. (updated @ 6am 11/26)


corner of 4th & Main.. the Hellman Building, the Old Bank & west to the Continental Building on Spring all have bows and wreaths..




Continental Building with bows.. (11/24)


Hellman Building entrance at night..


The Old Bank at night..

and of course, the San Fernando..


when you come to look for a loft, you'll see the lobby is decorated too..

garland decorates the stairs..

UPDATE:
lights across 4th Street..

Christmas Time in the City!

Yesterday the bows and wreath went up on the Hellman and the Old Bank. This morning, garland was beginning to trim the windows on the Old Bank. It's Christmastime again, at least at 4th & Main..

Another Blue Cupcake..

The DASH reflected in the display case at Lot 44 on Spring Street.




This blog is really looking like "Meeko on Cupcakes" rather than a neighborhood blog.. but here I am enjoying some Fall yumminess and figured it was time to give Lot 44 & Blue Cupcake another writeup.. yeah.. it's Pumpkin time!







creamy pumpkin filling.. and moist pumpkin cake..


eggnog latte

I would think the Pumpkin Cupcake should be available through Thanksgiving..

Happy Anniversary Raw Materials!

Along with the celebrations that goes on during your average downtown Art Walk tonight, is something definitely worth celebrating! One year ago tomorrow (the date of last year's November art walk) was the grand opening & official ribbon cutting with our Councilwoman, Jan Perry..






Jim & Celia, co-owners & proprietors of Raw Materials Art Supplies
Happy Anniversary Raw Materials!! Here's to many, many more!!



Raw Materials
460 S Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 627-7223

Nickel Diner on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives!!

REMINDER! Nickel Diner on D3 Monday the 19th!!


Back in June some folks may recall (or not) that Guy Fieri (season 2 winner of Next Food Network Star) & his crew came to film at Monica & Kristin's "Nickel Diner" near 5th and Main. The time has come for the show to finally be aired!!

Set your DVR/VCR or be sure and catch the episode.. or if you're in the neighborhood, be sure to meet up at Cole's just off 6th & Main just before 10pm Monday night the 19th and watch it with some of your neighbors.

We got the DVR set, but we'll be ambling down there as well.

Nickel Diner
524 S Main St.
Los Angeles, CA.

Seen From the Loft

Big Man Bakes gets its new signage up..

I scampered downstairs to get a better view..


the store location is just south of the Hellman building in one of the OBD garage build outs. (click image for larger view)



Big Man Bakes is open.. and had their grand opening on September 10th..

Big Man Bakes
413 S. Main Street
twitter @BigManBakes

Autumn Lights

a couple shots from last night's Autumn Lights, curated by Lilli Muller and included some 50 area artists in various mixed mediums.. The evening's event was from 7pm-1am and used every available space in Pershing Square.

It's possible they make this a weekend long event in future years..

My point & shoot isn't reliable so I used my cel.. so not the best quality images either.. (but I do have video!) I'm sure you will see better images around the web elsewhere, but this is what I got.

This one's my favorite:

plastic water containers illuminated from within and hung from a tree..


spotlights in the trees..


wall art..


plastic bags become flowers (lit from within) Yes that one in the front is a Disneyland bag..

and one of the many pieces with moving lights:


projected onto the wall at the fountain.. shutting doors..

more cupcakes.. for culture!

Latin American Heritage Month (or National Hispanic Heritage Month as it's also known) starts officially September 15th, and you can celebrate all month at Lot 44 Coffee.. with a Blue Cupcake treat.

Latin American Heritage Month was started in 1968 under President Johnson as a week-long celebration, then later expanded under President Reagan for a full month (Sept 15- Oct 15) celebrating the culture and heritage of the Latin American people.

So what's this got to do with cupcakes, you ask?? In honor of the month-long celebration, Lot 44 is the place to get Dulce de Leche and Mojito cupcakes..


You know I tried the Mojito!

the buttercream frosting is infused with bits of mint.. very light hints will hit your mouth.. then the rum cake & lime filling will add a refreshing taste.

Did someone say lime??

The overall flavor and texture is light and flavorful.. a perfect cupcake for a hot September day.

The dulce de leche will have to be tried next time.. (but why wait? go check them out yourself!) Seriously.. these are amazing cupcakes.. I have loved every single one I've tried so far. The red velvet, the mocha espresso, the lime (fantastic!), the black raspberry chocolate.. and now the mojito.

There are plenty of other flavors.. six 'standard' flavors, but each week there may be a couple new flavors added and rotating to the selection. These 2 new flavors are special for Latin American Heritage Month.. and they all go great with coffee or something cold.

Yeah, I like cupcakes.

Regent Changes its Hue..

After a little over a year and a half, the "Main Street Recovery" mural came down today. A fresh new coat of bright yellow paint is now gracing the facade of the Regent Theatre..


The mural as seen from spring of 2008. The mural was originally installed on the Regent Theatre the 30th of January, 2008. Each part of the mural tells a story of Main Street's changes and the changes in Downtown. It was a temporary installation, but one can't help but think it had become a part of the landscape of Main Street.

This morning.. the scaffolding was being raised:






By late afternoon, the mural was halfway down.. and much of the new paint had been applied.






and then a little after 7pm.. this is what the Regent looked like:


As for the "Main Street Recovery" mural, it's rumored that it may make future appearances around the Old Bank District at some point. As for now, for the immediate future, the Regent will be grooving out in bright yellow.

Main in Bloom

Stella waters her sunflowers.. You can see them blossoming outside Stella Dottir dress shop near Winston & Main.

Around the Historic Core

Walking around the neighborhood..

cleaning up the Rosslyn Hotel sign..


This side all done!

7-11 7-11!

opposite Rite-Aid..

future location of a new 7-11 at 5th & Broadway.

and lastly, (but NOT least!) in the Old Bank District..


Old Bank DVD will be headed around the corner..


sometime soon** ("AUGUST") Old Bank DVD will be relocated.. They will be in the same building (San Fernando Bldg @ 4th & Main) but taking over the currently empty former home of MJ Higgins Gallery.

**update: 22 August 2009 After talking to Old Bank DVD it may be late August or early September for the relocation of the store.