[LA Life] Frolic Among the Flowers at LA’s Best Botanical Gardens

July 29, 2016July 29, 20161 Comment

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With the weather we’re blessed with in Southern California, it’s no surprise that we spend the better part of our lives outside. Beyond the fact my wardrobe is perfectly equipped for it ( my daily uniform consists of a tank top, cut offs and flip flops – thank you, working from home), there’s an impressive amount of outdoor activities to partake in. You want wine tasting? You don’t have to go to Sonoma or Santa Barbara, just head to Santa Monica or Malibu – skiing and snowboarding are only a few hours away at Big Bear, and the beach is equidistant in the opposite direction. Fun, sun, snow, sand – we’ve got it all, and then some. Now that Summer season is in full swing, I’m finding it near uncomfortable to be stuck indoors with so much amazing weather, so when it comes to daily adventures – it’s time to start thinking outside the box – or at least, outside the home – for some fun day trips and day-tes in the area.

Though Los Angeles can come across as a completely concrete jungle, once you’ve found the right nooks and crannies you’ll realize it’s anything but! From the West in Santa Monica to the East in Pasadena, Los Angeles has been blessed with a gregarious amount of green space throughout the city, and it’s only right that as residents we get to revel in it. The fabled Griffith Park Observatory offers up acres and acres of fresh green space smack dab in the middle of the city and it feels like you’re on a wild safari when you’re trying to trek towards the Hollywood Sign, while assorted areas like Ernest E Debs Park and NELA’s Lincoln Park provide a pop of vivaciously contrasting greens in the heart of residential neighborhoods and burrows.

Even though I’ve lived in LA for over eight years, I’ve realized that here’s still so much to discover and uncover. There’s simply so many options to choose from that I have a hard time narrowing it down – after all, they all have their je ne sais quoi moments of sheer bliss, utter beauty and vivacious blooms. Between the neat little retreats and hidden gems with sincere botanical beauty, I’ve definitely made my way through a pretty solid chunk of what the city of angels has to offer and I’m eager to share my favorite botanical gardens and nature nooks with you.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

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The trifecta of artistic expression, creation and perfection – The Huntington boasts a bevvy of fantastic art collections, a wonderful library rich library and of course – a delectable amount of shrubbery, flowers, trees, flora and fauna. There natural areas are broken out by region, and you can take a leisurely stroll through a Japanese Tea Garden, a Chinese Garden and even a banzai exhibit, which is even cooler when you realize you’re staring at tiny Sequoias and Redwoods – it’s actually unbelievable. With over 120 acres to revel in, it’s easy to get lost – and even easier to not see absolutely everything the park has to offer. Good news – you can get an annual pass and visit whenever you want. Seeing as the park spans the globe, there are always wonderful specimens in bloom.

Check their website for the latest exhibits as well as their Summer hours, from my knowledge the venue is open from 10:30 to 4:30 every day except Tuesday.

1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA

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The Descanso Gardens

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Though I’ve only visited in the Winter (which in Los Angeles just means it’s below 60), the Descanso Gardens boast a stunning landscape that includes a Lilac Garden, a Japanese Garden, California Natives and a sprawling 5 acre rose garden. Open year round and only $9 for adults, botanical gardens offer a menagerie of courses and programs, and host a wonderful series of summer concerts.

1418 Descanso Dr, La Canada Flintridge, CA

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Los Angeles County Arboretum

Located off in Arcadia on the East Side of Los Angeles sits one of my absolute favorite venues, and every time I go I’m absolutely astounded by the fact it exists within Los Angeles county. Just one stroll around the LA Arboretum, in through the tall bamboo shoots or the indigenous South American trees, and you’ll feel instantly transported into a new land. Each corner and every inch of the park is impeccably maintained and absolutely stunning to marinate on. Plus, the third Tuesday of every month is free!

301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA

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Storrier Sterns Japanese Garden

Located off the beaten path, in the residental neighborhoods of Pasadena is one of the city’s unique hidden gems. The Storrier Sterns Japanese Garden is a stunning piece of throwback landscaping and architecture built by the one and only Kinzuchi Fujii in 1935, not to mention – the last standing one he ever created. Over 80 years later the two acre span is more beautiful than ever with a teahouse, relaxing areas to sit and meditate in and an active coy pond. The venue is tiny, only about two acres, but there simply so much to see that you could be there all afternoon.

270 Arlington Drive, Pasadena, California 91105

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Arlington Botanical Gardens

One thing about the wonderful botanical gardens in the area – is you more or less have to pay for them. Great news about the Arlington Botanical Gardens, is they’re open to anyone, any day, for Free.99. The Arlington Botanical Gardens stand as the only public open space in Pasadena and it offers a great arena to walk and relax among it’s community maintained garden, or the rich array of Californian and Mediterranean trees, bushes, flowers and succulents with a wonderful amount of benches scattered among them – so bring a book, get comfortable and get into your R&R.

275 Arlington Dr, Pasadena, CA 91105

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I’ve by no means gone to all of the local gardens, but I’ve been blessed with the opportunities to visit a great number of them and be awe struck by their beautiful, blooming bounties. Also, if you couldn’t tell – I effing love reflection shots!

What are your favorite Botanical Gardens and Open Spaces – in Los Angeles, or your favorite city?

Let me know in the comments below!

[LA Life] Trekking Cahuenga Peak To The Hollywood Sign

April 4, 2016April 4, 2016Leave a comment

Now that Spring has officially sprung, it’s been a personal mission of mine to get out and enjoy every ounce of sunshine I possibly can. Depending on your perspective of Los Angeles, it’s easy to flounder under the incorrect assumption that the city is a concrete jungle – but quite the contrary: in the midst of the hustle and bustle of our go-go-go lifestyle are a plethora of green spaces waiting to be explored. From The Huntington Gardens to Pasadena’s Arboretum, Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon – there are a lot of amazing nature hikes to offer, and you don’t even have to go far to get it in.

When we first set out for our hike, we only had one thing on our mind – it’s a beautiful day to get some exercise in. We packed a little pack of water, snacks and goodies and were off, off and away on a Saturday adventure. Not gonna lie on this one, the struggle was definitely real; we haphazardly decided to ascend the Tree of Life Trail to Cahuenga Peak so we could get as close as possible to the Hollywood Sign. Depending on your source, the tree in question is equally referred to as ‘The Wishing Tree’, ‘The Wisdom Tree’ ‘The Giving Tree’ and ‘The Magic Tree’, but whatever you choose to call it – it’s a beautiful hike up a ridiculous incline; meaning you’re going to want some badass shoes to accompany you. As a fair warning, this hike is not for novices or beginners – and I only say this, because I consider myself both, especially when it comes to this trail.

If you’ve been following my adventures over the last few years, I’ve evolved into a nature nymph of sorts and I absolute adore it. There’s nothing like the brisk air and fresh breeze of the great outdoors, but man – was I a sweaty, panting mess by the end of it. This hike is one puppy that you want to pack some supplies for – some snacks with sugar to keep up your blood sugar, sunblock to prevent heat stroke, tons of water to rehydrate yourself and some quick to eat protein like nuts or beef jerkey. Overall, I would say it took us about two hours to get to the top with a few pit stops along the way to stretch our muscles and take in the view. It was only later that we discovered a simpler way to the view, where you can park on city streets and take a paved, lazy river of an incline to the top. Definitely not as gratifying but thank goodness we could take that route out of the park!

Overall, the view from the Tree of Life Trail is breathtaking, and the aerial 360 of the city is as stunning as it sound. This is one hike that I not only recommend, but will be doing far more frequently – after all, we didn’t actually make it over to the Tree of Life – we caught ourselves a stellar view of the city instead – so that’ll have to be a day-venture for another time.

[The Audiofiles] Countdown to 2016 with Insomniac’s Twelve.31

December 30, 2015December 30, 2015Leave a comment

Now that the slow crawl of the holidays has clamored back to a regular roar around Los Angeles, New Years Eve is approaching at lightning speed and I’ve had the itch to come out of my annual post-festival season hibernation and paint the town all sorts of technicolor. In a city equally basked by sunlight and spotlights, New Years Eve has become a choose your own adventure extravaganza, and Insomniac Events most certainly takes the lead in this respect with events in each and every corner of Southern California.

It’s hard to believe that almost a decade ago I was celebrating a decade of Electric Daisy Carnival, but in June 2006 that’s precisely where I was – diving headfirst down the rabbit hole at the good ol’ NOS Center in San Bernadino. Twirling under an electric sky with strangers that manifested into friends, I felt myself unfolding into self like a flower that blooms, blooms and blooms again in what’s become a semi-permanent state of self-evolution. Slowly but surely, I’ve drifted away from the large scale massives and events over the last few years and into the realm of boutique and transformational festivals; believe me when I say that my love for the former them hasn’t waned – it’s simply that I’ve been on a personal, perpetual hunt for something new, something different. Maybe it’s some new age form of chasing the evolved dragon, but I’m on the prowl for that perfect ‘je ne sais quoi’ of the musical experience – a special combination of musicianship, creativity, production value and community that sits delightfully smack dab in the center of their Venn Diagram, and this year – it’s called Twelve.31.

Tomorrow night, Insomniac Events is pulling out all the underground stops at the legendary Hollywood Palladium as Minimal, Tech and Deep House legends grace the decks for one unforgettable evening of dancing and decadence in the city of angels.

Start the night off right as the duo Divine Minds in Time grace the decks from 8 to 9pm. Recently transplanted to Downtown Los Angeles from upstate New York, the pair have already made quite the name for themselves playing popular local events around the city such as Clinic Wednesday and Sounds Like. Keep your eyes on them next year as they’ll be releasing their debut EP on their very own record imprint – Akashic Records.

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Then from 9 to 10:30, Washington DC transplant turned West Coast House phenom Jon Charnis takes the stage. Throughout the years, Charnis has produced under many different monikers but now that he’s found his true calling within the darker, deeper production – there’s no going back from this one; plus, since it’s his birthname he’s basically stuck with it – so why not rock it?! If you’re a tried and true Angelino, you’ve probably seen him at All Day I Dream or Capsulem.

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Say one final goodbye to 2015 the Dirtybird way as Shiba San’s French House flair and grooving tunes countdown the last drops of the year from 10:30 to Midnight. After a year of what felt like chasing him around from Lightning in a Bottle to Focus, to Shambhala – I’m excited to finally see him in LA – and I know a whole hell of a lot of other people are too.

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Kick 2016 off in an official capacity with London production duo Dusky as they hit the stage from midnight til 1:30AM. The pair recently released their latest work – a three track EP titled ‘Lydia’ – on the label 17 Steps this past November

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From 1:30 to 3am, bear witness to the epic back-to-back set from Canadian DJs Tiga and Kenny Glasgow and prepare to lose yourself to dance. Though Glasgow is best known for his influence in the sphere of dance music as half of the duo Art Department, this past spring the two split ways to further develop personal projects, including his latest ‘In Too Deep’

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End the night right with a proper dance party as Kidnap Kid closes out the bash from 4-5am.

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Who will we be seeing on the dance floor?!

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For more on Twelve.31, head to the event’s social media pages –

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Keep tabs on Insomniac Events for the best in dance music events –

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[The Audiofiles] Consciousness and Creativity Collide as The Gem & Jam Festival PreParty Descends on Los Angeles

January 26, 2015January 28, 2015Leave a comment

– Photos by Daniel Leist Photography –

Through times of greatness and times of strife, moments of genius and seconds of insanity – the most bonding force we have is music. Sound, purported by old Native American tribes is the glue truly holds the universe together on vibratory strings, sonic spiderwebs and fractaling frequencies – and modern day scientists now understand it, the universe was propelled apart in an equidistant motion by intense vibratory sound waves after the Big Bang. As socio-economic boundaries are broken down while far reaching forms of social media are on the rise, it makes all too much sense that music has become the bonding factor of my generation. Humans are a tribal bunch, we naturally congregate around those who share similar values, morals, senses of humor – and what better litmus test of a personable friendship than full immersion into festival culture? Festival Culture. It’s where people hug instead of shake hands, strangers are simply friends whom you haven’t met, clothing more resembles costumes and the community itself is a giant support system and music is our religion.

Just the other weekend, some of Southern California’s biggest fans in Bass Music – including my group of pretty party personalities – descended upon The Fonda Theater for a night where consciousness and creativity collided in a spectacle of audio-visual delight. The evening featured a wonderful cross section of community, music, culture and art sponsored by Euphonic Conceptions, In The Loop and The Do Lab as the upstairs area manifested into a Burning Man-esque vendor bazaar, hosted by Los Angeles’ own Grateful Generation. The night featuring booths from local vendors of permaculture, art, essential oils, IMG_8948_new_new gems, jewlery and costumes like K’ulu Misk’i, Lunavore Designs, Mostly Minerals, vibrant long exposure photography by Harmonic Light so much more entrenched in momentary lush surroundings.

With Jonathan Singer setting a vibrantly trippy visual mood, Soulular set the tone for the evening with a stellar opening set as live visual artists Sam Flores, Amanda Sage, and Alex + Allyson Grey got down on live paintings much to the crowd’s delight. Desert Dwellers followed with a downtempo ‘World Bass’ set, followed by the convoluted, glitchy dubstep sounds of Thriftworks, who got the crowd in a frenzy; the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae being an unexpected appearance by Russ Liquid on the Trumpet, eventually ebbing into Russ Liquid‘s flow. My first Random Rab experience was last Summer for a sunrise set at Lightning in a Bottle, so I had little to no idea of the musical prowess he had in store for the evening. For almost two hours, the entire arena was transfixed to the sounds and visuals stemming from the Entheon Stage as we were swept down a rabbit hole of music and wonder.

From start to finish, the evening was swimming with fantastic company, boasting the best of their personalities while getting down in their most exuberant, colorful and quirky duds. It was beautiful to watch the paintings manifest as each musician, one by one graced the epic Entheon Altar DJ Booth, a 3D printout of the official Entheon structure modeled by digital sculptor Ryan Tottle, who made an appearance for the evening. Crowdfunded through Kickstarter and lovely backers of the arts, the official Entheon building will play host to Alex Grey’s incredible, immersive art at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York, known to most as CoSM. And the stage is most certainly set for the official Gem & Jam Festival, happening in Tucson, Arizona from February 6-9

As the Official Gem and Jam Festival Gets Closer, the Pre Parties continue heating up across the West Coast. This coming Friday, Gem & Jam will be getting groovy with Vibesquad in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as Flagstaff, Arizona with Kaminanda, and Safi’s Lab. On Saturday. Pumpkin and Late Night Radio bring the funk to Austin for the official Texas PreParty. Last but definitely not least, don’t forget about the grand finale – the Gem & Jam Festival itself! Thrown in conjunction with Infinite Music, Euphonic Conceptions, New Earth MuZiQ and Challenger – the Gem and Jam Festival is reaching a historic 9th year and can’t wait to celebrate with you.

Set in conjunction with one of the world’s best gem shows, for three days and nights, the air of Tucson will be vibrant with Glitchy, Dubby, Wobbly and downright Trippy West Coast Bass and Jam Music sounds of renowned producers and astounding musicians like Random Rab, Desert Dwellers, Pumpkin, Late Night Radio, Emancipator Ensemble and Thriftworks. With hip-hop influenced acts like Ill-esha and Amp Live from Zion I, there’s a bit of something for everyone in your crew. While they’ve got your feet moving and your soul grooving, let your mind wander and eyes roam the grounds with astounding live art to match from the likes of Amanda Sage, Xavi, the Welch Brothers, Benedigital and of course – Alex
and Allyson Grey, founders of the fabled Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Come and witness the influence the cross section of artistic prowess and musical genius, as performance art of all shapes and sizes influences each other over the weekend. With a healthy dose of intelligent dance music and mindboggling artwork, the weekend will truly appeal to all of the senses, maybe even your 6th.

Our entire photo gallery can be found here on The DJ List.

For more details on the festival itself, read on after the event photos

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[Oh, Snap!] Slow Magic at The Roxy

September 14, 2014September 13, 2014Leave a comment

Last night, Danny and I headed out to the infamous WeHo establishment ‘The Roxy’ to capture the beautiful beats and live antics of Slow Magic. Even though he performed at this year’s Lightning in a Bottle – with so much going on musically, I simply didn’t find the time to catch him so thank goodness I finally could cash in on this one. I’ve only heard a few singles from him so I wasn’t sure what to expect – between the live looping, energetic drumming and electrified mask – I was hooked. My only qualm about The Roxy is the all age mentality – nothing wrong with it at all, but when you’re nearing your thirties the last thing you want to do is hang out with high school students on a Friday night. But hey, at least the music was rad.

[Doing it Right] Shpongle’s Museum of Consciousness Tour

March 13, 2014Leave a comment

Last night, Hollywood went Hollyweird as Avalon Nightclub opened their doors to Shpongle, Desert Dwellers and San Diego’s Vokab Kompany; all thanks to the Do Lab, one of my all time favorite production companies – not to mention, the brainiacs behind my favorite festival, Lightning in a Bottle! At a show like last night’s – costume’s aren’t just welcome, they’re encouraged – and beyond being part of the Hippie Olympics, last night was full of friendly faces, new and old, all getting down to the psytrance sounds. It was absolutely beautiful and I’m so glad I could share the night with my friends! For the ‘Museum of Consciousness’ tour, Shpongle had visual team at Zebbler Studios create their second version of the ‘Shpongletron’, an ever changing, 3D, 3 story, projection mapped stage that evolves and manifests itself through amazing colors, flashing lights, sound reactive elements and all around trippy imagery throughout the evening; overall, this is the third version , dubbed Shpongletron 3.0. Today, Shpongle is cruising up the California coast to San Francisco and Arcata, then the tour will be making stops in Portland and Seattle before venturing off into the Mid-West. If you have a hankering for a good time, great people and fantastic music – check this tour our, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

[Doing it Right] Armin Van Buuren’s Post-Grammy Award Show

January 27, 2014January 27, 2014Leave a comment

Being a California native, it takes me a little more than the average bear to get ‘starstruck‘; but, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Back when I was working in El Segundo for Internet Brands, I saw Gary Payton at the local dive bar and started shaking in my boots I was so excited! It’s not everyday that you’re standing in front of a childhood idol, and there I was – jaw to the floor in front of ‘The Glove’ and I couldn’t even muster enough syllables to form a coherent sentence. When I worked at Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles, I hugged and interviewed Christian Audigier of the infamous Ed Hardy clothing brand. Now, no – I don’t ‘love‘ his clothes, and you might have to pay me to wear about a third of what they produce – but absolutely nothing can compare to meeting an idol, fashion mogul and exceptional business brain. A year ago this weekend, I started writing for The DJ List’ – an internationally respected, EDM webzine, and the number of opportunities I’ve had that take my breath away are simply magnificent. What started as me wanting a ‘hand in the EDM cookie jar’ has catapulted to me with a foot in the door in the EDM world. I’ve had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with the best and brightest, and have amazing memories to show for it.

Last Spring, my boyfriend and I met Markus Schulz and covered the details of his Scream 2 Album and Bus Tour. Then, to throw a cherry on top of my musical ice cream sundae – this past December as a little belated birthday present from the world at large: I got to meet, touch and hug the #1 Trance DJ in the world, Armin van Buuren at an exclusive Press and Fan meet and greet opportunity at the House of Blues in Hollywood where he dished about his latest one man tour, Armin Only: Intense, as well as his first Grammy nomination for the smash single ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ featuring vocalist Trevor Guthrie. Fast forward to last week and I’m churning through my emails, trying to find a ray of sunlight in my bleak inbox – and stumbled across an email from his PR agent who I simply adore: Sound Nightclub was pairing up with Armin and Trevor to celebrate their Grammy nomination for ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ and they wanted me there. What?! This is one of the first, and only moments, that’s left me laughing historically, wondering who in the world I am and exactly how I’ve gotten so lucky? Granted, hard work and dedication have paid off – I’ve penned almost 60 articles for The DJ List, which isn’t anything to sneeze at – especially when you consider my full time job, and penchant for wild and crazy fun, and inherent need to basically do everything under the sun. I want it all, and somehow, I’ve managed to get it.

Last night, three of my favorite people in the world – my wonderful boyfriend, one of my best gals that I started Beatnet EDM with and my friend who pioneered the amazing EDM Event site ‘Music Alerts’ – strutted into one of the hottest, and newest Hollywood clubs for our first time to see the man, the myth, the Trance Legend – AVB! The venue was small enough that it’s an intimate setting, and the party was small enough that there was room to shake your groove thing and get down with your trance arms wherever you felt necessary. Most parties at Sound pack the place to the brim, but since this was Armin’s party – no real tickets were sold; the show was invite only and the crowd, as plastic as 80% of them looked, was having the time of their lives. Unfortunately, Armin didn’t take home the Grammy for ‘Best Dance Recording’ but the category was chalk full of amazing singles, and could’ve easily been anyone’s ball game. The rest of the category played out like this – This Is What It Feels Like was up against Clarity from Zedd and Foxes, Kaskade’s Atmosphere, Calvin Harris and Florence Welch for Sweet Nothings, and last but certainly not least, breakthrough smash ‘Need You (100%)’ by Duke Dumont, MNEK and A*M*E. At the end of the night, the award was much deservingly given to Zedd and Foxes – and I couldn’t be happier with the choice. As much as I was rooting for Armin, if I had to pick a single of his to be nominated – that would not have been it. In and Out Of Love, Fine Without You, Virual Friend – they each have an immense depth, heavy layers and ethereal vocals that build throughout the track and IMO, were much more deserving of a Grammy nod; but that was a different world back then. I’m more than interested how EDM effects other, more mainstream genres and infiltrates both Pop Music, and our Pop Culture; Dance Music has been on the rise over the last ten years, and I can’t wait to see how EDM pushes the musical boundaries next.