EDITORIAL ARCHIVE

Eat | Drink, Wine & Beer, Wine Country

Dinner with Winemaker Piergiorgio Castellani

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ORANGE COUNTY, CA – As I approach the Antonello Ristorante entrance, the warm, humid temperatures and blustering Santa Ana winds are painting beads of sweat across my face. My guest and photographer for the night is snapping photos—his striped tie fluttering in the breeze on a warm Southern California evening. It is both our first time dining here at Antonello Ristorante, a highly-acclaimed Italian restaurant and landmark of Orange County for the past three decades, boasting an authentic menu and impressive wine list that captures Old World sensibilities.

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Arts | Culture, Books, Interviews, Lifestyle

James & Arthur Waugh: ORION IN THE TRADEWINDS

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Arthur Waugh is a poet and documentarian whose works were found in literary journals in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. He is also my father. On May 18th 1988, on the cusp of having his first book of poetry published, this book, Orion in the Tradewinds, he suffered two massive cerebral hemorrhages leaving him with extensive brain damage, short term memory loss, terrible aphasia, and an inability to do the thing he loved most — write poetry.

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Culture, Events, Los Angeles, Music | Theatre, Theatre

1st Annual One Starry Night

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PASADENA, CA – There are events that happen in life that you never forget: Your first crush, your first concert, your first victory – and if you’re lucky, you get to add meeting a few childhood inspirations to that list. Last night, invited to attend Pasadena Playhouse’s 1st Annual One Starry Night Benefit Concert, I not only experienced one of the most incredible benefit events to date, I met inspirations that are among the reasons I create – and – the reason most of us still believe in a little magic.

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Featured, Newsworthy

The Female Face of Poverty

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FROM THE EDITOR: I came across this article on LinkedIn written by Maria Shriver and felt it was something this Magazine had to share. It is no longer just a silly thought. Stress of economic hardship is genuinely weighing heavily on women in this country. With staggering rates of single mom’s out there, making ends meet in an unforgiving and unwilling job market is staggering. Now pair that with the cost of living in states like California or New York and what you have is catastrophic amounts of copious stress and burdensome anxiety. This article is not only frightening in its truth but essential to read. Thank you to journalist Maria Shriver for having the know-how and willingness to tell so many of our stories …

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Culture, Fashion, Fashion | Health

Fashion Report TRANSFORM

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LOS ANGELES, CA – Fashion is a statement. It tells your story, your mood, your influences. Fashion should be something that enhances your personality – just one more modality to express yourself. That said, this week, the 1st Fashion Report of the year, we are going to mix it up. Fashion is more than just the #fabrics and #accessories you drape your flesh with. Fashion is #hair, and as every girl knows, fashion is also #makeup. Pulling all four together can do unspeakable things in making you feel transformed.

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Eat | Drink, Recipes

Holiday Recipe No. 3 by Christopher Hill

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Christopher Hill is known for creating easy-to-make incredibly tasty, impress-any-girl kind of meals. So this year, I asked him to throw his hat into the ring and offer readers some more holiday recipes. For those haven’t noticed, all of the #Recipes we’ve posted this season are totally non-traditional. First, Recipe No. 1 by Chef Jason Hook was a gourmet take on sweet potatoes that looks and tastes like art. Second, Recipe No. 2 by Ally’s Kitchen Alice D’Antoni Phillips offering us a scrumptious course taking the concept of bluchetta to an all new high. And now, well, Recipe No. 3 is ALL about Southern Comfort and rich flavors.

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Art, Arts | Culture, Interviews, Los Angeles

Melanie Newcombe

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2013 has been one of the most creative years I’ve ever encountered and it seems fitting to close off the year by telling you the story of a truly gifted sculptor. Melanie Newcombe. The very essence of art is its ability to move you. The details, the unspoken emotion, the movement, the material tend to all be secondary. Until you come upon Melanie’s work. Made of cold, seemingly emotionally vacant materials of aluminum and metal, you are warmed by the very sight of her sculptures and find, that without pause, you are becoming entangled in the swell of feelings it provokes.

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ATOD Radio, Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, Events, Hotel, Lifestyle, Los Angeles, Special Event, Travelogue

My Fare Story + Eat Your Words No. 5

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Being in this unspoiled landscape taught me so much about food and culture. This was the first time I understood what fresh fish meant as the local tribe speared it daily and to our pleasure, it was prepared for us. I tasted REAL molé … not chalky or grainy but rich and exciting and spicy and it nestled itself in my mouth in a way that lingered like good sex. I tasted wines and rums and tequilas and libations I had never had.

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Culture, Exclusive, From the Editor

Supporting Journalists in the Field: RISC

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I am re-posting this Year-in-Review by a respected colleague, journalist, Award Winning Author, and Academy Winning Documentary Filmmaker, Sebastian Junger. I am doing so because as a journalist, the support available is limited in terms of those who risk their lives to be on the front lines in order to deliver a story to the masses. I want to take a moment to thank Sebastian for doing an interview in the Magazine earlier this year AND for spending an entire hour with me on my Radio Show. RISC is not only essential to the field of journalism but it’s purpose is infinite.

– Dawn Garcia, Editor-in-Chief

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Eat | Drink, San Diego

Herringbone by Brian Malarkey

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The moment you pull in to the parking lot, raw ornate panels of wood adorn the entry, a branched fish hangs happily to the left of the main door and a patio with ease and warmth lines the sidewalk. As you enter inside, to your right are two Moroccan style chairs designed in bright colors directly across from the tiled fireplace emitting just the right amount of heat. With glass orbs listlessly leaning to light the way, a subtle and secret disco ball looms above it all. Soon you find your legs walking through the restaurant, the wooden floors cushioning your steps, your eyes bewildered and overcome with a tranquility that doesn’t in any way obstruct the anticipation of a hearty prospect of fare.

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Culture, Los Angeles, Music

Pacific Symphony Orchestra

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A rousing performance from start to finish, the 35th Anniversary of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra segues into the pre-holiday season with an eclecticism of pieces as profoundly intuitive as they are performed. Led by Music Director Carl St. Clair, the players outdo themselves once more as they partake in transformative renditions of, first, the overture to the folktale odyssey, Russlan and Ludmilla, then finishing the evening off with Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. However, it’s a fact (well, depending on who you ask) that if you really want to hit the proverbial nail on the head when it comes to classicist grandstanding, you need look no further than the beloved—and oft-referenced—Tchaikovsky poesy, Piano Concerto no. 1, performed tonight by the gracefully fierce guest artist, Joyce Yang. In a production as equally “altogether everywhere” as its conductor, the only truth more fully realized is that tonight will surely be unforgettable.

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Eat | Drink, Los Angeles, Southern CA, Southern CA

The Playground DTSA

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I noticed a small touch: a glass of Szigeti Sparkling Gruner Veltliner was waiting at my place setting. Opening a dinner with a nice glass of bubbles does wonders to not only clean the palate, but it allows one to relax before the Amuse Bouche, our first course. We were presented with an extremely interesting, but amazing, choice for the Amuse Bouche: a green chile Mexican chocolate milk with a crispy tortilla lavash topped with age cheddar cheese foam. The warm chocolate milk with a slight hint of acidity perked the taste buds, while the quesadilla soothed them, as if foreshadowing the flavors to come; at the same time, telling the taste buds, “Relax. There is plenty more where that came from.”

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Arts | Culture, Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, Los Angeles

Aladdin and His Winter Wish

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Enter into a second year of the beautiful world of pantomime theatre created by Lythgoe Family Productions at the Pasadena Playhouse and what you’ll find is a happiness you need to warm you this time of year. The experience begins with an interactive Wonderland in the courtyard, a game of “knock down a lantern”, a trip to see Santa, and a room filled with activities from making your own crown to fighting with magical swords. It is a fun escape from the every day and with two kiddos with me for tonight’s performance, I was able to experience it their way.

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Arts | Culture, Culture, Interviews, Photography

Photographer Tim Brown

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We are not alone. Nor are we absent of space and time, emotion or truth.

We are infinitely surrounded by beauty and warmth in spite of shadows cast or the thick fog of doubt creeping into wrangle us down to the ground. We are on an adventure. The kind where our inner fearless child shakes off worry and places our feet on the bottom of a cart, seemingly idle and we see the greatest ride of our lives. Our feet rest on the bar underneath, our hands grip the cold bar above, one leg pushes off and without hesitaiton, we feel the air brushing past our cheeks, the brisk whisper of freedom liberating our very soul, and we feel, as if a magical pull has grasped into our cheeks, we feel each corner of our mouth curling upward until, without pause, our entire being is smiling.

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