Deborah S.
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Deborah S.
After a decade working at New York City-based magazines and newspapers, Deborah Schoeneman moved to L.A. last year to break into Hollywood writing. More...
L.A.
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Feats Completed
Yoga Retreats
Ojai Yoga Retreat
Sara Ivanhoe, rockstar teacher of YogaWorks in Santa Monica, is leading an autumn harvest celebration/yoga retreat Oct 22-25 in Ojai, a gorgeous mountain town near Santa Barbara. Ivanhoe leads a very challenging, sweaty class with a devoted following. (She's the instructor for the “Yoga for Dummies” series, the “Crunch Yoga” series, and she knocked off a beginngers yoga DVD for Russell Simmons Yoga Live series. AND she's been a regular on VH1’s “Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab." Get the picture? A-List L.A. guru!) SO, the retreats features four days and three nights of yoga, meditation, pranayama and kirtan at the Ojai Eco–Sanctuary, which happens to be listed on the national register of historic places. It's furnished with antiques, has spectacular views of the mountains, hiking, a swimming pool and jacuzzi, and an organic winery. (Hard to actually pin down on the Internets, but we're thinking it might be this place.) Travis Eliot will provide live music and chanting for the weekend. Sounds expensive, right? Actually not THAT bad. If you stay in a yurt, and get their by car (two hours from L.A.), the weekend will only set you back $610.
Random Retail Alert
Oxumwear Going Out Of Business Sale
Oxumwear, lululemon clone and another brand of yoga clothes sold in studios, boutiques and gyms (mainly on the West Coast), is going out of business. If you're in L.A., stock up on the last of the line this weekend at a big sale on Oct 9 and 10, from 9am-5pm at 6322 Tompkins Way in Culver City, 90232.
L.A. Report
Yogapalooza Every Day in the Park
Ok, fine, so you Manhattanites have your free Bryant Park Yoga and occasional Crunch yogapalooza. In L.A., we have free outdoor yoga classes every day, three times a day, in Runyon Canyon.
L.A. Report
Gay Denny's
Give it up for Hollywood! I'm live blogging from Hugo's Restaurant, informally known among Hollywood insiders as "Gay Denny's," because it's like a diner for discerning, body-conscious customers. (They have two locations: West Hollwood and Studio City.) The menu offers green salads and kelp noodles for the skinny set, and blueberry pancakes and cheeseburgers for the self indulgers. Portions are huge and affordable, and they have pretty much every kind of tea and juice you could want, and in combinations you didn't know you needed: Green tea lemonade! (Free refills!) They serve breakfast until 4PM daily, and allow any and all substitutions. My standby: A green frittata made with egg whites, chard, beet greens, kale, spinach puree, broccolini, zucchini, asparagus, quinoa, garlic and extra virgin olive oil, and topped with alfalfa sprouts and an apple-mango-mint sauce. Just $11.50! Take that Denny's Lumberjack Slam! Better yet, they let you and your laptop hang out for as long as you like. Great for star sightings. I just watched Rosanna Arquette wish Gabriel Byrne good luck for the Emmy Awards this weekend....
Hollywood Trends
Hollywood Gets High
The flying trapeze craze that hit New York hard in the wake of Carrie Bradshaw's lesson has taken off in Los Angeles. Hollywood Aerial Arts has a massive space near LAX.
L.A. Report
Malibu Triathlon: Better Stargazing than Chateau Marmont
Over the weekend, the stars came out to compete in the Malibu triathlon (the West Coast's answer to the NYC marathon). It raised more than $1 million for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. The Bachelor host Chris Harrison beat Mario Lopez, coming in at 1:59:14. While J.Lo was a no show this year, Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher did the whole thing, finishing in 2:06:50. Other celebs did individual legs in relay teams of three — like William H. Macy and wife, and Felicity Huffman and Jeremy Piven, who seems to have recovered from his tuna sashimi overdose.
L.A. Detox
Hollywood's Favorite Lemonade
Move over Master Cleanse—there's a new lemonade in town. For the past few months, I've been fixated by a sign for Fat Burning Lemonade in the window of Real Raw Live, a new juice bar in my neighborhood. Over the weekend, I finally investigated. For $5.50 I got the store's bestselling beverage. It tasted okay—like lemons and water— but the twist is that it includes a powder that allegedly makes you skinny because of the carnitine which "promotes energy production by enhancing fat oxidation in the cell mitochondria." (You're supposed to drink it before exercising to achieve peak workouts). Watch as the store's owner, Gregory Joujon-Roche, who happens to train Gwen Stefani, Demi Moore and Brad Pitt, extolls its virtues on YouTube.(He offers a 3-day cleanse for $199). If you don't live in L.A., or if you're just relatively sensible when it comes to crazy potions, for $49.99 you can buy the powder online
What's It All About?
Viral Web Hit 10Q Asks New York to Take Stock
Heads up: Beginning on September 18, anyone who looks up at the marquees and flashing lights of Times Square will be faced with life's big questions. 10Q, until now a popular-but-mostly-underground web service, will display a question a day for ten days on PR Newswire's giant electronic billboard. Things like: "Is there something you wish you had done differently this past year?" or "What global event most affected you last year, and why?" The questions are timed to coincide with the upcoming Jewish High Holy Days, traditionally a time of introspection and reflection. (Though intended for everyone, 10Q is the brainchild of a group of young Jewish writers and creative types.) Viewers are invited to ponder the questions and submit their answers on the 10Q web site. At the end of the ten days, the answers are sent to a secure digital "vault" for safekeeping. One year later, the vault will open, and each participant will receive their answers in their email inbox. Then the process begins anew. Healthy mind, healthy body....
Review
Summer's Over, But Yoga Lives On In Sag Harbor
September is the new August, and here's a hot tip for East End yogis: Tapovana, beloved Sag Harbor yoga studio, has moved to a new location behind the American Hotel, and is celebrating the change of address this Friday evening with a "pooja" (blessing ceremony), followed by "prasad" (ceremonial food), and a live performance of classical Indian music by Dee Harris.
In case you're out of the loop, Tapovana is a far more zen spot than Sag Harbor's extremely popular studio, Yoga Shanti, which is owned by yogalebrities Colleen Saidman and Rodney Yee. (He's Donna Karan's private teacher; their wedding was featured in the New York Times). Unlike Yoga Shanti, at which one can encounter Manhattan-style mat rage, Tapovana is serene and rarely crowded. It has the most traditional Indian vibe of any yoga studio in the Hamptons, and they have a great early morning Mysore ashtanga class taught by owner Corey De Rosa and Stacey Platt, both of whom are very nice and offer a ton of personal attention. Don't give up on summer just yet....
L.A. Report
Decade Old Weekly Dance Jam Still Going Strong in L.A.
I've got a friend here in L.A. who is super into his dance class, Spiritweaves. He's been going twice a week for a over a decade, and all our mutual friends are really curious about what happens there. His other hobbies are very mainstream: Baseball and golfing. I decided to check it out. It's a mix of Burning Man dance party, yoga class, and contact improv. (On the site, they describe themselves as the "spirtchild of 5 Rhythmns® and Soul Motion™." Close readers may recall that 5 Rhythmns is the weekly "ecstatic dance" class that Donna Karan hosts at her Urban Zen Center in the West Village in New York.) A group of about 30 gathers in a room for about two hours and just dances like crazy to trippy electronic music. Some people clearly have dance training, others do not. The classes, which cost just $15, have become a real community of people who may not know each other's names, but know each other's bodies. There's very little structure or instruction, with no clear start time. At the end, the teachers — Michael and Anneli Molon-Skelton — get everyone to hold hands and introduce themselves and that's pretty much the extent of the direct communication. It's definitely a great workout, particularly for people who shun conventional means of exercise, like gyms. Interested? Check out their retreat Oct. 4-9 at Esalen, our favorite hot springs heaven in Big Sur, California.
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Indian Summer
Summer's Over, But Yoga Lives On In Sag Harbor
September is the new August, and here's a hot tip for East End yogis: Tapovana, beloved Sag Harbor yoga studio, has moved to a new location behind the American Hotel, and is celebrating the change of address this Friday evening with a "pooja" (blessing ceremony), followed by "prasad" (ceremonial food), and a live performance of classical Indian music by Dee Harris.
In case you're out of the loop, Tapovana is a far more zen spot than Sag Harbor's extremely popular studio, Yoga Shanti, which is owned by yogalebrities Colleen Saidman and Rodney Yee. (He's Donna Karan's private teacher; their wedding was featured in the New York Times). Unlike Yoga Shanti, at which one can encounter Manhattan-style mat rage, Tapovana is serene and rarely crowded. It has the most traditional Indian vibe of any yoga studio in the Hamptons, and they have a great early morning Mysore ashtanga class taught by owner Corey De Rosa and Stacey Platt, both of whom are very nice and offer a ton of personal attention. Don't give up on summer just yet....
The Good Life
East Coast Girls are Hip...
It's good to be a surfing prince. Last summer, Alex von Furstenberg took over the Clout boarding brand, and overhauled its store in Malibu, where he happens to live. An avid surfer, von Furstenberg moved from New York to L.A. a few years ago, after divorcing his wife, Alexandra, who works for his mother, fashion mogul Diane von Furstenberg. (Recall that mom, inventor of the wrap dress, is "married" to media mogul Barry Diller.) Alex's late father was a prince and the grandson of Giovanni Agnelli, the founder of Fiat. Expect to see his celebrity pals hanging around the store, buying surf stuff sans recession guilt.
Los Angeles
Place Review
The Monks are Taking Reservations
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) is a Buddhist monastery located in the Ventana Wilderness, just inland from the Central Coast of California. Every fall and winter, Tassajara shuts down to the public so the monks can study the Soto Zen tradition. In April, however, it re-opens, and the monks serve guests through October, raising money for the rest of the year. It's the perfect retreat: There is no Internet connectivity, or cell reception, or electricity. To light the center at night, the monks use kerosene lamps. The room design is Japanese Zen—some have only tatami mats to sleep on. There's a gorgeous Zendo for meditation, to which the monks are called several times a day by a ringing bell. The meals are vegetarian, and served family style, with food grown on the grounds. There are also "traditional" hot springs, which means men and women are separate until 8PM.
Other Places
Place Review
Chic-uinox...
...that's what some people like to call Equinox, in general, but the name particularly fits the club's West Hollywood branch, where hordes of body-obsessed A-list celebs work out daily. That they do is proof, among other things, that we all like to get out of the house. Clearly Jodie Foster can afford in-home pilates lessons, but she chooses to sweat with la raza. Human contact is important. Anyway, please forgive us if we go all Us Weekly for a moment, but among those our spies report seeing at the Chic-uinox are Dave Navarro, Chris Noth, J.C. Chasez, Bradley Cooper, Amanda Peet, Ryan Gosling, Drew Barrymore, Rashida Jones, Amanda Bynes, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Will Arnett. Note to our beautiful sponsor: Must poach that West Hollywood sales rep!
Los Angeles
Tease
If I Strip for You...
"S Factor came to life after I discovered my sensual power and a fit body while researching and preparing for a role in the film Dancing at the Blue Iguana," says Sheila Kelley. Listen, it worked. The woman is always on Oprah, and she has testimonials from Linsday Lohan and Kate Hudson on her site.
Los Angeles
FIterati
Tennis, Everyone?
The L.A. Tennis Club is a beautiful old club in the heart of Hancock Park. It features restaurant, bar, pool, and tons of tennis courts with associated fantastic tennis pros. Also, lot's of kid-friendly activities if you're into that. Yes, it costs a small fortune to join (inititation fee of $20,000!) plus you have to be recommended by two members. BUT, anyone can take a private lesson there for $75. You have to get a little lucky on scheduling the pros, but it's a great thing to do on a weekend, particularly if you want to hang out with friends who are members, but don't want to join any club that may or may not have you.
Los Angeles
FIterati
Ashtanga Yoga Los Angeles
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the guru of Ashtanga Yoga, trains students and oversees a network of studios around the world from his HQ in Mysore, India. Jois' man in L.A. is James Butkevich, whose Ashtanga Yoga Los Angeles is in a dumpy mini-mall in Silver Lake. The mall is dumpy, but Butkevich is good, and has attracted a serious and loyal following. He usually spends the winter months in Mysore, but is back now. There's also a medicinal marijuana place in the same mall, and, across the street, a fantastic Cuban breakfast place, Cafe Tropical, which is reason enough to wake up early and practice.
Los Angeles
How to Lose Weight and Alienate Friends
Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Courtney Love have all done it. Lots of celebs do it before awards show to lose a critical five pounds or so in one weekend, or they go for longer to lose much more. It's one part chic and one part embarrassing: We Care, a colonic spa in the desert near L.A.
Los Angeles
Place Review
Kinder, Gentler Hollywood....
If you like your yoga environment to be warm and friendly like Romper Room, try Yummy Yoga. There's lot's of chatting, and music, and people seem very devoted to the place. FYI: Ducky Punch is a popular and challenging teacher.
Los Angeles
Place Review
Eat Drink Man Woman
Health food stores can be weird, dark, over-priced places where you ended up buying strange things with carob. Not so Erewhon. A beacon on Beverly, near the Grove, Erewhon has everything a health conscious person could want. There are ready-made salads and low carb sushi, a big salad bar, fresh soups, a juice bar, a Chinese herbal tonics bar, an extensive produce section, all known vitamins, organic candles, beauty products, and...free parking! You get the idea. It's like a Whole Foods for the radical yoga set. The store sponsors lectures and events for its customers, and seems to be staffed mostly by very attractive actresses. We're just saying.
Los Angeles
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I haven't tried Organic Ave yet, but I hear it's great.
Posted in response to: The Juicing Diaries: Final Report
on 15 years 23 weeks ago by Deborah S.