Here are three sites/tools to help you sleep cheaper in 2018. One tool unearths better hotel rates. The second lassos vacation rentals, and the third helps animal lovers stay for free. Gopher Gopher is a downloadable “button” for Chrome browsers; Firefox, Safari and Opera are said to be coming...
Santa Anita Park in Arcadia will kick off its winter thoroughbred horse racing meet Tuesday in a tradition that has lasted more than eight decades. Boxing Day marks the beginning of 60 horse-racing days that run through April 8. The Malibu and La Brea stakes will be run Tuesday too. To celebrate...
Regarding “Secret Information Trove?,” On the Spot, by Catharine Hamm, Dec. 17: I keep my paper boarding passes for about 18 months. Here’s why: If I want the actual ticket number, the boarding pass has it at the bottom. I keep an electronic record in a file for each trip that includes the boarding...
Go back in time, travel the world, hit the beach and hang out with critters; it’s the weekend for celebrations and, alas, for resolutions. San Diego Travel the world at the Global Winter Wonderland with multicultural holiday festivities. Illuminated lanterns up to 20 feet tall are shaped like gigantic...
I was killing time at LAX and wandered into the Qantas first-class lounge. A waiter appeared offering Champagne. To my right was a posh bar where a mixologist was creating drinks. At the rear of the 15,065-square-foot room was an open kitchen where the staff was whipping up fine-dining entrees....
The first time I skied Aspen was in 1974, when I was a junior at the University of Colorado. On that trip I slept in a sleeping bag at a friend’s rental house and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch on the slopes. The cost for a weekend of great skiing cost less than $70, including...
Winter is no time to get complacent about sun protection, especially in Southern California. You accumulate more sun exposure than you think over the decades of driving or going to lunch at high noon, when the sun is strongest. That’s why dermatologists encourage daily use of broad-spectrum sunscreen...
At this time of year, drinking right may be more important than eating right. In a bid to quell that nasty hangover, consumers are seeking cleaner, lighter alcoholic beverages. And for designated drivers, teetotalers and anyone else choosing to refrain from liquor this holiday season, there are...
The market for pedal-assist electric bicycles is red hot, with well-known bike, car and component name brands like Specialized, Raleigh, BMW, Yamaha, Bosch and Shimano getting in on the action. It’s no surprise why: E-bike riders are dazzled by the fun of pedaling on the flats for fitness while...
Happy Saturday and happy holidays. Hanukkah may be over, but you still have a little (very little) time before Christmas morning. In which case you may be doing what I’m doing — heading to my local farmers market to shop for both gifts and menus, ideally at the same time. (Does it help to have...
When it comes to Christmas, there’s Sylvia Nash — and then there’s the rest of us. The Chino Hills businesswoman goes all out — like, all out — and her 65 Christmas trees are just the start. Nash, 72, begins readying her two-story, five-bedroom house in mid-September. For Nash, it just wouldn’t...
I know there are some people done with their holiday shopping; I am not one of them. If you, like me, still have some gifts to get, this newsletter may be able to help you. (Your friends and family like books, right?) I’m L.A. Times books editor Carolyn Kellogg with this week’s newsletter. YOUR...
We all have unique ways of celebrating this time of year with family and friends. We’re asking readers to email us at Home@latimes.com and complete the following sentence: “It just wouldn’t be the holidays without…” and include photos. And now we’re asking you, too, to do the same, and maybe we’ll...
As if you need an excuse, there’s no better time to be indulgent in your wine selections than the holidays. So splurge. When I say splurge I’m referring not to price, at least not completely — although you’re still liable to shell out a few bucks. And you could spring for a trophy here and a unicorn...
There is a magnetic pull to the holiday table, as if the wooden slats or available metal are somehow charged for the season with memory and expectation, with love and hunger. In many households, this pull comes first to the kitchen. This isn’t only because the engines of the meal are there but...
The question of the hour: Where is Santa now, and when will he be showing up on my rooftop? Here’s how you can track it all thanks to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which keeps a careful eye on the skies above North America. Beginning at 2:01 a.m. EST on Dec. 24, website visitors...
Longtime Céline designer Phoebe Philo is leaving the house after 10 years, WWD has learned. According to a source with knowledge of the matter, Philo will not work for another label in the near future and her successor to the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned house will be named in the coming...
One of the best things I’ve ever eaten was a pressed squab that was part of the Hunt menu at Chicago’s restaurant Next, a bloody, barely roasted bird whose breasts and legs were ceremoniously carved off by a chef at a tableside cart, and its carcass was put into a huge, hand-cranked press to be...
What’s in season: Is the kale trend ever going to end? While this popular member of the cabbage family can be found year-round, kale actually prefers colder weather and is generally in season through the winter months. It’s known for its ruffled leaves on long, thick stalks, with colors that include...
The difficulty of reckoning with Sam Shepard’s artistic legacy is primarily a problem of cartography. Indeed, negotiating the terrain of such an uncommonly broad, richly contoured oeuvre is no easy feat for the would-be elegist. Perhaps best known as a playwright (he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979...
Most airline passengers (with the possible exception of small children) complain that coach, or main cabin, airline seats are cramped and uncomfortable. As a flight attendant and frequent passenger, I agree. In the never-ending quest to jam more and more passengers onto airplanes — thus increasing...
In the last six months, three of my worst fears had come to pass. My dad had died suddenly and unexpectedly, my alcoholic ex had pulled the plug on our relationship, and now I was standing on the southbound side of the 5 Freeway in Anaheim waiting for AAA to rescue me and my VW station wagon filled...
Delta is offering a $117 round-trip fare, including all taxes and fees, from LAX to Salt Lake City, just about 45 minutes from Park City, home to numerous resorts. The fare, subject to availability, lasts well beyond the ski season: It’s good for travel through November. You must buy your ticket...
What makes an outstanding book cover? The Book Jacket Designers Guild of the 1940s and ’50s defined the art as the “successful integration of concept with graphic means … and expression of the spirit of the book.” In other words, a great book cover translates its contents into an entirely different,...
The 300-pound beagle is in the yard as we speak, howling at the universe. At 14, he has doggy dementia and thinks he is a rooster. The beagle quivers when he yodels, the bark traveling from his triple chins to his ugly spud tail. I sense that it is the arrival of Christmas he is announcing, as...
Explore one of the last unspoiled coastlines of Europe on a 10-night walking tour that features sandy beaches, lonely capes and soaring cliffs on the Costa da Morte in northwest Spain. On Foot Holidays, based in England, will begin offering the route in April. The journey spans 124 miles along...
Looking for homemade holiday gift ideas? We've compiled 25 great recipes, including quick and simple gifts (perfect if you're working with kids) and more intricate projects that call for a little extra time and patience. Some gifts will last for weeks, perhaps more. Others are best eaten within...
A matriarch overthrown in what seems fairly described as a “putsch,” marauding gangs running attacks into neighboring territory, an hours-long standoff with a grizzly, a discarded water bottle — a rarity in the wilderness of a national park — tossed around and protected like a prized new toy. The...
Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and activist who in 2011 revealed that he unknowingly entered the U.S. with false documents as a child, will publish his debut memoir with HarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books. Vargas' book will be titled “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented...
With flames illuminating a darkened showroom and a helicopter appearing out of nowhere, it’s clear that magic is as popular as ever with Las Vegas visitors. Three new shows recently opened and a fourth is set to launch in late January. 1. ‘Masters of Illusion’ The most recent addition, “Masters...
Downtown is vibrant with retail, entertainment and drinking establishments. Just beyond, vines stretch in all directions. The vignerons here did much to put California on the wine map, with roots going deep, figuratively and literally. You were thinking Sonoma? No. For decades Lodi provided grapes...
Mark Twain was ahead of his time — so much so that 140 years ago, he had a man cave. On the third floor of the house where he lived when he wrote “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” Twain drank, smoked and played billiards with his friends. These days, smoking is...
Step into the land of the pharaohs and explore the wonders of Egypt on a five-day Nile cruise combined with a six-day land tour. The Scenic cruise departs Cairo and sails past villages and temples on the way to Luxor and Aswan. Excursions include visits to the open-air temple complex of Karnak,...
If you can’t remember the last time shopping for a toilet felt luxurious, head on over to the brand new, 10,000-square-foot retail space that is the Kohler Experience Center in West Hollywood, and let the pampering begin. In this store, you can schedule a free, one-hour reservation for the Experience...
Lady Gaga is going all in on Las Vegas next year. The six-time Grammy winner Tuesday signed a two-year engagement at the city’s new Park MGM resort. Shows are scheduled to begin a year from now. The singer said she was following in the footsteps of entertainers such as Elvis, onetime touring partner...
Apparently the Black Mamba’s shoes move just as fast he does, even when he’s not wearing them. A special-edition Air Force 1 iD shoe, created to commemorate the retiring of Kobe Bryant’s Lakers jerseys, dropped at Nike.com Monday evening — around the time the Lakers hit the hardwood for their game...
Author Matthew Salesses' wife, Cathreen, was diagnosed with cancer in March, not long after the birth of their second child. Now, friends and colleagues in the Asian American writing community are offering literary rewards in a GoFundMe campaign to support the family. Author Margaret Rhee organized...
Owning a piece of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s estate will be simple, darling. When the Hungarian-born actress and socialite died last year at age 99, she left behind a sprawling home filled with mementos of her glamorous life, many of which will be presented by Heritage Auctions on April 14 in Los Angeles....
Each of the traditional brewing cultures around the globe — Germany, Britain, Belgium, and now America — has a different specialty beer style made for the holidays. You can take a trip through a world’s worth of holiday brews with just one trip to the local bottle shop. Sugar and spice from Belgium...
“I must admit, I didn’t get much shut-eye last night,” confessed Sarah Andelman, who was on duty first thing Wednesday, helping prepare for Colette‘s final day. Her uniform: an Au Revoir Colette hooded sweatshirt, Noir Kei Ninomiya skirt and printed Moncler puffer jacket. A gaggle of young hipsters...
Bûche de Noël, chiffon cake, pomegranate-glazed orange cheesecake and more: We've put together 9 great dessert recipes to wow your guests at your holiday dinner. noelle.carter@latimes.com @noellecarter
Delta Air Lines’ farewell tour of its 747 airplane, known as queen of the skies for its wide-body size and comfort, will make a stop at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) this week. The 747 is expected to land before 10 a.m. Wednesday, when Delta employees, members of the media and invited...
A storm system brought precious pre-holiday snow to Mammoth and Lake Tahoe Wednesday, as California resorts prepped for the busy weeks to follow Christmas. By 11 a.m., 2 inches of snow had fallen on the village in Mammoth Lakes, with the storm expected to last through the day. Only about an inch...
Experience Joshua Tree and Palm Springs on a new midwinter bike excursion offered by Trek Travel. Highlights include visiting a river in the desert at the Whitewater Preserve, a hike on part of the Pacific Crest Trail, two full days of cycling and hiking in Joshua Tree National Park and a private...