LA Cookie Con & Sweets Show: The question of whether to dunk or not to dunk isn't really high on the list of most cookie fans, but the question of how long to keep dunking for is, because you don't want to have any part of your cookie break off in the milk (unless that's your thing). Consider yourself obsessed with all matters of cookiedom, pastries, and sweet noshables? Learn from the pros, and take in a whole slew of snickerdoodle'd, chocolate-chip'd tastings at the Anaheim Convention Center on Saturday, Feb. 10 and Sunday, Feb. 11.
Mardi Gras at the Original Farmers Market: If you think that New Orleans packed up, caught a jet plane, and set up celebratory shop at the landmark located at Third & Fairfax, well, we understand. For this free party, which'll bead it up on Saturday, Feb. 10, Sunday, Feb. 11, and Tuesday, Feb. 13 does have a lot of NOLA-style spirit. Zydeco music, a Mutti Gras parade (full of dressy dogs), and decorations, too, give the Bourbon Street-fun doings a lot of oomphy. And The Gumbo Pot is right there, in case you need your beignets (probably, we'll just assume).
Bulldog Beauty Contest: It's the snarfliest, most coo-inducing, roly-poly-iest scene around, a love-in of cuddly proportions that returns to Marine Stadium in Long Beach each year right around Valentine's Day. Huggable bulldogs, yes, will be out in bow ties, hats, ribbons, and other costume-y details, but there are other competitions and events open to plethora of breeds and muttly pumpkins. If you love the Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade, this is from the same organizer, woof. It's all barking on Sunday, Feb. 11.
Broken Hearts Circus: Valentine's Day is nearly here, as the greeting cards and boxes of chocolates and teddy bears down at your local store will attest. But what if you're looking for a different approach to the super-sweet holiday, one that involves craft brews, a magician, and other delights that are fashioned to cater to "the broken-hearted"? Angel City Brewery is here for you, and shall be throughout the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 11. Stilt-walkers, live entertainment, and other not-so-Valentine's-y stuff'll be afoot at the Arts District brewhouse. Best be 21, or over, to enter this circus.
Californian International Antiquarian Book Fair: It's the 51st annual convention, which is just about a fourth as long as what this particular book fair is spotlighting in 2018: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." The iconic tome is marking its 200th anniversary, and the gathering will pay homage to it, as well as numerous other authors and works. Feeling the lit love, the history, the horror, the romance, the drama, the fun of reading and collecting and meeting other book buffs? Turn the page at the Pasadena Convention Center from Feb. 9 through 11.
