Happy Mother's Day, Southern California: Your mother is beyond amazing, a gem among gems, and she loves nothing more than to have a bit of fun during her big May holiday. Where to go? There's the aerial-cool "MOMentum Place" at Topanga Canyon's Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, a Mother's Day tradition. A Geranium Show & Sale at LA Arboretum will bloom all weekend, while a sloth-sweet brunch at the Wildlife Learning Center in Sylmar will summon the cuteness (reservations are a must). Head to Old Town Music Hall for an old-timey Mother's Day concert, hurrah. The roses at The Huntington are in peak form, and on May 11? There's a Breakfast with the Gibbons in Santa Clarita, awww.
Mother's Day Dining: Where to nosh around, restaurant-style, on May 12? Look for Mamamosa Cocktails on the Crustacean menu, in Beverly Hills, which will open for brunch (and dinner, as usual) for the holiday. The Front Yard in North Hollywood will get brunchy, as will The Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills, The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, The Raymond 1886 in Pasadena, and The Queen Mary in Long Beach. Good idea? Call ahead and reserve. Also? Oodles of restaurants have a special meal for Mom on May 12, so check your favorite. And if your mommy adores pizza pie? There are a couple of places in town making heart-shaped pizzas in honor of Mother's Day.
MaltinFest: If you're super-duper deep into movies, both of the ye olde variety and the hot-fresh works just being released tomorrow, then you know that a solid, knowledge-packed, personality-sweet film festival, in Hollywood, is about as primo as parties can get. That means you probably love TCM Film Fest in April, and you'll very likely dig this three-day celebration o' celluloid at The Egyptian Theatre. Indeed, movie master Leonard Maltin, Alice Maltin, and their daughter Jessie Maltin are all at the helm, which means you can expect major stars and directors to come Q&A from May 10-12. The screenings? Oh so good: Take a look now.
Cinespia opens: Watching a movie always means there's a light nearby, in the projector, which allows you to see the action on the screen. But what if there was another light, one that was overhead, and it hailed from the moon? And you basked in this glow, and starlight, too, while sitting in the historic Hollywood Forever cemetery, all while savoring an impressive line-up of top-notch flicks? That can happen, beginning on May 11, as this annual warm-weather series begins. Movie #1, "Beetlejuice," is sold out (no surprise there), but a number of notable works are just ahead. Ticket-up pronto.
Waterfront Cook-Off: We can't jump ahead in our own timelines, to the start of summer, but we can be aware when summertime finds its happy way to us. And summer, or at least that summer-style spirit, will cameo next to the Queen Mary on Saturday, May 11. That's the where/when of this major Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned celebration happens, but the hearty grillables aren't the only feature. There's chili to try, too, and games to play, and well-made brews, and live music, too. A general admission ticket gives you five tastes, but there's a VIP option, if that's more your jam. Hello, (sort of) summer.
