grand central market

i'm ashamed it took almost four years for me to visit los angeles' grand central market.  if ever there was a place calling my name, it would have to be something like this.  fast food and produce from a variety of cultural backgrounds, all at affordable prices in one convenient location. 

familiar faces

a familiar face on this blog is the face of the clock on the st. andrews tower.  this pasadena landmark has been featured dozens of times through the past few years.  you can see them all, right here.

ten ten, ten, ten, ten.

10 o'clock and 10 minutes.

october 10th, 2010.

enjoy.

americana at brand

last week we ventured down the 134 freeway to check out the extravagant mall in neighboring glendale.  americana at brand is an open air shopping center that has high end shops and lavish accents like a crystal chandelier (see below).  it isn't quite our style, but was fun to visit.


by the way - i'm trying out some new formatting for my blog's style and presentation.  if you normally read this with an rss feed, facebook, or through google reader, go to the actual blog today and give me your thoughts on the new look.  thanks!

clock tower at st. andrews

as with every friday, hundreds of other photobloggers are photographing their local sky.  check them out right here.

the clock at city hall

another image from our lovely city hall tour. there is so much going on here - the original clock, the beautiful arched ceiling, the stonework, the columns... so much to look at.

for the most part, our beloved public information officer kept us totally enthralled - a difficult thing to do with 20+ free-spirited bloggers. a sampling of which appear below...

pasadena's newest theater

the mosaic park sign series is in the rear-view mirror. are you still following the sky is big in pasadena?? thanks for sticking with me!

arclight cinemas recently transformed the theater complex at paseo colorado into one of their marquee upscale theater-going experiences. thanks to a heads up over at hometown pasadena, i was able to snag a media pass to check out what they had done with the place.


yes, the movie was free, and yes they did butter us up with plenty of free hors d'oeuvres and popcorn, but never-the-less, we had a great time. the theater now offers plenty of legroom and wider armrests (something a big guy like me appreciates), and the picture quality was excellent. seating is reserved - you select the seat you want when you buy your ticket - and the theater is staffed with ushers to make sure that no one is talking on their cell phone or disturbing the other movie-goers.

the full bar was not yet up and running, but we were able to try a beverage from their excellent coffee bar.


even the pricing is not as outlandish as i was expecting (approx. $11-$15, depending on when you go and whether you qualify for a child or senior discount). certainly this isn't like going to the $3 theater down the street, but for the extra money you do get a wonderful movie-going experience. the re-decorating is really very tasteful and the atmosphere is certainly more on the date night side of things rather than the teenage hang-out, at least compared to the former tenant.

lake avenue metro stop

an off-balance shot of pasadena's lake avenue metro station make-over. this station is apparently utilizing solar panels in the finished product, as i recently learned from brigham yen's blog.

(the clock tower is new for those who are wondering)

paseo colorado from another angle

i recently showed this clock tower from a different perspective, but i like this one too. you can catch a glimpse of a banner advertising the recent art night which petrea and ann profiled so well last week.

more skywatch friday here.

five twenty six

another view of the paseo colorado shopping plaza and the clock tower. note that you can just make out rubio's - a favorite fast food chain that we never got to experience while living on the east coast. gotta love the fish taco!

st. andrews clock tower in a new light

i've featured this tower before on the blog, but this is a new twist.

have i mentioned that the sky in pasadena these days has been incredibly vibrant around 5:00? i don't remember this about the sky last fall. sorry if you are getting sky overload, but afterall sky is in the title of this blog, so i guess it's fitting.

4:47

i love this old clock - how some of the numbers are tilted, and others aren't. really cool...