Well, tomatoes I need to confess I’m a little bit nuts about my garden that is full of succulents so I can’t wait attend the annual “Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society Plant Festival” this weekend. Power to the Succulents tomatoes!  You can also get back to nature with concerts that will be hosted amidst the beautiful Agoura Hills countryside this summer. Here ye, Here ye! 2 great sales are happening now that will fill your clothing and home furnishing needs.  Hop to it tomatoes! And there’s a new museum in town and it comes to us from the co-founders of the “Guess” fashion label.  I’m confident they must have good taste when it comes to art tomatoes.  Ya think?

 June 10-11. Plant Festival

I’m always going to sing the praises of succulents and cacti because they flower, are drought tolerant and easy to care for… especially in SoCal.  So, it is no surprise I’m urging tomatoes to check out “The Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society Plant Festival” in Encino for its annual drought-tolerant plant show. And it’s a chance to shop ladies.

Yep, variety of plants, hand-made pottery and more will be available to purchase. There will be POT-A-PLANT WORKSHOPS, free educational seminars featuring Lili Singer, an award- winning horticulturist from the Theodore Payne Foundation, as well as presentations on landscaping and propagating cacti and succulents. In terms of propagating, gosh they are easy. Plus, its FREE, not just the propagating but the festival and there’s free parking too! Hope to see you there, gals.

Now + June 16 & 17. Two Fab Sales

Not only is there a super-duper clothing sale going on but a furniture sale as well!! Be still my heart tomatoes. “The Factory Store Sale” is just 2 days’ gals!

3 major brands for women, men and kids clothing of all sizes for as little as $5 and $10! Oh, be still my heart! And if you are looking for furniture or home accessories then the “Annual Grace Home Furnishing Sale” with 75% off is happening as I speak. Wow!  It certainly is a good weekend for sales tomatoes.

The prices at The Factory Store Sale for these stylish must-have fashion brands for you, the kiddoes or Mr. Tomato are epic! A very good place to be today and tomorrow for discount fashion divas. Thanks “Top Button” Sales and Shopping Events for giving me the skinny on this sale.

And the Grace Clearance Sale at the LA showroom is to die for and will be held all through June.  There’s an enormous selection of furniture, accessories and lighting on sale. A great chance to purchase designer furniture and home accessories for a fraction of the cost. This sale won’t come around for another year gals.

Now-Sept. 9. Tiny Porch Concerts

“Tiny Porch Concerts”, in collaboration with the National Park service, will be presenting a series of free summer concerts along with art installations in the outdoor Amphitheatre at the intimate and iconic Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura Hills. I don’t think we could get a more satisfying venue for a dose of music, art and nature. A 3 in 1 treat for the senses tomatoes.

Next up is June 11 with Kuinka and the Steps of Doe.  This quartet with their beautiful vocal harmonies accompanied by classic folk instrument sounds truly capture the spirit of the Northwest wilderness. Tiny Porch Concerts was established specifically as a non-profit to promote all types of live, original music at unique, rural settings, creating a cultural experience, while giving back to the community and providing some financial support to the artists and the National Parks. The concerts also serve to help educate the public on the work done by the National Park Service in outdoor recreation, conservation and historic preservation.

In 1976, Peter Strauss purchased the property after being moved by the area’s natural beauty while filming the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man at nearby Malibu Lake. Strauss restored the property to a more natural look and lived there until 1983, when he sold it to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The National Park Service purchased the ranch in 1987.  So, happy it went to the people to enjoy!

Marciano Arts Foundation

It just opened May 25, tomatoes, and it really looks like something bold, diverse and unique in the world of contemporary art and we’ve got it here in LA tomatoes. Founded by Maurice and Paul Marciano, this new highly acclaimed museum, previously the Scottish Rite  Masonic Temple, will show 1,500 works from their collection by 200 well-established, mid-career and emerging artists. In addition, there’s a Wig Museum.  How cool is that?!

And even cooler is the building which houses the museum.  The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple which has rarely been opened to the public, those Masons are a private bunch, was purchased by the Marciano Brothers and is now open to the public. And it’s FREE to boot. The building itself is a marble and travertine work of art with its embellished symbols, sculptures, gold-glazed original mosaics and gold drinking fountains. No building is complete without a gold drinking fountain. Tee hee!  I’m putting this on my “To Do” list tomatoes. Maybe you should too.