Day of the Dead LA style!
Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated Oct. 31-Nov. 2nd to remember friends and family that have passed away. There are many traditions and cultural influences on the Day of the Dead which were all on display at this year’s event located in the Los Angeles Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The history of the festival has found the perfect setting in this historic memorial park and they have crafted a day to honor the dead that the whole family can enjoy.
Held this year on Oct.28th from noon till midnight the 18th annual Dia de los Muertos was a musical, colorful, and heart warming experience. Whether you are a local or visitor for the holiday taking the time to walk through the decorated lanes of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and watch the performances staged there is a must. The costumes by participants and enthusiasts of all ages crowd the grounds making a beautiful display of life and death at every stage.
Band: Pilgram performing at Dia De Los Muertos
Images of skeleton’s and faces painted as stylized representations may be familiar, but there are many more personal touches to this spiritual holiday. Graves become tributes, shrines to loved ones that have died. They are decorated with flowers, pictures, candles, and even the departed’s favorite food and drink. It is done in an effort to lure the souls where they can hear prayers offered and stories told in remembrance of their life. Some of the influences go even further back to the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Aztec dancers in traditional garb put on displays and paraded through the grounds to pay tribute to their history.
Shrines to some of the famous celebrities buried at Hollywood Forever like Johnny Ramone lined the roads while smaller family displays popped up across the grass fields. Some were dedicated to the artist José Guadalupe Posada or influenced by his artwork and printmaking. Tributes to beloved pets left no one out. Bands played and stands were set up for face painting while everywhere you looked skeletons watched.
It is possible to find the whole event a bit creepy, but my experience was just the opposite. I have never understood going to the cemetery as anything other than a “thing we did” a few times a year to care for my grandparents’ graves. At Dia de los Muertos my eyes were opened to cemeteries as a place of gathering and celebration of those you love that are no longer with you and those that still are. It is a time to find joy in remembering and sharing those memories. The holiday embraces both life and death in a way I wish my culture growing up had.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery has created an event that represents the tradition while making it accessible to the entire community. I am so glad I was able to take part in this beautiful event.
Find out more at ladayofthedead.com
For my experience I was lucky enough to catch an all time personal favorite, 
There are artists that exactly repeat their albums when they perform live, those that sound nothing like it without a sound engineer, and those that transcend recordings of their work when you experience their vitality in person. Langhorne Slim is definitely the third. Don’t get me wrong, he is in all of my playlists and his most recent cd, 
The experience was enhanced by the atmosphere at McCabe’s. Wood paneled walls covered in every type of strummable guitar, ukulele, banjo, and more that I don’t have names for, come together to create a world transported back and steeped in history. With tickets running between $20-$30 and affordable afternoon shows for families as well as their night time events McCabe’s Guitar Shop offers a taste of the now while surrounded by the history of the music played there. Come during the day or slip in at night for a show, either way visitors can feel the notes that have sunk into the walls as greats play skillful chords, and newbies their first notes.
A Day at The Oaks Spa!
The entire experience, including all of the lovely people I met in between their treatments, was one worth repeating. In fact some of the women I met in the sitting area were on their regular ladies outing, driving in from all points in Southern California to spend the day at the 
Beer Enthusiasts Stop Here!
Located in a converted U.S. Navy Port Warehouse that was built during World War II, the brewery gives the area a new life after the building sat abandoned. Visitors can come and get a look at soaring ceiling and brick walls initially intended to house ships, now home to beer barrels and brewing tanks. The tour was a real highlight of the visit for me as I knew very little about beer before.
Brouwerji West has a sense of humor when it comes to their products. Some of the beers carry long and occasionally silly names like “Dog Ate My Homework” and “Smart for Never”, but you can make the intelligent choice and sit down at the bar, one of the indoor picnic tables, or the outdoor beer garden and sample a few of the craft brews. It helps to have a little something in your tummy too. Food for the non-drinkers in the family is another draw to Brouwerij West. There is always a selection of Food Trucks and Pop-up Restaurants like 
Dog Ate My Homework – Blackberries! Just like the fruit themselves this beer has a tart dry flavor and a deep color. Not overly sweet or even overly fruity, the beer is a great balance between the additional blackberry and the beer flavors. The pretty color doesn’t hurt its appeal either!
When you think about Southern California beaches come to mind, but there is so much more to see just a short drive from other destinations like Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. A highlight is Ojai and the destination, the all-inclusive resort the 
I took my first ever pool exercise class and loved the shade sail over the area. This allowed you to stay out of the sun or embrace it while working up an appetite and working out your muscles. I loved it for the variety of moves I learned that I now bring to my solo swims to get an extra burn and stretch. I also enjoyed sitting poolside and being close to nature under the flowering trees.
If you aren’t too tired from a full day and a possibly early morning walk, get out and see a bit of the town. The shops are great, no chains or franchises allowed in the Ojai city limits so everything is one of a kind. Two of my favorite stops to shop? 
Evenings are quiet, like a lot of small towns, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to do. Sunset is the perfect opportunity to enjoy an odd local custom. Instead of looking west when the sun goes down, in Ojai you look up and east. Why? Since the valley runs east to west there is a direct line from the last rays of light against the white rock face of the mount
In the cute and tiny town center of sits the historic hotel, originally the first in the valley and now home to the 
If the good living, excellent food, and engaging company is not enough to help you shrug off some years there is also a first rate spa at the Oaks. Massages, facials, and body treatments are all options you can embrace. A common sight at the 
Best of all perhaps is the results you walk away with internally. I have never had more energy and felt better than when I left. The next day when I walked down the isle of the grocery stores all I could think was, “Not healthy enough.” Sadly that only held true for so long, but almost everyone I saw checking out stretched those results a bit by taking home some of the frozen soups and goodies the Oaks sells. I took home their famous, healthy, chocolate bark… didn’t survive long as a gift to my dog sitter though. I can’t wait to try out a few of the recipes that I learned at their demonstration too!
