Leilani A. Wertens

Recent Actions

• Posted Blown Away in LA to LAist
  LAist looked out our window this morning and saw sunshine and bright blue skies, a seemingly typical Southern California day. We considered breaking out the flip flops to celebrate this spring weather. Upon leaving a climate-controlled building for a lunch break, however, we discovered the weather had taken an apocryptal turn. Teeth-chattering cold, with the trees whipping in the sudden gusts of wind and large clumps of pollen flying through the air and sticking...
• Posted Celebrating the Year of the Boar in Chinatown to LAist
  So we tend to avoid photographing parades because a)they're always held when the sun is highest in the sky so the photos get washed out, b)dealing with crowds of people, c)composition is tricky because the people are moving so fast. Standing on that asphalt for several hours gives us a wicked tan but there's also the threat of sun stroke (especially when there's long lines at the boba shop). This year we tried to...
• Posted Getting Brunch in Santa Monica (just off The 3rd Street Promenade) to LAist
  While I've always enjoyed shopping and strolling down the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, it's never really been on the top of my list of dining destinations. Most of the restaurants on 3rd Street are overpriced and/or serve mediocre food. Though I'm a fan of Angelato (they boast 100 flavors of gelato, what's not to love?) and usually stop by the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for my usual ice blended drink, finding...
• Posted Finding LA's Best Eggs Benedict: The Low-End Edition to LAist
  So, I've becomed obsessed with Eggs Benedict. Yes, it may be a heart attack on a plate. Or what one friend called a 'glorified Egg McMuffin' but there's something about the concept of a poached egg atop Canadian bacon and a toasted English muffin with Hollandaise sauce smothering the whole concoction that gets this foodie excited. The tricky part was finding the best Eggs Benedict in LA. Unlike omelettes, Eggs Benedict does not seem...
• Posted The Start of the Christmahanukwanzaa Season to LAist
  Yes, we know it's not even Thanksgiving yet and it's a little difficult to feel holiday cheer in the sweltering 80-degree weather, but Christmas has already begun in the mind of retailers across Los Angeles. In our family the Christmas season always 'officially' started the day after Thanksgiving, when we would put up the lights on the outside of the house. The Grove, however, has dictated the start of the season as tomorrow, November...