The Brief

I didn’t grow up with Turkey Day playing a significant role in my family gatherings. We usually visited a restaurant like Guelagetza or a Chinese restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley.

Now, as an adult with my own family, Thanksgiving means more Friendsgiving celebrations, where folks within my social circle gather together to give thanks and break bread.

Of course, the idea of Friendsgiving isn’t new to the culture per se. Getting together with our social circles instead of our birth families has been widespread. I’d be remiss without mentioning the show Friends (RIP Matthew Perry), which helped popularize the idea of Friendsgiving and devoted nine episodes to the holiday over the entire series run.

Pop culture references aside, while I didn’t celebrate the traditional Thanksgiving, I feel I’ve excelled at making the celebration my own. I was instilled with a love of entertaining and an appreciation for a good dinner party, and as I attended a few “Friendsgiving” celebrations in recent years, I picked up a few tips on what works and what doesn’t.

The critical thing to remember is that the mood should always be fun and festive. Don’t worry so much about what’s on the table but about making your guests feel welcome. Creating the right vibe should always be the bottom line, and most importantly, enjoy yourself and try not to do it all by yourself.

Here's some more tips to make this your best (and most effortless) holiday with friends ever.

Prep early

1. Pick a date that works for you. No rule says you must have your Friendsgiving around Thanksgiving or even have it in November. Be flexible and set yourself free. Your friends will probably be grateful that you took the pressure off. 

2. Know your space. Think through the headcount before inviting guests. Be realistic about your area; don’t overdo it by inviting everyone you know.

3. Don’t have enough chairs? Consider renting tables and chairs if you have the space. Ideally, this order would be placed well ahead of time to beat the rush.

4. Google Sheets is your friend. Use Google Sheets to map everything out. The sooner you start this process, the better, so start now. Create a separate tab for friends to sign up for what dishes they want to bring and create a deadline. Also, have a separate space for friends to note if there are dietary restrictions.

You'll avoid the last-minute crowds when you shop early.

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5. Get as much of your shopping done early. Think about what can be purchased ahead of time. Consider ordering your groceries online for delivery or pick up, which most grocery stores do. It takes away from the sensory overload of shopping in the stores. Many stores, such as Trader Joe's, will also let you pre-order some of their bouquets ahead of time. 

Enlist help

6. Decide what the menu will be ahead of time. Coordinate with your party and decide in advance if the gathering will adhere to the traditional Thanksgiving menu or if folks can bring a non-traditional dish of their liking, which can also be fun. This prevents you from having seven desserts but no side dishes.

7. Everyone needs to bring something! From extra napkins to ice, which both always come in handy, or a side dish. Also, make sure everyone brings a beverage of their choice, alcoholic or non.

8. Stick to what you know. Ease the stress by sticking to dishes you’ve made before and you know your friends like. And when in doubt, go pre-made! Consider dishes that can be pre-ordered or pre-made (even the turkey). Plenty of restaurants and stores carry plenty of pre-made items.

9. Defrosting the bird: If you are doing a turkey, and it's frozen, give yourself plenty of time to defrost it. (The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends doing this in the fridge for food safety reasons, allowing one full day for every 4-5 pounds of bird.)

10. When serving food, pick a method that works best. Decide if you want to serve the meal family-style or buffet-style? Then stage your space accordingly.

11. Make a playlist. Curate the vibes by picking out a playlist that will run the duration of your evening. (This can also be done well in advance.) 

Day of prep

12. Get beverages chilling first thing in the morning. You want to make sure beverages are at the desired temperature for when guests arrive. Also, make sure you have room for the beverages that people will bring, whether that's another cooler with ice, or space on a table for red wine.

Set the table early. Even the day before.

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13. Prep your tablescape beforehand, possibly even the night before. Setting the table ahead of time means one less thing to worry about

14. Preheat the oven. Key for cooking turkey at the right temperature but also to pop in appetizers at a moment's notice. 

The final countdown: Before guests arrive

No need for heavy apps. But a few easy bites are nice.

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15. Prepare any appetizers. Set out those chips, dips, and crudite plates for people to snack on as they arrive. 

16. Pop some bottles. Open wine so there’s time to allow it to aerate.

17. Clear your space. Try to have your counter space accessible when guests bring their dishes, empty the dishwasher, and take out the trash.

When guests arrive...

18.  Hello, hello! Please do your best to introduce folks to everyone when they arrive. 

19. Assign guests a job. Share the workload by assigning tasks such as mixing drinks or helping with something in the kitchen. 

20. Start a game. Play a game with your guests to serve as an icebreaker. It can be a popular board game or something as simple as sharing a favorite Thanksgiving memory, anything to get people talking.

21. Background binge. Throw on a beloved Thanksgiving TV special in the background.

22. Don’t forget the kids. Have an area with some activities.

Serving dessert buffet style makes it easy on the host.

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The main event

23. Mix it up with assigned seats. I recently went to a dinner party, and the host assigned seats but didn't have couples sit next to each other, prompting some great conversation. 

24. The camera eats first. Take pictures of your food and guests; create memories.

Bonus:

25. Skip the hosting all together and head to a restaurant. Ha!

An East Hollywood nursing home that nearly lost its license this year because of repeated state citations for deaths of residents at the facility was cited again last month after another person died.

The California Department of Public Health cited Brier Oak on Sunset after a 92-year-old resident bled to death on Sept. 27. Staff members had continued injecting her with blood thinners over a 40-hour period in violation of clinical guidelines.

It’s an AA citation, the most severe the department issues when violations of care standards are determined to be a substantial factor in someone’s death. The facility faces a $120,000 fine.

These kinds of citations are rare. The department has recently issued, on average, fewer than 20 AA citations yearly across more than 1,200 skilled nursing facilities in California.

Brier Oak has received three AA citations for patient deaths since late 2022.

State regulations require authorities to suspend or revoke the licenses of any facilities that get two AA citations within a period of 24 months.

The state Public Health Department began that process with Brier Oak in May based on resident deaths in 2022 and 2024. But officials dropped that effort later because they say they determined the two patient deaths had occurred 26 months apart — just outside of the two-year window.

A spokesperson for the company that owns Brier Oak told LAist it has appealed the first two citations and is considering whether to appeal the third.

Advocates for nursing home residents say the recent death could have been avoided if the state had taken action.

“There were red flags, and a lot of these red flags existed prior to the death of this poor resident,” said Tony Chicotel, senior staff attorney with  California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

The state said Brier Oak has until Dec. 19 to notify the department if it intends to appeal.

What led to the patient deaths?

In the recent death at Brier Oak cited by the state, multiple communication and technical failures by nursing staff led to the patient bleeding out over a period of 40 hours, according to the citation.

The 92-year-old patient was immobile and had been prescribed a blood thinner called heparin to help prevent blood clots from forming. But once a patient is bleeding, those injections make bleeding worse, and potentially fatal.

When nursing staff found bright red blood in the resident’s diaper the day before she died, Brier Oak failed to follow established processes for documenting the bleeding or communicating it to a nurse practitioner or medical doctor, according to the citation.

Nurses told state authorities they delayed informing physicians because they “get mad” when contacted in the middle of the night.

The facility’s staff also failed to fully assess the patient to determine the possible causes of the bleeding and or to properly monitor the issue during crucial periods, according to the citation.

She suffered four internal bleeding episodes over 40 hours and continued to receive blood thinner injections.

The citation says a nurse practitioner at Brier Oak told state licensing authorities later that if she’d been informed about the patient’s ongoing bleeding, she would have stopped the blood thinner and sent her to a hospital.

In 2022, Brier Oak received a AA citation after a 62-year-old woman died from respiratory failure in part because nurses hadn’t been trained to operate her breathing machine.

In 2024, the nursing home got another AA citation. This time, a 63-year-old woman with paraplegia and severe obesity fell from her bed and died while a nursing assistant was changing her. The assistant was alone, even though the woman’s care plan required two staff members.

Who owns Brier Oak?

Brier Oak on Sunset is primarily owned by Genesis Healthcare, a publicly-traded nursing home operator that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.

Once the largest nursing home operator in the U.S., Genesis was facing billions in debt when it declared bankruptcy, according to court filings. That includes millions in potential damages from lawsuits related to patient care failures.

In a brief statement to LAist, a company spokesperson said it's still considering whether or not to appeal the recent citation at Brier Oak.

The citation should trigger a suspension or revocation of the facility's license, according to state regulations. The latter means it would have to close its doors. The two most recent deaths and citations at the facility occurred within the two-year window.

The California Department of Public Health confirmed it cited Brier Oak on Nov. 26.

The department said the facility submitted a required written response before a Dec. 6 deadline, showing how it will fix the problems and prevent them from happening again..

The department determined Brier Oak was back in compliance during an onsite visit last week, a representative told LAist.

Brier Oak on Sunset currently houses about 150 patients, according to state records.

A bankruptcy judge has stalled the proposed sale of Genesis Healthcare to an affiliate of one of its investors.

Experts say it’s unclear whether the state would revoke the license of an owner who is actively trying to sell and turn over operations to someone else.

It’s been a rough start to ski and snowboard season for California mountain towns. Snowfall is well below average, but Christmas could come with some of the white stuff. Here's where things stand:

Hmmm. Didn’t we just have a record storm?

Yes. That big atmospheric river that hit Southern California last month made it one of the wettest Novembers on records. But since then, it’s been unusually warm and dry, which is not good for mountain towns that depend on snow, and the outdoor enthusiasts that flock to them.

How bad is it?

California’s snowpack is about 20% of normal for this time of the year, according to the state’s snow-tracking website. Southern California isn’t quite as bad off — we’ve gotten about half our normal snowfall so far.

As for the resorts, only about 20% of the terrain at Bear Mountain in Big Bear is open. About 35% of Mammoth Mountain is open.

Can’t they just make snow?

They are, but the unusually warm temperatures have curbed resorts’ ability to make enough snow to open more terrain. “If you're blowing water into 40-degrees, it's going to stay water,” said Justin Kanton, a spokesperson for Big Bear Mountain Resort. “ So as much as people probably would want us to just crank the snow guns all day, every day up here and just get things moving, that's not really possible.”

But there’s a silver lining!

The dry weather has allowed Caltrans to make good progress toward opening Highway 38, said Evan Engle, who chairs the board of the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce. The road typically handles up to 40% of traffic up to the mountain town, Engle said. But it’s been closed since September when it got washed out by Tropical Storm Mario.

Getting it open as soon as possible is key to keeping visitor traffic manageable, and getting supplies to Big Bear.

What’s the snow outlook?

SoCal mountains are likely to see some precipitation around Christmas, said Kyle Wheeler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But with temperatures not expected to drop much, it’s uncertain how much of it will be white, Wheeler said.

If you go to Big Bear: 

• If you plan to hit the slopes, get on it early, when the snow is at its best given the warm conditions. 
• No snow? There’s more to do than ski and snowboard. Check this list of winter fun events.  
• Worried about traffic? Consider going up earlier in the week. If you can’t do that, consider taking Highway 18 through Lucerne Valley. It’s a longer route if you’re coming from L.A., but less traveled, and less likely to make you car sick (fewer tight curves). 

The Los Angeles Police Department used more than 2,400 crowd control munitions in response to protests from June 6 to 14, according to a new report.

Officers used a total of 2,431 less-lethal projectile rounds and 35 canisters of tear gas over the nine days, according to LAPD reports. The department recorded 12 injuries officers caused with those weapons.

The LAPD released the missing report last week after LAist identified the use of crowd control weapons on four different days in June that had not been reported according to state law. Assembly Bill 48, which went into effect in 2022, limits when and how crowd control weapons can be used, and requires law enforcement agencies to publicly release reports on their use within 60 days.

A 30-day extension for these reports can be granted in some cases, but the LAPD released this report about three months late even if an extension was justified.

Officials acknowledged they were out of compliance on Dec. 10 before releasing the report, saying the delay “stems from the extraordinary volume and complexity of incidents” over that time.

This report is different from others

It is unusual for a crowd control report to include more than one day, and the report for June 9 through 14 covered six days and “45 sepearte [sic] non categorical use of force incidents.”

It does not describe any of those use of force incidents specifically, and the LAPD has not yet responded to LAist’s request for more detailed descriptions of those incidents.

The report also considered the entire six days to have been one continuous protest, though it included several anti-ICE protests over the week and the national “No Kings” protest on June 14.

Two reports released earlier this year for June 6 and 8 covered single days and provided more detailed descriptions of incidents where the LAPD used less-lethal munitions against protesters.