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BEN LEE’S BLOG
Sweet 2016!
Hello and Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe it’s already 2016. I remember so vividly when it was New Year’s Eve, 1999 and we were all half expecting the world to implode at the stroke of midnight. For a week before New Year’s, practically everyone was running around getting cash withdrawals from ATMs just in case those dreaded computer glitches were to materialize. We stocked up on extra water and supplies just in case all the supermarkets’ doors were sealed shut. Looking back now, that was all just a tiny bit of a paranoid over reaction to what ended up being a totally normal New Year’s Eve celebration.
Growing up, my parents didn’t want me or my friends to risk being on the roads on New Year’s Eve, so they began a tradition that continues to this day. They would host a huge, raucous party and invite all of their friends. They would encourage my brother and me to invite our friends, too. There would be a massive amount of food, decorations, people, laughter, dancing and merriment. Then, at about 11:57pm, we’d run around the house to find as many pots, pans and long handled spoons as we could and then race outside just before the ten-second countdown would begin. As soon as the clock struck midnight, all of us, the young and old(er) together, would bang those pots and pans as hard as we could, all celebrating the start of a new year side by side on an exuberantly loud and happy note. Nowadays I’ll sometimes run into high school friends I haven’t seen in a while and often one of the first things I’ll hear is, “Remember how much fun we used to have at those New Year’s parties at your house??” That always makes me feel good. My kids are happy to carry on the Lee family tradition, too, especially the banging of the pots and pans part. It’s rather remarkable that we now have three generations celebrating together. I can’t think of a better way to begin a new year than in this wild and wacky way.
No matter how you chose to ring in the new year, I hope 2016 is already off to a healthy and prosperous start for you and your loved ones. I look forward to seeing you out and about in the neighborhood all year long. Here’s to a sweet (20) sixteen!
Happy New Year!
I think one of the greatest misconceptions about being a realtor is how emotionally draining it can be. With a thriving business comes many people who, at any given time, are either extremely happy, angry, anxious, concerned, confused, bothered, relieved, incredulous or frustrated. And those are just the mortgage brokers! But, truly, it is a tough field to navigate day in and day out without the benefit of a therapist’s degree. It’s crucial to take a break once in a while, turn off the cell phone if possible and step away from the madness that is residential real estate.
Every year around the holidays I try to take a few days off to recharge and this year was no different. My wife and I managed to leave the children and Los Angeles behind for three days and visit a resort/sanctuary just outside of San Diego called Rancho Valencia. It was exquisite. Brisk, frosty morning air gave way to a bit of sunshine in the later afternoon. There were yoga classes overlooking grassy fields after which waiters were standing by to offer glasses of green, healthy juice of pressed kale, apples and celery (which was tastier than it sounds). Lazy days were spent reading by the fire and catching up on missed TV shows. There were massages, mud treatments, even a plan to take a hot air balloon ride (that was thwarted due to a change in the weather).
Maybe because I spend an inordinate amount of time in other people’s houses, I can appreciate it when attention is paid to detail and design. The most pleasant aspect of staying at this resort was how every decision, no matter how minor it may have been, was made with an emphasis on beauty. The color of one wall in the dining room, the ceramic pots decorating one of the outdoor fireplaces, the mini glass jug of orange juice sitting in the wooden milk crate, the accents of Spanish tile in surprising places. Even the teabags were attractive. Someone was probably sitting in a corporate office somewhere years ago debating the benefits of offering loose tea wrapped in delicately purple ribbon tied, tiny scented sacs versus a big grab bag of Liptons. You know what, faceless corporate head honcho? I’m glad the pretty tea idea won because I noticed and appreciated it.
So, now that we’ve experienced a few days of pure relaxation and absolute escapism, I feel recharged and ready to return to the often emotional roller coaster that is West side residential real estate. When my phone rings with what might be a problem or headache, I know I can handle it with the calm and patience of someone who has experienced and enjoyed kale juice after a yoga class.
Welcome, 2016… I am ready!
Children’s Book World
Whether you celebrate Channukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or none of the above, if you have children on your shopping list, there’s a good chance you’ve made your way to one of the last remaining bookstores on the Westside. Children’s Book World on Pico near Rancho Park is the last of its kind.
I had reason to go there yesterday and was happy to see it bustling with shoppers because it’s the kind of place we want to stay in business. With so many consumers logging on to purchase their gifts instead of visiting a store in person, these sort of family-owned, small and local businesses seem like they should be on life support. Luckily, from what I experienced, this assumption was proved wrong and we breathed a sigh of relief that good stores, specifically good book stores, albeit few and far between, are still alive and well in Los Angeles.
First of all, a computer screen can not replace the benefit of a getting your questions answered by a knowledgeable human. The folks who work at CBW have probably read everything in the store and are familiar with just about every genre of children’s literature. Not only that, but every person who has ever helped a member of my family seem to have an innate sense of what a child of any age might like. While books are the main focus, its inventory isn’t limited to just the written word. There are a handful of educational toys, kits, stuffed animals, puzzles- even sections for parents to browse while kids are searching for their treasures.
Children’s Book World is the kind of neighborhood place that you’ll usually run into someone you know while shopping and often will find yourself catching up with other customers instead of rushing in and dashing out with your purchases. My father was recently dumbfounded as to what to get our three sons for gifts. I suggested he take them to Children’s Book World, ask them to describe to the people who worked there what their interests were and then set them loose. They returned, literally giddy with excitement, with what they found: secret spy glasses, a decoding kit, tutorials on how to sketch cartoons and yes, a handful of books to go with it.
This is the kind of store that gives our neighborhood its character and every time we patronize it instead of going to one of the huge discount stores, we’re keeping it alive and part of the Rancho Park family of small businesses. And the fact that there’s free parking in the back and they’re one of the last places I know who’ll still gift wrap, well that deserves appreciation, too.
Dolce Isola in Beverlywood Adjacent
My Coldwell Banker office is in the heart of Beverly Hills, literally surrounded by some of the best restaurants and finest dining in the country. You can’t beat it for people watching, power lunching and celebrity sighting if you happen to be into that kind of thing. I love patio dining in Beverly Hills as much as the next guy, however, when I am really craving something quick, delicious and Beverly Hills-y without the pretentiousness, I head to my favorite restaurant on South Robertson: Dolce Isola.
If you’re familiar with Beverly Hills restaurants, this hidden neighborhood gem should look familiar. Dolce Isola is the bakery and café for The Ivy so the china and menu mimics its big brother to the north. I love to stop by this tiny café if it’s near lunchtime and I’m either in between showings or needing to drive to Beverlywood or Cheviot from my office.
Located in the area sometimes referred to as SORO or Beverlywood Adjacent, Dolce Isola offers a wide variety of salads and sandwiches as well as a heavily stocked bakery counter with all the most tempting cookies, cakes and tarts that are nearly impossible to deny yourself after a relatively healthy lunch. You may beg to differ but I say the best thing on the menu is the fish tacos. Clean with just the right amount of tang and spice, the portions are generous but always leave me craving more. I would put these fish tacos up against any others this side of the Mexican border and you don’t even need to go east of Robertson to try them.
Only negative about this restaurant is that it’s small and the seating is a little bit tight in the downstairs area. There is an upstairs but that room never feels as festive. I’m not even sure if it’s available for seating, it may just be used for private parties.
In any case, the next time you find yourself without a lunch destination and you are in this neck of the woods, I recommend you give Dolce Isola a try. Sure you could go all the way up to its fancy schmancy cousin The Ivy– but unless you’re courting paparazzi, you’re better off in this slightly more down-to-earth locale. Here you may battle a student or two from Hamilton High eyeing that last chocolate chip cookie, but that’s a small price to pay for enjoying the best fish tacos you’ll have on the West Side.
School Daze
Growing up, first in Malibu and later in Santa Monica, I attended a wide variety of both public and private schools. Maybe because I was the first born in my family, my parents never seemed to be satisfied with the preschools I was enrolled in, so they switched me to a bunch of different places.
From Crestwood Hills Co-Op to The First School (where, incidentally all three of my kids attended) and a few in between, I bounced around a lot. Elementary school was kind of the same story. Point Dume Elementary, SMASH and Palisades Village School were just three of the schools I attended in my formative years. For junior high I went to Crossroads and then switched to and graduated from Samo High.
My wife, who also grew up in Los Angeles, went to Kenter Canyon, Paul Revere and Palisades High. For one year she went to Palisades Village School at the same time I was there- we still have friends in common from that time even though we were a grade apart. For all I know, we passed each other in the halls, she in first grade while I was in second which is kind of fun to think about. Today we live in Cheviot Hills and after our boys went to The First School for preschool, we enrolled them first at Castle Heights Elementary and now two are at Mirman.
It feels like we have some knowledge or experience at half of the schools on the Westside. I think about this a lot- was it a help or hindrance to go to so many different schools? I think yes and no. It was probably a little bit similar to what ‘army brats’ (do they hate that term? I think so but I can’t think of a nicer expression to get the point across) experience. I always found myself in the position of being the new kid, needing to meet a whole roomful of people, hoping they’d like me and be nice. I had to pretend to be confident even if I was nervous, learn new systems and rules of the road so-to-speak. I think the qualities I inadvertently picked up through these experiences have served me well.
I certainly didn’t know back then that I’d take many of the skills I learned being the new kid on the block and utilize them in the field of real estate. But every day I’m out there meeting new people, representing myself to them, hoping they’ll be nice(!) and accept me into their lives, even if it’s just for the duration of a business transaction. Having been in so many schools also exposed me to a really wide variety of people. Such that when I meet new people, it’s often a fun game of one or two degrees of separation of who we have in common. The city actually becomes really small when you grow up here and go to so many different schools.
So, how was the experience a negative? Probably just the nerves associated with having to enter those classrooms with all brand new faces staring back at me. At the time, I really dreaded it but now I think it’s made me a stronger person. And when our son switched schools going into 5th grade, those same feelings came right back to me as if I were living it all over again. But, in the end, you do what you think is right for your child and hope he doesn’t blame you too much for it. I think it was scary for Mason to switch schools but now that he’s there, he’s very happy. And maybe that means he’ll be a real estate agent like his dad a few decades from now? Lee and Sons Residential Brokerage has a nice ring to it!