This Saturday night (well, technically Sunday morning), we turn the clocks forward to welcome the arrival of daylight savings time (Woo hoo! Finally!). But welcoming an extra hour of light every night is not the primary reason I’m looking forward to Saturday. More so, I’m excited to see the lights come up on the Alex Theatre stage in Glendale, when Celebrate Dance 2010 gets underway. The annual showcase of concert dance from L.A.’s best choreographers celebrates its fifth year with pieces in multiple genres, from ballet on pointe to jazz, contemporary, and aerial. Check out my little preview story about it that appeared today in the Los Angeles Times.

I have a new guilty pleasure: the almond milk latte — dubbed “The Norma” — at Bricks & Scones cafe in Larchmont Village. I love lattes, but generally try to avoid dairy. Soy lattes are a dime a dozen, but my system’s not so partial to soy, either. Hence, almond milk is a kind of Holy Grail, one that until now I’ve not stumbled upon as a mixer in the world of designer espresso. The beans at Bricks & Scones are from Intelligentsia, and the mix with the naturally sweet almond foam is utterly addictive. I don’t know who Norma is, but she’s got great taste in coffee. Check out my blog about Bricks & Scones on the Diary of the Purple Passport .

As a teenager growing up in Orange County, I knew how to get to two and only two places in L.A.: the Third Street Promenade and La Cienega Boulevard. On the rare occasions that my friends and I escaped the ‘burbs, these were the two places we journeyed to in order to — in our minds — blend in with urban cool. Third Street Promenade had packs of teenagers and quirky street performers, but La Cienega claimed the shopping mecca the Beverly Center, with its outpost of the Hard Rock Cafe. Years later, I now realize how tragically unhip we were to flock to these malls and pseudo-malls. And, of course, my palate has outgrown the likes of the Hard Rock Cafe. In those days, we drove right past what made La Cienega authentically cool — the venerable fine dining establishments of “Restaurant Row” — in our quest for burgers and fries and a taste of rock celebrity. Today, La Cienega beckons a new generation of hip seekers, with the arrival of new restaurants, bars, hotels, and design and fashion boutiques. Read about what’s opened within the past year on La Cienega in my little article for the Los Angeles Times.