http://rachelbethlevin.com Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:49:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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, ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/the-norma/ 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 ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/la-cienega-las-restaurant-row/ My article about the 'Hel-Mel' neighborhood -- an enclave at the intersection of Heliotrope and Melrose near LA City College -- appeared in the LA Times today. It was fun writing about this little 'hood because, as someone who's taught for nearly a decade at LACC, I watched it ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/writing-about-the-lacc-hood-for-the-la-times/ Drive just 20 minutes northeast of downtown L.A., and you can be in the rural, rolling foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where horses outnumber Hummers and quiet cul-de-sacs dead end into the wilds of the canyons. I wrote about two of these foothill communities, La Canada Flintridge and ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/frolicking-in-the-foothills/ Every time I visit Boyle Heights, I fall in love with the neighborhood a little bit more. I've visited several times lately, first to research a piece for Singular Magazine, and then to research a piece for the Los Angeles Times. The Metro Gold Line Extension ("La Linea ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/feeling-luv-for-the-eastside/ In Fallbrook, a storybook hamlet in northern San Diego county, the avocado is king. The annual Avocado Festival -- honoring the area's signature crop -- was the impetus for a neighborhood piece I wrote that just published in the Los Angeles Times.  Held this year on April 19, the ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/falling-for-fallbrook/ Usually St. Patrick's Day is not on the top of my list of favorite holidays. I don't tend to go in for that sort of pub madness. But reporting on St. Patrick's Day happenings on Main Street in Santa Monica for the Los Angeles Times got me in ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/shamrock-spirit/ Check today's Calendar section in the LA Times for my article on the Little Ethiopia neighborhood along Fairfax Avenue!  I visited this enclave several times in the past month while researching the Times piece and a feature for Singular Magazine, which is coming soon.  It's an incredibly special little 'hood.  ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/yearning-for-addis-ababa/ Welcome to rachelbethlevin.com! I’ve now officially got my own little plot of online real estate. I’m used to seeing my byline in print, but it does feel a little strange to see my full name plastered there across the top of the screen in its own url. As you ... http://rachelbethlevin.com/hello-world/ 571hjgg55421