Archives for December 2011

Best Blogs in Glendale

Glendale is a wonderful place to live but a tough place to be a blogger. Many bloggers start and then stop. Its okay, blogging isn’t as easy as it seems. To constantly come up with fresh content when you are  probably working a day job and have all the other pressures of life is difficult. We applaud these Glendale Bloggers for their perseverance and for letting us know their thoughts about Glendale.

 

Here is a list of some of our favorite local blogs:

  • Tropico Station – Is written by Scott who descirbes himself as that he does indeed. ” live, work, bike, and walk in southwest and downtown Glendale. ” Tropico is a great blog that is updated about once or twice a month and always has really good fresh content. Urban Toot has lots and lots of respect for Tropico Station.
  • Glendale Noon Concerts – We think that Glendale Noon Concerts are a best kept secrect in Los Angeles. While not exactly a secrect we do wish that everyone knew more about these free (did we say “FREE?”) concerts in Glendale. The blog does a great job at keeping the schedule up to date and allowing you to see whats coming up. It’s worth a good long look and even better go to a FREE concert!
  • Leon Bakery & Cafe – While we must disclose that Leon is a client of Smack Smog This most incredible Bakery and Cafe serves real Peets Coffee. That alone is worth putting them on the list but the  really cool thing about this blog is that you can tell that they love what they do! They blog about their pastries, their coffee, etc. They love to donate coffee to community groups and even host community  meetings at their shop!
  • Kendyl’s Open House – There are many fine Realtors in Glendale but I have to tell you that Kendyl uses technlogoy better then anyone I have ever seen in her field. She blogs via the traditional written word as well as video blogging. You can get current up to date information on the market as well as who knows what information from her blog.
  • Ascencia – Formerly known as PATH Achieve Glendale they changed their name but kept their commitment to end homelessness in Glendale. While we wish that they would update their blog more often (at least lately) we do understand that it is the holiday season and that they must be busy.
  • La Canada Preschool – While technically not in Glendale it’s only about 10 minutes away. La Canada Preschool is the oldest preschool in La Canada. They tweet and blog on a semi regular basis and provide good information about early childhood development and preschool issues that affect everyone with small children. Oh and we should also point out that they are also a client of  Smack Smog.
  • Sunroom Desk – Sunroom Desk is a cool website with lots of good information about whats happening in Glendale and how larger things like the state budget can impact our great city of Glendale. Lots of news about community events, reports and grassroots organizations. Sunroom Desk really pulls everything together for the people of Glendale.
We know that there must be other good blogs out there. What local bloggers do you find deserving? Let us know in the comments!

Glendale Holiday Hours

Well Glendale, you asked for it, we are giving it to you Yup, that’s right you asked for a smattering of Glendale well known establishments and their holiday hours and we are giving them to you. We hope that they help. If you know of any others that we missed then just put them in the comments section!

 

Glendale Galleria

Holiday Hours

December 31

10:00am-6:00pm

Glendale Community College

Holiday Closures

Glendale Community College will be closed from Dec.16 through Jan. 2 for staff furlough days and the holiday break.

Glendale Hyundai

411 South Brand Blvd.

Glendale, CA 91204

(877) 545-9125

Parts / Service / Business Office will be closed:

  • Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day.

 Sales will be closed

  • Christmas Day and New Years Day.

 Sales Hours

  • (Thanksgiving, Christmas eve, New Years Eve):
  • open until 4pm

 Parts / Service Hours

  • (Christmas eve, New Years Eve)
  • open until 4pm

 New Car Sales

Sun 10:00 AM-6:00 PM

Mon-Sat 9:00 AM-8:00 PM

Service

Sun Closed

Mon-Fri 7:30 AM-5:00 PM

Sat 8:00 AM-4:00 PM

Parts

Sun-Sat Closed

Certified Pre-Owned

Sun 10:00 AM-6:00 PM

Mon-Sat 9:00 AM-8:00 PM

Glendale Americana Holiday Hours

 

Whole Foods

331 North Glendale Ave

Glendale, CA 91206 USA
map, directions & nearby stores

Phone 818.548.3695
Store contact form

Store hours:
7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.

Special Dates to make note of :

December 31st New Year’s Eve: 7am – 8pm

January 1st New Year’s Day: 10am – 8pm

Are you attending the Rose Bowl Parade?

Presents!

 

 

View from Mt.Thom above Glendale, California

Glendale is a really beautiful place. It has a small town feel but is only a few minutes from downtown Los Angeles. I really love living here. Here is a short video that shows Glendale at Night!

Video by the Atomic Eye > via Youtube

Glendale Preschools

In the Glendale area there are many choices for preschool. Yet parents ofter wonder what are the different educational approaches and how can I find what best meets the need of our family. Here is an overview of the different preschool philosophies in our area:

Developmental: Here we see the theories of Jean Piaget, who believed that children as well as adults pass through stages of development that are defined by developmental norms of behavior. The developmental preschool allows for children to be seen individually in a setting that allows for their development to progress through play based learning.

Progressive: This encompasses many of the traits of a developmental school, yet there is an emphasis on community and being a part of the world outside of a school setting. This means there are field trips, where children children study the community. The educator John Dewey held the belief that the educational process begins with the interest of the child, and that the child’s natural curiosity is at the for front of there curriculum.

Montessori: There are four principles of this philosophy: learning should occur in a multi age classroom, the teacher is the guide for the child as opposed to having all the answers, children work at their own pace, and a classroom is set up according to subject areas.

Cooperative: This is a school where the children work in the classroom as teachers assistants, as opposed to having paid personnel. There is a teacher who directs the parents in working with the children, and there is usually a traditional approach such as developmental. The tuition is usually low at these schools, making preschool more affordable.

Keep in mind there are schools that may combine approaches and schools that are strictly teaching a certain method. Look for what resonates with you, with what you want for your child, and what best suits you family:)

 Debbie has been an early childhood educator for the past twenty years as a preschool teacher, director and parent educator. She is a member of the National Association of Early Childhood Educators, Pasadena City College’s Advisory Board and a local preschool directors networking group. Debbie is the owner and Director of La Canada Preschool. Her vision is to provide the best environment for children to experience discovery and their sense of wonder at this magical moment in human development. 
 
 
Toy images from melissaanddoug.com

Sidewalk Presents!

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is a sidewalk! You see my kids walk to school every day and the last block before they get to their school, the street doesn’t have any sidewalks. Now I’m sure that you must think that we live out in the sticks but the truth is that we live here in Glendale, California and while most of the city enjoys a nice sidewalk my kids and I don’t.

Santa, I don’t want you to think I’m greedy or selfish. I only need a sidewalk the length of three or four houses. I promise, I promise, I promise I’ll let all the other 700 kids who go to my kids school use it. I don’t want it just for me. I want it for my entire community! While I do think it would be cool to do some sidewalk chalk art, its not the real reason why I want it for my kids.

The real reason is that I don’t want my kids to get hit by a car as they walk to school. You see my kids have to walk on the busy road without any sidewalks. There are lots of parents who are busy dropping off their kids and they don’t always have time to drive slowly and carefully. I understand that many of the parents are running late and its too difficult to talk on the phone, apply makeup, shave, and eat a breakfast sandwich AND DRIVE CAREFULLY!

Santa everyone tells me that they are broke. Everyone says that they can’t afford to get me a sidewalk. Can you bring me a sidewalk Santa? I’ll leave you the good cookies and the really big glass of milk!

Payback

I know that when I end up living with one of our children at some point in the future, there are a few things I will have a yearning to do. I will grab a random crayon and write on the walls and furniture. I will make sure to never hit the toilet when I pee. Forget about flushing too. No matter what is served for dinner, it will not be what I will want to eat. There will always be more food on the floor than in my stomach too. When we go on road trips there better be snacks packed and entertainment. As they say, payback is a bitch. As I say, payback is a bitchy grandma.

School Zone

This past Monday a group of over twenty parents from a local elementary school, Verdugo Woodlands, attended a Special Meeting of the  Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) Board meeting. The meeting was scheduled to discuss ORG Money that addresses the removal of the portable classrooms (some of which have been on site since World War II). GUSD is planning on removing the portables and building new construction of classrooms.

The parents of Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School spoke up and shared with the School Board their concerns about the growth of the student body and traffic safety. They explained that they didn’t understand how the school could expand to such a size and that they didn’t think that the new building that is planned for the site would be large enough. The parents were also very vocal about their concerns about the students safety in regard to the high traffic that surrounds the school. One of the parents, Stephen O’Bryan said “we want to partner with the Board of Education in finding real solutions to the issues surrounding our local school and our community. We want to have real solutions to these very real problems while maintaining our sense of community.”

USC, UCLA, or CalTech?

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