If you see your favorite stars sneaking a yawn or looking a bit fatigued during Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards, have some sympathy; it’s been a long week of partying for Hollywood. The Globes show has a long legacy of being a boozy, laid back affair catering to the biggest names in show business, going back to the Rat Pack’s takeover of the ceremony half a century ago. And as gold trophies, and the stars they lure to dinner engagements, have become big business, it’s resulted in two big developments: lavish parties being thrown to celebrate winners and influence voters; and a proliferation of a whole lot more award shows. This year, Hollywood’s finest has spent the week leading up to the Globes at no fewer than four awards shows (the People’s Choice, the Critics’ Choice, the AFI Awards and LA Film Critics’ Awards); major studio-thrown galas (including ones thrown by “The Artist” distributor The Weinstein Company, “Descendants” studio Fox Searchlight and “J. Edgar” backer Warner Bros.); and other fun get togethers that offer camaraderie, not statuettes (the BAFTA Tea Party, Independent Spirit Awards’ nominees brunch). The events offer the biggest names in show business the opportunity to catch up, hang out and pose for pictures that prove that they are just like their audience: owners of endless numbers of suits and gowns, and relentlessly beautiful. PHOTOS : The rest is here: PHOTOS: Stars Party All Week Ahead Of The Golden Globes
Posts Tagged ‘ people ’
Extra, Extra: Swimming in Frigid Waters, Hangover Cures from Rich People, and Oscar Predictions
In tonight’s Extra, Extra, a group of bold San Pedrans brave the chilly New Year’s ocean, Gwyneth Paltrow has some truly thrilling ideas for hangover cures, and Oscar season is upon us. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook , and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports . more › Read this article: Extra, Extra: Swimming in Frigid Waters, Hangover Cures from Rich People, and Oscar Predictions
Year in Eater : Friends of Eater Recall Their Single Best Meals of 2011
As is the tradition at Eater, our closeout of the year is a survey of friends, industry types, bloggers, and readers. We’ve already covered Top Newcomers , Top Standbys , Best Dining Neighborhood , 2011 described in one word , and Biggest Dining Surprises . Now, Best Meals. Readers, please add your thoughts to the comments. [Scarpetta, Beverly Hills. Elizabeth Daniels ] Q: What was your single best meal of 2011? Lonny Pugh, LA editor, Urban Daddy : Scarpetta . It involved the spaghetti—one of those simple dishes that can’t possibly be as good as everybody says it is. But then it is. And then later you think it can’t possibly be as good as you remember. So you go back and have it again. And it still is. Stephane Bombet, owner, Picca: Gary Menes pop up dinner at Le Comptoir at Tiara Cafe. My favorite dish was his home made foie gras au torchon with balsamic vinegar and callery pears. Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly : A lovely three-hour lunch at Providence – Michael Cimarusti has quietly become the best chef in Los Angeles. Hadley Tomicki, LA editor, Grub Street : I’m still surprised I didn’t wake up at some point when Cimarusti, Ludo, Urasawa, and Zarate came together at Providence, but I’d have to say the kaiseki dinner I had at N/Naka , as I’ve rarely had such an emotional reaction to food. One side of the table was laughing in wonder, the other crying in joy. Lesley Barger Suter , dine editor, LAmag : I keep giving it love, but I’m going to have to say my first meal at Sotto : Bread with lardo, perfect pork meatballs, and that pizza, plus cannolis…all washed down with some amaro. Wolfgang Puck: I would say that my single best meal was at the Fat Duck outside of London if I exclude the meal that Tetsu made for me at Spago. Zach Brooks, Midtown Lunch : Do I have to choose between ink. and Son of a Gun … because I really don’t want to. Jeff Miller, LA editor, Thrillist : I was lucky enough to spend some major time in Las Vegas and got to eat at Bartolotta . Not only was it the best meal I ate all year, but that’s one of my favorite meals I’ve ever had. Every single bite was perfect. Yassmin Sarmadi, restaurant owner, Church & State: Chef’s Tasting Menu at Patina – I have always enjoyed Patina, but had not been for some time. Hands down this was one of my best dining experiences in 2011! George Abou-Daoud, restaurateur, Bowery Street Enterprises : Chicharron en Verde followed by Espinoza de Cerdo en Guajillo in Mexico City—-amazing. Lindsay William-Ross, LAist : This is probably the hardest for me to answer, because I can’t just say one thing! I did get to sit down to an amazing meal in the private dining room of Osteria Mozza for a dinner honoring Ruth Reichl where the guests were some amazing local chefs and food writers, which was made only more surreal by the fact that I was high on cold medicine. But a lot of my greatest dining pleasures came while traveling, like the half-dozen fresh oysters I had at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, or the epic meals at Julian Serrano and Sage at the Aria in Vegas with some of my food writing girlfriends. The donuts from The Doughnut Plant in NYC my boyfriend and I ate while walking around the Lower East Side one very cold Sunday morning in March after we flew in on a red eye. A White Spot burger in Vancouver. Anytime I got to share a table with a loved one, or experience something while I traveled, well, that’s my best meal! Daniela Galarza, associate editor, Eater LA: In LA – Picca . Outside of LA – Pok Pok. Maggie Nemser, founder, Blackboard Eats : At Joe’s in Venice with Walter Manzke as the guest chef serving an unforgettable Millbrook Venison with Sauce Poivrade. Josh Lurie, Food GPS : That’s a tough call. My meaty meal at Snow’s BBQ, about an hour outside of Austin, was pretty spectacular. Sooke Harbour House, situated right on the water in a spectacular Vancouver Island setting, was stunning for multiple reasons, including the hyper-local food. Still, since this is Eater LA, let’s go with something that’s actually in Los Angeles. One of my most recent blowout meals in L.A. was at Sushi Gen , where we let a friend take the lead, and he proceeded to order an onslaught of pristine seafood, including toro, uni, mirugai (giant clam) and amaebi (sweet shrimp). Seriously, how could that not taste good? And of course the people were fun, so that always helps. Kat Odell, editor, Eater LA: I would probably have to go with the epic Krug dinner I had earlier this year at Urasawa . Can’t compete with Hiro’s sushi and 15 bottles of vintage Krug divided between 10 diners… also had a surprisingly fun/flavorful dinner at Miss Lily’s recently in NYC. · Year in Eater 2011 [~ELA~] Go here to read the rest: Year in Eater : Friends of Eater Recall Their Single Best Meals of 2011
D&ET Jewelry 101: The Victorian and Edwardian Jewelry Eras
Victorian era 5.36 carat old cushion-cut diamond with amethyst border . An antique ring is more than a ring – it’s a living, gleaming timepiece. Its stone, setting and design aesthetic are lasting testaments to the people and lifestyle of a bygone era. Brushing up on jewelry history can clue you into the techniques and materials that give a period piece the glamour it has today. For unparalleled elegance, start your lesson with the Victorian and Edwardian jewelry periods. Victorian Brooch With Diamonds, Emeralds, Sapphires and Rubies Old-European cut diamond brooch with natural rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Early Victorian Era (1837-1879) With Queen Victoria’s marital bliss as inspiration, Early Victorian jewelry shines with romance. Flowers, hearts, lovebirds and other natural motifs often couple with gemstones and delicate ornamentation in these feminine pieces. The queen’s love for her family is reflected in timeless sentimental items such as keepsake lockets or jewelry decorated with a lock of a loved one’s hair. Opals, seed pearls and corals were stylish choices for Early Victorian women. With the death of Queen Victoria’s husband in 1861, jewelry took on a markedly somber tone. Dark onyx and garnets dominate designs for the next two decades, an era often called the Grand Period. Late Victorian (1880-1900) With the mourning period over, the Late Victorian era boasted a renewed celebratory energy and love for glamour. The discovery of diamonds in South Africa made these glistening stones abundant, and Late Victorian jewelry reflects that bounty: Brooches feature diamond-studded creatures and flowers with elegant, diamond dew drops. Edwardian (1901-1920) The exuberance continues into the Edwardian Era, during which platinum and diamond accents flourished. Delicate filigree work gives Edwardian jewelry its characteristic lacy look. Tiaras, pearls and choker necklaces reflect the sophistication of Queen Alexandria, while King Edward VII’s favorite stone, the peridot, and beloved pastime, sporting, are common in jewelry. Calibrated sapphires pair with ornate settings in pieces that reflect the Edwardian period’s jewelry-loving wealthy class. Victorian Cameo Brooch A Victorian carved-shell cameo with 14K gold setting and diamond necklace detailing. Whether you want the subtle romance of the Early Victorian era or ornate Edwardian filigree, let Diamond and Estate Trust be your guide. The perfect antique accent awaits you! View original post here: D&ET Jewelry 101: The Victorian and Edwardian Jewelry Eras
Norman Lear Ripped By Talk-Radio Hosts After ‘Angry’ Speech
Larry Elder, Dennis Prager and other media conservatives slam the TV legend, who called Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh , Karl Rove and TV evangelicals “hate-mongers sheathed in sanctity.” In an effort to promote a speech he made last week to celebrate the 30th anniversary of People for the American Way, founder Norman Lear posted a transcript and audio … (more) Read the original here: Norman Lear Ripped By Talk-Radio Hosts After ‘Angry’ Speech
Your Mama Hears Britney Spears…
…has ants in her real estate pants and plans to pack up the children and, once again, move mansions, this time to an exclusive, guard-gated golf community in the upscale and exurban outpost of Thousand Oaks, CA, about 35 miles northwest of Hollywood. We first caught wind of the famously peripatetic pop star’s’ upcoming move to suburbia to exurbia about two weeks ago when we received an unexpected covert communique from Anne Teak, a woman of few words who wondered if little ol’ we might be able to corroborate or squelch the latest neighborhood scuttlebutt about Miz Spears being the wealthy ‘hood’s newest celebrity resident. It took us a bit of time and a leg up from Our Fairy Godmother in Bel Air but we finally secured a confirmation from our always impeccably informed friend and snitch Lucy Spillerguts who told us with “110%” certainty the Britney Spears household has or will soon relocate to a big, beige stone and stucco mcmansion that overlooks one of the fairways (or greens or whatever) of the private Sherwood Country Club . According to Anne Teak the gossip goes that Miz Spears purchased a posh mansion in the Sherwood Country Club Estates and, indeed, the property in question was on the open market until sometime in September or October this year with an asking price of $8,900,000. However, charm bracelets, Miss Spillerguts told us Miz Spears has not bought but leased the property. We can’t say how how the rent check she writes will be because, well, we don’t know for sure. However, a little digging around in the murky depths of the interweb turned up multiple (expired) listings that reveal the 1.8-ish acre mini-estate was last but recently available for lease at $25,000 per month. Perhaps Miz Spears (or her people) negotiated a better price, perhaps not. A person who cares about such trivial celebrity real estate matters could not legitimately be institutionalized for wondering aloud why a woman and mother of means such as Miz Spears would opt to rent a damn mansion rather than buy one and make it a (semi-)permanent home for her, her children, her man-friend Jason Trawick, and their retinue. We have no wisdom to offer about the specifics of that particular matter, puppies, but we do know since fleeing–ahem–vacating her post-Kevin Federline mansion in the guard-gated Summit community in the Beverly Hill Post Office area–the luxurious scene of so much crazy for the global superstar in 2007 and 2008–Miz Spears has preferred to rent a short succession of rather large and expensive suburban mansions. She first settled, for a couple of short years, at the dorkily-named Chateau Sueños in Calabasas (CA) and since early 2011 she, the children, and etc. have shacked up in a 19,107 square foot mega-manse with 10 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms in the horse- and celebrity-friendly community of Hidden Hills (CA). Of course, Your Mama doesn’t know a blow hole from a microwave oven so we can’t very accurately speculate about the reason (or myriad of reasons) Miz Spears would choose to move again so soon after settling in to a rented mansion in Hidden Hills but maybe (or maybe not) it has to do with her recent turning of 30 , the December 10th finale in Puerto Rico of her international Femme Fatale tour and/or the rampant rumors running ’round the blogs and gossip glossies that Mister Trawick plans to very soon put a sparkly ring on Miz Spears finger. Mazel tov to all! Whatever the reason(s), listing information Your Mama squeezed like a pimple out of the interweb shows Miz Spears newest rented residence in somewhat-remote-to-the-Showbiz-World Thousand Oaks was built in 2004, stands two stories tall, and measures 10,567 square feet with a total of 5 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, at leasst 4 fireplaces (3 indoors, 1 outside), garage space for 7 cars, and one craptastically swelegant 8-sided foyer with inlaid marble floor, arched display niches, an unholy cacophony of doorway styles, and a wrought iron railing-ringed oculus that exposes the lower level foyer to the hand-painted geometric mural that spans the ceiling of the upper level gallery. The main living areas include (but are not necessarily limited to) a formal dining room and a not-very-formal formal living room with lustrous random-width, honey-colored oak floors, a full wall of wood-framed glass sliders that peel open to a covered porch, an ornate and over-scaled carved stone fireplace at one end of the long room and what appears to be a built-in entertainment cabinet with exposed flat-screen tee-vee at the other. A more manly architectural and decorative vibe was applied to the medium-dark wood paneled library immediately off the foyer that presents a coffered ceiling overhead, wall-to-wall carpeting the color of wet sand underfoot, a quartet of over-sized windows with a grassy backyard view along one entire wall, and a carved wood and marble fireplace with flat screen television mounted above it where there might more appropriately be a $47 painting of canines smoking cigars and playing poker. The kitchen borders on colossal and includes a Suburu-sized center work island with veggie sink and under-counter booze fridge, many feet of custom milled raised panel cabinetry topped by swirly beige granite with double waterfall style edge detail, well-lit tumbled travertine back splashes, a full suite of high-grade appliances, and an adjoining breakfast area with backyard and swimming pool access through a bank of French doors. We’re just going to totally pretend we don’t see the dreadful swagged fabric valances and the hypertension-inducing items precariously set in to that slim and otherwise mostly useless space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling because otherwise we’d have a serious conniption fit. Casual indoor entertainment areas include, as per listing and marketing materials, a home theater and a gigantic, partly wood-paneled second floor game room complete with fireplace, full-size wood and granite pub, poker nook, and at least three built-in flat-screen tee-vee because as if the sound of one tee-vee isn’t enough to disturb the peace then three tee-vees blaring three different programs at the same damn time is enough to make Your Mama need a nerve pill and nap. Nobody in their right minds smokes indoors anymore–particularly if there are small children, pets, and/or old people around–so draggers and puffers will appreciate the long row of wood-framed sliding glass doors that provide convenient access to a covered outdoor balcony that also has a wide flight of steps that descend to backyard and swimming pool areas. Miz Spears and Mister Trawick, both fit as fiddles with hard booties and firm stomachs, will no doubt make real and serious use of the home gym, located in the same neck of the mcmansion as the game room and equipped with a built-in flat-screen tee-vee mounted about a corner wet bar. We are, we must confess, a bit troubled by the wall-to-wall carpeting in the fitness room. Not only does it seem somehow counter-intuitive to work out–or “work out”–on semi-shag carpeting it seems downright unsanitary. Think about it for a moment. Iffin a person or persons actually uses and uses correctly all that exercise equipment–otherwise known by Your Mama as Self-Inflicting Body Torture Devices–that carpet could quickly become saturated with an upsetting amount of sweat. Anyhoo, a tightly curled carved wood and wrought iron staircase tucked into its own vestibule off the foyer leads to the second level living areas where Miz Spears’ (and presumably Mister Trawick’s) private quarters occupy a private wing that includes a fully-carpeted bedroom big enough for a sizable sitting area with a huge carved stone (or cast-concrete?) fireplace. Glass sliders open to a private covered balcony with chunky stone balustrade and not-so distant view of the mansion-dotted rolling hills that weave their way around the unnaturally green golf course. There isn’t a mention of it in the online listing we perused but we assume closet space in the master suite is both custom-fitted and commodiously celebrity-worthy but listing photographs do show a master bathroom dressed up in expensive but utterly banal and all-beige manner with double sinks, jetted soaking tub, glass-enclosed shower, and a dedicated hair and make-up station with the ugly sort of hydraulically-operated chair one might more reasonably expect to find in a beautician’s workspace. The house sits fairly hard up on the street with a small motor court wedged into the parcel at one end of the house and a soccer-pitch sized grassy space on the other where the current owners erected a jungle gym that we’d bet our long-bodied bitches Linda and Beverly cost more than a minimum wage domestic earns in an entire month. A long and wide free-form terrace extends off the back of the house and extends part way around the amoebic negative edge swimming pool and spa. At one end of the swimming pool an outdoor entertainment complex features an octagonal open air dining pavilion with massive outdoor fireplace and an adjacent conversation-friendly, horseshoe-shaped outdoor kitchen/barbecue center with a raised and umbrella-shaded snack & booze bar. A long, switchback stone staircase descends into a thickly wooded area below the house where Miz Spears boy children will no doubt
Trend spotter: dotty over spots and polka dots
Fashionistas, are you looking for a little inspiration to wear your bold and playful spotted and polka-dotted clothes, hiding shyly in your wardrobes? Here are a few ladies in the limelight who stood out as they donned theirs: Elisha Cuthbert was spotted wearing her spotted LBD at the People’s Choice Awards 2012 on 8 November 2011 in Beverly Hills, … (more) Read more here: Trend spotter: dotty over spots and polka dots
Will The City Be Able To Lure Luxe Car Dealerships Back?
LOS ANGELES — The heart of car culture may be beating in Los Angeles, but the nation’s second-largest city has allowed two-thirds of its new automobile dealerships – and the sales tax revenue they generate – to slip away during the past quarter-century. It seems few noticed as the gleaming cars and SUVs on dealers’ lots left town to escape what critics call punitive business taxes. Tough economic times have changed that. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced this week, days before the Los Angeles Auto Show, that he wants to eliminate business taxes on new car dealers in an effort to lure them back and keep the dealers that are left. The business tax is self-defeating because it brings in limited revenue while scaring away auto dealers that would generate substantial sales tax revenue, the mayor said. “For too long, L.A.’s business tax has driven auto dealers outside the city limits,” Villaraigosa said. “It’s time to reform the way we tax auto dealers so that we can bring more jobs and more sales tax to our city.” Since 1986, some 95 car dealers left Los Angeles for cities like Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena that have much lower business taxes or none at all. Glendale, for instance, has no gross receipts business tax, while auto dealers in Los Angeles are charged $1.27 per $1,000 in gross receipts, whether the dealers are profitable or not. There are now 52 dealerships selling new cars in Los Angeles. Last year, those dealers accounted for $3.6 million in business tax revenue but a whopping $29 million in sales tax revenue for the city. The city’s share of the sales tax is roughly 1 percent of the price of a new car. “It’s time to stop surrounding cities from using LA’s broken tax system to lure businesses and jobs away from us,” City Council President Eric Garcetti said. “Targeting car dealers is a big first step. But we must eliminate the business tax all together. LA’s costly and cumbersome tax scheme is one that taxes businesses even when they lose money.” Garcetti and Councilman Mitch Englander plan to co-sponsor a motion instructing the city attorney to prepare an ordinance eliminating new car dealer gross receipts taxes. It’s unclear when a draft will be completed for a City Council vote. Not everyone is on board with the plan. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana and Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller urged caution in making any changes. “Complete elimination of the business tax would be poor public policy,” said their analysis, released Tuesday. “This would increase the tax burden on residents or result in decreased city services which would make Los Angeles a less desirable place to do business.” The mayor’s $4.3 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2011-12 relies on business tax revenue of $439.2 million. Villaraigosa planned to promote his no-tax proposal to auto manufacturers and dealers in town for the auto show, where more than 50 vehicles are set to make their worldwide or North American debuts. He made his announcement Tuesday at Beverly Hills Porsche, which is relocating next year to the Westwood area of Los Angeles and will benefit from a three-year business tax holiday for new businesses through 2012. It’s only the second dealership in 25 years to open in the city. “When this move is done, this Porsche facility will still be called Beverly Hills Porsche, but let me tell you, that’s fine with me. I say give Beverly Hills the name, we’ll happily take the sales tax,” Villaraigosa said. Beverly Hills Porsche sold $100 million worth of cars last year, which could bring Los Angeles about $1 million in sales taxes. The dealership’s president, Geoff Emery, said the mayor’s office helped with some red tape, but he was mainly interested in the site because it’s off heavily traveled Interstate 405. The 200-member Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association said LA’s business tax has been an important factor in dealer relocation decisions. “Eliminating the business tax for new auto dealers in Los Angeles is a win-win, generating higher sales and higher sales tax for the city,” said Charlie Gill, the association’s executive director. It has been working on getting rid of the business tax for 17 years. “It was so obvious then, back as early as 1973, that it was hamstringing dealers in Los Angeles,” Gill said. “Up to now the question has been whether to grow in L.A. or somewhere else. Now, there’s this real sense L.A. is a real friendly place to do business in.” Bert Boeckmann, the president and owner of San Fernando Valley’s Galpin Motors, whose stable of new cars includes the world’s largest dealer of Ford Motor Co. vehicles, has already paid more than $500,000 this year in Los Angeles business taxes and contributed millions in sales tax revenue. “It is the one thing that impedes competition with other cities,” he said. “In the past, there has been no incentive to be in Los Angeles.” Boeckmann was considering a move of some of his new car operation to property he owns in Burbank, where he owns property. But he said Villaraigosa’s proposal may change that thinking. The business tax was the main reason Bob Smith BMW moved out of L.A.’s Canoga Park neighborhood to the city of Calabasas, where there’s no business tax, Tim Smith said. Now, because of the mayor’s proposal, Smith said he’s considering Woodland Hills and Canoga Park for a new Bob Smith Mini Cooper dealership. “I think it’s a very smart thing to do,” Smith said of eliminating the sales tax. See the article here: Will The City Be Able To Lure Luxe Car Dealerships Back?
Parolee Dies After Leading Cops on a High-Speed Chase And Slamming Into Three Cars
A parolee who gunned it when he saw CHP lights in his rearview mirror last night is dead after leading cops on a high-speed chase through San Bernardino and slamming into three cars. Eight other people were hurt, including passengers in the parolee’s car. more › More here: Parolee Dies After Leading Cops on a High-Speed Chase And Slamming Into Three Cars
Did Sally Field Do It in the West Village?
BUYER: Sally Field LOCATION: New York City, NY PRICE: $2,550,000 SIZE: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A snitchy little birdie told landed outside out window this morning and chirp-chirp-chirped that Oscar-, Emmy-, Golden Globe- and People’s Choice-award winning actress Sally Field (may have) recently snatched up a New York City pied-a-terre. Okay, truth is Your Mama actually read it in a barely-there blurb in the Gimme Shelter column of the New York Post this morning like everybody else. Property records available online reveal that just before Halloween a woman named Sally Field spent $2,550,000 to acquire a two bedroom and two bathroom cooperative apartment in one of the more refined and in-demand buildings in downtown Manhattan’s West Village. Your Mama can not confirm, however, the Sally Field who signed her famous name on the deed’s dotted line is the very same Sally Field ( Gidget, Sybil, Norma Rae, Steel Magnolias ) whose long and sometimes hilly Showbiz career has been on fire the last few years with the screaming success of the now canceled family (melo)drama Brothers & Sisters . So, for now anyways, this is just some celebrity real estate rumor and gossip, okay? Thing is, we love us some Sally Field so we can’t resist taking her real estate ball and running with it… The apartment in question sits on a high floor of an august 17-story pre-war building, a red and brown brick edifice of reassuring proportions designed by architect Robert T. Lyons, built by the Bing brothers–that makes it what’s known in local parlance as a Bing & Bing building–and completed in 1931. Handsome Art Deco-era architectural flourishes with a Greek key design embellish the facade. Originally an apartment hotel– hello Wikipedia –the building converted to a co-operative apartment house in 1987. Some of the children may recognize this building as the very same one where it was once widely rumored and reported sit-com and rom-com queen Jennifer Aniston was interested in the possible acquisition of a duplex penthouse then priced at $14,950,000. Miz Aniston did not buy the duplex. She bought, as it turns out, two apartments in another West Village Bing & Bing building. Records show the posh penthouse Miz Aniston didn’t buy was actually purchased for $12,500,000 by one of the many daughters of the very philanthropic co-founder of Purdue Pharmaceuticals , the makers of OxyContin . Anyhoo, we’re not here to speak on Miz Aniston’s sometimes fickle and inexplicable real estate ways but rather those of a lady named Sally Field who who may or may not be Sally Field and who just paid $2,550,000 for the aforementioned high-floor apartment in a fancy but relaxed pre-war building in New York’s West Village. The always informative real estate website StreetEasy shows the apartment, a successful combination between a studio and a one bedroom apartment, was listed with a price tag of $2,350,000, which means, as per our bejeweled abacus that this Miz Field paid $200,000 over the asking price. And what did her extra two hundred thousand get her y’all might wonder? Listing information shows 4-room corner apartment, fairly spacious by West Village standards where a puny 300 square foot 5th floor walk up studio apartment can easily cost $1,700 per month , has windowed exposure on four sides and carries hefty monthly maintenance charges of $2,426 per month. A long and narrow entrance hall with an excellently large walk-in coat closet directs traffic into a lofty living/dining area with beamed ceilings, large windows with pretty city views, and the first of two wood burning fireplaces in the apartment. Your Mama hopes somebody tells Miz Field that all that track lighting in the living room needs to be removed. A woman of her stature and eminence probably shouldn’t have track lighting in their home(s). Anyhoodles poodles, the simply designed but decently sized kitchen opens to the dining area over a long counter topped half with marble and half with butcher block. The dishwasher situated directly under the sink causes Your Mama’s heart to palpitate uncomfortably How does one rinse and load dishes in a set up like that anyhow? When we take into account this is a kitchen in Manhattan–and one must absolutely take in to account this is a kitchen in Manhattan and not a kitchen in a suburban mcmansion–the ugly dishwasher situation is somewhat mitigated by the full-size fridge/freezer, large window for proper light and ventilation, teeny-tiny walk-in pantry, and impressive amount of counter space. The living/dining room is flanked by bedrooms, each with two closets (including one walk-in in each room) and an attached bathroom. The master bedroom has a fireplace and a window in the walk-in closet but it’s also got green marble tile floors–What the hell?!?–and a petite, window-free bathroom. The second bedroom, only slightly smaller than the master, also has a walk-in closet plus cross-ventilation and a welcomed window in the compact bathroom where, somewhat regrettably, the stacked washer and dryer are installed. That complaint aired, we again recognize this is a New York City apartment where an inconveniently located private washer-dryer stack is immeasurably much better than no private washer-dryer stack at all. For two and a half million of our clams Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter would hope and pine for a slice of outdoor space. Otherwise, in our humble and meaningless opinion, this apartment reeks of Big Apple desirability and can easily be fashioned into a comfortable urban aerie for part- or full-time living that would appeal to just about everyone perhaps but those poor people afflicted with the dreaded Real Estate Size Queen Syndrome, a disease that often and unfortunately goes hand-in-hand with the even more infectious Real Estate Snobitis. Until recently Sally Field– the Sally Field–owned a secluded estate nestled into the rolling foothills of Malibu that she first listed in March 2009 for $6,950,000 . The estate, complete with swimming pool, tennis court, and equestrian facilities was taken off the market after just months. The private property wasn’t re-listed until May 2011 when it popped up with a new, improved and much lower asking price of $5,900,000. Property records we peeped show was sold within two months. Early reports in the celebrity real estate gossip blogs and publications like the L.A. Times show the property sold for $5,650,000 but a closer examination of online deeds and documents shows it sold for $5,909,000. Make of that what you will. As best as Your Mama can tell the horsey estate was sold to a Malibu gynecologist and a Pacific Palisades-based clinical psychologist who bills herself as a “love and happiness guru.” listing photos: Sotheby’s International Realty via StreetEasy See the article here: Did Sally Field Do It in the West Village?