Art I Heart — Edwin Ushiro

"The Lifting and the Releasing." You have to see this one up close!

I just got home from taking myself out on a daytime date. I impressed myself with my schnazzy outfit and my rapier wit, fed myself some chicken cornbread pie from The Pie Hole and introduced myself to a new favorite artist.

Edwin Ushiro has several pieces up in the Japanese American National Museum's new "Supernatural" exhibit. The other two featured artists were a blur because I was sucked in by the Hawaiian-born artist. His work — mixed media on lucite, mostly, as well as, some unidentified canvas that resembled fruit leather — was so lush and haunting. Each piece had a real cinematic quality and I was floored by how he plays with light on his moody, dark backgrounds. Even the inky black & white sketches in his personal journals that were on display made me 'tsk' myself for not taking my own doodling more seriously.

"Foundation of Pre-empted Lingering"

I was glad I was the only person in the gallery, so I could stare, squint, scribble notes and sigh without feeling self-conscious about it (my date totally didn't mind).

The exhibit's only open through March 17. Admissions free every Thursday from 5-8p and every third Thursday of the month (that's Feb. 21, folks).

Song of the Day

I caught Emily King live in Hollywood last week and have been humming this sublime little song ever since.

She popped onto my radar thanks to her collaborations with José James — she wrote "Come to My Door" (listen to this lovely acoustic duet) and "Heaven on the Ground," both from James' latest album, No Beginning No End.

The show was part of her own solo tour and the place was packed with a lot of fashion blog enthusiasts/natural hairstyle models who seemed to know every single lyric, much to King's apparent shock.

While I'm not the hugest fan of love songs (King's forté), I found myself feeling what she was feeling onstage. She just has that way — undeniable charm, stage presence and a lot of heart. Oh, and she was rocking an outfit that I would've gladly stolen off her back (even though she admitted with embarrassment that she'd worn it a few nights before when she opened for Emeli Sandé).

Concert-goers caveat: If you have plans to see someone at Hotel Cafe (I won't reward them with a link), make sure the juice is worth the squeeze. It's actually a cozy little spot once you finally make it in. But parking is atrocious, the denizens of Hollywood even more so and you have to literally step over trash to get to the venue's alleyway entrance. It honestly felt like I was going to The Bronze. I give that club one big side-eye and several nostril flares.

Song of the Day

I've been whistling this song all year, ever since I discovered Hospitality, via Tiny Desk Concert. But I only just got around to seeing the video today. The coastal flip-flop idea is pretty cute (reportedly, it came from the mind of a "Bob's Burgers" writer). More importantly, though...

Hello, Maeby!

5 L.A. Restaurants Where Feeding My Kid Veggies Isn't A Chore

A Saxton Freymann creation

The act of convincing kids to eat vegetables can, at times, be...well...an alternative form of birth control. Even my adventurous little gourmand treats my nerves like her own personal Theremin when she finds something non-starchy, non-protein-y and non-cheesy on her plate.

But, for whatever reason, she will relent when the veggies are offered up by a professional food server. (She's even been known to cave for the sample lady at Trader Joe's!)

So, when the budget allows, I will gladly pay for a meal's worth of sanity. Here are my best bets for getting my daughter to show some love for The Forgotten Food Group.

Song of the Day

I find some household tasks (window-cleaning, toilet bowl-scrubbing) require me to be in a trance-like state. This is both driving and hypnotic and helps get the job done.

Wantables — Let the Spoiling Begin (rather, Continue)

HomeGoods, I'm way ahead of you. Your aisles have been crammed with Halloween stuff for the past several weeks, but my mind has already jet-packed forward to Christmas. Not so much the crafty decorations, or bountiful meal plans — I'm onto presents, presents and more presents!

Bearing in mind my kid's mid-November birthday and Dec. 25, I'm already strategizing which things she'll get and on which of the special days she'll get them. Go ahead. You can judge me. But I'll rattle off the following list of gift contenders knowing that you'll secretly take a break from clowning me just long enough to mentally store some of these ideas:

Djeco is a good fit for my all-consumingly-creative child. The French brand's art kits have exactly what her brain keys into — meticulous designs, copious colors and tons of teeny-tiny little pieces that drive me crazy.

She'd love this Klimt-y kit and it would jog her memory of the exhibit we caught this summer at The Getty.

Song of the Day

I was promised a break from this overbearing heat. The doofus with the tacky suit and bad tan lied. Until I see/feel some temperatures that warrant even so much as a closed-toe shoe (is that really so much to ask for?!), I'll just put this track on repeat and fantasize about brisque breezes and accessorizing with scarves.