Playhouse Village Association

Vroman's Bookstore: Hala Khouri, Tessa Hicks Peterson, Nkem Ndefo, and Valerie Thomas discuss Practicing Liberation
2024-08-15 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Practicing Liberation reorients collective justice work toward a model that transforms the effects of injustice, harm, and oppressive systems into resilience, joy, and community care. Through frameworks like trauma-informed methodology, transformative movement organizing, engaged Buddhism, and healing justice, editors Hala Khouri and Tessa Hicks Peterson show readers how to:

-Embody healing, wellness, and beloved community
-Guard against replicating systems of harm
-Disrupt racist, classist, anti-queer, and anti-trans behavior and systems
-Celebrate creativity and radical imagination in movement work
-Center healing from intergenerational trauma, white supremacy culture, and extractive capitalism
-Honor that self-care is a necessity—not a luxury—that strengthens our collectives

Featuring essays from editors Hala Khouri and Tessa Hicks Peterson and contributors like Kazu Haga, Taj James, Nkem Ndefo, Jacoby Ballard, Sará King, Kerri Kelly, and more, Practicing Liberation can be used on its own or alongside The Practicing Liberation Workbook to help readers orient toward embodied leadership, interconnected collectives, and a bold vision for transformation—the vital tools we need for collective wellbeing, healing, and long-term social change.

Vroman's Bookstore: IN-STORE TICKETED: Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy sign Hogbook and Lazer Eyes
2024-08-16 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Fans of Maria Bamford’s acclaimed quasi-autobiographical Lady Dynamite! Netflix series already know of her romance with LA painter Scott Marvel Cassidy, as well as her droll pug sidekicks Blueberry and Bert.Now the story has been recounted in the graphic novella Hogbook and Lazer Eyes, written by Bamford/Cassidy, drawn by Cassidy, and all told by the rescue dogs they’ve adopted.
For those unfamiliar with the story, newly single fortysomethings Maria Bamford and Scott Cassidy each signed up on the dating site O.K. Cupid, under the respective usernames “Hogbook” and “Lazer Eyes.” They went on a date, and then another, and soon, despite a history of Bipolar II disorder and unhealthy relationships for each of them, they fall in love and are married in 2015. We view all of this through the prism of their pug housemates, including Blueberry and Bert (who has an unnatural obsession with Michael Flatley of “Riverdance” fame), and the elderly bonded pair Betty and Arnold (who recount their star turn as interplanetary canine scientists in the second season of Lady Dynamite).
Cassidy’s fine art training translates with ease into graphic storytelling, with a naturalistic illustrative style that is a pitch-perfect match Bamford’s comic timing, making Hogbook and Lazer Eyes a beautifully illustrated love story, told by some incredibly charming pugs.

USC PAM: Workshop@PAM: Object Stories: A Writing Workshop with Narrated Objects inspired by Searching for Home: Stories of Displacement and Survival
2024-08-17 10:30 - 12:30 | USC Pacific Asia Museum, 46 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Explore the power of objects. Objects, like people, can tell you where they come from, can evoke emotion, and tell stories of love, loss, displacement, struggle, and so much more.
Join Andrea Richards from the creative collective Narrated Objects as she guides participants through writing and meditation exercises aimed at unlocking the storytelling potential within our cherished possessions. Participants are encouraged to bring an object of personal significance, one that holds a special attachment.
Refreshments provided.
Rsvp Required
More about the exhibition:
In Humaira Abid’s exquisitely haunting exhibition Searching for Home, the artist’s sculpted wooden creations invoke the troubling specter of the global refugee crisis and its trails of ruined lives. Inspired by real accounts of displaced people- all personally researched and documented by Abid- the exhibition hints at untold tragedies surrounding the collateral victims of persecution, political conflicts, ethnic cleansing, and natural disasters, a disproportionate number of whom are women and girls. Through her chosen medium of wood, Abid unleashes the innate properties of the material to suggest the ineffable weight and gravity of this continuing humanitarian crisis.
This program is free with the cost of admission (Admission to the museum is $15 and can be paid upon arrival at our Visitor Services Desk. More information about our admission rates can be found here)

Vroman's Summer Reading Program - Hero's Return
2024-08-17 11:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
HERO’S RETURN
Join us in the event space at 11am for a battle with the FINAL BOSS: Mr. Steve, in a video game and adventure-themed storytime. And be sure to stop by the Kid’s Info Desk with your QUEST LOG anytime from 11am-2pm to COLLECT YOUR LOOT: cold snacks, $5 Vroman’s gift cards, and more!

Vroman's Bookstore: Abigail Hing Wen, in conversation with Marie Lu, discusses Kisses, Codes, and Conspiracies
2024-08-17 14:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Tan Lee finds himself embroiled in an unusual love triangle, all while trying to defuse a heist, unravel a conspiracy, and navigate the most complicated babysitting assignment ever in this YA novel by New York Times and Indie bestselling author Abigail Hing Wen.
After a magical kiss at Prom, best friends Tan Lee and Winter Woo agree to cool it off, a plan that goes awry when their parents jointly head off to Hawaii and leave Tan and Winter to babysit Tan’s sister Sana together. If that isn’t complicated enough, Tan’s ex-girlfriend from Shanghai arrives on his doorstep with money stolen from her billionaire father and thugs on her heels.
Tan soon finds himself on the run through the San Francisco Bay Area, trying to out-maneuver international hackers and protect his friends, family, and sister—and his own heart.

Marie Lu is the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the Legend series, The Young Elites trilogy, the Warcross series, the Skyhunter series, Batman: Nightwalker, and The Kingdom of Back. She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry, where she worked as an artist. A full-time writer, she spends her spare hours reading, drawing, playing games, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in the traffic-jam capital, Los Angeles, with her illustrator/author husband, Primo Gallanosa, and their son.

Renew Performance Center: Love The Skin Your In!
2024-08-18 10:00 - 14:00 | Renew Performance Center, 600 E Colorado Blvd Suite 110, Pasadena, CA, 91101
Welcome to Love The Skin Your In! event at Renew Performance Center. Get ready to embrace and celebrate your unique beauty with a day filled with self-care, positivity, and empowerment. Join us for a fun and inspiring time where you can learn new skincare tips, enjoy pampering treatments like lymphatic Drainage, Massage, and Red Light Therapy, and connect with like-minded individuals. Let’s come together to appreciate and love the skin we’re in. See you there! Special Guest Jmeeks will be doing 30-minute sessions of his Signature Facial for $80, You don’t want to miss it!44Tipper_1

Vroman's Bookstore: Gina Chen, Shelly Page, Justine Pucella Winans, and Alex Brown, discuss The House Where Death Lives: An Anthology
2024-08-18 14:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
A dance to the death. A girl who’s just as monstrous as H.H. Holmes. A hallway that’s constantly changing―and hungry. All of these stories exist in the same place―within the frame of a particular house that isn’t bound by the laws of time and space.
Following in the footsteps of dark/horror-filled YA anthologies like His Hideous Heart and Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, and Netflix’s groundbreaking adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, this YA speculative fiction anthology explores how the permanence of a home can become a space of transition and change for both the inhabitants and the creatures who haunt them.
Each story in the anthology will focus on a different room in the house and feature unique takes on monsters from a wide array of cultural traditions. Whether it’s a demonic Trickster, a water-loving Rusalka, or a horrifying, baby-imitating Tiyanak, there’s bound to be something sinister lurking in the shadows.

Archetype Yoga: Full Moon Soundbath (August)
2024-08-18 19:30 - 20:30 | Archetypa Yoga, 638 e colorado ave, pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Got a conundrum or need some direction? We’ll use the Lunar Energy of the Full Moon to guide us. In this workshop expect to:
🛁 Relax your nervous system in a therapeutic Sound bath.
🔮 See what the cards say in your Tarot Reading.
☕️ Pick one of our Loose Leaf Teas to enjoy.
📚 Bring a journal, pen, and a mug!

Landmark Theatres Pasadena: Retro Replay: Three Kings
2024-08-20 19:00 | Landmark Theatre, 673 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Check out Retro Replay at Landmark Theatres Pasadena! Enjoy classics from ’99: The Year That Changed Movies, including The Matrix, Eyes Wide Shut, Lock, Stock, Two Barrels, and Three Kings for just $ 5.

Pasadena Playhouse: Cyrano De Bergerac
2024-08-20 20:00 | CA
One of the greatest plays ever written is radically reborn in this critically acclaimed adaptation. Modern poetry and sizzling rhythm collide in a scorching love triangle when Cyrano discovers the love of his life has eyes for another man. Immerse yourself in the romantic adventure of this timeless and heartrending love story.

Vroman's Bookstore: Albert M. Camarillo discusses Compton in My Soul: A Life in Pursuit of Racial Equality
2024-08-21 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
When Al Camarillo grew up in Compton, California, racial segregation was the rule. His relatives were among the first Mexican immigrants to settle there–in the only neighborhood where Mexicans were allowed to live. The city’s majority was then White, and Compton would shift to a predominantly Black community over Al’s youth. Compton in My Soul weaves Al’s personal story with histories of this now-infamous place and illuminates a changing US society–the progress and backslides over half a century for racial equality and educational opportunity.
Entering UCLA in the mid-1960s, Camarillo was among the first students of color, one of only forty-four Mexican Americans on a campus of thousands. He became the first Mexican American in the country to earn a PhD in Chicano/Mexican American history and established himself as a preeminent US historian with a prestigious appointment at Stanford University. In this candid and warm-hearted memoir, Camarillo offers his career as a vehicle for tracing the evolution of ethnic studies, reflecting on intergenerational struggles to achieve racial equality from the perspective at once of a participant and a historian.
Camarillo’s story is a quintessential American chronicle and speaks to the best and worst of who we are as a people and as a nation. He unmasks fundamental contradictions in American life–racial injustice and interracial cooperation, inequality and equal opportunity, racial strife and racial harmony. Even as legacies of inequality still haunt American society, Camarillo writes with a message of hope for a better, more inclusive America–and the aspiration that his life’s journey can inspire others as they start down their own path.

Movies in the Park: The Sixth Sense (1999, PG-13)
2024-08-23 19:00 - 22:00 | Playhouse Village Park, 701 Union St, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Playhouse Village continues the summer season with Movies in the Park presented by Landmark Theatres Pasadena and Playhouse Village Foundation. The Retro Replay edition of the free outdoor community movie screenings will feature iconic films from ’99: The Year That Changed Hollywood on select Friday evenings in August at the lawn of Playhouse Village Park. Seating on the lawn opens at 7:00 pm with a 90’s photo op, crafts, movie trivia and more! Each show will begin after sunset, at approximately 8:00 pm. Bring blankets or lawn chairs and a picnic from your favorite local Playhouse Village restaurant to enjoy with family and friends prior to the film.
The first 50 people to sign up for our email list at each screening, will receive a Buy One, Get One FREE Movie Ticket offer from Landmark Theatres. See you there!
Playhouse Village Park is located at 701 E Union St.

Vroman's Bookstore: Antoinette Portis discusses Not-a-Box City
2024-08-24 11:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Don’t miss the long-awaited companion to Not a Box, winner of a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award. This picture book with its visual humor and simple dialogue is great for fans of Mo Willems and Crockett Johnson.
Bunny wants to build a cardboard city.
Bunny stacks one cardboard box on top of another and another.
Bunny doesn’t want any help. Bunny doesn’t need any help, either.
But what’s a cardboard city without friends?
Written and illustrated with the same delightful simplicity that made Not a Box such a hit, the playtime possibilities of a stack of boxes and friendship will inspire and excite any child who has ever journeyed into the world of make-believe.

Landmark Theatres Pasadena: Retro Replay: Eyes Wide Shut
2024-08-27 19:00 | Landmark Theatre, 673 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States

Vroman's Bookstore: Craig Rosebraugh discusses Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: The FBI vs. the Earth Liberation Front
2024-08-30 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
A harrowing, captivating firsthand history of the rise of the radical environmental movement the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Since 1997, the ELF has inflicted over $100 million in damages on entities they believe to be causing environmental destruction, mostly through brazen arson attacks on timber companies, ski resorts, and car dealerships.
Former ELF spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh charts the history and ideology of the ELF and explores its tactics, successes, and limitations. Rosebraugh examines the question of whether or not violence is justifiable, along with the short- and long-term political benefits and drawbacks of using violence. He also offers a primer on the tactics of state repression and strategies the US government uses to destroy activist movements.
Whatever your view of direct action or violence, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet is an illuminating read for anyone seeking to understand radical environmental movements and the government’s response to them.

Vroman's Bookstore: Summer Music Series featuring PCM Jazz Faculty + Friends Co-Sponsored by The Pasadena Conservatory of Music
2024-08-31 17:00 | Vroman’s Stage, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, Select a Country:

Vroman's Bookstore: Local Author Day - Young Reader’s Edition
2024-09-01 12:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
“AhMa Loves You! is a heartwarming bilingual chapter book highlighting the special relationship between a grandma and grandchild and the cross-cultural differences in ways to show love. There’s no other book like it on the market! Highly recommended!”
-Katrina Liu, Author of I Love Boba!

Vroman's Bookstore: Local Author Day featuring m.a. Arana, Tom Jenkins, and Dennis C. Powell
2024-09-01 16:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
In Wing Stroke by m. a. Arana, we immerse ourselves in the gripping tale of revenge and change. This is more than a story of reclaiming a kingdom; it’s a desperate battle for recognition in a world that has yet to acknowledge its existence.
The Next Run: A UC Berkeley Student’s Rise to Major 60s Pot Smuggler by Tom Jenkins
The true story of a 60s Berkeley student who starts smuggling pot hidden in cars, graduates to planes, resorts to wading sacks through the Rio Grande, and ultimately finds himself heading the Colombian end of an operation using a twin-engine cargo plane to drop bales to waiting speedboats off the coast of Florida. At the same time, his Mexican contacts are sending him six-ton shipments transported in semis past a bribed customs officer.
Standing Over Home by Dennis C. Powell
Standing Over Home is written to help broken sons-young men who lacked the love and direction of a father figure-discover respect and learn missed lessons about love and protection that were never passed down to them during their formative years. Through the eyes of author Dennis Powell, division champion Dodger pitcher, Standing Over Home communicates metaphorically this picture of the importance of a father’s role to stand as protector and priest over his home and family.

Vroman’s Ed – Romance Writing Class with Amy Spalding (8 weeks)
2024-09-03 18:30 - 20:30 | Atrium Building, 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Vroman’s Ed – Romance Writing Class with Amy Spalding (8 weeks)
Wednesdays, 6:30pm – 8:30pm, starting on 9/4/24 (no class on 9/25 & 10/23)
$500.00 per person
From Meet Cute to HEA: Writing the Modern Romance Novel
Have you always wanted to write your own HEA (that’s a happily-ever-after)? This class is for anyone interested in writing a romance novel—or who’s started one but feels like they need some help getting to that happy ending! In this 8-week course, bestselling author Amy Spalding will teach you the fundamentals of romance novels.
From Meet Cute to HEA: Writing the Modern Romance Novel will focus on structure, with specialized lectures each week to learn more about each beat, from the setup to the meet-cute, all the way through to that glorious HEA. Topics covered will include genre conventions (yes, like tropes!), dialogue/banter, building tension (sexual and otherwise!), inclusivity/diversity in storytelling, common pitfalls, and more.
Classes will be mostly lecture/discussion, with time set aside each week for writing exercises and brainstorming. The goal is for each writer to leave class with a full outline of their romance novel, as well as some example scenes and exercises they may be able to use in the manuscript as well.
Students will also leave class with resources: each week’s presentation will be sent out to all students, as well as additional links for further examples/education.
Amy Spalding is the author of several adult and YA novels, including the bestselling romance For Her Consideration, We Used to Be Friends and YA romance The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles), which was named a best book of 2018 by NPR, the Boston Globe, Kirkus Reviews, and more. She is a recipient of the 2023 Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award for the authentic, funny, and diverse representation of the LGBTQ+ community in her books.
Amy grew up in St. Louis and now lives in Los Angeles. She has a B.A. in Advertising & Marketing Communications from Webster University and an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School. Amy studied longform improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
*This class will be held on the following dates – 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/30, and 11/6 (with no class on 9/25 & 10/23) and will take place in the Vroman’s Meeting Room located next door to Vroman’s Main Store in the Atrium at 709 E. Colorado Blvd. Suite 120.
(Please register by end of day 9/3/24)

Vroman's Bookstore: Eve Driver discusses What We Can’t Burn
2024-09-03 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Eve was a fossil fuel divestment activist from Massachusetts who came to believe capitalism was at the root of the climate crisis. Tom was a clean energy entrepreneur from a rural village in Kenya who believed the activist approach was suspended from the real-world experiences of those facing the worst of the crisis’ effects. They met as juniors at Harvard, launching a journey in which their conflicting perspectives almost tore their unlikely friendship apart.
Raw, funny, and lyrical, What We Can’t Burn is a memoir in two voices about coming of age in a world confused and divided about how to save itself. Set in both Kenya and the United States, this timely story is a singular testament to the power of dialogue, humor, and friendship to help us find our place among the many currents of change-making that cut across the world today.

Pasadena Playhouse: Cyrano De Bergerac
2024-09-05 19:00, 2024-09-07 14:00 | Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States

Vroman's Bookstore: Mike De Socio, in conversation with Nick Wolny, discuss Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—and America
2024-09-06 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
In Morally Straight we meet James Dale, the poster child of Scouting who took his fight for inclusion to the Supreme Court; Steven Cozza, the 12-year-old scout in California who started a movement for inclusion called Scouting for All; Jennifer Tyrrell, the lesbian den mother whose expulsion from the Scouts reignited the gay membership controversy; Zach Wahls, the son of lesbian moms who led the final push for policy change; and an array of other previously unknown Scouters who played smaller—but no less crucial—roles in the fight for full inclusion.
About Mike De Socio: Mike De Socio is an award-winning independent journalist who writes about social justice and solutions. He grew up in New Jersey, where he became an Eagle Scout, and later earned a degree in journalism from Boston University. His work has been published in theWashington Post, Bloomberg,the Guardian, Fortune, Xtra, YES!Magazine, and more. He now lives with his partner in upstate New York.
About Nick Wolny: Nick Wolny is a professional editor, journalist, and business consultant based in Los Angeles.

Vroman's Bookstore: A Special Musical Storytime featuring the Pasadena Conservatory of Music
2024-09-07 11:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
The Pasadena Conservatory of Music will be putting on a special musical storytime with featured book: My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. Caregivers and children aged 3-9 will enjoy story, craft activities, creative movement and a mini-concert.

Vroman's Bookstore: Local Poetry Day featuring Brent Ameneyro, Lory Bedikian, Blas Falconer, and Cherene Sherrard, in Conversation With Doug Manuel
2024-09-07 14:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Brent Ameneyro is the author of the collection A Face Out of Clay (The Center for Literary Publishing, 2024) and the chapbook Puebla (Ghost City Press, 2023). His E-Lit has been selected for the 2022 Education and Electronic Literature Conference and Art Festival in Italy, as well as for film festivals in Denmark, Barcelona, Canada, and Los Angeles. He was the 2022-2023 Letras Latinas Poetry Coalition Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. He currently serves as the poetry editor at The Los Angeles Review.
Lory Bedikian’s second book Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body won the 2023 Prairie Schooner/Raz-Shumaker Book Prize in Poetry forthcoming September 2024 from the University of Nebraska Press and her first collection The Book of Lamenting won the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. Several of Bedikian’s poems received the First Prize Award in the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry as part of the 2022 Nimrod Literary Awards. Her work is published in Tin House, Gulf Coast, The Los Angeles Review, BOULEVARD, The Adroit Journal, Orion, wildness, and was featured on Pádraig Ó Tuama’s Poetry Unbound podcast. Her poem “The Mechanic,” is included in the anthology Border Lines: Poems of Migration, KNOPF, 2020. Bedikian’s manuscript-in-progress received a 2021 grant from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. New work appears in Massachusetts Review’s “Revisiting WOMAN: An Issue, 50 Years Later.” Bedikian earned an MFA from the University of Oregon. She teaches poetry workshops in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Blas Falconer is the author of four books, including Rara Avis (Four Way Books 2024), as well as the coeditor of two anthologies, Mentor and Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets and The Other Latin@: Writing Against a Singular Identity. The recipient of a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, he teaches in San Diego State University’s MFA program and is the editor in chief at Poetry International Online.
Cherene Sherrard is a poet, scholar, and essayist. She is the author of two poetry collections, Vixen, and Grimoire, and an award-winning chapbook, Mistress, Reclining. Recent creative nonfiction and poetry have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Hidden Compass, Ecotone, Terrain.org, Blackbird, Water~Stone Review, and elsewhere. She is a professor of English at Pomona College
Douglas Manuel was born in Anderson, Indiana and now resides in Whittier, California. He received a BA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University, an MFA in poetry from Butler University, and a PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. He is the author of two collections of poetry, Testify (2017) and Trouble Funk (2023). His poems and essays can be found in numerous literary journals, magazines, and websites, most recently Zyzzyva, Pleiades, and the New Orleans Review. He has traveled to Egypt and Eritrea with The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program to teach poetry. A recipient of the Dana Gioia Poetry Award and a fellowship from the Borchard Foundation Center on Literary Arts, he is an assistant professor of English at Whittier College and teaches at Spalding University’s low-res MFA program.

Vroman's Bookstore: Mary Lea Carroll discusses Across the Street Around the Corner…A Road Home
2024-09-09 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Across the Street, Around the Corner: A Road Home is an inspiring, wisdom-packed, funny collection of neighborhood life set during the pandemic, when everyone-everywhere-was forced to stay home. As a world traveler and now not able to go anywhere, the author thinks, Well, I can’t travel the world? Why not travel the block-see who and what’s right under my own nose? Having been in her neighborhood 35 years, and alarmed by how isolating the lockdown was, Carroll began a pandemic practice of reaching out to neighbors she’d known for years but may have lost track of: saying hello, checking on them and setting up walks and talks. Her aim was to rediscover the elusive element that turned their not-so-great neighborhood into a cherished, even prized place to live. The conversations that ensued with her current neighbors -funny, touching, nostalgic-brought memories of her own childhood back to life, in a neighborhood a mere mile or two from where she lives today but more than 60 years apart in time: Memories of the neighbors who helped form her, of growing up in the 1960s amid nine brothers and sisters with an eccentric former movie-star grandmother and a street packed with kids.
Across the Street, Around the Corner: A Road Home melds together these neighborhoods, combining stories both hilarious and uplifting with simple observations and inspirations. The book opens our eyes on how to live a little bit better in the neighborhood life happens to place you. In these divisive times, this slim, giftable book is a comfort and a balm and every bit as warm, engaging, inspiring, and funny as the author’s first two enduringly popular books, Saint Everywhere and Somehow Saints.

Vroman's Bookstore: Ava Dellaira, in conversation with Nicola Yoon, discusses Exposure
2024-09-11 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Best friends Juliette Marker and Annie Ricci shared an enviable childhood bond, both mesmerized by Juliette’s famous mother, Margot, a renowned photographer who documented their idyllic southern California adolescence.
After a series of unexpected events, Juliette leaves Annie and California for Chicago, where, as a white college freshman, she meets Noah King, a Black high school senior. These two lonely souls enter each other’s orbit, forge a connection, and, after a chance meeting, spend one eventful evening together.
Years later, Noah has done the impossible and made it in Hollywood. His first film is about to be released. He and his beloved wife Jesse, a successful writer herself, have just had a baby when Annie makes a startling discovery about Juliette that will threaten to blow up the life Noah has struggled to build. Details of that fateful Chicago night more than a decade earlier come to light, causing all who love Juliette and Noah to confront the discomfort of conflicting truths.
Spanning decades and told from multiple perspectives, this powerful, provocative debut delves into the complex lives and relationships of those affected by one life-changing moment, sharply exploring how race, artistic ambition, friendship, and grief expose different versions of the same story.
About Ava Dellaira: Ava Dellaira was born in Los Angeles. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, and then received her MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop after which she moved to Los Angeles assisting Stephen Chbosky, the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as an associate producer on his film adaptation of the book. Author of Love Letters to the Dead, Ava adapted it into a screenplay for Temple Hill (the company that produced Twilight and The Fault In Our Stars). She has since written In Search of Us and the upcoming adult novel Exposure.

Ice House Comedy: Breaking The Ice Open Mic Night
2024-09-12 08:00 - 17:00 | Ice House Comedy Club, 24 N Mentor Ave, Pasadena, CA, 91106
Ice House Comedy presents Breaking The Ice Open Mic Night. Live in the California Room! The event is FREE for anyone to attend. Ice House Doors Open at 6pm. Comic sign-ups ($5) begin at 6:15pm, 18+

El Portal: Annual Tequila Tasting
2024-09-12 17:30 - 20:30 | El Portal Restaurant, 695 East Green Street , Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
El Portal invites you to their Annual Tequila Tasting, a vibrant community celebration. Guests will explore a curated selection of premium tequilas, paired with authentic dishes that highlight the flavors of Mexico. Set in the heart of Playhouse Village, this event is the perfect opportunity to gather with friends, enjoy live music, and savor the spirit of tequila in a lively, festive atmosphere. Don’t miss out on this much-anticipated tradition at El Portal!

Vroman's Ed - Shamanic Sound Bath Workshop with Shaman Ada Trinh and Erica Medina
2024-09-12 18:00 | Atrium Building, 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Shamanic Sound Bath with Ada Trinh & Erica Medina at Vroman’s Bookstore
$60.00 per person
Join us for an immersive Shamanic Sound Bath at Vroman’s Bookstore, led by Ada Trinh and Erica Medina. This special event offers a unique opportunity to experience the healing power of sound, even if you’re new to spiritual practices. In this session, Ada and Erica will guide you through a transformative journey using the resonant tones of gongs and crystal sound bowls. These sounds serve as a powerful medicine for the soul, helping to clear your mind, release stress from your body, and restore your natural balance. Whether you’re seeking deep relaxation, a moment of peace, or a spiritual connection, this sound bath will provide a calming space to reconnect with yourself. No prior experience is necessary—just bring an open heart and a willingness to relax. Come as you are and leave feeling rejuvenated, centered, and more in tune with your inner self. Don’t miss this chance to unwind and nourish your spirit. Secure your spot today and discover the soothing and transformative effects of sound.
Please bring a yoga mat, water and a journal.
