Small Town Life In Big L.A.: Chalk Paint

Yesterday we were invited by the City of Glendale to meet early in the morning and board a specially chartered tour bus. The plan being to meet with neighboring city officials, tour their shopping districts, and learn what they are doing that we could apply to Montrose.

The tour was led by Jennifer McLain, Principal Economic Development Officer (right) along with Jackie Bartlow, Economic Development Coordinator (left). We were joined by Montrose Shopping Park officials, key Montrose business owners (I'll introduce you to them in these pics), and the Executive Director of the Montrose Chamber.

The tour was well organized and we kept to our full agenda. Serving on the City of Glendale Branding Committee, it always makes me smile when I see the happy swirl logo used on City correspondence.

First stop upon arriving in Claremont: COFFEE!!! Meet Jeannie (left), owner of popular Spanish inspired restaurant CASA CORDOBA...Maureen (middle), owner of the oldest children's bookstore in the nation ONCE UPON A TIME...and Ken, owner of long time music store GRAYSON'S TUNE TOWN.

And thus the walking began. I have always wanted to go to Claremont but somehow, until today, never made it.

What a beautiful and quaint shopping and dining district in the heart of Cali. It's known, among many other things, for it's prominent colleges. Six of them I believe. We all loved this mural and would like to see some of this done in Montrose.

Now onto our first official meeting of the day.

We met with Brian Desatnik (right), Director of Community Development for the City of Claremont and had a very productive and interesting discussion. To my right is hubby Dale who serves as Business Administrator and Events Coordinator for the MSPA (Montrose Shopping Park Assn). Next to him, Steve Pierce our Communication Admin., Harvest Marketplace Manager, and Filming Liaison.

More walking, led by Brian, ensued. What beautiful weather we had!

The walking abruptly stopped the minute we saw PIES!!!

My friend Gigi (right) and I had the same idea! Gigi owns IT TAKES A VILLAGE KIDS and serves as V.P. of the MSPA Board. Note: I LIKE PIE we need you in Montrose!

We all admired the lush plantings throughout the Claremont shopping district.

Thank you Brian for sharing your valuable time with us. I enjoyed your manner and we all learned so much!

This shot was taken from the bus window on the way to Covina and epitomizes the Southern California Inland Empire. Palm trees, bougainvillea, blue skies, mountains, and the American flag.

Being a "foodie" I LOVE trying new places! Lunch was at gastropub BREAD AND YEAST in the heart of the Covina shopping district.

Among other things we enjoyed these Portobello Fries with bacon and shaved Parmesan. YUM!

We dined with Covina Asst. City Manager Angel Carrillo. Once again most informative.

In our after lunch tour we came across this sign. LOL!

Uh oh! As if the pies in Claremont weren't enough! Just had to buy pastries at PAN DULCE! Do you see that empty spot where the jelly rolls are? I've got it in the bag!

Now we are in Monrovia. Call out to KNOT TOO SHABBY: Come to Montrose!!! What a cute store! They sell chalk paint and teach you how to use it!

Glad we are walking off our lunch!

At least until we ran into this giant poster of Thor!

Hahahahahahahahaha! We do have fun!

Beautiful fountain vignette in Monrovia,

We like this colorful photo op too. Wondering if we might want one of Meatball the bear in Montroseland?

We ended the day at 38 DEGREES ALEHOUSE where Monrovia business owner and volunteer extraordinaire Pam Fitzpatrick graciously shared her work on behalf of the Monrovia shopping district. This woman deserves a medal!

Alas the "party bus" awaits to whisk us back to never never land. THANK YOU City of Glendale for a wonderful day on behalf of #montrose2020vision We learned much and enjoyed ourselves doing it. GREAT job Jennifer & Jackie!

Well I finally did it! I have wanted to try chalk painting for a long time. For those that don't know it's really "in" to paint old pieces of brown furniture giving them an aged, distressed look. Chalk paint is so easy as it's water soluble and doesn't have fumes like regular paint. You can literally paint the piece in the house right where it sits! As with any new project I start small. After watching You Tube videos and researching chalk paints I ordered these small containers in versions of this year's fashion colors LILAC GRAY and ROSE QUARTZ along with basic brushes and CLEAR WAX.

Here is my first "victim", an old yarn holder we bought at an antique store in Ojai years ago.

And here is the finished piece! I applied one coat of Lilac Gray chalk paint. Let it dry, which only took like 15 minutes... Distressed some spots with a scrub sponge to add worn marks...and finished by painting on clear wax. EASY!!!