Jessica Koslow

Almost four years ago, after a multimillion-dollar renovation, the Holiday Inn across from the Santa Monica Pier reopened as The Pierside, a surprisingly quiet place to stay, anchored by a chilled-out spot to eat, The Surfing Fox. The restaurant and gathering spot hosts activities year-round, and on Sept. 29, it will celebrate National Coffee Day by offering guests $1 coffee (including espresso drinks).

“Nowadays, and in this economy, everybody is looking for a little break,” said Director of Marketing Csilla Martin-Arujo. And Angelenos love their coffee: According to WalletHub’s report on 2026’s Best Coffee Cities in America, L.A. ranked 14.

Another perk on The Surfing Fox’s calendar is its upcoming Stirred Spirits: Halloween Mixology Class on Oct. 24 led by bartender George, where participants will learn how to craft two cocktails. The property’s programming is all part of its mission to foster a culture of community. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

It was scheduled to be something special: A living 150-year-old olive tree in Spain would ceremonially open the first U.S. flagship of OLIVE TREE PEOPLE at 1335 Abbot Kinney Boulevard. As the crowd gathered on August 27 around 10:30 a.m., founder Thomas Lommel welcomed his guests to listen to the tree’s live frequency as olive leaves were sprinkled down from the roof. Waterless beauty is the fastest-growing sector in the beauty industry, and OLIVE TREE PEOPLE is the fastest-growing company in waterless beauty—and now the brand’s U.S. flagship has put down roots on “The Coolest Block in America.”

“Can you imagine what that is?” asked Lommel, as visitors walked through the doors and gazed at the architecture of the product shelves, which appear like cathedral arches.

“These are our trees,” he explained. “We didn’t want to bring in real trees, so we created these beautiful sculptures. When I’m in the forest, it feels like a cathedral. And what is important when it comes to trees? Soil. For that reason, we brought in 45,000 pounds of soil from Spain and L.A., which has been combined through ancient rammed-earth construction.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

It depends on the month and how busy Samantha Dockser is, but between physical and audiobooks, she usually reads about eight a month. Growing up outside of Washington, D.C., her mom would take her and her brother to the Chevy Chase Library in Maryland, which was walking distance from her house, and they’d fill up a wagon with books. She eventually read her way to her dream job in 2024 at Logue Social, a social media marketing agency for authors, and together with the founder, Morgan Messing, launched Preoccupied LA to leverage Instagram to bring LA’s literary community together through in-person events.

“I’ve always loved reading,” Dockser said. “During college, I developed a real passion for content creation as a means of storytelling. I’ve been posting the books that I’ve been reading on social media since 2018. Finding a way to turn my love of reading into this creative career has been really fun.”

Born in Brentwood, Messing worked for Goop and ICM and was about to embark on a career at a publishing house doing marketing for books when realized there was a missing piece of the machine: Authors were being asked to market their books on social media in a way they had never done before. The landscape of publishing and marketing for books had shifted, and authors did not have the tools, skills or time to most effectively sell their books. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.