From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

It’s time for another Thursday Thirteen! I was driving around the other day, thinking about how much I love this city. Of course, that was before that lousy driver cut me off on the 405 Freeway and totally harshed my mellow, but that’s a blog post for another day. For now, here a few of my favorite things:

1. Pink’s Hot Dogs – To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what makes Pink’s Hot Dogs so popular, but for some reason I just feel better knowing it’s there.

2. Guy who sells maps to the stars’ homes on Sunset Blvd. near Doheny – I’ve never actually bought one of these maps, but it’s nice to know that if I ever act on my urge to start stalking Will Smith, there’s somebody who can tell me how to find him.

3. Giant Chair Statue at Pacific Design Center – I love this humongous 30-foot chair, not only for its aesthetics but because we have a running joke: whenever I drive by it with my husband and kids, we always talk about how we’re going to somehow hoist the 10-year old up there and take a picture of her perched on its edge. It’s going to happen, I promise.

4. La Brea Tar Pits – Besides being a great place to take my kids, this place reminds me of my childhood. Also, I have friends who live in the area and have stories of (prehistoric!) tar bubbling up through cracks in their street, which is way more exciting than anything that ever happens on the block where I live.

5. Grauman’s Chinese Theater – Totally overrun with tourists, but where else can you get a close-up look at celebrities’ handprints? Nah, sneaking a look at Shia LeBeouf’s fingerprints at the LAPD isn’t the same.

6. Capitol Records Building – Because it was designed to look like a stack of records! Also, because they’re one of the first buildings every year to put up their Christmas tree made out of lights.

7. Book Soup – Absolutely the coolest book store in the city. Although it makes me sad to go there now, because the legendary Tower Records across the street on Sunset is no longer there.

8. Hollywood and Vine – This famous intersection provides some of the best people-watching in the city. Stopping at that traffic light for thirty seconds always makes me feel like I’ve stepped into a David Lynch movie.

9. Angelyne – I don’t really like Angelyne but she’s my favorite in more of a ‘fascinatingly hideous’ sort of way. Talk to ten different people, and you’ll get ten different Angelyne stories. I once saw her buying clothes at the drug store. She bought some pants, hopped into her pink Corvette and drove away.

10. Watt’s Towers –I urge everyone to get over your fear of driving into this area, and check out these amazing works of art, at least once. Personally, I think your life may be in more danger while trying to shop at Costco during the Christmas rush.

11. Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine – I know it sounds all new age-y and touchy-feely, but you should really check this place out. And don’t worry – you don’t have to have a religious bone in your body to appreciate it. A couple of walks around the serene path that winds around the lake and you’ll feel like a new person. If not, at least make yourself useful by feeding the ducks.

12. First Street, Little Tokyo – There’s nowhere else in the city that can say it’s home to my favorite spa, my favorite restaurant and my favorite coffee shop. I’d tell you about all these secret places, but then I’d have to kill you.

13. The Beverly Center – Yeah, it’s just a mall to most people, but it takes me back to my Sex And The City days, when I’d spend hours trolling the stores just to find a perfect dress to wear on a dinner date. Who has that kind of time anymore?

If you have been feeling the urge to get out with your girlfriends and leave the husband/boyfriend/cat at home…then I have a great suggestion for you!

Never has there been a better “ladies’ night” excuse than the release of Sex and the City–The Movie. Women across the world are giddy with delight that it is finally here–four years after the last episode aired!

If you live in the Bay Area, then I have the perfect location for this most exciting girls getaway. Gather your gaggle of gals and buy tickets to see the movie in San Francisco at Sundance Kabuki Theater on Fillmore. This is an excellent movie theater in a beautiful building. But, more importantly, there is one theater with balcony seating next to a full service bar. So, you can sit back in their large comfy seats and drink a Cosmo while you watch Carrie and the girls in New York City.

I went this week and it was a blast! Go out to dinner first and dress up….channel your inner Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, or Miranda fashion sense. Get to the movie early though! On a Tuesday night the line at the bar was out the door, filled with enthusiastic women–no men to be seen.

I won’t spoil the movie for anyone–but, it is definitely worth seeing. So, organize your group of friends and go see it in style!

Thanks to Shereen for the great pic!

Who was your favorite character on SATC?