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Thanks to well-known Michael's Restaurant for the invite tonight to their "new" M-F, 5pm to close, "Happy Hour" launch! All menu items $6.00. Featuring farm to glass cocktails with herbs & fruits from Michael's rooftop garden & SM Farmer's Market! Try Michael's unique cocktails, or original menu items!!

That Dottie Dexter is at it again. Just got this message from her. "It's President's Day!! "Cheers" to President Obama! I'm off on a Santa Monica Shopping Tour!! Yoo hoo.."

This tribute speech by Kevin Costner at Whitney Houston's memorial today (to me) spoke to "many"-regarding taking risks, not being defined by color, believing in another, believing in oneself (whether good enough), etc. Poignant & touching...

Costner: Whitney 'perfect' for Bodyguard

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Actor Kevin Costner describes asking Whitney Houston to star in "The Bodyguard."

Love it! McDonald's Teams Up With Humane Society To Phase Out Pig Crates. This commercial is terrific! Click the link below...

Happy Valentines Day, Santa Monica!!! xo...

"Rest In Peace" Whitney Houston. Thank you for the great music & films over time. "I will always love you" from "The Bodyguard" a favorite of mine. Santa Monica is very close to Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where Whitney was staying & where Clive Davis' Pre-Grammy party was happening Saturday night. Such a sad loss for all. A terrific montage of Whitney Houston performances of "I Will Always Love You". This song by Whitney played as her funeral ended. So powerful & emotional...

Twilight movie series stay in Santa Monica! Summit Entertainment (studio behind Twilight movies) sold their company to Lionsgate, our well-known Santa Monica independent movie studio for 412.5 million. Love it! Lionsgate has their own roster of great movies over time, & adding Summit's movies on schedule will make Lionsgate even more powerful! Let the Twilight franchise continue! Speaking of new Santa Monica Happenings, Kohl's Department Store is opening it's 1st ever California Design Center in Santa Monica! Welcome! Also, be sure to check out the Annenberg Beach House. The photography exhibit, LA Icon & other Impressions are on display through April 15th, from 9am-3pm. If you're up for a bite afterwards, "Back on the Beach," the great restaurant on the beach just S. of the Annenberg is a thought. Tell the Owner, Fred, "Hello!" Enjoy the weekend Santa Monica!!!

Cirque Du Soleil new show, "Ovo" is currently in Santa Monica at the Santa Monica Pier. Cirque Du Soleil is working together with their Pier neighbor, by sponsoring Heal The Bay's, "Santa Monica Aquarium" Free Sundays through February! For those of you Tourists, Travelers, or local Residents alike, all you youngin's, or anyone with a "youthful spirit", one of the things to do Santa Monica is going to the Santa Monica Aquarium located in the lower level of the Pier! Enjoy experiencing over 100 different species from the sea. Pure joy!! See pictures on "What's Happening Santa Monica!"= http://santamonicawalkingtours.com/whatshappeningsm.html

Singer, Pink, with husband Corey Hart riding on the Santa Monica Bike Path on Sunday, then hitting the Omelette Parlor on Main Street! Check pic: http://santamonicawalkingtours.com/celebritysightings.html

Superbowl is here! For those of you in Santa Monica, check out Downtown Santa Monica & Santa Monica Place (Yankee Doodles, The Yard, The Market, etc), or Main Street (Finn McCools, O'Brians, etc), or Montana Ave (The Library, etc). So many great bars/pubs to enjoy the game at. See you!!!

High speed chase thru Santa Monica?! That's some eager visitor! Sheriff's deputies pursued a vehicle Saturday down Pacific Coast Highway "to the heart of Santa Monica," where the chase was picked up by officers from the Santa Monica Police Department. Finally caught in West LA. If they had just taken the Santa Monica "Walking" Tours, they'd be out of jail today. Just saying... www.santamonicawalkingtours.com

Biked our 22 mile Santa Monica Bike Path along the sand  today! This was the place to be!! Santa Monica weather is summer-like=bikers, walkers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, sailers, even Grandma's on Segways! Everyone's out Santa Monica! Happy weekend!!! Check out new & exciting fitness happenings coming up= www.santamonicawalkingfitness.com

It's February, Santa Monica's weather is beautiful, & Santa Monica Shopping Tours are in full swing! (Check santamonicawalkingtours.com). Jennifer Garner was shopping Santa Monica yesterday, and as you can see, she found "lots" of Santa Monica treasures!!! "Let's Shop Santa Monica!" http://www.santamonicashoppingtours.com/smshoppingtours.html

If you like "Cougars", ("now watch it, referring to the TV show!") Courtney Cox & Joshua Hopkins filmed ABC's Television Show, "Cougars", at Santa Monica Beach yesterday!!

Love this! Anton, the Belgian Malinois, a trained police canine trained to sniff out criminal suspects is retiring! Sgt. Douglas Kohno (Santa Monica Police Dept.) has been his human police partner for 71/2 years. Anton, now 11 years retired officially this month after those 7 ½ years of service with the Santa Monica Police Department. Anton has been credited with successfully facilitating numerous felony arrests. At the end of their work shift together, Anton always returned home to live with Sgt. Kohno. Since it is police department's policy to transfer ownership of the canines that have reached the end of their service life to their handlers for a nominal sum= in this case, $1, Anton will now peacefully retire one happy dog. He will live with the partner & his family who have loved him and respected his dedication all these years!!

Great to see a friend, Patrick Duffy presenting at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last night (with Linda & Larry). Happy to see the new "Dallas" will be on TNT this summer! The drama continues...

Summer has arrived in January!!! Santa Monica promotes the Santa Monica Downtown Walking Tours, as the weather is ideal for walking! "Let's Walk Santa Monica!" is our Santa Monica Walking Tours motto, and today was the perfect day when everyone was out walking! Weather in the 70's, crowded beaches, busy shopping venues, & we all know why Santa Monica is the best place to visit/live! More Visitors will be able to experience our great city by the beach soon, as President Obama has plans to boost tourism, promising a fresh boost to the economy by making it easier for foreign tourists to travel to the U.S., a move welcomed by Santa Monica representatives. Working to aid the visa application process that some visitors must experience to even come to Santa Monica will be soon made easier. "America is open for business", President Obama declared on Thursday. Santa Monica's economy will become stronger as 1.2 billion is now generated by Tourism each year & 10,000 jobs are supported by Tourism. Expanding the opportunities for more people to gain access to & enjoy Santa Monica benefits everyone! Love it!!

Look forward to seeing Helen Hunt starring in the stage performance of "Our Town" which just opened last weekend at Santa Monica's amazing "Broad Stage." Helen also got a standing ovation recently at the Sundance Film Festival for her role in the upcoming film, “The Surrogate.” Both powerful performances!!!

Yay! "Blog Santa Monica" is back to working! Had a few year end glitches with the programming, yet we appear to be back in full swing now. "2012" will bring more frequent blogging because frankly, there is new & exciting Santa Monica information to share with everyone daily. For now, since we just got back to working condition, I'll share alot of the great "happenings" that have taken place in January, both the past ones (since we were delayed) & the up & coming "places to be" & Things to do" in our great city by the beach! Loved going to the Annenberg Beach House this month. What a place to visit. Not only do they have the historical information on actress, Marion Davies estate ( the locale of which our Beach House now sits, but they have a docent tour that shows you the original Guest House with lots of memorabilia!!! There was also a birthday celebration for Marion Davies (now deceased) at the Annenberg January 8th. Open to all there was great weather, docent tour, & refreshments enjoyed by all! On January 9th, the Golden Globes foreign language films were shown at the Aero Theatre on Montana Avenue. The film, "A Separation" is a favorite & ended up winning the Golden Globe Award for "Best Foreign Film" last Sunday! January 10th, Santa Monica Place (our great outdoor mall), had a Global Street, Food & Beer Tasting Dinner with lots of activity, great cuisine & drinks to match! January 12th- 16th kept the month innovative with the 21st annual Photo LA Art Exhibition at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.  The Broad Stage, always offering unique & joyous entertainment presented "Our Town" starring actress, Helen Hunt beginning January 12th-February 12th! For those ready & willing to tackle a round flat piece of plastic & enjoy the amazing day that went with it, the 12th annual Beach Ultimate Frisbee competition was here at Santa Monica Beach, January 14th & 15th. Civil minded Santa Monica also celebrated Martin Luther King Jr's day by showcasing the Santa Monica Symphony performing (amongst others) for the Martin Luther King Commemorative Concert January 15th at the Ikeda World Peace Auditorium. The following day brought a terrific annual Martin Luther King day celebration at the same local presented by the Westside Coalition with great entertainment, speeches, tributes, scholarships, and so much more! Today is extra special, as Cirque du Soleil is back in Santa Monica! Performing their popular show, "OVO", everyone will be anxiously ready & waiting for tonight's 1st performance at the Santa Monica Pier!!! For those of you who want to check out our "State of the City" yearly address/gathering open to all (tickets thru Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce), please join everyone on January 26th with an early morning 7:30am breakfast. Just a few of our friendly celebrities that have been shopping, dining, & of course, walking Santa Monica, Josh Duhamel, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Garner, Zac Efron, Jessica Alba, & Kellan Lutz were just a few of them. Check out www.santamonicawalkingtours.com under 'Celebrity Sightings" for more (plus pics!!) Happy January everyone. Look forward to seeing you soon!!!     www.melaniegendron.com

Thanks for checking the Melanie Gendron Blog! "2012" will bring lots of new & exciting happenings. Be sure to check new updates daily. Look forward to connecting with everyone!!! Happy Day... www.melaniegendron.net