Ali Price
Business is blooming for Oceanside, Calif., native Price, 35, who lives and works in Glendale, putting in a six-day week at her studio, Ali’s Garden.
CLOSE TO HOME Friday is busy at the flower market downtown, which means I get up at 4 a.m., so I’m tired. I may not feel compelled to do anything that night, or my husband [architect Thomas Miera] and I might go out for dinner at a little Persian spot in Glendale called Raffi’s Place. I’d get a lula kebab with ground beef, which comes with rice, salad and grilled peppers -- a lot of great food. Saturdays I have to work -- if I’m lucky, around 10 a.m., or if I have to do a dinner party at someone’s house, by 7 a.m. GYPSY IN HER SOUL Afterward, I’d go to my dance class at Sakai Flamenco in Tujunga. I’ve been studying about seven years. I got into it because I liked the beautiful ruffled skirts, the flowers in the hair. I was lucky enough to find a teacher who is able to teach beyond the steps, and discovered it’s not about the flash, it’s about the art of it. And it’s not just making noise with your feet -- it’s singing and dancing from your soul like the blues, revealing who you are, which is anything but pretty. That’s the hard part. IN THE NABE Now it’s about 2:30. I’d get something to eat in Montrose, on Honolulu Avenue -- a great place to walk with lots of shops and cafes. Or I’d go to Porto’s Bakery & Cafe on Brand Boulevard. I always get the sandwich Cubano. The napoleons and fruit tarts are amazing. If we’re in the mood, Tom and I would go to dinner at La Cabanita in north Glendale. I’d get carnitas. DASH AND DINE Sunday I’d get up early and meet my running partner at 8 in Griffith Park. We’d run a six-mile loop, then have breakfast at Patrick’s Cafe on San Fernando Road -- which may or may not defeat the purpose of running. I would get an omelet and cappuccino and we’d sit there for hours, till 12:30 or 1. I’d come home, shower and do something boring like cleaning. We’d have dinner with friends and see a movie at the huge AMC theater in Burbank.
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Vicki JoRadovsky
@theguide.latimes.com
