As always, we appreciated meeting so many of our friends and neighbors at the Toluca Lake Holiday Open House in December. It was wonderful to celebrate the season and our community while spreading the word about the magazine and its mission. We’re especially grateful for all the great feedback we received on our efforts. Newcomers and longtime residents alike expressed that they love learning new things about their neighborhood’s history, inhabitants, businesses and events with every issue.
“The first time I saw Toluca Lake Magazine with its classic and beautiful cover, I, for the first time ever, decided to actually open a magazine,” Catherine Jones told us. “I’ve spent my entire life in this neighborhood and it was such a nice thing to see the culture and history of our little town come through in a black-and-white photo.” That really sums up what we hope to accomplish in these pages, and we look forward to bringing you many more local stories to love in the year ahead.
For this issue, we were thrilled to partner with Santuari Restaurant, located at the Toluca Lake Tennis and Fitness Club, to host our cover story photo shoot. Thanks to Spencer Ramsey and the rest of the Santuari team for welcoming us so that we could bring our vision of a voice actors’ roundtable to life in such a gorgeous locale. We’re proud to be able to spotlight four talented and dynamic women — Debi Derryberry, Cissy Jones, Alicyn Packard and Tara Strong — as they discuss what makes the neighborhood so great and give us a peek behind the scenes of their profession.
And speaking of strong women, this issue also features a local Olympian, sprinter and Tennis Club trainer Hafsatu Kamara. If recommitting to fitness wasn’t already on your list of New Year’s resolutions, the story of her journey from Sierra Leone to Rio de Janeiro to Toluca Lake should inspire you to dust off your running shoes. To help, she’s sharing her tips for jumpstarting your training with simple and surefire exercises you don’t have to be a world-class athlete to do.
In addition to providing powerful motivation to get moving, the start of a fresh year is also a great time to seek out new things. And with Valentine’s Day coming up, what better way to embark on an adventure than hand in hand with the one you love? From tango to cooking to yoga to ax throwing (really), we’ve compiled a list of creative local activities for twosomes to try on your next date night.
If you’re looking for a more leisurely way to celebrate the start of 2019, don’t despair; there’s always brunch! Whether you’re an early riser or a late lounger, a light eater or a pancake fiend, a coffee drinker or a fan of endless mimosas, we’ve got a roundup of nearby spots where you can enjoy a delicious late-morning meal and toast the year ahead (no pun intended).
Thank you for your readership, and best wishes for a happy 2019 in Toluca Lake.