Mother's Day: Showering your mama with attention, brunches, flowers, and sweet words is the order of the day, as is planning an outing on May 8 she'd love and remember. A Mother's Day Walk downtown will honor "the famous and not-so-famous women of Los Angeles, and the places on which they left their mark." The Huntington has a bouquet of celebratory doings, and the whole fam can get a free caricature done at Union Station (there's a tour of the landmark, too). The Hammer Museum hosts a kid-cool, Mother's Day-ready Scent Lab while a geranium show will bloom at The Arboretum.
Downtown Bookfest: A May afternoon spent paging through a book? It's a simple pleasure that's full of significance, learning, fantasy, and joy. A free gathering at Grand Park on Saturday, May 7 will throw confetti at the written word via live storytelling, writerly panel talks, and a host of local bookstores and organizations showing up and doing their thing. The theme for the day? "Literary LA: Places, Space, and Faces."
Free Comic Book Day: There's no use hemming or hawing about it, or denying it, either. If you've visited a pal, only to see she has the latest hot comic book, you likely feel a twinge of jealousy. Ditch the envy, text your pal, and make for your favorite local mom 'n pop shop on Saturday, May 7. You'll get a free comic book, like the day's name says (a book of the store owner's choosing). Loads of special events, too, will fill our indies. Capes on, SoCal.
Car Wash Dance Performance: If you know the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, you know that the troupe tends to leap off the traditional stage and dance in spots like laundromats and abandoned hospitals. On Saturday, May 7 the dancers will call upon Santa Palm Car Wash to stage a 1993 piece, one that takes place on and around a '70s-era Cadillac Coupe de Ville. It's eye-popping, idea-stoking stuff, and definitely an alfresco, auto-offbeat twist on traditional dance.
Animal Adoration: Do you swoon over the sweet small apes? Then best make for Saugus and Breakfast with the Gibbons, an annual fundraiser that's all about helping the preserve's smart 'n song-filled residents. Date? May 7. Also on May 7, but to the south, in Rancho Santa Fe, is another furry gathering: Puppy Prom. It's all about loving upon adopted/adoptable pooches. And, yes, the pups in attendance really do gussy up, tuxedo-style.
