Philanthropy Profile

My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 and passed away from it on October 6, 2012.  These were the most difficult three years of my life.  During her battle, an organization called Gilda's Club Desert Cities (After Gilda Radner), and now called Cancer Partners, provided guidance and support to her, me and my brother.  The group helped my mom navigate the confusing maze that is our cancer treatment healthcare system, and also provided her with much needed emotional support as she faced the horrible disease.  As a family member of a person with cancer, I was able to attend any number of group sessions geared towards helping me cope with what my mom was going through. Cancer Partners got me through that most difficult of times and continues to offer support for cancer patients and their families.   It is the worthiest of organizations.  I support this organization financially and would like to encourage all of you to do so as well by attending an upcoming fundraiser they are having on Thursday, March 22. 

The event is called the Old Bags Luncheon and features a silent auction of new, gently used and vintage designer handbags.  Attendees come together to socialize and enjoy music, cocktails and lunch while bidding on new and nearly new high-end bags at the silent auction.  Bags for the auction are donated by local boutiques, department stores, and individuals who host purse donation parties among their friends.  Individual tickets are only $150.  Table of ten tickets are only $1,350.  Your support for this event would be deeply appreciated.  I miss my mom every day and am thankful that Cancer Partners was there when we all needed help. 

If you're in Palm Springs now, or on your way here, there is a good chance you are going to be here from February 16 - 19.  A major art event, Art Palm Springs, will be held over this holiday weekend.  The Fair is the "Official Contemporary & Modern Art Exhibit and Market Place in Palm Springs California". The seventh annual edition will bring nearly 80 galleries from Asia, Europe, North and South America representing hundreds of artists to the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Fair is strategically scheduled over the extended President’s Day Weekend coinciding with Palm Springs Modernism Week at the height of the Coachella Valley’s season. Art Palm Springs and Modernism Week turn the Desert into a cultural mecca over this weekend, attracting close to 15,000 acquisition oriented art lovers to the Fair year after year.

Since its early editions, Art Palm Springs has been a draw for curators, collectors, designers and celebrities that include Cheech Marin, Jodie Foster, Alexa Davalos, Udo Kier, Shelby Lynne, Rain Phoenix, and award-winning designers Christopher Kennedy, Dann Foley and Erin Valencich.

The opening night will be on Thursday, February 15, and is for VIP ticket holders only.  The event will benefit the Palm Springs Art museum and will include an "Artist of the Year award presentation" to Ed and Andy Moses, who are father and son as well as gifted artists.  

In November 2016, the Independent, a local newspaper, produced the first Palm Springs Craft Cocktail Week.  The inaugural event was an unqualified success, as restaurants and bars all across the Coachella Valley celebrated the art of the craft cocktail with special drinks.  At the first Palm Springs Craft Cocktail Championship, TRIO Restaurant's Sherman Chan bested four amazing competitors to take home the top prize.  The beneficiaries of the event, The Desert AIDS Project and the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, received several thousand dollars from the participants and sponsors. 

This year, for the second annual Palm Springs Craft Cocktail Week, the event has been moved from November to January 19 - 27.  It is going on as I write this.  Like last year, $2 from every special cocktail offered during the event from participating bars and restaurants will be split between the two beneficiaries. 

To learn more about what this year's Craft Cocktail Week participants are offering, as well as details on the event's big cocktail championship being held on January 25, please visit their website: PSCRAFTCOCKTAILS

If you are going to be in the California desert in March and love good food and drink, you must attend the 2018 Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival.  From March 23 - 25, the event, organized by Palm Springs Life magazine presents some of “the best people” in the food industry — chefs, vintners, and craft beer brewers — from across the country and welcomes all who share a love for good food and fine wine to the beautiful tree-lined El Paseo shopping district in Palm Desert, California. 

A James Beard Gourmet Four-Course Luncheon prepared by celebrity chefs kicks off the weekend, followed by two days of grand tastings, where you can taste exquisite bites from local and regional restaurants, sip more than 60 premium wines, and savor some of the country’s most unique beers and ciders on tap (whether you’re into IPAs or chardonnays, there will be endless options to explore). Vintners and chefs will even be on hand to discuss their culinary offerings.

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, please call 760-325-2333  .760-325-2333

How to Buy Real Estate In Palm Springs: 

By Melissa Feldman on October 11, 2017

A burgeoning cultural scene, new hotels, and a fresh crowd are signaling a revival. Here’s how to secure your own sun-drenched, modernist retreat.

No longer considered a resting place for retirees, Palm Springs is undergoing a desert revival distinctly its own. Established in the 1930s as a Hollywood getaway, the area now spans nine distinct cities, including Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage, which encompasses the exclusive Thunderbird Heights community, where the Obamas recently vacationed. Today, more and more Angelenos are flocking to the area, much like New Yorkers to the Hamptons.

This year’s events calendar featured the inaugural DesertX, an art biennial emphasizing site-specific installations by 16 internationally known artists like Doug Aitken and Lita Albuquerque. Modernism Week (February 15–25), a citywide design celebration with lectures, tours, films, and a modernism show and sale, is heading into its 13th year. Music festivals in nearby Indio and Coachella bring in a star-studded crowd. (Look out for the remake of A Star Is Born, with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, shot this spring at Coachella.) Add to that the annual BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in close-by Indian Wells and the ongoing Palm Springs International Film Festival, and it’s no wonder the valley is fast evolving into a western cultural hub.

L’Horizon, an oil tycoon’s 1952 compound by architect William F. Cody, was refurbished and is now the only hotel in the Coachella valley to join the Leading Hotels of the World collection. New hotel projects under development include those for Virgin, Andaz, and Kimpton brands, and the Parker was recently renovated by Jonathan Adler.

According to local Realtor Patrick Jordan, the region is brimming with available “grande dame estates,” like actor Cary Grant’s former home, which sold for $3.4 million in 2016. Jordan’s firm, Patrick Stewart Properties, which specializes in luxury homes, sold the John Lautner–designed, 23,366-square-foot Bob and Dolores Hope estate to investor Ron Burkle for $13 million last November. Another Lautner gem, featured in Diamonds Are Forever, was sold to Los Angeles fashion designer Jeremy Scott for $7.7 million.

If midcentury modern architecture or a golf resort is what you’re after, specialized Realtors include John Nelson and Cat Moe of Coldwell Banker Residential or Keith Markowitz. According to Nelson, “We’re getting a much younger crowd. It’s no longer a place where your grandparents have a condo.” Nelson recommends homes built in the ’50s in the Vista Las Palmas district by architecture firm Palmer & Krisel, which is known for modular post-and-beam construction with a butterfly roof. The neighborhood, he says, is overflowing with midcentury three-bedrooms with mountain views and proximity to downtown that run $900,000 for a fixer-upper and $2.9 million for a renovated 2,400-square-foot open plan with a pool. Nelson adds, “We’re seeing more people from the East Coast because of direct flights from New York. Our midcentury modern houses and affordability are a big draw.”

When one thinks of Palm Springs, they generally don't think of Japanese made home goods and other products.  Having written that, Palm Springs does have its share of good sushi restaurants.  A new downtown Palm Springs retail store, one that specializes in Japanese and Asian home goods, is having its grand opening/open house Sunday, December 10 from 3 - 6 pm.


The name of the store is "Wabi Sabi Japan Living".  Located at 258 N. Palm Canyon Drive, the store will offer shoppers dinnerware, flatware, kitchen knives, chopsticks (over 100 styles), books on travel, culture and design and pottery.  You will not find Ginsu knives at Wabi Sabi (They weren't even Japanese knives, just a marketing gimmick).  Top-quality, not for the price sensitive, knives will be found there. 

In addition, Japanese Beer, coffee and tea accessories and even Sake tastings will be available.  Japanese art, jewely, decorative hand fans clothing and Bonsais round out the selection of products and services.  I plan on checking it out on Sunday.  Maybe I'll see you there.  Click here to learn more about Wabi Sabi Japan Living: https://www.wabisabijapanliving.com/

4 Saints Restaurant, Rooftop Upscale Dining, Bar & Lounge Now Open

The brand new Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel in downtown Palm Springs features a rooftop pool with expansive views, cabanas and a selection of top-notch dining and drinking options.  The dining and drinking options have been specially curated to create a delightful and upscale, yet laid-back, experience.

I recently had dinner at 4 Saints, the rooftop restaurant, bar and lounge.  First let me say that the ambience of this place is chic, modern, warm, rich and elegant all rolled into one beautiful indoor/outdoor space.  Tables feature soft supple brown leather chairs, a cluster of modern light fixtures dangle overhead, and even the bottles of alcohol at the bar have their own mood lighting.  This coupled with futuristic sounding lounge music creates a stunning social setting. 

The menu is made up of sharable small plates, amped up with international flavors,  inspired by the fresh, clean spirit of Mediterranean cooking.  I was there with a friend so we decided to start the evening off with the "Slim Jim Eggplant" appetizer.  While waiting for this first course to arrive, we enjoyed some cocktails.  I started with a Jack and Coke and thought it was the best Jack and Coke I had had.  My second drink was one of their signature drinks.  Unfortunately, I don't remember the name but do remember really enjoying the libation.  So far so good.  The Eggplant appetizer sure looked pretty, but both me and my friend thought it was kind of bland.  Mental note, don't order the Slim Jim Eggplant.  This was the only let down of the evening.  My friend ordered the Dry Aged Duck entree and was very happy with his choice.  That dish came with Foie Gras sausage, dates, sweet and sour beets and caramelized fennel. I ordered the Baja Kampachi, a smoky fish dish that came with the most amazing sauce I've ever had.  If you like fish, you are going to love the Baja Kampachi.

On top of the unique amazing food and perfectly crafted cocktails, the service was exemplary.

In my opinion, 4 Saints at the Rowan Palm Springs offers a five star dining and drinking experience.    Click here to learn more: http://www.rowanpalmsprings.com/palm-springs-restaurants/rooftop-bar-restaurant/