Sneha "The Sne" A.'s Profile

truly terrible. everything already said by fellow reviewers is true. as per an MRI i'm developing arthritis. i waited about 3.5 weeks to get an appointment for physical therapy. so if you're hurting? sucks to be you.

after talking to my GP, she canceled the physical therapy and transferred me to pain management upstairs. dr. levenson was very helpful.

for any number of reasons my extracurricular activity is doctors' appointments. and dr. levenson spent more time talking to me than the sum total of visits over the course of 6-9 months (and that's a LOT of appointments).

but the problem was that PRI still processes referrals. dr. levenson authorized injections, but after repeated calls to check on the status, dr. levenson's receptionist/admin discovered that the PRI peeps didn't even enter it into the computer, and PRI succeeded in delaying my urgent treatment by almost one month.

barring dr. levenson, i'd say run for your lives from PRI. except that if you're lookin' into physical rehab, running is probably a wee bit difficult for at least some of you.

five stars go to the fabulous janet, whose mad skills made me realize that i'd finally found "the one." i followed her to salon luxe, a new salon in claremont--which is lovely and amazing, btw.

i have enough hair for 3.5 heads--and it's of the stubborn, coarse and curly variety. it bites back. i was 14.5 months overdue for a decent cut with highlights and she delivered with aplomb.

taming my tresses is quite an undertaking; i have hunted high and low (very low) and have struck fear and elicited expletives (english and armenian) from too many stylists upon sighting. which makes for an uneasy start, and usually a poodle cut or the ever popular triangle. so my hunt commenced with panic and trepidation.

praise be, i found her.

janet was at ease, painted in a lovely hue, stayed well past closing hour, threw in a blow-out (hair, people) and sent me home with styling samples to maintain it.

she's my new hair BFF. ask for her.

it doesn't merit a single sweet star, but yelp doesn't let me leave the rating box blank. in fact, there needs to be a rating option with negative stars. a generous review would be: -5 stars.

DO NOT sign up with this business. there's a reason the better business bureau (BBB) gave this rental vacancy "service" an "F."

it's only fair to you for me to heed to the honest angels of my nature and give you an honest warning. make sure to remember that "F": they should more accurately be named "apartment f*****s." i will stand by that designation unequivocally.

the particular site i used was http://apartmenthunter.... this business operates under other names as well, so do your homework. cross-check.

if it's a match, go elsewhere. anywhere.

i'd checked the rating beforehand, and armed with that information, i started chatting with the online customer "service" rep--if i recall, his username was kevin1. i presented the major complaints listed on their BBB report (visit: http://tinyurl.com/6yfsho). kevin1 really didn't have anything to say, except that the business had been around for years, was time-tested, yada, yada. i decided to give the "service" a shot after he informed me that if i wasn't pleased i could request a refund. so well aware of the risk, i decided to give it a shot, knowing that if things turned scammy i could lodge a complaint and request my refund. i genuinely hoped that this would prove to be helpful.

not helpful. harmful. it was scammy from the get go:

1) i initially submitted my email address for the two free listings promised for guests, which I never received.

2) i sent a message shortly thereafter and never received a response.

3) i waited for an operator on chat for 3+ hours.

4) many--no, most-- of the listings provided have wrong information regarding price and amenities (the same listings on other sites had the correct information).

5) many of the listings are wrongly labeled as "New Today."

eventually, i received some sort of auto-reply. nothing was resolved.

6) i didn't receive the listings they promised.

i followed the wording of their terms regarding a refund, within the time frame they say they use. they did not respond, they did not refund.

i called the office and spoke to a woman (i wrote her name down somewhere), who allegedly took down my complaint and passed it on to steve shayan (remember that VP's name, although it probably won't do you any good) or one of his counterparts. no callback from him or anybody. even a robo-call would have been a step in the right direction.

i never received a response. i never received a refund. they told me cancellation was not an option. thereby ignoring and violating their own words on their own site. that should be their subtitle: no response. no refund.

so consider this a public service announcement: go elsewhere. do not let "apartment f*****s: no response, no refund" have their way with you.

i haven't eaten in the restaurant itself, but the wine bistro is excellent. sweet service, great selections, tasty bites and generous pours. it's an intimate nook off the hell-beaten old town path (praise be!) that's perfect for languid conversation...

... and it's dimly lit so that you and your companion(s) look marvelous.

an open letter to mike and anne:

dear mike and anne,

first things first: your food was relatively tasty (between the three of us we had lamb sausage and lentils, steamed mussels, sweet potato fries, flat iron steak, braised short ribs, horseradish mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and carrots and some other side that escapes me at the moment). personally, i was quite impressed with the plumpness of your mussels. not your run-of-the-sea skinny shellfish. your sweet potato fries had the right ratio of crunch and meatiness (potatoness?). your food went down nice and easy.

...but your hostess that night (5/3)...aye dios mio! she was neither nice nor easy (to deal with, i mean). that's where i start snatching stars away.

we were greeted with something approximating a sneer. we sat down in your patio chairs (simply waiting) and were told with a curled lip and a terse voice that these were reserved and she asked us to move (there were maybe three other people at the restaurant at that time, we kept our eyes on that table and nobody came for a good hour at least).

so, our spirits still hopeful, we asked for seats in the shade. she walked us to a table where two-thirds of us were in direct line of sunshine. we politely told her this and were informed, "well, the sun will set." after sharing this jaw-dropping solar concept, she left.

our server on the other hand was delightful. i wish i knew her name.

something we did notice was that while we were the first ones there, we waited an inordinate amount of time for our food to arrive compared to the other patrons. we thought perhaps you were culling the ocean or slaughtering the lamb.

we may return. most likely not for dinner though, since your costs are prohibitive. our trio agreed that we could get better food elsewhere for the money we spent. word on the street is that your brunch is quite good. however, we're hoping the hostess is in a kinder, gentler mood. and that she's nowhere near the steak knives.

two words: chocolate croissant.

it is essentially an entire dark chocolate bar enrobed in flaky, buttery goodness. i'm guessing it also amounts to a full day's caloric intake.

in college my friend and i would walk there every friday, each buy a pastry so we could devour two--and also buy a loaf of bread--and tear into our smorgsabord like animals. we would then crawl back to campus, sick to our stomachs. but every friday morning we returned.

two more words: fifteen pounds.

when i know the office is bringing some crust in for an occasion, i plan my week's diet accordingly. this is one pastry that is a worthy rival to the ones i had in paris.

i bought my mercury insurance policy through this firm and my broker was priya shah. she never pressured me, was wonderfully patient with my ignorance regarding car insurance, and is always prompt in replying to my email queries.

until her, "pleasant insurance experience"was a contradiction in terms.

i've made some great purchases here, both as gifts (they have much more than books!) and for myself. they have a huge stock of clearance items. there's a reason they were named bookseller of the year for 2008.

i work here often--free wireless! and unlike cafes, you don't have to buy anything. although there are plenty of things you'll want.

i  highly recommend  the readings the bookstore hosts. i've attended many of them and only two of them were duds--which has more to do with the writers than the store.

check their event calendar often:

http://tinyurl.com/3ykps2

i've been in bazaars and marketplaces in asia. if you're looking for a wholesale cross-cultural experience, may i suggest a visit to the alhambra warehouse?

as my chinese friends say, "it's like visiting china."

much like china it is overpopulated. the wait can be excruciating. get some reading material from the book section and start in on it while you're waiting to pay. you could very well find yourself finishing it without having to take it home.

costco occupies a special place in my heart. it's also a dangerous place. when i visit, inevitably i find myself going back through the aisles and emptying out my cart--because in the spirit of costco i gathered way too many items.

at another costco i used to time my lunch breaks so i could make it  for the veritable buffet of food samples. quite filling. god bless america.

i'm known in my circles as "getty girl." i've done an incredible amount of PR for these events, which leaves me a little embittered that they didn't hire me for their PR position. while i remain unpaid, i am loyal still--i won't take a star away.

it's a diverse crowd that shows up. there are so few spaces where people gather, where you can people watch, and where you can see angelenos in all their motley glory. of course, this is because many of them are ON the 405.

make an effort to drive there. the view (depending on the air quality, of course) and sunset can be breathtaking. bring a sweater, though. we are a weak people. because of the proximity to the ocean and the elevation of the museum, evening temperatures drop significantly.

i don't know what it is exactly but somehow their hot dogs are quite tasty. i'm not down with dogs. but i find myself eating them here nearly every time.

my friends and i--from all corners of l.a.--often meet there to get out the kinks of our work weeks. it's whatever you want to make it--high energy or low energy.