AND THE OSCAR GOES TO
...THIS COMMUNITY OF CREATIVES
👋 HEY CUTIE!
...and the nominee for Best Weekend Ever goes to us, our CurationsLA Curator Creative Crew + Fam
Thank you for all the feedback rolling in on our new Events Platform (launched one week ago today!). The Oscars just dropped their 2026 nominations yesterday, and the energy is electric. Your support keeps us evolving with new design tweaks, roadmap plans + features coming soon that you'll help shape with upvotes.
Until then, here are some Good Vibes for your weekend
See you Monday! - Wyatt
"COZY + SMELL OF PANCAKES - ALARM CLOCK = WEEKEND"
— AMY KROUSE ROSENTHAL
| ON THIS DAY |
1971: UCLA men's basketball loses to Notre Dame. UCLA then wins next 88 games in a row.
|
TRIVIA
Pasadena's annual Cheeseburger Week kicks off this Sunday to honor the 1924 invention of the 'Aristocratic Burger.' Which iconic street is set to host next week's celebrations?
B. Wilshire Boulevard
C. Colorado Boulevard
D. Melrose Avenue
(Answer at bottom of newsletter)
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| Day | High/Low | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 1/23 | 68°F / 52°F | Chance of light showers, clearing by evening |
| Sat 1/24 | 66°F / 52°F | Partly cloudy, light onshore flow |
| Sun 1/25 | 68°F / 50°F | Mostly sunny, pleasant conditions |
| Mon 1/26 | 68°F / 50°F | Sunny, high pressure continues |
| Tue 1/27 | 73°F / 50°F | Warming trend, mostly clear skies |
Week Ahead: High pressure ridge keeping LA dry through early next week. Light rain chances return late in the month (around Jan 29). Expect light to moderate onshore flow with return to seasonal temperatures.
🍟 EATS | 📆 EVENTS
🌴 COMMUNITY |🏡 DEVELOPMENT
💼 BIZ | 🎬 ENTERTAINMENT
🏈 SPORTS | 💌 EMAIL CONTENT
🛣️ NATIONAL
- 🤝 TIKTOK: TikTok finalizes deal to form new American version of application
- 🌨️ WINTER STORM: Heavy snow, crippling ice and frigid temperatures forecast to hit more than two dozen states this weekend
- 🎮 XBOX CONFERENCE: Fora Horizon 6 showcased with more details about gameplay map featuring Japan
- 👾 AI WARS: Apple to revamp Siri as a built in iPhone, Mac Chatbot to fend off OpenAI
- 🎞️ OSCARS: 2026 Oscars snubs and surprises include Ariana Grande, George Clooney, Paul Mescal missing from nominees
- 🔗 CURATIONSLA: Last publication's most viewed content: Netflix is a Joke. Fest returns to Los Angeles and is bolder than ever with so many stars and comedians participating
🤙 LOCAL
- 🚇 METRO: LA Metro Board advances multi-billion dollar Sepulveda pass train in unanimous vote 🐰
- 💼 BEST PLACES TO WORK: View Glassdoor's list of the best places to work within the Greater Los Angeles Area
- 👨🍳 JAMES BEARD: Here are Los Angeles' 2026 James Beard Award semifinalists, finalists to be named March 31st
- 🚴 WEHO SAFETY: City of West Hollywood begins painting bike lanes green to improve safety and visibility 💌
- 🧗 HIGH SUMMIT: Fight For Air Climb challenges Angelenos to scale tallest building west of the Mississippi
🎉 FUN
- 😋 DINE LA: Dine LA Winter Restaurant Week starts today and continues until February 6th
- 💸 DINE LA DEALS: The best lunch deals for Dine LA Restaurant Week, Winter 2026
- 📆 WEEKEND: Things to do this weekend in Los Angeles
- 🌴 BEST WEEKEND: Best things to do this weekend in Los Angeles and Southern California: January 23rd - 25th
- 🍔 CHEESEBURGER WEEK: The City of Pasadena to play host to Cheeseburger Week, starting this Sunday
🍟 EATS
SILVER LAKE
SONMARI
The team behind Temaki Society (that legendary DTLA handroll counter) just opened a proper restaurant in Silver Lake, and it's a whole different beast. They're doing maximalist temaki topped with caviar, gochujang-marinated eel, and minced albacore with banh mi pickles, plus chirashi bowls, Korean fried chicken sandwiches crowned with uni and cured egg yolk. Fresh nori, careful fish curing, California sensibility filtered through Korean and Japanese technique. This is handroll refined.
BURBANK
CORNER SANDWICHES
The team behind the legendary Glendale staple Corner Market just brought their sandwich game to Burbank with a dedicated new outpost. Taking over a former Papa John's on Glenoaks, Corner Sandwiches is a massive neighborhood upgrade. They are serving maximalist deli classics on house-baked Dutch crunch and sourdough like the heavyweight turkey and avocado Glendale or the prosciutto and fresh mozzarella specialty with house-made marinated peppers. High-quality proteins, artisanal bread, and a Glendale-perfected sensibility.
CULVER CITY
PICALA
The team behind Acme Hospitality (the group behind Santa Barbara favorites like The Lark) and Chef Luis Sierra (formerly of Estela and Lulu) is bringing a vibrant Spanish anchor to Culver City this March. Set in the Cumulus District, Picala is an energetic new crossroads for the Westside. They are doing market-driven pintxos and vermouth at the bar alongside expansive wood-fired feasts and seasonal plates sourced from local purveyors. Old-world techniques, modern precision, and a sun-drenched patio made for lingering.
MORE EATS
🌴 COMMUNITY
PASADENA
CHEESEBURGER WEEK STARTS SUNDAY
Pasadena is celebrating the centennial of the cheeseburger starting this Sunday and lasting all next week with a high-stakes Cheeseburger Crawl honoring Lionel Sternberger, the local teen who famously first topped a patty with cheese in 1924. This year's festivities coincide with the 150th anniversary of Colorado Boulevard, featuring exclusive creations from local staples like Magnolia House and Foothill alongside burger-inspired riffs from Tradino Bros. and Hummus Labs. Fans can participate in the Cheeseburger Challenge to vote for the city's best bite before the polls close at the end of the month. Whether it was a happy accident or a custom request, the birthplace of the cheeseburger is pulling out all the stops for this historic Southern California milestone.
SANTA MONICA
LIBRARY UPGRADES
Santa Monica has officially upgraded the Fairview and Ocean Park branch libraries from self-service to full-service operations three days a week. This expansion restores vital librarian staffing and community programming as part of the city's ambitious $60mn Realignment Plan to revitalize local services and safety. Residents can now access professional technical assistance and specialized events at both locations, with a further rollout planned to increase total weekly service hours to 154 by this July.
MORE COMMUNITY
🏡 DEVELOPMENT
SEPULVEDA PASS TRAIN
MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PROJECT ADVANCES
The LA Metro Board just greenlit a transformative 14-mile subway tunnel beneath the Santa Monica Mountains to finally bridge the gap between the Valley and the Westside. This massive $24.2 billion project promises a lightning-fast 20-minute commute with a crucial dedicated stop at UCLA and connections to major regional rail lines. While the eye-popping price tag remains a hurdle, officials are betting on a future where daily car travel is slashed by 800,000 miles to save Angelenos from the 405 parking lot.
GLENDALE
GARDEN RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT
The Glendale-Los Angeles Garden River Bridge Project has officially entered the environmental review stage after seven years, marking the second phase of the Glendale Riverwalk. This new span will connect Flower Street to Griffith Park using a landscaped design by Olin that features shade structures and seating areas directly over the water. Once construction begins, the project is expected to take two and a half years to complete, adding a major new pedestrian link to the Los Angeles River.
MORE DEVELOPMENT
💼 BIZ
CALIFORNIA COMPANIES
BEST PLACES TO WORK
In a major shakeup for the 2026 job market, In-N-Out Burger has officially secured the #2 spot on Glassdoor's 18th annual Best Places to Work list. The Irvine-based icon outpaced global tech giants like Google and Apple to become the top-ranked employer in California, with employees citing a people-first culture and clear paths to six-figure management roles. As the tech sector faces layoffs and AI-driven anxiety, job seekers are increasingly choosing the stability and career certainty of the service industry.
While In-N-Out leads the pack, several other California heavyweights made the Top 100:
- In-N-Out Burger (#2)
- NVIDIA (#3)
- ServiceNow (#7)
- Google (#11)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab (#12)
- Intuitive (#20)
- Apple (#77)
ZAK WILLIAMS
LUMOS AI FOR HEALTH OF MIND
Mental health advocate Zak Williams has joined forces with Headlamp Health to launch Lumos AI, a groundbreaking platform designed to bring precision medicine to psychiatry. Inspired by his own journey following the loss of his father, Robin Williams, Zak is helping the startup use layered agentic AI to solve the misdiagnosis crisis that currently plagues complex conditions like Lewy body dementia and depression. By synthesizing over 100mn data points, the platform moves beyond simple automation to help researchers identify treatment-responsive patient subtypes and avert tragedies through real-time clinical insights. This collaboration marks a major step forward in treating mental illness as a biological science, prioritizing improved quality of life through data-driven reasoning over traditional one-size-fits-all approaches.
🎬 ENTERTAINMENT
THE OSCARS
2026 NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
The 2026 Oscar nominations officially dropped Thursday morning and Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' made history with a record-breaking 16 nods, including first-time acting recognition for stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo. While frontrunners like Chloé Zhao's 'Hamnet' and Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' held strong, the Academy stunned fans by completely shutting out 'Wicked: For Good' and snubbing major names like Paul Mescal, George Clooney, and Ariana Grande. Surprise nominations for Kate Hudson and the high-speed drama "F1" have shaken up the race, proving that the 98th Academy Awards will be anything but predictable. With Conan O'Brien returning to host the festivities on March 15, the stage is set for a historic night at the Dolby Theatre that balances massive blockbusters against international darlings like 'Sentimental Value.' 💌
DISNEY
SEARCH FOR BOB IGER'S SUCCESSOR
Disney CEO Bob Iger's total compensation climbed 11.5% to $45.8mn in 2025 as the company prepares for a historic leadership transition. While Iger's base salary remains $1mn, his latest package is bolstered by $35mn in stock and option awards ahead of his planned departure in late 2026. Board Chairman James Gorman confirmed that the search for a successor is entering its final stages, with an official announcement expected in early 2026 to allow for a smooth handoff. Internal frontrunners Josh D'Amaro and Dana Walden remain the top names to watch as Disney seeks to stabilize its executive ranks following years of C-suite turbulence.
MORE ENTERTAINMENT
🏈 SPORTS
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
RAMS PLAY FOR SUPER BOWL SPOT
The NFC Championship is heading to Seattle this Sunday for a high-stakes Game 3 between division rivals who split their regular-season series by a combined margin of just one point. The Seahawks enter as 2.5-point favorites behind the league's fourth-highest pressure rate, aiming to rattle Matthew Stafford and his league-leading Rams scoring offense at a deafening Lumen Field. With a Super Bowl trip on the line, Seattle must find a way to replace star running back Zach Charbonnet after a season-ending ACL tear, while the Rams look to veteran Davante Adams to finally push them past Mike Macdonald's white-hot defense.
DODGERS
KYLE TUCKER WELCOMED
The Dodgers have officially ignited the 2026 season by welcoming All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chavez Ravine on a historic free agent deal. Donning the number 23, the former Houston standout joins a first-class superteam alongside Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts to solidify what GM Brandon Gomes calls the most complete lineup in baseball. While the signing pushes the Dodgers' payroll to a record-breaking $400mn and reignites a heated league-wide debate over a potential salary cap, Tucker remains focused on delivering a third consecutive World Series title to Los Angeles.
MORE SPORTS
ANSWER TO TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTION
COLORADO BOULEVARD
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND
