One Handy Quilt
Jamie Lee Curtis choked up for a moment Wednesday during a kickoff to a fundraiser called Make March Matter, which benefits Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The hospital presented her with a quilt – made by patients in the hospital’s arts therapy program – that depicted hands stitched together. That’s a reference to Curtis’ online store named My Hand in Yours, the proceeds of which go to the hospital. When given the quilt, the actress clasped her hands to her mouth and took a moment. “Oh, my goodness me!” she said, then announced she’d like to donate the quilt back to the hospital, where it can hang for all to see. The monthlong campaign strives to raise at least $1 million for children’s health.
At the event, Curtis met 4-year-old Ella Nelson, who is the face of this year’s campaign. When Ella was not yet 2 years old, she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, a rare and difficult-to-treat pediatric cancer. At Children’s Hospital, she became cancer-free after just two cycles of treatment.
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Two communications specialists with different skill sets but both with ties to Sitrick & Co. last week said they’ve formed their own public relations firm in Pasadena named LAG Strategy. Stuart Pfeifer for six years was a senior executive at Sitrick, a Brentwood firm known for crisis communications, and for 15 years before that was a legal and business reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where he was on a team of reporters that won a Pulitzer Prize. The other co-founder is Matthew Fern, who has expertise in digital communications as well as online reputation management. Fern is co-founder of Dunigan Fern Media Partners, a boutique advertising agency, and was director of digital practice at Sitrick until last year. The two said the digital and online component of their new business, combined with their traditional communications and media knowledge, “makes our firm one of a kind.”
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Smaller apartments are being built nationwide, but not in Los Angeles. The average size of a new apartment here is 45 square feet greater than 10 years ago. That’s according to a study released last week from RentCafé. It said the average new L.A. apartment is 799 square feet, up from 754 feet 10 years ago. That’s unusual because the average apartment size nationwide shrank by 54 feet over that same period.
On the other hand, other large cities including Chicago and San Francisco also have seen increasing apartment sizes. Perhaps that’s because more middle-class folks are priced out of homebuying in the expensive large cities.
The Insider is compiled by Editor-in-Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
