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Clothing and accessories inspired by a Disney movie? I was skeptical, even though I loved “Alice in Wonderland” as a child and love that Tim Burton made an updated movie version, because you never know what rabbit hole designers will fall in to when creating pieces based on a film. But after seeing some of the Alice in Wonderland Disney Couture items at the W Hollywood hotel’s party last week, I was pleasantly surprised — impressed, even.

When I saw this statement necklace by Tom Binns, I wanted to rip it off the mannequin and wear it right then and there. Who could resist these red candy-like hearts, safety pins and crystal chains? It’s cute and edgy at the same time. I want, want, want! Too bad it costs more than $1,000…

Tom Binns All Heart necklace

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Mondrian. From LA Snark.

Mondrian: The hotel’s special romance package, which starts at $295 per night, includes a bottle of champagne, $50 in hotel credit per stay, and service with our Romance Concierge, which includes a Kiki de Montparnasse service of your choice. Valid from Feb. 7 through Feb. 28.

Terranea: This resort’s V-Day special includes a shopping credit at Morgan’s Jewelers when booking two consecutive nights of the Fire and Ice package. The package includes an ocean view, breakfast for two, and sparkling wine and chocolate truffles on arrival. Guests who book two nights will receive a $250 store credit at Morgan’s Jewelers with rates starting at $450 per night. The nicer the room, the more store credit you get, up to $1,000. Available throughout the month of February.

La Costa and Rancho Las Palmas: Sister properties La Costa in Carlsbad and Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage are offering prizes over Valentine’s Day weekend through their “Couples in Sync” Sliders Cup, a race series that has guests competing down its waterslides. Winning couples get a bottle of champagne and appetizers at La Costa’s Legends Bistro or Rancho Las Palmas’ bluEmber restaurant.

La Costa is offering special Valentine’s weekend rates with 20 percent off a two-night stay or 30 percent off a three-night stay, plus a $50 resort credit per stay good toward golf, spa, tennis or dining. Rates start at $210 per night.

Rancho Las Palmas is offering 30 percent off over the weekend. Rates start at $240 per night.

JetBlue sales: JetBlue has a few sales going on right now, including an airfare sale with one-way tickets starting at $29. For the L.A. area, the cheapest fares start at $39 for flights between Long Beach and Las Vegas, Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland. There are also vacation packages on sale, including two nights in Las Vegas and a flight from Long Beach for $175 per person. And if you’re into cruises (I’m not, personally), then there’s a sale on those, too.

CheapOair sales: Wanna do snow on the cheap? CheapOair has hotels and flights to Lake Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Aspen, Vail and Whistler starting at $99 and $176, respectively.

Hilton weekend stays sale: Book by Jan. 31 and get up to 50 percent off weekend stays at participating Hilton hotels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific, as well as up to 33 percent off weekend stays at participating hotels in North America, South America, Central America, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Most discounted stays are for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but some hotels are offering Thursdays, too.

A Flud Tableturn watch. Not necessarily the one Urban Outfitters is giving away.

Free! It’s all free…if you win, that is. But the good thing is, you don’t have to pay or do (too) much of anything to enter these contests, which if you win, could mean the perfect holiday gift for that special someone (you!).

Urban Outfitters: This isn’t a month-long giveaway extravaganza, but for the rest of this week, you can enter to win one grand prize a day. Today’s prize is a Flud Tableturn watch. There will also be 10 first prize winners who will get $50 Urban Outfitters gift cards, which I think is the better prize anyway. All you have to do is fill out some information, which will probably be used for spam and junk mail, so use you crappy email address. This contest ends Friday, Dec. 11, so hurry!

ShopBop: The online shopping Web site is giving away a handbag a day for the entire month of December, and they’re not just clutches. Today’s prize is an Antik Batik shoulder bag. All you have to do is give your email address.

Discover Los Angeles: L.A. Inc., the city of Los Angeles’ tourism arm, is giving away free stays at L.A.-area hotels throughout December. Today’s hotel is the Crowne Plaza Hotel LAX (admitedly not that glamorous, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I say). To enter, you’ll have to answer a question with information that can be easily found on the hotel’s Web site, which is conveniently linked from Discover L.A.’s site.

Los Angeles magazine: The magazine is giving away items from artisans featured in its December issue, “Hand Made in L.A.,” but only one per week this month. This week’s prize is a Graf & Lantz (love!) wine carrier. All you have to do is answer a simple question, i.e., “Tell us your favorite BYOB spot in L.A.” to enter.

Do you miss the free-room contests from The Westin Bonaventure? Miss the thrill of possibly being the lucky one to score a gratis stay? Well look no further than these deals:

SLS Hotel: To celebrate its first anniversary, the SLS Hotel is randomly giving away two rooms a week for $1 a night to lucky winners who happen to visit its Web site at the right time. But hurry because the promotion ends Nov. 30.

Embassy Suites: If you stay at any Embassy Suites before Dec. 31, you can enter to win a grand prize of a trip to one of nine Embassy Resorts, which include properties in Lake Tahoe, Waikiki and Myrtle Beach. The prize includes a five-day/four-night stay, airfare and ground transportation. There will also be 100 first place prizes of $100 Visa gift cards.

Marriott Hawaii: Marriott has put together the granddaddy of giveaways — seven nights at two of five Hawaii hotels (so you can visit more than one island), airfare (including inter-island flights) and a private luau for you and 11 of your friends. Yes, that’s right, a trip for 12 to Hawaii. All you have to do to enter is make a three-minute video before Dec. 20 showing why you love Hawaii.

Produce from Crows Pass Farm

I spent yesterday afternoon on the CBS lot in Studio City, eating and drinking my way through more than 30 of Los Angeles’ chefs’ food at the 23rd annual Great Chefs of Los Angeles event, which benefited the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California. OK, I didn’t taste everything — I’m not a black hole of food — but I did taste a lot of good stuff.

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Evolving flavored iced tea (left), Cava mimosa (right)

Yes, Jose Andres’ Bazaar at the SLS Hotel has been open for a year now, but I didn’t go right away. Why? Because I don’t like being caught up in a scene, and the SLS and everything in it is definitely a scene. So I waited a year to try it, and I went for brunch, not for dinner when I’ve passed by and seen it totally poppin’ off, as it were.

When we (Sam of LAist and Lucy of Edible LA) showed up, it was kind of dead — relatively speaking, of course. By the time we left, there were more people, though most chose to eat inside, which I thought was kind of strange given the beautiful sunny day. We ate on the patio.

I’m not going to dwell on the Bazaar’s food since by now the restaurant has been thoroughly discussed across the food blogosophere and in the mainstream media, so I’ll just give you my greatest hits of this meal.

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Spa Luce

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with Goldstar to come up with a locals-only stimulus plan dubbed “Locals Only Hollywood Offer,” or LOHO, which is catchier anyway. The LOHO promotions range from 15 percent off at the Pig ‘n Whistle to 50 percent off spa treatments at Spa Luce in the Renaissance Hotel. And just in time for Halloween, Dearly Departed Tours are 50 percent off, too. There’s even a 25 percent off deal for all Farmers Market merchandise (yeah, it’s not really in Hollywood, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, OK?). These offers are good through Oct. 31, so get on it!

[UPDATE: To book activities/events, click on the Goldstar link above, then on the "Hollywood: LOHO" link in the left-hand navigation bar to see what's still available.]

[UPDATE #2: According to a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce representative, to redeem discounts at restaurants, spas or anything else not listed on Goldstar, you'll have to inquire with the individual retailer and show proof of residency within the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and/or Riverside.]

It may very well look like this when you go (cloudy). Trying to be accurate here. From LA Times Travel & Deal Blog.

Terranea on the Palos Verdes peninsula is offering 50 percent off rooms, with prices starting at $210 a night. Book by Oct. 27 for stays through Dec. 17, including Thanksgiving weekend. That’s great for out-of-town guests and families that may want to get away for the holiday weekend. The hotel will serve you Thanksgiving dinner, too, so you don’t even have to leave the property…which is probably the point.

I recently took a trip up north to Sacramento to visit my best friend, Crystal (the same friend for whom I planned the Napa Valley bachelorette party for back in June), and we embarked on a weekend of so much eating that I thought I might literally explode. Here are the highlights:

• Citizen Hotel’s Grange restaurant: This downtown boutique hotel has lots of charm, its Grange restaurant included. We went here for pre-dinner drinks, and we weren’t disappointed. I had a Fig, with whiskey, Cointreau, muddled roasted figs, agave nectar, orange juice and lemon juice, at the suggestion of our server, who said it had more whiskey than anything. “Say no more,” I told her and promptly ordered it. She was right; it was heavy on the whiskey (which I love) yet refreshing with just a bit of sweetness from the muddled fig. Crystal had an Acai with Veev, St. Germain, Roederer sparkling wine, simple syrup, lemon juice and berries, which I found too sweet for my taste, and Conor had a mojito, which was very respectable. We also shared a tasty cheese plate ($12).

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