Hi everybody! Happy October!

I just recently returned from an incredible girls weekend in LA with my best friend! We actually did a trip very similar to this one last year, at around the same time. We stayed in Santa Monica in a lovely little Airbnb, and spend three days exploring Venice, Santa Monica, Hollywood, DTLA and Disneyland! We had so much fun on that trip, we decided to do a repeat this year!

Accomodations:

- We stayed at an amazing Airbnb, right off of Hollywood Boulevard. Strangely enough, the apartment building that we stayed in used to be a very famous hotel - in fact it was the hotel that the Eagles wrote their world famous song "Hotel California" about!

Food/Drink:

- Alfred Coffee: Situated in a little alleyway on Melrose Avenue, this coffee shop serves up delicious coffee and other treats. We tried the jalapeño cheddar bagels and loved them!

- Sidewalk Cafe: Although the food here was pretty basic, the cafe itself was right on the Venice Boardwalk, which meant amazing views and great people watching. I feel like that’s priceless!

- Beauty & Essex: We got dinner and drinks here on our second night of the trip and absolutely LOVED it. We got the grilled cheese and tomato soup dumplings as well as the Thai fried shrimp and both were to die for. 😍 I would highly recommend Beauty and Essex!

- Sprinkles Cupcakes: The BEST cupcakes you will likely ever have. My favorite flavor is the vanilla with milk chocolate frosting and sprinkles! 😊

- Sugarfish: My favorite sushi place! Living in Colorado, away from the ocean, it’s easy to get used to low quality sushi. Sugarfish takes simple, fresh fish and turns it into something incredible. My favorite items from the menu are the fatty tuna and blue crab rolls!

Things to do/see:

- Melrose / Fairfax: If you are staying in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, these two streets are fun to check out for anything from Marc Jacobs, to streetwear shops like Supreme.

- Venice Beach boardwalk: One of my favorite places in SoCal! And my absolute favorite place for people watching. 🙏🏼 We even (think) we saw Sean Penn jogging on the boardwalk last year!

- Santa Monica Pier: This is my favorite area in all of California! Santa Monica is beautiful and the pier is so much fun to explore. You can see people fishing, riding roller coasters and enjoying churros and other treats all within one little area!

- The Grove: We came here to do a little shopping and eating on our first day. Here is one of the only places you can find a Topshop in the U.S., plus the Farmer’s Market has lots of delicious food and beverage choices!

- Griffith Observatory: After seeing La La Land, this has been on my LA bucket list. It was just as beautiful as it is in the movie! Plus the views are AMAZING!

Here are some pictures from our Los Angeles adventure! 😊