best friends do los angeles
Last Friday was National Donut Day and yesterday was yet another one of those made-up-but-oh-so-fun holidays, National Best Friends Day! I know, a day late, but you get the idea. I rarely share personal adventures on here, but it just seemed fitting as I just spend this past weekend in California with my sister [my built-in #1 best friend] for her birthday and some of my other very best friends there too. I took a ton of photos and so I thought I would share some more of them from our trip. I even brought my “big girl” camera with me, but then I of course forgot it in the car, which we left on the other side of town when we went for the staycation portion of our trip. [oops.] So these are just some snaps from my iphone, a few of which I shared on Instagram and a few more I shared on Snapchat. Come find me on both!
As many of you know, our family lived in Los Angeles for nine years before moving to Arizona about a year and a half ago. I loved California with all my heart and would have lived there forever if I could have. I feel so lucky that my sissy-face still lives there and I have a good excuse to go back and visit her often. When I go, I always try to get as much “goody” out of LA as I possibly can. Like a tourist, but better because I have all the inside knowledge and absolutely zero desire to go on an open air tour bus of the star’s homes. So in a way, you can think of this as a sort-of mini LA city guide. If you go, you must do one or all of these things!
I drove there because it’s really not a bad drive across the desert- about 5 1/2 hours if you can avoid the traffic, which I did. You must stop in Palm Springs [or at least at the Palm Springs exit, haha] to get the requisite wind turbine pic. Funny story: I posted this pic on Snapchat and my sister saw it and it sorta gave up the surprise that I was on the way!
I rarely get my nails done anymore mostly because of time and funds, but also because of my super sensitive skin issues. So I knew I wanted to check out Olive and June while I was in town because they are a really nice nail place with still relatively reasonable prices and they have some more natural and healthy products on hand. They were totally willing to work with me and let me read all the labels of all the products to check for my allergies. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get pampered in this space? I went with a pool blue color to match our weekend adventures. Bonus points for the Pasadena location being right next to Lemonade.
For her birthday dinner, my sissy wanted to go to Gracias Madre. One of my all time faves. This place is super trendy in LA right now, so if you go, you must make a reservation at least a couple of days to one week ahead. Everyone always asks me what’s good there. Everything people. EVERYTHANG. It’s all vegan and it’s so rare I can literally order anything on the menu, so it’s such a treat. So, so good.
Not pictured here is the Snap of me waking sissyface up with tiny inflatable flamingos all over her and ordering Locali delivery in bed. Get the Bad Ass Breakfast Sandwich [another vegan fave of mine].
The other fun surprise we had planned for this birthday girl was a staycation. Well for her it was a stay-cation, for me just a regular ol’ vay-cation! I have always wanted to stay at Shutters on the Beach, but since I’m not made of gold, I did a lot of research on other Santa Monica hotels so we could be near the beach, or at least a pool. I found the Oceana Beach Club Hotel in my search and it turned out to be PERFECT. It was not at all crowded and was so cute! We basically had the pool to ourselves and the poolside service was perfection. There was a beachy mid-century modern feel to it and I was dying over the cuteness at every turn.
The only thing that was kinda a bummer was the June Gloom. This is what the locals call it when May [Gray] and June are colder and cloudy by the beach, but warm and sunny inland. Luckily the pool was heated and we had the best company, so it didn’t matter much!
My sissy’s roommate has a friend who makes pinatas and she made us this adorable pineapple! Check out @tinipinatas on Instagram!
This is the outfit I basically lived in all weekend. I spend a lot of time shopping online for mama-friendly swimsuits, but I ultimately ended up with this one from Raising Wild. I wore these shorts over it. And I’m obsessed with this poncho coverup situation. Also sunnies and I wore it with these sandals.
Everytime I go to LA, it fills up my cup. My trips are usually fast and furious, but I get so much out of them and I have a chance to miss my little loves. Then, I always can’t wait to get home and snuggle them!
