You know that movie 2 Days in Paris? Or 2 Days in New York? Well this is the photo diary of less than 24 hours in L.A. We were there this past Saturday to visit a friend I’ve known since the diaper era, and I can’t quite articulate how amazing it is to see such a good friend after going through all the newness of moving, but let’s just say, it was SO FUN. Eaman and I have also been working particularly hard lately, so it was awesome to get away and get a bit silly.
I’ve been to L.A. before and back then I ventured to a lot of neighborhoods on my own out of traveler’s/food lover’s curiosity. This time we headed to previously uncharted territory: Venice, where we walked up and down the famous Abbot Kinney Boulevard, checking out the boutiques and trying not to bore the boys in the group. We also managed to squeeze in a view of Santa Monica beach before driving out to West Hollywood for Mexican food. It was such a great change of pace to be in the thick of things again in a big city. The fashion was riskier, the crowd was more diverse and the restaurant patios were spilling over with drunk twentysomethings. Ah, just like New York — with palm trees.
Check out the rest of the snaps from my L.A. diary after the jump. It’s a lovely one-day itinerary if I do say so myself.
Bountiful is the stuff girly tea party dreams are made of. It’s hard to miss; you can see the beautiful (and expensive) cake stands stacked floor-to-ceiling right from the window. I may not wear pearls or lace much, but there’s a special place in my heart for cupcake stands and shabby chic vases, so I wanted one of everything. But I gotta ask, what justifies a $180-some price tag on that metal scoop?
The school bus parked in the alley was actually a touring Warby Parker sale, touted as the WP Class Trip. Inside the bus was their full collection to try on.
Lunch at Lemonade! With a few locations around the city, this cafeteria-style restaurant is the perfect way to try a fresh variety of food. Even though they have sandwiches and soups, the main attraction is ironically the sides — things like soba noodles and sesame-ginger carrots. Naturally, we also had lemonades: blueberry mint, blood orange and cucumber mint. Just divine.
We stopped at a home store, only to sit in their (for-sale) patio seats and then abruptly leave.
I loved the way the light filtered through the boutique ecookie. Just a sublime 80-degree day in January.
My friend lives in a clutch location not far from Santa Monica, which is where we stopped for a hot second to say hey to the Pacific, check out the cool houses and make a new friend.
I think there’s a rule that you must consume Mexican food and margaritas if the temperature breaks 80 degrees…so we obeyed. El Carmen in West Hollywood is wonderful. The prices are cheap, sizes are perfectly portioned and the chips–oh the chips! They were the best I’ve ever had: served hot with just the right crunch and saltiness. I don’t think I’ve ever downed that much of the chips bowl before. It also put me to sleep all too quickly after dinner and that’s how our L.A. trip ended — in front of the TV, in my friend’s living room, falling asleep to Discovery Channel’s Frozen Planet. Twenty-one I am not.
