My husband and I recently took a trip to Los Angeles and we certainly checked almost everything off our list to determine if this is a place we ever want to move to. Before I moved to New York City in 2014, my husband and I were contemplating picking up our entire east coast lives and moving to Los Angeles. Now, five years later, our dream move is something we are considering all over again! This does not mean anytime soon, but now at least we are much more prepared and understand the layout of the lovely Los Angeles.
We spent four full, well planned out days touring around this amazing city on a beach! When we landed very early on Friday morning we picked up our go to warm weather rental car, a mustang convertible, and went straight to the J.W. Marriott in Santa Monica, where we resided for the remainder of our trip. Our hotel was beautiful and the best part was when you walked out the backdoors you were at the Santa Monica beach right next to the pier that lit up the gorgeous night skies.
The first afternoon we immediately went to the one and only, Rodeo Drive. As we walked down this stunning street filled with all of my favorite designers, we stumbled upon a really cute café for lunch, where I had the best candied walnuts, salmon and apple salad. I surprisingly did not purchase anything while on Rodeo Drive, but it was truly an experience just walking from store to store and viewing the latest luxuries. While we were on our way out, my husband pointed out a beautiful pink balcony at the top of Rodeo Drive. We figured it was just a pretty balcony on top of the Louis Vuitton store, however when we went to walk into take a picture it actually was a pop up Louis Vuitton exhibit. But…. I do not want to share anything more about the exhibit right now as the LV Exhibit blog is coming soon, so stay tuned for some really special LV photos!
Next Stop was the Beverly Hills Hotel! As the over planner that I am, I of course pre-planned out my outfits for each location we would be visiting. I found a retro 90s romper in the perfect shade of pink and green to match the sign.
The Santa Monica sunsets are definitely a beautiful site to see. The air feels so salty fresh as it blows through your hair.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to hike to the Hollywood sign, then I definitely recommend you make the time. Our original plan was to begin the hike at 6:00 AM and take the mile and a half route, which usually takes about two hours’ total. Well we started the hike closer to 10:00 AM and until about an hour in little did we know we were on the roughest trail. This trail is a total of four miles and took about four and a half hours to complete. Woopsies!
Half way there!
Made it!
Our hotel provided us with bikes to ride around the Santa Monica area, which was really nice. We had even more fun riding the Uber electric scooters, but be careful there are “dead zones,” which means it will turn off randomly if you leave the area permitted to ride. Half way down a hill our scooters stopped out of nowhere!
The Third Street Promenade is a really cool area great for casual shopping, bars and restaurants. We tried to remember to eat seafood as much as possible since it was extremely fresh.
If you want to lay out on the beach for a bit, then check out the Santa Monica Beach. The sand is soft, warm and the area is picture perfect.
Venice Beach, which is the home of Muscle Beach has a boardwalk and is very crowded. We did not enjoy this area as much, but obviously, we had to go check out the famous Muscle Beach.
While in Los Angeles we took time to visit houses and condos to get a feel for the areas. I have to say Santa Monica and Beverly Hills were definitely our favorite places. If we ever do move to California, then I know where we’re going!
“California girls are unforgettable.” –Katy Perry American Singer