To say the time change had me all messed up is an understatement. I don’t know how people do this all of the time. We flew into LAX on Friday night (May 11) and didn’t get to our hotel until about 9:30pm. Which was actually 11:30pm PA time. I was exhausted and jet lagged beyond belief. Considering none of us really ate anything all day we ended up getting room service which was AMAZING.
On Saturday morning aka my birthday, I ended up waking up at 6:00am LA time due to the alarm clock in my hotel room going off (thanks to whomever set that). Even better, I wasn’t able to fall back asleep. So I was up from 6:00am to about 10:30pm. But since back at home is three hours ahead I was all screwed up. Once I got my shit together, I met my Mom and Gram downstairs for a mimosa to celebrate my 24th birthday. After that we got ready and headed to Rodeo Drive which was exactly what I thought it would be. There were tourists everywhere, exotic cars, and a bunch of stores that sold things I couldn’t afford even if I tried. It was pretty chilly so we didn’t end up staying there too long. We only stopped at Agent Provectur and Sugarfina. Ive wanted to try Sugarfina candy for years and years so I was v happy to get a few things from there. The aesthetic was literal goals. After Rodeo we walked around Two Rodeo Drive which is definitely a must because of the architecture and stone walkway.
After we left Rodeo, we then headed to The Beverly Hills Hotel to have lunch at The Cabana Cafe. Which honestly was my favorite part of the trip. Everything about it was amazing. The service was great, food was delicious, and the aesthetic was once again everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
After doing all of that we came back to the hotel to relax and then went to Nordstrom Rack. The one back home I think was way better but I did buy a few small things.
The mall was like a little city in itself and trying to find a spot to park was mentally exhausting and took forever. One thing I learned about Los Angeles is that even though you may be close to where you’re going, you have to add in traffic which then makes your trip a heck of a lot longer. You could see the mall outside of our hotel room window so Nordstrom Rack was literally right across our hotel next to the 405 but by adding in traffic to it made a 5 minute trip basically 15 minutes.
After that adventure, we went back to the hotel to grab some yummy dinner and then headed back to the room to relax and catch some zzz’s!
On Sunday, our second day, we slept in for a little then got up and ready for the day. We ended up driving back to Rodeo Drive to stop at Sephora and Diptyque. Sephora ended up being way better than the one that is at my local mall. They had a larger selection of things and products that I had never heard of. So it was pretty cool checking new products out. I bought some of the HUM daily cleanse vitamins and my Mom and Grammy got some St. Tropez tanning stuff. The workers were extremely nice and with it being Mother’s Day, they gave my Mom a bunch of free samples including some yummy Sugarfina candy. After Sephora, we walked across the street to Diptyque where I finally bought the mimosa candle that has been on my wish list. The girl who helped me was extremely nice and since it was my birthday weekend she gave me a mini sized candle for free. So I didn’t feel as guilty spending $75 for one candle. *insert eye roll* After Rodeo we went back to the car and headed to the Sprinkles ATM which was another thing on my Cali bucket list. It was nothing special but I got some cute pics and a SUPER yummy carrot cake cupcake.
We then headed to Alfred Tea Room which was literally the cutest little place. Although it was tough to get to it was well worth the hassle. I wish we had a few back home because the Matcha boba tea I got was literally amazing! For the most part everywhere we went had no parking so it was either park in a parking garage which could get expensive or drive around until you find a spot on the street. I personally think Uber would have been a way better option but with my Mom and Grandma we just decided to drive the rental car around. Near Alfreds there was a cute little farmers market going on so we walked around there for a little bit before heading back to the car. It was actually really cute! There was mostly just a lot of different kinds of food and jewelry. The jewelry was really dainty and adorable but I did good and didn’t buy anything. Shocking I know.
After we did all of that running around we were all exhausted and went back to the hotel to relax, eat, and get some sleep. I ended up ordering room service so it was nice eating a shrimp salad in bed all while drinking a glass of wine with a view of Los Angeles’s Sunset.
On Monday morning we all woke up and went downstairs to get some breakfast. Since this was our last full day we had a lot to get done. We ended up going to Venice Beach, In-N-Out, Brandy Melville, Lululemon, Hollywood Walk of Fame, and then went to go see the Hollywood Sign.
I have always heard how good In-N-Out was so I was happy to finally try it out. Considering I have a bad stomach I didn’t try the burgers but the fries were way better than McDonald’s, lol. As for the stars, basically just as you see on TV, it was nothing more than miles of stars. My Grandma wanted to get a picture with Trump’s star so we drove around looking for it. It ended up being in front of a small mall which we were going to anyways because you could see the Hollywood sign from the second level. There was SO many people there that we went and got our pictures and then left.
All in all I had a lot of fun on this trip but I probably wouldn’t go again. It was awesome to see all of the things I heard about and saw on television but the traffic and LA scene is just not for me. If you ever get the chance to go I would definitely check out everything I talked about but make sure to bring a couple of thousand dollars because you will 100% need it.
