Ohmygod you guys, sorry it has taken me so long to get this off my chest. I've only been back from L.A. for two measly days and haven't had any down time—I got in at 7:00am on Tuesday, dropped my bags off at home and went straight to the office with a ton of shit to catch up on. But I'm going to share with you my trip now! All of it in all it's Prius-powered, good-better-best-meal-driven glory. Since I'd never been I hustled to see as much as I could in one go, so brace yourselves.
FUN FACT! I didn't wear deodorant the entire week ^_^
Wednesday
EAT/SHOP/SEE I started the day with a drive out to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a sick shopping area that gave off some *hella chill* vibes. I shopped Mise En Scène, HURRA! (which closes today so get on it) and Tortoise General Store. I did lunch at Gjelina, grabbed iced coffee at Intellegentsia and made my way to hang ten at Venice Beach.
Thursday
EAT/SHOP/SEE I drove to the downtown arts district and grabbed a capp and a banana muff at The Pie Hole (only half as fun as it sounds) then shopped my brains out at Hammer & Spear, 12345 (<-- better than a lot of NYC boutiques, will share what I bought there later), Apolis, Alchemy Works, Poketo and Iko Iko. I ended the night with a sick-ass dinner at Bestia with my L.A. bestie (snap), Dabito. Apparently this place is mondo popular and we were lucky to get in? (It's on Vanity Fair's L.A. Hot List this month, I guess they read my tweets.)
FUN FACT! I think all the increased sun exposure made me break out. Is that normal?
Friday
EAT/SHOP/SEE I spent Thursday night at The Line because #TreatYoSelf, so I had breakfast there, checked out and mosied on over to the Silver Lake area to check into my AirBNB. I had the most incredible lunch ever (no joke) at Sqirl, checked out Griffith Park at Sunset (pics next week) and met up with some friends in WeHo for drinks and dinner at Dominick's.
FUN FACT! I saw Anne Hathaway at LACMA wearing a fedora.
Saturday
EAT/SHOP/SEE I woke up at 1pm on Saturday, stumbled over to a disappointing brunch at La Mill (apparently the only thing worth ordering on their menu is the brioche donuts? I got #sadwaffles) then spent a chunk of the afternoon wandering around Chinatown. I discovered Actual Size gallery and took in the current exhibit while chatting with co-owner Justin John Greene (more about the space here). I popped into Ooga Booga to cop some 'zines then rushed over to Daikokuya for a quick Ramen dinner.
TRAVEL TIP Go it alone. I think a lot of people are freaked out by the idea of going somewhere and doing something alone. I used to be alone and out of my element all the time, living in China and whatnot, and I forgot how good that can be—how much it can help you experience a city in a different way. Sure, you don't want to be alone always, but being alone and open to interacting with strangers you meet is great. I wouldn't have talked to Justin for twenty minutes about art in L.A. if I'd been with someone who got bored of the exhibit in ten seconds. (And I would sure as hell not have gotten a seat at the bar at Daikokuya if I'd been rolling deeper than solo—by the time I left, there was a waitlist of over thirty people.)
Sunday
EAT/SHOP/SEE I drove out to Santa Monica Pier in the morning—pretty lame, boring, skip it—then made my way over to LACMA for an hour before my phone died and wouldn't turn back on so I had a motherfxcking heart attack, almost threw myself off a building, went back to the car in a storm of burning rage, then was able to eventually restart it. So after that I hit up Joan's On Third for a short rib sandwich, then dropped in on Melrose Trading Post since I wasn't going to be in town for the Rose Bowl. MTP sucked balls compared to the BKFlea, though I may be biased, plus I had to pay $3 to get in.
FUN FACT! I have never been so dependent on my phone as I was in L.A. I even started referring to the Google Maps voice as "that divine goddess" in my head.
Monday
EAT/SHOP/SEE I started my last day in L.A. off with a three-hour campout (yo, I paid for valet, get used to me) in Republique where I caught up on some work while gorging myself on this divine spread. Then I sunned in Echo Park for a hot sec and made my way to the Hollywood (sp?) area for Vanity Fair's social club.
TRAVEL TIP Don't shop in L.A. Shop in NYC, duh.
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