I stepped off the plane for three days with virtually no agenda. Yes, my type-A, planning self took a backseat for once. I definitely see the value in planning, but there is nothing more freeing (and sometimes scary) than arriving in a new place with no “next step.”
Of course I had booked an Airbnb and told my friend, Ann, which terminal I would arrive in, but beyond that…our weekend was an open book.
After Ann generously picked me up, we wandered over to a nearby coffee shop and just caught up a bit, relaxed, and enjoyed steaming cups of coconut tea.
After sitting down and getting ourselves together we decided we only had a few goals for the day:
1) visit Halo Top Creamery (only my goal since Ann is vegan haha)
2) visit Venice beach and Santa Monica
Goal 1: Accomplished
Goal 2: Accomplished
We enjoyed a beautiful walk along the beach and then the most touristy Pier. No doubts we got those 10,000 steps in!
After our long walk of course we were hungry so we looked up a few places in the area and ended up at Flower Child (it’s affiliated with True Food Kitchen). The food was delicious, and the vibes were everything you could want from So. California.
After dinner we decided to go see a movie so we killed time shopping before we the showing of “Shape of Water.” I personally love the movie, but Ann was not the biggest fan-in fact she didn’t like it all, aside from how beautiful it was.
After the movie, we went back to our adorable Airbnb and passed out from exhaustion.
We are both morning people, so the next morning we woke up around 7:30/8 and enjoyed a relaxed morning with hot tea and getting dressed up for…the SAG Awards! One of my dear friends interned for them this year and was generous enough to get me two tickets to attend (SO KIND!). This was the only real plan in our whole trip. We made a quick detour to Whole Foods for snacks and then got all dressed up for the red carpet event.
We arrived at a parking garage and waited with about 100 other people to go through security and attend the red carpet.
It all felt beyond surreal; now I’m not a People-reading star-crazed fan, but seeing celebrities in person is pretty cool and exciting.
A kid from Stranger things…
The guy from Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name:
Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn:
You get the gist–endless stunning celebrities. I left feeling grateful to be just a normal person; seeing the paparazzi really showcases the dark side of fame. While harassment is slightly too strong a word, the comments many of the photographers made were certainly over the top, and often rude.
After the show, we stopped to take a few more pictures then headed to M Cafe in Beverly Hills (just a block from Rodeo Drive).
I got this delicious Macro bowl with Miracle Noodles and it was SO good and filling. It was overflowing with tofu, pickled radish, kabocha, potatoes, kale, carrots, nori, and herb-baked tofu. I highly recommend this place!
After dinner we were both tuckered out so we went home and watched “Mudbound” on Netflix–it was a (intense) great movie!
The next morning we got up pretty early, packed up from our Airbnb, and headed to a cozy, quiet little coffee shop in Beverly Hills. Ironically, moments later about 50 people starting pouring through the doors–loud as can be. We learned that this was the monthly Beverly Hills “Walk with the Mayor” group and thy happened to choose that same coffee shop this month…what’re the chances?! Luckily, we found it all amusing and one nice participant in the walk gave us a free drink because he could see we were attempting to work. Luckily, they stayed for only 30 minutes before they were on their way!
After the coffee shop, we relocated to Whole Foods and I worked from their for most of the afternoon. A quick work stop at Starbucks later and it was time for me to visit Quest Nutrition HQ. My friend generously dropped me off and drove back home. I was brimming with excitement as I entered into Quest and everything was as I had imagined. The amazing team, Alyssa and Clark, showed me all around the building, introduced me to the team, and even let me play in their show kitchen:
Thanks for giving me a tour!
It was so much fun. Next stop: airport.
I got to the airport with about 3.5 hours until my flight; flying Virgin Airlines I know they have lots of flights between LA and SF so I asked if there was an earlier flight–and lo and behold, there was! I got Home an hour earlier, curled up in bed, and felt nothing but gratitude for the amazing time I had in LA! A great lesson in leaving some “plans” up to fate!
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Have you planned all of your best trips? Or have you let fate take a leading role?