The Grove

The day my mom, aunt, and I spent at The Grove was comprised mainly of me shrieking on elevators and then promptly taking the stairs; walking endlessly for hours, it seemed; window shopping, eating at Umami Burger, and Haagen-Dazs cones for dessert. There's not much to say about the trip, really, as my guardians mostly let me do my own thing—which was go around in circles, taking photos of everyone and everything, while they talked between themselves. I'd have to have numerous pairs of hands to be able to count the amount of times my mom rushed me out of a store because I was taking multiple photos of the same thing (to the best of my stealthy skills).

Venice Beach Photo Diary (and why I'm one step closer to being the happiest I've ever been)

My trip to Venice Beach would definitely have to be one of the highlights of my most recent trip to LA. The last time I was there, the ocean had swallowed one half of my favorite pair of slippers, and my dad—seizing his opportunity to make a dad joke—told me to throw the remaining half into the water. He said it might come back to me one day, the next time I'm at the beach on the other side of the world, and while nine year old me highly doubted that, the slim chance of it actually happening excited me enough to make me oblige. I had to walk all the way back to our hotel barefoot, but I didn't really mind. Back then, it felt like giving back to the earth (when in all honesty, my dad and I probably did more damage than anything else).

Rodeo Drive

God, I'm such a tourist. I don't think my trip to LA would've been complete without an indulgent, slightly gratuitous visit to Rodeo Drive. I could practically hear Material Girl by Madonna blasting in the back of my head, playing over certain scenes from the one and only episode of #RichKids of Beverly Hills that I saw. (I shut it about half-way through, and my cousin asked me if I felt my brain cells dying while watching. My answer was a resounding yes.) We were all too tired to actually walk under the sun, especially after a few hours at the beach, so a drive-through and a bit of sightseeing was all we did. It was still pretty good, though. I kind of just enjoyed watching the swarm of tourists crossing the street whenever the stoplight for cars flashed red best.

Urth

Prior to our trip to LA being booked, I'd heard a lot about Urth, an organic coffee company that first opened in West Hollywood back in 1994. Obviously, it's not a new cafe considering it's been up for four years before I was even born, but I think it was around early last year that I first heard of it. To my knowledge, it's become a sort of go-to spot for my peers in the City of Angels, and upon stepping into the cottage-like brick building, I could see why.