Our First Time in California!
It has taken me so long to sit down and write about this trip, but it was such a good trip! I already can’t wait to go back and honestly, I wouldn’t mind moving there either!! It had such a fun feel everywhere we went. So many dogs, so you know I’m down! We were there for about a week, so I’ll take you through a timeline of what we did and where we went!
Before I get started, I have a little PSA. Before you decide to drive to one airport and leave your car there, make sure you’re flying back to the same airport. lol Sounds like common sense but apparently not to us. *insert face plant emoji* haha! We drove all the way to Baltimore instead of ubering only to find out we were flying back to DC super late on a Monday night when we both had to be up for work early on Tuesday.
Ok so anyways, we flew out of Baltimore into LAX. *cue Miley Cyrus USA* I felt like singing that the whole time. I probably would have played it on my instagram stories if I had the music feature. (Come on insta.) Just getting into our uber and driving around was so cool to me and Cam. I looooved seeing all the palm trees! Cam’s cousin lives in LA, so we actually stayed at his apartment in Korea Town while we were there which was only 48 hours! It’s also a really cool area! Everything is so walkable! First, we went to breakfast at a restaurant in Korea town called Klat. Then we went to The Grove where I bought my dress for the wedding. (It’s on sale right now!) The Grove was really cool! It’s an outdoor shopping mall, and it was so pretty! It was one of my favorite places we went!
Our days were pretty long! So after we did some shopping we went to Melrose St. which is a neighborhood that also had a few shops. It was cool because I had heard of the name before, but it wasn’t something I would say to put at the top of your list if you go to LA. We did get some pretty good rolled ice cream and they even wrote my name on it, so maybe it was worth it. To take a little break from our long day, we stopped by a local bar. It’s called Jones. We had a pretty good talk with the bartenders. Apparently, if you go to LA that’s “the spot”. They did have this lounge area that was closed off to normal people like us, so maybe he wasn’t lying. One of the other bartenders sat down and ate with us. He told us Tuesday nights were topless Tuesdays… (it was a Tuesday). I thought he was joking, but I went to the restroom before we left, and there were pictures everywhere. He wasn’t joking…. so if you’re into that kind of thing you should maybe put that on your “must see” list. lol
After hanging out for a while we went to the Griffith Observatory. This is a must do. You can take cool pictures and see the Hollywood sign. It was a little cloudy when we went, but still so much fun. We ubered up and walked down. It’s a lot of walking. If you plan on going to LA and doing all the touristy things you might want to like train or something. haha At least wear comfortable shoes! To end the night we went to In-N-Out! I was so pumped about this, but I was kind of disappointed! I got a cheeseburger “animal style” and fries also “animal style”. I say forget the “animal style” it’s better plain! Also, better after a night of drinking. I swear it’s the cure!
The next morning, naturally, Cam and I had to find some acai bowls. We’re obsessed. They’re so good. We went to Ubatuba Acai. So we got those and we were planning on going to a Dodgers game that night. This day was JAM PACKED and so much fun!! We went to the Santa Monica Pier. We didn’t stay too long. We walked the pier, took some pictures then, went and got tacos at Plancha Tacos in Venice. Venice was actually my favorite place we went! It was so much fun! I wish I could live that life everyday! We walked on the beach. Then we saw the skate park and watched them for probably 20 minutes. There was a 10 year old kid there just killing it. Also, a few females. Represent. That was just a lot of fun. We walked the Venice canals and looked at the houses. #goals to buy one of those houses! lol Went and got drinks and window shopped on Abbot Kinney Blvd. Then of course we had to go to Rodeo Drive Baby! Pretty Woman is my favorite movie! If you don’t get the reference, you need to go watch it ASAP. I kind of thought Rodeo Drive would be a stuck up area, and I would actually end up hating it. I was so wrong! It was beautiful and even when I walked into high end stores, they greeted me like everyone else! We stayed there for a bit then went to the Dodgers game! So, Collin’s boyfriend actually scored us all seats in a suite! IMO that’s the best way to watch baseball! It was a really great night/day! I didn’t change all day, so excuse all the same outfits. haha
After that extremely busy 48 hours, we went back to the airport and flew to San Francisco where we had lots of wedding festivities to go to! One of Cam’s roommates from college was getting married, so he was in the wedding! When we flew in we had a couple of hours to hang out and see the city before we went back to the airport to pick up one of his other roommates. We went to this little bakery called Le Marais for breakfast and oh my goodness it was so good. They had the best avocado toast ever! The picture doesn’t do it justice, but it was on a croissant and had a really good maybe sour cream on it? Idk, but it was amazing!
It rained the whole time we were in San Francisco! Everyone kept telling us it doesn’t normally rain that much, but after that week, I don’t know if I believe them. lol That night the bride’s parents hosted a pizza party. This was fun because we got to meet their families and a bunch of other people who were going to be in or at the wedding. After that we checked into hour hotel. We stayed at a Home 2 Suites by Hilton. It was really nice! I definitely recommend!
The next day was the rehearsal and rehearsal lunch. The food was so so good. It was at Sauced BBQ Spirits in downtown Livermoore. We hung out that day then went out that night with some of their other friends. We actually ended back up at Sauced. lol Like I said before, In-N-Out is perfect for a night after drinking. We went there pretty much every time after drinking.
The next day was the day before the wedding. The same group as the night before went to San Francisco and we went to the Fisherman’s Wharf area. It was pouring rain just about the whole time we were there. It was still so much fun, but would have been nice if it stopped raining and my socks weren’t soaked the entire time. *Note to self. Check the weather before a vacation. Buy short rain boots and pack them!* My favorite part was getting to see the seals! We didn’t make it too far because it was raining so much, so I definitely want to go back some day!
The wedding day! Because Cam was in the wedding he left early to go do his groomsmen duties. While that was happening, I explored the area we were staying and went to an outlet mall that was really close and then got ready for the wedding! The wedding was so gorgeous! It ended up being inside because it was raining pretty hard right before it was about to start, but as a guest I think it was perfect! It was done raining after the ceremony, so pictures could still be taken outside.
The day after wedding we recovered and checked out of our hotel. We also found a winery to go to because when in California, you have to try all the wine. After this we went to a cookout at the bride’s parents house. We had one more night in the bay area, so we decided we would get an Air Bnb that was a boat. This is the most random thing we’ve ever done. lol We basically just stayed on the boat that night. There wasn’t as much to do around that area as we thought. It also wasn’t the best area… We stayed in South East Oakland. Overall it was a fun experience, and we would definitely do it again! What’s the weirdest Air Bnb you’ve stayed in?? Comment below! I want to know!
This was a super long post! I hope it was helpful in any way. I tried to not leave anything out, but I also tried to not make it too super detailed! Let me know if you have any questions!
xoxo- Chelseigh
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