okaybee

Why do I always seem to do flying visits to a place?

I’m clearly not the type of person who takes a leisurely two weeks to discover a city. I’m more of a ‘what can I pack into a day or two’ kind of gal. I think this is because, there’s so much to see, and so little time to see it. I want to maximise the time spent somewhere. See everything I want to see.

In my 36 hours in LA, I hiked Runyon Canyon, went to Griffith Park Observatory at night, saw the Walk of Fame, went to Glossier and bought all the things, saw Melrose, went to the Beverly Hills Hotel, got coffee at Alfred’s Coffee, had the most incredible Mexican food at Mercado, walked the pier in Santa Monica, had an amazing açai bowl, got my nails done, and squeezed in a little shopping. Was I tired afterwards? You bet. Was it worth it? 100%.

We flew from Las Vegas to LAX on Tuesday afternoon. After five nights of parties, drinking, slot machines and pool parties, we were ready to get away from the madness of Vegas (amazing and all as it is). We landed in LAX and got our rented car. Los Angeles is one of those places where you need a car. It’s essential to getting around efficiently. The last time I was in LA, I stayed in Santa Monica the entire time, never venturing outside of it, other than when I got an Uber for 90 minutes to my conference in Terrenea Resort. If you want to get a lot done in LA, rent a car and save yourself the hassle of Ubering everywhere you want to go.

We went for a quick walk to get some food when we arrived. We were staying in the Wyndham Santa Monica, which is right opposite the pier, so it’s very central and close to loads of amazing places to eat. Simply Salad is where we ended up and a good spot if you’re looking for some healthy food. Which, after eating in Hooters in Vegas the night before, is exactly what I was looking for! After heading back to our hotel, we decided that we needed to do something that evening, before we all crashed with tiredness. We drove out to Runyon Canyon just as the sunset for a hike. It’s an easy hike, more of a walk really. But when you combine my wheeziness from 5 nights out in Vegas, and running up the canyon before the sun went down, it was more challenging than it should have been!

After picking up our parking ticket (oops, see more in the video above), we decided while we were out, we may as well keep going and head to Griffith Observatory. Thanks to the popularity of La La Land, the place was swamped with people. Bus after bus after bus of tourists, like ourselves, arriving to check the place out. I have to say though, it was a gorgeous view that night, and the moon rising over the city made the windy drive with five exhausted girls worth it.

The next morning, I went and got my nails done as they were at the point of being embarrassing. Also, because I needed an excuse to not go to Soul Cycle, which the girls were adamant about doing. Afterwards, I picked up a gorgeous açai bowl from Backyard Bowl. Anything with goji berries and I’m hooked. We did a little shopping that afternoon before myself and two of the girls headed for the Walk of Fame. I wasn’t really that interested in the Walk of Fame, I really just wanted to get closer to Glossier and seeing as the girls were driving that way, it made sense.

I’m going to talk about my Glossier trip in another post and talk you through all the products I got there, because if I didn’t this post would quickly spiral out of control and no longer be about 36 Hours in LA. Instead it would be me rambling about packaging, and glowing skin and Antelope Canyon (it will all make sense in the post I swear). Just know that it was everything I wanted it to be, and more.

Following that I needed to be a #basicinstabitch and get coffee in Alfred’s conveniently just down the road from Glossier. Their coffee is very good, I’ll give them that, and there’s a nice chilled out vibe to the place that counteracts all the hyperactivity from the aforementioned coffee. We had decided after the girls had done the Walk of Fame, and I had had my Glossier fill, we would meet at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Another #basicinstabitch moment, but it needed to be done. That hotel is a trip, they’re sure into their palms and pink. I can appreciate their retro feel to be honest. Who doesn’t want to stay inside a big pink marshmallow?

That night we knew we wanted to stay local for our dinner, as we had a big travel day the next day to Yosemite (that saga will come soon to this site). I googled and found a great Mexican restaurant called Mercado. You guys. Get the choriqueso dip. Please. For me. I dream of that dip. And the carne asada. Oh my days. And the carnitas… and the elote. It was all insane. Washed down with a blackberry mojito, it was one of the best meals I had on that trip. You need to go.

Afterwards, we headed for a walk down Santa Monica pier. We happened to be there the same night that Revolve was having a party in the amusements park, which meant the park was shut down to the public. I’m not one for rickety rides anyway, so I was good with the fact we couldn’t access the park. It was so nice to just stroll down the pier, and work off that queso, before heading to bed for our early start.

You see? You can accomplish a lot in 36 hours. You just have to know what you want to do, and work out a way to make it happen! As I mentioned earlier, a car will be essential to your success in LA. Just expect to sit in traffic at least once or twice.

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