Los Angeles Travel Diary

Los Angeles was so much fun to explore! I had the same feeling when I was in New York of “Wow, I’m actually on the Walk of Fame (or in Beverly Hills, or on Sunset Boulevard, etc)”. It’s always neat to experience things you’ve only heard about. It was the last stop on our trip, and Russ and I were admittedly getting tired. This preggo’s feet were swollen on the last day! I was shocked. I guess that is what 10-15k steps a day will do. Thankfully we did walk a lot though to counteract all the food I ate as evidenced by all the food shots in this post. Grin. Today I’m sharing my Los Angeles travel diary. You can see San Francisco, Carmel, and Santa Barbara by clicking the links.

Similar to Carmel, I got a lot of recommendations from bloggers I follow. I was lucky enough to meet Adri in person and so sad to miss Jenna who was also on vacation. I looked at the Instagram of Thrifts and Threads a lot too. We mainly picked places to eat by proximity since LA is so large, so although there are others I would have liked to try, below is what we did. I also referenced Gina’s recommendations from her trip, and this post from Hello Fashion on dessert spots (my fav!).

Where we stayed in Los Angeles

Hotel Beverly Terrance (pictured) – This renovated hotel is in the perfect location, on the border of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. It was in walking distance to great shopping and food. I love that it retains a retro feel while still being updated. There is a center courtyard dotted with beautiful plants and seating for the complimentary breakfast.

Where we ate in Los Angeles

1. Cafe Gratitude (pictured) – I was excited to try some vegan restaurants while in Los Angeles, and Russ (rather) happily complied. We ate the most fresh, delicious lunch. I had the seasonal local salad with grilled pears and asparagus.
2. Gracias Madre – The sister restaurant of Cafe Gratitude, this vegan spot is all Latin inspired. We had an amazing dinner with an even better atmosphere. Try the cauliflower with “nacho cheese!”
3. California Donuts (pictured) – All the fun flavors you can imagine. How cute is that panda bear?! The location we went to was an outdoor walk-up counter, i.e. no seating.
4. Milk – This was a late night stop for us (thus no picture) and so worth it for the macaron ice cream sandwiches. Yes, you heard that right. Macaron ice cream sandwiches. Amen. You can also make your own ice cream sandwich with any of their cookie flavors.
5. Alfred Coffee – Fun little coffee spot. I love trying local coffee places!
6. The Assembly (pictured) – This is where I met Adri. On Friday they have donuts, and my honey vanilla latte was oh so yummy!
7. The Farmer’s Market – We got off at the Grove on our bus tour (see below) which is a great shopping area. Co-located with it is the neatest outdoor market with booth after booth with every type of food you could imagine.
8. Others to note: I wanted to try Zinc, Olive and Thyme, Ledlow, and Afters Ice Cream, but they were not as close, and we had limited time.

What to do in Los Angeles

1. Shop – So many places!
2. Walk of Fame – This was neat to see, but I have to say less impressive than I imagined.
3. Bus Tour – I recommend this. We got a lot of information we otherwise wouldn’t have known exploring on our own. Additionally, we took a tour you could get on and off of (had to stay an hour until the next bus came though), so it also served as transportation.
4. Universal Studios – I was bummed we didn’t have time to do this especially because of the new Harry Potter exhibit.
5. Hollywood Sign – I cannot believe we didn’t see this although I have heard you cannot get too close.
6. Dodgers Baseball Game – This is one of the parks that hasn’t been renovated, so Russ was pretty excited to see it. It was personally my favorite of the ones I have seen because they have made all the signage retro which I thought was fun.

Outfit Details

Dress c/o Chicwish // Heels c/o Choies // Bag: Rebecca Minkoff c/o Shopbop // Sunglasses: Karen Walker