SoCal Trip Highlights

Happy Friday!! Today I'm sharing a round-up of all the things on my recent trip to California. Truth be told we did a lot and went to a lot of cities from LA, Malibu, Ranchos Palos Verdes, Laguna Beach, and Irvine! The main attraction of the trip was my darling friend's wedding in Malibu. The wedding was absolutely perfect! 

Food

Eggslut | Blu Jam Cafe | Leo & Lily

Salt & Straw | Mr. Holmes Bakehouse | Alfred Tea Room

The food in LA is amazing. I had a long list of places I wanted to visit and thankfully I was able to check off a good portion of it. We brunched a lot - Eggslut, Blu Jam Cafe, Leo & Lily. The churros french toast at Blu Jam Cafe is a AMAZING!! I seriously was in heaven and finished the entire plate. Also the cruffin from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse I tried was Chocolate Passionfruit and it was incredible.

Sights

The weather was absolutely amazing during our trip and we were lucky enough to visit a ton of cities with our friends and family. As soon as we arrived we drove to Venice and had brunch, ice-cream, and walked through the Venice Canals. Since the wedding was in Malibu we were able to explore that area as well. My uncle lives in Ranchos Palos Verdes (RPV) therefore we always go there and I love the tranquility of the area! We also made it down to The OC area to visit my sister's friends and took a stroll down Laguna Beach. My fav was visiting the lights at LACMA. I seriously would consider moving to SoCal if I could convince my family to come along!

My Looks

Jumpsuit | Denim Jacket | Sandals | Bag | Scarf | Sunnies

Skirt (old, similar) | Bag

White Denim | Bag | Scarf

Dress: Tadashi (old, similar)

Dress | Cardigan | Bag | Sandals

Denim | Top | Scarf | Bag | Necklace

 Have a lovely weekend!

#TBT | SoCal

This weeks #ThrowBackThursday is over to the West Coast - Southern California. We have a ton of family and always make it out to SoCal ever so often. The best part is seeing our family and spending lots of time with them - which leaves little room for sightseeing. Sometimes we manage to convince everyone for an outing and those are always fun! Last time I was in the Los Angeles area I managed to accomplish two things - 1) Sprinkles Cupcakes and 2) The Huntington!

Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills was high on my list because well I love cupcakes. I was there during the month of June and Key Lime was the flavor of the month and I went with that. It was delicious! Also the cupcake ATM - just too much cuteness!

The Huntington in San Marino is a gem! The botanical garden spans 120 acres. The best part of the garden was having tea at the Rose Garden Tea Room. I made reservations ahead of time and we had a lovely afternoon lunch and tea there! 

There is so much to do in LA and there almost is never enough time! These are just a few favorite gems of mine over on the West Coast. Have a lovely day!

Summer Round Up - Part 4

One of the main reasons I was not able to blog a lot this summer is because both my siblings and I were moving out of state. I feel like I have moved three times this summer! However having my siblings move comes with a huge perk of exploring new cities!

Little brother made a big move out to Northern California! I spent a couple days around the San Francisco area and visited some wonderful places!

In addition to moving and unpacking and building endless ikea furniture we did a lot of exploring. I have broken it down to what we did each day! 

Day 1

After the first day of moving we had dinner at Cooking Papa Restaurant. This is the view from the restaurant. It was a cute local restaurant with amazing food! We found this little gem by pulling out our smart phones and using yelp & urban spoon (we found many of our restaurants by using these apps!)

Day 2

We started out the day with lunch at Meykadeh in San Francisco. The food here is phenomenal! 

After lunch we walked over to Pier 39 and said hello to the lovely seals. 

Afterwards we went to chocolate heaven at Ghirardelli Square.

We burned some calories walking up and down Lombard St.

We drove over to Golden Gate Park and went to the Japanese Tea Garden for some zen time, tea, and edamame. 

My only mission while in San Francisco was to find the Magic Staircase. My obsession with these stairs began on Pinterest. I saw a pin of these tiles steps and was determined to find where they were. After many hours of googling I discovered that these steps were part of a community project in San Francisco. The steps are located on 16th Avenue between Noriega St & Moraga St. After climbing 163 steps the view at the top was breathtaking. 

We took a short drive over to Twin Peaks. It was rather windy up there - but the view was fantastic!

For dinner we yelped and found a lovely little Italian restaurant called Cinecitta. The owner was this adorable Italian lady. She was super nice and made you feel like you were having dinner at your Nana's house in Italy. Even when we finished our pizzas she didn't rush us at all to leave - similar to restaurants in Italy. 

Day 3

For a late lunch/early dinner we had Tacos & Burritos at La Taqueria in Mission district. The food was delicious!! Probably one of the best tacos I had! FYI It is a cash only place.

Afterward we headed to the Painted Ladies to relive our childhood memories of Full House. 

Then we drove over to the Golden Gate Bridge and took the typical tourist pictures of the bridge

Day 4

I started the day with breakfast Dottie's True Blue Cafe. I ordered the french toast which was divine!!!! The key is to go super early or else you have to stand in line forever! 

After breakfast I met up with a friend of mine who took me on a tour of all her favorite places. We started out at the Sutro Baths. I never heard of this place however I absolutely loved it! Apparently back in the day it was large privately owned swimming pools. It is a rather cool place and definitely worth visiting!

For lunch my friend took me to a couple of her favorite places to eat. The first stop was Burma Superstar. We ordered the Sesame Tofu and Coconut Rice. I cannot describe how AMAZING the food was! The sesame tofu tasted like candy and the rice - I could eat it forever! 

Afterward we drove around Oakland and stopped by Ike's Place. We got the Name of Girl I'm Dating sandwich that was avocado, chicken, honey mustard, and pepper jack. 

We grabbed our sandwiches and went up to Berkley and ate them at Panorama Way. The view was breathtaking! At the top you get a fabulous view of San Francisco, Oakland, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito and everything in between!

Later that night I met up with another friend and went to Sushi at Tokie's.  

Day 5

The last meal I had in San Francisco was at Pat's Cafe [another place that was yelped]. I ordered the chocolate chip pancakes and went crazy with Nutella and fruit on it!

Before going to the airport we walked around Haight & Ashbury. All I have to say is that it was an interesting place. 

I'm a girl from the Midwest therefore I sometimes get overwhelmed in a big city. However San Francisco didn't make me feel that way at all! It is a great city with so much to do and discover! Since my brother is living out there I will be a frequent flyer and can't wait to go back and explore many more wonderful places!