Los Angeles

Last November I got a wild hair up my ass that I REALLY wanted to live in Los Angeles. I have no idea why (I hoped the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills did not have that much influence over my life), but shortly after the new year I started planning a trip to visit over memorial weekend.

Now this isn't the first time I've had this wild hair. When I was 19 and thinking about grad school I took a trip out there to visit schools and to see if I indeed could live in the city of the stars. The answer: 100% no, ab-so-lutely not. I lived in NYC at the time and quickly realized the 5 lane traffic, smog, constant summer, and streets of implants was not for me.

But here I was again...8 years later...wild hair and all...wanting to give it another go.

We rented a car - a very economical car. However, upon arriving at the rental place and realizing the car was the size of my asshole we quickly upgraded. My mother was going to drive, but I decided it would be best if I discovered if I could indeed drive in the city of traffic jams and 5 lane highways. I am happy to report it went off without a hitch, my parallel parking skills are still intact (who knew they ever existed??), and I didn't mind driving around due to the miraculous Siri (we only got in a few screaming matches).

Our hotel was gorgeous and perfectly located in Beverly Hills (surprisingly not too expensive, I found it on a great luxury boutique website). Upon check in I learned the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills would be filming there that evening. So what else is a girl to do? Go up to the rooftop bar, get drinks, wait.....then judge....do a LOT of judging. They all actually look exactly the same as they do on tv, Kim and Kyle were arguing, Kim threw up her hands and refused to film until she got food, Brandi looked like a bean pole, and Lisa was amazing (no giggy in sight - *sigh*).

The next morning we went hiking in Runyon Canyon - I was disappointed to miss out on this my last visit (Full disclosure: I was also 20 pounds heavier and not the slightest bit into fitness). It took about 20 minutes to get up into the hills and fair warning parking is a NIGHTMARE, but after circling a few (ok a lot) times we found our spot. We were about 20 minutes into hiking when it hit me. I had to pee. No bathrooms, 20 minute drive up, 15 minutes waiting to park, expected 2-3 hours of hiking, LOTS of people = not.good. Not good at all. We found a rougher terrain path and I climbed down by a bush (with no leaves...so basically a twig bush), dropped my lululemon's and went to the bathroom. There I was, amidst the uber rich and fantastically fit -peeing. Not my classiest moment, but I was committed to this workout. We were then able to hike the next few hours and enjoyed taking in the Hollywood hills and the Hollywood sign. The rest of the day was spent shopping around town, walking Rodeo, and hitting up the famous Sprinkles bakery. BONUS: Sprinkles has an ice cream shop there - it's unbelievable. And yes, that was dinner.

The following day we took the PCH down to Santa Monica and walked the boardwalk as well as all of the shops on the nearby streets. It was gorgeous and if I were to move to Los Angeles, Santa Monica would be my first stop to look for apartments. Every shop imaginable is there, there are a TON of yoga studios (which I was told all are equally fantastic), and it's only about 25 minutes from Beverly Hills (plus if you take Sunset the drive is gorgeous).

On our last day we took a yoga class at Yogaworks. I had asked my yoga teacher (who also owns the studio and does a lot of her own traveling) for recommendations on LA studios and teachers. She informed me Vinny Marino was one of the best, she also informed me LA yoga classes were a bit different. She was right. Everyone talks right up until the moment class starts (and honestly, even after), people were on their cell phones, reading scripts, talking to people across the room, etc. I struck up a conversation with a man next to me who was originally from North Carolina but had called LA home for the past 15 years. He does financing for the movie industry and has two children. He said he and his wife were thinking of moving since LA wasn't the most "wholesome" town to raise children in, however he was emphatic that it was a great place to live while single and/or childless (mental note made). He also asked if I was a Vinny devotee or a yogaworks devotee. I said "umm well neither, I don't even live here". He just laughed and handed me his "extra towel". An hour and a half, 105 degrees, and 12 buckets of sweat later I realized why.....amazing class - but never ever...ever go without a towel.

This time upon arriving at the airport and preparing to leave the city of angels I was struck by a sense of sadness. I had the best time. In fact I had an even better time than I had anticipated I would. I'm not sure I expected to hate it as much as I had at 19, but I definitely did not expect to love it this much at 27. So will the great move to Los Angeles commence? Not at the moment, but it's definitely back on the radar.

Where to Stay:
The Thompson Hotel

Where to Eat:
Katsuya - order the crispy rice with spicy tuna - phenomenol
Lemonade - order the kale mac n'cheese and anyone of their lemonades is delish
Sur - order the goat cheese balls, amazing (and yes the waiters from the show still work there)
NM Cafe

Joans on Third - get the granola and the fresh juice (it's very pricey at 10.00 a bottle, but worth it)
Toast - I got the morning wrap, substituted tofu for eggs, omitted the bacon, and swapped the swiss for cheddar cheese and they were very accommodating! (since I was that person)
Sprinkles Ice Cream

Where to Shop: