Ahh, the city of Angels. I’ve been meaning to visit LA since I was 15 years old and I finally did it at 26 years old. I know, super late but better late then never! Since it was my first time traveling there, I wanted to see all of the tourist things. The Hollywood sign, Hollywood BLVD, and hey maybe even some celebs. So if it’s your first time and you need some guidance, you’ve come to the right place : )

I’ve laid out our whole itinerary for you guys as a blog post. I’ll tell you what we did, what to bring, and even some tips!

 

DAY 1

7 AM: WHEELS UP

Our flight. The one thing I was dreading this whole trip. I have the worst plane anxiety. I don’t even know when it started. I remember traveling when I was young and never had it. It had to have started maybe 3 years ago. I don’t really like to call it plane anxiety as I think it’s just me being extremely nervous because I hate getting nauseous and sometimes planes make me nauseous. It really brings down my excitement for my trip. I usually take Dramamine to help calm my nerves (and knocks me out my whole ride!) Lets just say the plane ride to LA was not good.. but as soon as I hit the sun, I was a changed women ready to take on The City of Angels.

*TIP: If you also have plane anxiety/nervousness, eat before your flight and take your meds an hour and a half before your flight. Not 30 minutes like they suggest! I have to force myself to eat for AM flights (no appetite) but those meds need something to hold onto so that they work properly. I learned the hard way..

10:30 AM: LANDED!

We rented a car from National. I totally recommend renting a car in LA. Uber’s are expensive and you wont be tied down on where you want to go. Plus, you’ll save so much money! And you can have awesome car jams 🙂 

11:30 AM: JACK IN THE BOX

First stop, FOOD. Jack in the Box was right next to LAX and we were all starving. It was so yummy. I ordered the Double Jack. AMAZE.

12:30 PM: AIRBNB TIME

For this trip, we ended up doing an Airbnb. Personally, I’m not opposed to staying in hotels when traveling but I love having my own place while traveling too. It seems more comfortable. Make sure to always research and look at reviews when picking a place to stay for an Airbnb. Location, reviews, and cost are very important in picking out your perfect place. We stayed near Downtown LA. I would say this location was great. Close or near places we wanted to visit and such great security. Plus, the decor in the place and the balcony views were awesome. 

4:30 PM: THE GROVE

After a short nap, we headed to the infamous, The Grove. This outdoor mall was so beautiful. It had a huge water fountain, carousal, the cutest stands with macaroons and little treats. I mean it was gorgeous. Of course I had to go shopping. I went to Zara and scooped up a few pieces! It had the coolest decor too. I saw this vintage car and of course had to get a picture or two ; ) 

**Tip: if you’re landing early it’ll be a tiring day. I suggest going to the Grove. It’s def a must see in LA and it’s such a great mall and stroll. You’ll be site seeing while enjoying the views. 🙂 

**Fashion tip: Look cute yet comfortable. 😉 Can’t go wrong with converse, high waisted jeans, and a cute sweater. LA was a little chilly in January so worked out perfectly.

 

7 PM: SUSHIYA

Time to eat! We wanted to eat some sushi and wanted to stay nearby and saw Sushiya on Sunset Boulevard. We wanted to visit Sunset Blvd so it was perfect. It’s the cutest spot with an outdoor patio. We decided to sit inside and it was gorgeous. There is $6,000 paintings all around the restaurant and such a cool vibe. We sat near the back window and you see the most beautiful skyline. Oh, and the food was great too 🙂 After dinner we took a walk on Sunset Blvd.

**Tip: We headed to Target afterwards and got some snacks for the whole stay. I suggest getting some light snacks/water to eat at night or for the AM! 

DAY TWO!

11 AM:

What’s for breakfast you ask? IN-N-OUT. I mean, did you even go to LA without getting In-N-Out? This was a block away from Hollywood Blvd, where we spent majority of our day!

Afterwards we headed to Hollywood Blvd! We saw the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the strip, and visited the imprints. A lot of the stars I wanted to see were far and not on Hollywood Blvd so I only saw the one’s that were on the strip! But here are a few of my favorites that we did see.

We also went to the Museum of Illusions. It’s pretty cool and great for some cool Instagram content 🙂 We paid $20 to enter! 

3 PM: JIMMY KIMMEL!

If it’s your first time in LA I highly suggest going to a talk show. We love Jimmy so we knew we had to get tickets. I suggest applying for tickets about a month before your trip or even the day they are available. They fill up pretty fast. We waited in line for about an hour and got seated. Jimmy is such a great guy. It was really cool to see behind the scenes of what goes on before, during, and after. We did have to turn off our phones before we even entered the building so I couldn’t get any photos but I loved the experience! 

8 PM: DAVE AND BUSTERS

Since we had my little brother we couldn’t do any night life activities but who doesn’t love Dave and Busters. We ate some food and played so many fun arcade games all in the heart of Hollywood. Traded my tickets for some candy (of course) and got an even bigger sweet tooth and took a trip to Downtown LA for some ice cream. 

10 PM: Little Damage

This ice cream parlor was so cute. They had such unique ice cream flavors and even a charcoal cone… WHAT! Sooo good. I ended up ordering the chocolate ganache with fruitty pebbles. Did I mention this place was an Instagram dream?

DAY 3

12 PM: Beauty sleep is necessary so late start for day three.

Of course, we had to see the Hollywood Sign. We heard such great things about the Griffith Observatory so we headed there. It can get confusing on where to park but if you’d like to hike to see the sign there is parking right when you enter in but we didn’t want to hike so we parked super close to the observatory. There are signs to help guide you on where to go! You drive up to see the beautiful mountains and the site is breathtaking. Once you make it to the top, it’s beautiful! 

You can go inside the observatory for some really cool astronomy exhibits. 

4 PM:

Headed back home for a quick outfit change and we headed out to Santa Monica Pier. I never wanted to leave. The buzz of performers, the diversity of people and the sense of magic in the air.. it was beautiful there. We went right around sunset and the views were spectacular. You could eat, play arcade games, ride some rollercoasters and of course ride the infamous ferris wheel which of course we did all of those things!! It’s such a fun night to enjoy the view and be a child again 🙂 This had to be my favorite part of the trip. Santa Monica was beautiful!! 

7 PM:

We headed to dinner at North Italia. Had so yummy italian food on the patio with infrared heaters! Thank God. Another tip, bring a light versatile jacket because I didn’t! Face palm… Overall the restaurant was so lively which I loved! It was not pricey at all and service was awesome 🙂 

8 PM:

After dinner, just two blocks away was an outdoor mall. I totally recommend going there. It was also one of my favorite parts of the night. So many people shopping and so many street performers. It was such a great ambiance of California vibes.

 

DAY FOUR

12PM: BEVERLY HILLLLS, THAT’S WHERE I WANT TO BEEE!

I had to see what all the buzz is about with Beverly Hills. We took a trip to Rodeo Drive and automatically felt broke LOL. It was beautiful, cars more expensive then the next, and Rodeo Drive had, of course, the most extravagant shops to pick from. It was beautiful. The gorgeous homes, the palm trees, and the fashion. It was amazing. We didn’t stay long as we had some dinner plans so we drove through and headed back to Hollywood to see the Wax Museum! 

2 PM: Madame Tussauds Wax Museum! 

I loved the wax museum! They look sooo real, it was so scary but nonetheless an awesome experience. Movie stars, music artists, and well known celebrities were all there and I took a few with my favorites 🙂 

**Tip: Get a Groupon before you go! It was $20 on Groupon and we ended up paying $30 a ticket at the door. 

7 PM: SAMBA BRAZALIAN STEAKHOUSE

Dinner reservations at Samba Brazilian Steak House! Unlimited steak, yes please! I’m a huge fan of Fogo De Chao or Chama Gaucha so we had to try it out in California. Honestly, it wasn’t my favorite place that we dined at. The meat was ok, and not a-lot of servers with not a lot of variety of meat but they had dancers every hour which was great and the salad bar was great too! 

DAY FIVE 

Our last day! After we packed our things, we headed to get Wahlburgers! Wahlburgers is Mark Wahlburg’s burger place that he owns with his brothers. It was a group favorite from the trip- even better than In-n-Out! Wahlburger’s is on Sunset Blvd so we were happy to go back and get one last visit.

Beverly Center is not too far from Sunset Blvd so we decided to kill some time and do some MORE shopping. This mall was beautiful. It had over 6 levels of luxury, contemporary, and fast fashion finds. 

6PM: WHEELS UP! BACK HOME WE GO.

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I loved this trip so much. It was amazing to get away during Chicago in January : ) LA is such a magical place. I can’t wait to go back. Until we meet again, LA. xx