On the West Coast
It only took twenty-eight years for me to make it out to the West Coast, and my first two trips to California did not disappoint. I had been planning my trip to LA since last August for a fitness event and had so many things to cross off my bucket list—especially since following so many LA-based gals on the gram in quarantine—and naturally a lot of them involved food and photo ops. You know me.
After a quick holiday season, I hopped back on a plane two weeks later to San Diego—this time for work, but who says you can’t balance that out with some sight seeing? I did some digging and took every chance I got to have my feet in the sand and fresh food in my belly. One of my favorite things about the west coast has all of the fresh goodness you can get your hands on.
LOS ANGELES
EATS
Let’s start with breakfast. I had Backyard Bowls a few times while I was in LA. There’s something about warm weather that makes you crave a fresh açaí bowl. You can completely customize their bowls for more protein and other supplements—so they’re super filling in addition to being healthy and really yummy. On the contrary, but just as delicious, Sidecar Doughnuts was absolutely worth the hype. They have unique flavor profiles from other breakfast sweets and they’re super light and fluffy. Living up to their “world’s freshest doughnuts” claim. I doubled down for good measure—lemon poppyseed and dulce de leche churro. For the biggest brunch, we went to Elephante in Santa Monica. I’m honestly upset that I only went once, although my bank account probably isn't. The price point is very ‘LA’ but the food is truly INSANE. And it just kept coming, from the time we sat down until we were ready for our check. I’m still drooling over the smoked salmon and the loaded avocado toast. And one of my last stops had to be Erewhon, because this place gets a lot of buzz too. It is by far the most expensive grocery store that I have ever step foot in, so thankfully I was only there for dinner and a few treats. The hot bar is definitely where it’s at—turmeric chicken nuggs and the best white cheddar mac and cheese. I also bought a CBD infused smoothie while I was there and drank it the morning of my flight out.
PLACES
One of the first places I went was Rodeo Drive and there was so much eye candy. I think I spent a solid two hours just window shopping. Tom Ford, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Jimmy Choo… Believe mw when I say that I’ll be back and I’m going to buy something from every store I walk into one day. I also spent some time wondering around The Grove and Century City, which were equally as tempting and magically decorated for Christmas time. Now I feel like I’ve starred in all of the holidays movie scenes, west and east coast included. Then the iconic Santa Monica Pier, where we had our fitness event—which was pretty much the entire reason for my trip out to LA. We were out there first thing in the morning and it was the most perfect day, getting to just look out over the ocean and hangout with some of the best babes.
My friend and I made a stop at the Urban Light at LACMA and strolled around in a full on photo shoot. It definitely didn’t disappoint at night, and the pictures I took of them were stunning. And I couldn’t go all the way to LA without a little Hollywood hike. My last full day, we woke up early and went to Runyon Canyon Park. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy, but you could still get a good view of the Hollywood sign across the hills. Pack your walking shoes and take a water bottle with you because those inclines are not for the faint of heart.
SAN DIEGO
EATS
Coffee was an absolute must on this trip and I tried some new things outside of my normal sweat cream cold brew. We made a stop at Better Buzz for their unique coffee flavors, like their americano with vanilla powder. And on another caffeine-driven adventure, my friends and I escaped for brunch at Breakfast Republic—one of the places that was on my list that we ended up at by sheer coincidence, but would certainly return to. Pancake flights galore, but I’m still dreaming about the Mr. Presley french toast, drizzled in peanut butter and topped with ripe bananas. And then the rest of the trip consisted of even more carbs and sugar. I had to redeem myself and try In-N-Out since I didn’t quite make it there in LA—and maybe it’s the midwest in me, but I’d still take cheese curds over animal style fries any day, iykyk. The real goods were at Crack Shack. Order a Coop Deville or Caesar’s Chick and fries and thank me later. And for desserts: cookies at The Baked Bear, cheesecake at Extraordinary Desserts, and ice cream at Salt & Straw. I get a sugar rush just thinking about treating myself to all of that, but with my sweet tooth, I’d get it all again in a heartbeat.
PLACES
We stayed in a resort in Mission Bay so we caught the best sunrises and golden hours from our hotel rooms. And I was so grateful to be within waking distance to Mission Beach to take my shoes off and walk on the sand in January—the best feeling. I also got a chance to go up and down the boardwalk and just take in all of the liveliness of people enjoying the weather. That’s not something you see too often in Minnesota in the dead of winter. And finally, a solo walk through the stunning Balboa Park. I obviously didn’t have time to explore every garden but I would put the Desert Garden at the top of my list.
