There's A Reason They Call It La La Land..

Joan's on Third

SLS Hotel Beverly Hills

View from terrace at Ritz Marina del Ray

Room at Ritz Marina del Ray

Poolside at Ritz Marina del Ray

I've spent most of the weekend back home in MN just chilling on my roofdeck..taking a little vacay after the vacay of 10 days of action packed relaxation in SoCal. Most days started out with coffee, breakfast and the LA Times outside at my parent's house followed by a dip and some floating in the pool, heading out to grab some shrimp tacos for lunch and then heading to the beach to watch the ginormous waves roll in for a few hours and then do some other activity. I'll share some of my pics from everything else we did while there in other posts..stay tuned.

But this one is all about our jaunt to LA on Monday. First up was lunch with one of my most hilarious friends from highschool/college at Joan's on Third, a fab little cafe near the Beverly Center where celebs are spotted all the time - apparently Nikki Richie, LC and Bunnytooth Patridge "dined" there recently, as seen in the photo above. At least Nikki R attempted to get some mac&cheese down to nourish her baby-to-be. The Hills girls stuck with their diet plan of water and air. They really should have tried some food - it was fantastic - I had chicken, corn & black bean salad and iced tea - no carbs, very LA.

After lunch, we decided to have a cocktail at the new SLS Beverly Hills hotel nearby which was prettymuch amazing - definitely go there if you are in LA cuz the decor is spectacular.

Then El Jefe and I headed west to the Ritz Carlton Marina del Ray to spend the night. Our friend works there and got us a great deal on a room, which I was quite thankful for because it was an insanely luxurious 24 hours, as time spent at the Ritz normally is. As soon as we checked into our room, we got in our robes, drank some vino and chilled for a bit on the terrace overlooking the marina below with the ocean in the distance. Then we spent a few hours poolside, swimming in the perfectly heated pool, hopping into the toasty hot tub and repeating. Everything at the Ritz is prettymuch perfection - especially the service, and when you're there, your every wish is their command. We asked the concierge for a late-night dinner spot nearby and he put us in a cab and sent us off to C&O Cucina where we noshed on delish Sausage Rigatoni with Rosemary Tomato-Cream Sauce, perfect little garlicy rolls and the best house chianti I've had, which they keep in large jugs so you can refill your own glass if you want. It was a lovely night, so we walked back to the hotel for a very good night's sleep in the ridiculously luxrious and comfy bed. In the morning it was coffee on the terrace in the robe and a couple more hours floating in the pool and laying out before heading back to the OC. A perfect 24 hours in La La Land..I think I could get used to it.