My 3rd (or 4th?) Fav City

So, I haven't posted in a while - mostly because I was in LA enjoying 5 days vacation with the BF. First of all, I'm in love. I'm kind of a luxury whore. And, apparently, a celebrity whore. Keep reading to learn about my whoreishness. ;)

We left on Sunday morning, landing at LAX around 10:30am. We headed down to Santa Monica beach and the Third Street Promenade. For some reason, it was unusually windy. Walking down the pier to the beach was about 4x harder than it should have been - we were walking directly into a headwind. None of the amusement rides were running because of the wind. However, it was super cool to see the ocean so choppy and angry.





We had lunch, then drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. OMG, I LOVE the houses on the beach. There are beautiful clay roofs, copper awnings, stucco buildings. Love it.



Finally, we made it back to Beverly Hills where we were staying, driving past UCLA, Bel-air, and down Rodeo Drive!!! Ate dinner at the Stinking Rose - one of my favorite restaurants in San Fran that has a sister in Beverly Hills.

Next day, we did Hollywood. The walk of fame, the Kodak theatre, the Chinese theatre, Hollywood and Highland Center.








Ate at a fabulous little deli that serves the best California sandwiches!!! (P.S. One of my favorite foods is avocado - you can find avocado in abundance in LA!!!) Then, we headed to the WB Studios tour. Unfortunately, this was a mixed experience for me. First of all, we got to see the old Central Perk set!!! Seriously, I almost cried when I walked in there. So surreal.






We also got to see the set of The Big Bang Theory, a show the BF and I love to watch together. The bad part was the Harry Potter sorting hat - the stupid thing put me in Slytherin. I hate it. Then, we took a little walk down Rodeo Drive and had dinner at a fabulous little Italian restaurant.

Tuesday was, by far, my FAVORITE day!!!! In the morning, we headed down to Venice Beach to soak up some rays and some culture. We rented bikes and trucked it down towards Santa Monica beach. We saw Muscle Beach, street performers, crappy little touristy stores, and then ate lunch at the Fig Tree - FABULOUS! Rode up to see the Venice canals, which are totally cool and lined with some beautiful houses.



Then, we drove back towards Hollywood to go to Griffith Observatory. After hiking up a giant hill, we had the most beautiful views of LA and the Hollywood sign from the Observatory.






For dinner, we went to my new favorite restaurant ever - Cut, by Wolfgang Puck, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Now, for those of you movie buffs, you'll, of course, remember that the Wilshire is the hotel where hooker Julia Roberts stays with Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. In the center of the foyer of the hotel, there's a gigantic crystal chandielier with a table underneath it - the table had vase after vase of gorgeous pink, white, and yellow roses.



The Blvd lounge is where Julia finds Richard playing the piano and they get it on. It looks similar to how it did in the movie but some of the tables have been changed. A bellhop met us at the door to welcome us and provide directions to Cut. First, we enjoyed cocktails at Sidebar, a lounge across from Cut. My favorite part of this was when a group of affluent, foreign gentlemen dressed in suits appeared. The men perused the wine list and one of them asked the bartender for a Reisling. The bartender showed him the bottle and the guy says, "Oh, no, that's much too young for my tastes." I laughed, rolled my eyes at the BF, and secretly thought to myself how I wish I was refined enough to say things like that.

We finished off our $40 cocktails and then headed over to Cut. It's a very modern restaurant with a glass wall that separates the kitchen from the dining room. The chefs done white chefs coats with hats and through the glass, you can see them working at expensive ovens and stoves. From the minute we were ushered to our table, I felt like I was a celebrity. The waiters and such wait on you hand and foot - replacing silverware that is used, changing napkins when you excuse yourself from the table, refreshing your wine glass, et cetera. The food was delicious, the wine was fabulous, the waiter was welcoming and accomodating, but none of that was the best part. Just as the BF and I were discussing how we hadn't yet seen any celebrities, who walks by but Bruce Jenner. I followed him all wide-eyed and gave the BF a questioning, "is that who I think it is?" look and he nodded with a big smile. Now, if it were for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, I wouldn't even know who Bruce Jenner was. He was seated at a large table big enough for 6 with another couple. So, of course, I'm totally thrilled because I'm wondering who the other 5 guests will be!!! The BF got up to the go to the bathroom and when he returned, he followed in Kris Jenner and their two young girls!!! Kris looks just like she does on TV; however, Bruce is much taller and has floppier hair than I imagined. ;)

So, their table was full and we figured that was it - until the waiters pulled up two more chairs and Reggie Bush marches past us!!! Then, dinner was served, and I was distracted by the presentation of the food. When I turned back to look at the Jenner table, a dark-haired girl was seated by Reggie. Of course, I assumed it was Kim, but because her back was to me, I couldn't tell. Therefore, I embarrassed the BF by asking the waiter if the girl was Kim or Kortney. He verified that it was, in fact, Kim and I got little butterflies in my stomach!!! Kim Kardashian, Reggie Bush, Kris and Bruce Jenner were eating less than three tables away!!! I just want to point out that the entire time the BF is telling me to keep my cool, to act like I belong, to NOT approach their table and ask for an autograph or a picture. This, btw, is why I have no pictures of this siting!

So, at this point, I'm scanning the restaurant to see if I notice any other celebrities and I see this guy who looks like Spencer from Spencer and Heidi on The Hills. However, I never watch that show and I generally think it's stupid, so I couldn't remember their names.

I tried to describe to the BF who I thought they were.....it came out as some stuttering mess like, "Who was that guy that married Lauren from The Hills?"

He looked confused and said, "Huh? Lauren?"

Frustrated, I said, "Yes, you know, Lauren and....? It was a big deal and all over The Soup!!!!" (BTW, I've finished off a glass of Pinot and half a bottle of Merlot by this point.)

Still appearing to have no idea what I'm talking about, he said, "You mean Heidi and Spencer?!?"

"YES!!! Doesn't that guy up there look like Spencer?" I noted.

BF: "Well....actually....that is him!"

Ok, so this didn't excite me nearly as much, because, truly, Heidi and Spencer are nobodies that somehow ended up famous. But, still, KIM KARDASHIAN!!!! And, actually, Eric Benet - Halle Berry's ex-husband, was eating at the table next to us, as well.

Eventually, Bruce got up to go to the bathroom, and a table of giggly 18 year olds intercepted him for a picture. This is when it happened - the Jenner/Kardashian table turned around to look and the dark-haired girl at Reggie's side turned around and looked our direction. BF and I exchanged excited glances as it was verified that our waiter was, in fact, right - it was KIM!

Ok, now, look, I realize Kim Kardashian is nothing more than a girl who had a sex tape released and therefore, consequently, became famous. But, I love her. Here are the reasons why:

A. She's super hot and curvy.
B. I kinda want to be her.
C. Did I mention how she's hot?

Anyway, so, after that, I felt content enough to leave and we followed Bruce out to the bathroom. I went to sleep that night and dreamt of the Kardashians.



Next day, we perused Rodeo Drive and I invested in my mandatory Tiffany's purchase. At each big city I visit, I purchase something from Tiffany's. That way, I have a souvenir of the location that I will actually use.



We went to the Beverly Center and did a little shopping. Then, we headed down to Long Beach to visit the Queen Mary, a humungous oceanliner that used to ship troops back and forth across the Atlantic during World War II. Supposedly, there are ghosts that haunt the ship - crew members that died on board, passengers that met their fate at sea, or passengers of another ship that the Queen Mary crashed into. So, the best part of this was the simulated Ghosts and Legends tour that takes you into the depths of the ship. Afterwards, we headed back to Hermosa Beach, where we were staying for the night. Had dinner and then went back to the hotel to relax and share a bottle of wine before watching Lost!!!! (P.S. Sayid tried to kill Ben, just as I said he would - awesome!)



Next morning, we walked down to the Hermosa Beach, watched some surfers and volleyball players, and breathed fresh, ocean air.


Then, we drove to Beverly Hills to eat at Jerry's Famous Deli - a place often visited by the Entourage boys. In fact, it was where E and Vince met up with Mandy Moore in one episode of Entourage. Then, we were tourists at Universal Studios. On the studio tour, we saw Wisteria Lane, where the awesome Desperate Housewives is filmed. You can see some of the houses below:




Finally, we ended our trip with the red eye back home this morning. Something sort of exciting happened on the plane, which I'll blog about later, since this post is ridiculously long. Anyway, now, I'm back home, in boring Ohio, already missing the glitz, glam, and luxury of LA. Sigh. Three more days off, though! YAY! :)