Travel Diaries: L.A. Staycation

This past week I had the pleasure of hosting my boyfriend and his two roommates Mike and Will here in Los Angeles. So I took the opportunity to take a few days off of work and enjoy the city with them. Even though I had already done a lot of the activities before, it was still great to just take a few days off to relax and enjoy the time with them.

We started off the trip on Thursday by having brunch at Four N' 20, which is a small resturant in the valley, and one fans of Parks and Rec will recognize as the filming location of J.J.'s Diner. I've eaten here before, and while they don't serve waffles, all their breakfasts are delicious. If you are in the area and a fan of the show I definitely recommend checking this spot out.

Next we headed over to a live taping of Conan, which I got tickets for a few weeks prior. For more information on how to get tickets to a live taping, click here to read my blog post for my recommendations of what to do in Los Angeles. The taping was so fun, and we got to see guests Jason Sudeikis and Malin Åkerman. After the taping we headed over to one of my favorite restaurants to take visitors to, Salsa and Beer. We drank margaritas and had some great food while we talked and hung out.

The next day was a day in Hollywood. We did the hike up behind the sign, then headed downtown to see the Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame. After grabbing lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we made our way down to Santa Monica. We walked around the pier, grabbed some dinner, and watched the sun set on the beach before heading back to my apartment.

Friday was a lot of activity, so we wanted to slow it down a little bit on Saturday. We decided to go to Malibu Cafe at Calamigos Ranch, which I had never been to before. It was a beautiful property with a ton of actives/games, open seating, drinks, and food. We hung out and relaxed here for a few hours, just talking and taking in the pretty views. For those who may be interested, the Cafe is free to enter, you just have to pay for everything once inside. Then we headed over to the pier for some paddle boarding at the Malibu Surf Shack. The water was pretty cold, but since we were on the boards, we were able to stay out on the water for almost two hours. After all this we were pretty tired, so we ended the night getting dinner and a few drinks at MidiCi Pizza, which was fantastic.

Sunday was the guys' last full day. We spent the first half of the day brunching and having bottomless mimosas at The Ivory on Sunset. Then we just hung out by my apartment's pool for a while, and finished the night at a great little bar called Public School. On Monday the guys flew home, and I got some much needed sleep.

I had such a great time getting to show the city to Jesse's roommates, and getting to spend some time with Jess was obviously great. We had so much fun, and did a lot of activities while they were here. I love getting to host people and show them around the city, especially now that I know it pretty well, and I'm so glad I got to share the experience with them!

If you want to read more about my reccomendations of places to go in L.A. make sure to check out my My Top 10 Things to do in L.A. and 10 Great Restaurants To Try in L.A. posts.