My husband & I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in two short months! I wanted to make sure we took time to enjoy that this year, because between my businesses, his full time job, and very demanding little loves, we often put ourselves, and sometimes even each other, last. We don’t mean to, but now that we have two very young babes, life is crazier than ever. Some days, we don’t even get to talk to each other until our nightly heads-on-the-pillows-how-was-your-day-catch-up at 11pm. So a few months back, I started planning a trip as a surprise, so we could celebrate properly, take a break from being Mama & Dada, and enjoy an adventure, just he & I!
Jetblue had a flash sale one day, with 20% off all flights, including their new direct route to L.A., so I jumped on it. I snagged tickets for about $85/each way, booked us a cozy little cottage in Venice, made arrangements for the kids to enjoy some time with the grandmas, and didn’t tell him where we were going until the day before we left!
From the minute we got to the airport, it was a nonstop adventure. We thought we would use the time to sleep since we *never* get to do that anymore haha, but there was too much to see & do. We entered the weekend with no plans, and spent our time doing whatever sounded fun at the moment (something you just cannot do with a toddler and infant!) We ended up biking, beachin’ it, art-gallery hopping, wandering weird and wonderful Venice, enjoying our artsy little rental, and pretty much, eating our way through L.A. We racked up over 20 miles walking and 10 miles biking in three days, and probably didn’t even make a dent in the calories we consumed from all those delicious fish tacos and bahn mi’s. It was a whirlwind getaway, sandwiched between two red-eye flights (not sure I’d recommend that…), but we’re used to chaos, so we loved every minute!
Here’s some highlights of the trip :
Day 1 : Walking the insanely magical Venice Canals around the corner from our cottage | Breakfast at The French Market | Cruising Wilshire and hitting up Sidecar Donuts for THE BEST donuts we’ve ever had | Ceviche and shrimp tacos at La Isla Bonita Food Truck | Date night for sunset and dinner at The Getty Center
Day 2 : Breakfast at Mercedes’ Cuban Grill | Biking the LA bike path from Venice to Marina Del Ray | Thai massages at Marico Massage | Fish tacos and margaritas at Clutch | Biking & shopping on Abbott Kinney BLVD | Coffee at Toms Roasting Company
Day 3 : Croissants & coffees from Espresso Yo Self | Breakfast on the beach, watching the surfers | Wandering the galleries of LACMA | Boba, Greek-Thai fries, and sushi burrito from the food trucks out front | Aimless driving and mansion gawking in Beverly Hills | Caramel-infused cold-brew with sea salt foam at Dogtown Coffee | People and seal watching at Santa Monica Pier | Beach walking & sunset over the ocean | Caribbean dinner at Cha Cha Chicken before heading to the airport to catch our late night flight!
We would LOVE to go back sometime; what are some of your favorite L.A. stops for our next escape?!
(PS. I no longer travel with my pro camera; it’s just too much. I purchased a Panosonic Lumix last year, and take it everywhere now. It sometimes leaves me missing my Canon 5dMiii, but mostly, does a fabulous job of capturing our personal adventures! )