We started off our journey in Sonoma, Californa, about 7 hours north of Los Angeles. We left at 3:00pm on the Friday of a long weekend and pulled into the Mama Shelter Hotel in Hollywood at 10:00pm that night. The drive was pretty simple, just follow the I-5. We listened to Pandora and an Amy Winehouse album and chomped away on a Costco pizza I picked up while the tire pressures where getting checked.

Our plan was to go out when we arrived so we were quick to valet the car and check into the hotel. The hotel was called Mama's Shelter and was a really cool brand I'd never heard of. You can check out their website here https://www.mamashelter.com/en

It's a no frills, boutique hotel brand that is reasonably priced. Because they market to a younger demographic we weren't sure how clean it would be or really what we were getting into. The rooftop of the hotel was a known place to hang out and the lobby bar was packed when we came in. We weren't sure if we were getting a hostel in disguise or a truly cool experience rooted in a quality offering for a good price. Luckily it was the latter!

After we checked in we went and got some appies at Tao which was right around the corner from our hotel. We wanted to continue our night after Tao but not only were most of the cool spots rented out for private parties but it was already 12:45am and you can't serve liquor past 1:30am in California. We went back to the hotel and played with the Storm Troopers masks that were included in our room. The only downside of the hotel was that we were woken up by someone in the neighbouring room on Facetime. Why did they have to yell for the other side to hear them? We're not sure either...

We had to check out of Mama Shelter and book a new hotel on hotels tonight (the app) because all the hotels were booked up due to the NBA All Star Weekend. This is also why all of the cool spots to hang out were booked for private parties. We considered buying tickets to one of the a parties but ended up spending most of our cash on over priced hotel rooms.

The place to grab a quick no hassle tasty brunch in LA is Urth Cafe. They have a few different locations, West Hollywood (down the street from Dash), Beverly Hills and a few others. The quality of the food here makes every visit worthwhile. mmmm mmmmm The coffee is really tasty and the food is always absolutely delicious. Oh also, the latte art is surprisingly good. I once got a phoenix in my latte here. There's always an inside and an outside area to sit at Urth so it's perfect for people watching.

After brunch we hit the Beverly Centre for some shopping. There's a Nordstrom Rack tucked away in a strip mall directly across the street. I found the pink dress I'm wearing in the upcoming photos at Bungalow at both Marshalls AND Nordstrom rack. I was surprised the same dress would be at both stores. I paid more for it at Marshalls by about $10 but the one at Nordstroms wouldn't have fit. After shopping we went and grabbed a couple girl friends who lived in the city and went to check out the Sofitel Hotel Lounge.

The Sofitel Lounge was a maaaaajor bust. There had been a day party there and it has literally just ended. It was eerie walking into a deserted lounge at 10:00pm on a Saturday. There was garbage everywhere, spilled drinks and glassware, you know? Exactly what a lounge looks like AFTER a party. From there the bartender suggested the Granville room down the street, it was a bit more of a sit down dinner place at that time so we proceeded to the SLS. The place also looked like an All Star day party had just happened so we took some pictures in the infamous mirror bathroom and headed to EP&LP.

EP&LP is always a good spot to talk to people... but LA is a questionable place to meet people so the place is really a toss up. Maybe talk to them when you're there but not after? Anyways, we had a good time here and had to call it a night cause by the time we had gone to all the different spots it was almost past the 1:30am drinking time. We know the parties are in the hills after the clubs close but we didn't know any we wanted to check out.

Because it was a long weekend Sunday day was hopping for parties. We checked out the Grove Food Market first to start the day off on the right foot. We got crepes and coffee and then had to check out the ribs stand because my dad said they were the best he'd ever had (and I'm always looking for daughter points). The ribs were pretty good but I have to say, the mac and cheese was even better mmmmmmmm.

After the Grove we decided it was our turn for a day party and got ready to go to Bungalow at the Fairmont in Santa Monica. I really wish I had more images of what this place looks like. It's basically a tent with garden furniture and hippies in it. Very interesting place. I figured since anything goes in this kind of place my new pink dress would be perfect! This is the one I mentioned that I found at both Marshalls and Nordstrom rack (cheaper at Nordstrom rack but wrong size).

This photo was taken at about 6:00pm so we were safely in bed by about 10:00pm. Ohhh day drinking....

The next morning we said good bye to this view and started our journey back to Sonoma.