What We Said in Santa Monica

Santa Monica is my favorite place in California. Hands down. When I was younger we would drive for a quick trip to literally just go shopping on the 3rd street promenade and go to Brandy Melville. You can read about the time I went with my friend Tori here. But that was the last time I had been to Santa Monica. Kind of a sin for how close I live. Life just sends me to Santa Monica a lot of the time and this time was to see the What We Said live podcast.

Thursday

We arrived Thursday morning and spent the day just wandering around town and eating. We first walked 4 miles to Erin McKenna to indulge in some gluten free, vegan goodies. Granted we probably should have taken an Uber for the journey but it was a nice day out. I didn’t get any pictures (only video, so go check out my TikTok where I made a food recap video).

Thursday night was the whole reason we came to California in the first place: the podcast. It sounds a little crazy to plan an entire trip, take days off work and pay for a hotel around a live podcast but we did it. Katelyn and I decided if we were able to get tickets, we would go. And by some miracle we got a pair of tickets when they sold out in under a minute. The venue for the podcast was an upscale movie theater; no complaints there. We were welcomed in by juices from SunLife Organics and GF/Vegan sweets from Sweet Laurels. To die for, honestly.

The podcast started and it was just like we were all hanging out with a bunch of friends – cheesy I know. But with all of us in our PJs that’s how it felt. The podcast was mostly focused on friendships, relationships and confidence. Once the show was over there was a quick meet and greet and I pretty much froze. That’s what is always so weird about meeting influencers/creators/internet people is that I know so much about them but they literally know nothing about me. I guess that’s the power of the internet in a way. None the less both Jaci and Chelsey were incredibly sweet and so welcoming!

Friday

The next day we made our way to Little Ruby which Jaci & Chelsey had posted about before and it was less than a mile from where we were staying. No exaggeration one of the best breakfasts I’d had in a looooong time. I got what was essentially a full english breakfast with a side of halloumi which really took me back. Nomnomnom.

We continued just walking around Santa Monica and popped into a few shops here and there. The funniest find was the never ending Abercrombie on 3rd street. I’ll admit I haven’t stepped into an Abercrombie in years but my friend Haley always wears the cutest stuff from there! We tried on a lot but I only ended up with a t-shirt that said ‘drinks well with others’. Felt appropriate. 

We eventually made our way to the beach and of course had a little photoshoot.

As we started to wind down for dinner we decided to find some thrift stores and found our way to Wasteland and Crossroads. Katelyn found me a Reformation dress with tags still on for $35 at Crossroads (!!) which I was pretty jazzed on. From there we found ourselves back at Little Ruby because, why not? I had probably the best chicken sandwich on the planet (sorry Popeyes).

Saturday

Our final day in California we woke up early to take some beach pictures with morning light.

Then checked out of our hotel, stored our luggage and headed to Burbank. We landed at Olive & Thyme for breakfast before we went for our Warner Brothers studio tour.

The WB Tour was cute and quick. We got to walk on streets where many famous scenes had been filmed along with getting to visit more infamous places like the Friends water fountain, the Big Bang Theory living room and the Central Perk. Most importantly, I got to see my sweet Baby J (Jordyn). Going back to my adult friends are hard post – I made a goal to see this girl at least once a quarter since she left me for the golden state.

Overall it was a very relaxing vacation that was much needed. I’m already ready to go back!

Tips

Here are a few of my tips for a vacation in Santa Monica:

• Stay in walking distance of the beach
• Take time to walk around without a plan
• Look into restaurants that interest you (for us that meant GF & DF restaurants!)
• Bring a towel from your hotel to the beach (they’re really expensive everywhere else!)
• Do spend the money to take Ubers to explore other parts of LA (Burbank, Venice, Newport etc.)