We recently took a mini vacation to Hollywood, California and it was the first official vacation with Max! And guess what? We survived sleeping in the same room! Haha. Max has slept in is own crib, in his own room since we came home from the hospital. So I'm 95% sure this was the first time sleeping in the same room as him, just shy of one year old. This doesn't include the few occasions when I fell asleep on the rocker in his nursery to make sure he actually fell asleep in his crib before I went back to my bed... I love the newborn stage, just not the sleepless nights! Anyway...back to California!
We stayed at the Highland Gardens Hotel, which was in walking distance to Hollywood Blvd (which is not really all that exciting. Just a normal road with the stars all over the place). We decided to spend a little more and stay in the suite, since it has a bedroom separate to the living room area. This was great because it allowed us to put Max down for a nap and not be stuck in the same room! It was pretty nice actually. We were also able to put him down at night and then still be able to stay up and watch a little TV or something before going to bed ourselves.
We went to eat at this place called Pig'N Whistle for dinner the first night. It sounded pretty interesting (the food was so so) and they had this photobooth there and I LOVE photobooths, so we had to take pictures while we waited for our food. What's even better is that you get the pictures emailed to you! (See them above!) On top of getting a print out with a little Pig'N Whistle logo on it. Win/Win! Pig'N Whistle is located on Hollywood Blvd, which is must see on a Hollywood vacation and within walking distance from our hotel!
One of the other things we did was went to the Griffith Observatory. Please take note that parking is TERRIBLE. Seriously the worst thing ever. We got lucky and ended up turning around after the end of the road parking (which was all taken and a very far walk) and was able to park in the actual parking lot. So just take note, if you go, keep in mind about the parking. You may want to give yourself a little extra time to drive around and find closer parking if you don't want to park a mile down the road. The observatory has lots of really pretty views! I think it would be really cool to be able to see the telescopes in action, but they are only open specific times...typically at night at we weren't staying there that long.
Do you remember the movie La La Land? One of the scenes was at the observatory. Oh how nice it would be to be there with hardly anyone there! Parking would be amazing! (Totally unrealistic...)
The obvious must see is the Hollywood Sign! It's actually pretty entertaining because of all the signs that say "No Access to the Hollywood Sign". Apparently Californians that live up near the sign hate tourists coming over there. But guess what?! Maybe you shouldn't live by this state monument! Anyway, don't even bothering google maping the sign since it will get you nowhere. The best place to view the sign is to start at Lake Hollywood Park. We scored when we got there and found parking literally directly across the street from the opening to the park! It was awesome! The park is right by a pretty steep road but you can park anywhere on that road. All the pictures below are from the park. You can get even better picture spots for the Hollywood sign by following this youtube video I found here. We just stayed at the park, played around for a bit and then left. It's also a great place for a picnic!
Next up on the docket was Santa Monica! This was Max's first time seeing the ocean! Though, he's not going to remember this at all, which mean's we will be going back to the beach within the next 2 years! It was pretty funny. He had no idea what to do with the sand. It look him a little while until he realized he could crawl on it and then he was off! We also turned our heads for literally only a few seconds and the next thing we knew and he was eating sand...
We also had to go to the LA Zoo! It was basically right around the corner. Some of the animals were super active! Some of the monkeys were chancing each other around the enclosure. We also got to see a baby giraffe that was only two weeks old! The little thing was so cute and small! But still pretty big at the same time, but small compared to the other giraffes. We also saw two male peacocks going a little crazy at each other!
On our way home, I convinced Scott to let us stop by the LA fabric district to do a little fabric shopping. It's soooooo cheap! I wish I would have gotten just a few more pieces of fabric! I think this means I just need to go back...I could even make it a "quick" day trip! A handful of performance knits, brushed poly, liverpool. I am in love! There really are only 2 shops that are a must see, through I'm sure there are plenty others. I always find something at these places though. Angel Textiles and then another place that I can't remember the name...but it's basically right next to Angel Textiles. You could also check out Michael Levine's -The Loft. It is pretty inexpensive since they sell most of their fabric fabric by the pound, but I don't like spending time digging around. The main Michael Levine store is great! Except the prices are a little more on the pricy side, but they do have a pretty big selection. Since we were trying to spend no more than an hour at the fabric district, we weren't able to spend much time trying to explore and find other good fabric stores. Next time!
It was a pretty fun mini trip and a much needed vacation. Coming back to the Arizona heat was definitely the worst part! Why can't we have a beach in Arizona? It's too dang hot!
Cheers!
