A few weeks ago I took a long weekend trip to Los Angeles with my friend Monica. It had been years since I visited LA, so I wanted to share my recommendations and a mini Los Angeles travel guide as a starting point for any weekend trip to downtown LA.

We stayed at The Conrad Los Angeles, which I cannot recommend enough! You can read my review of The Conrad Los Angeles property, restaurants, spa, and pool in my blog post. This was my first time staying in downtown Los Angeles, and it was a nice change of pace from Beverly Hills or the cost. The Broad and MOCA were walking distance from our hotel and both had fantastic (and free) collections. Other places we explored downtown included Grand Central Market, The Last Bookstore, and Hauser & Wirth galleries where we had brunch at Manuela.

No trip to LA is complete without a meal at Sugarfish, which was our first stop upon landing. Everything on the menu is fantastic, but the “Trust Me” lunch is a personal favorite. While we stayed downtown for most things, we did venture to Beverly Hills for some hard-to-beat meals. The patio of The Ivy is hard to say no to, so we stopped by for dinner before enjoying a nightcap at the Rooftop by JG. The views from the Rooftop by JG were incredible and I am dying to go back during daylight for another look. It is also impossible to say no to lunch at the Polo Lounge, especially the McCarthy salad, which disappeared in record time.

It has always been on my LA bucket list to see a film at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. They were showing Almost Famous, one of my favorites, while we were in town so naturally we made an evening of it. The Conrad Los Angeles generously let us borrow a blanket and we made ourselves a picnic at Bristol Farms.

Recommendations from previous trips and followers include Griffith Observatory, Mulholland Drive, Hike to Hollywood Sign, LACMA, The Hollywood Bowl, Alfred Coffee, The Beverly Hilton, Sunset Tower Hotel, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and day trips to Venice Beach, Marina Del Ray, and Santa Monica. xoxo

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If you follow along on Instagram, you saw that I recently spent a long weekend in Los Angeles with a friend. While we ate fantastic food and enjoyed the much cooler weather, our hotel, The Conrad Los Angeles, was easily one of the best parts of our trip. The Conrad Los Angeles is located in downtown LA and is a part of The Grand LA, a Frank Gehry-designed retail, residences, and hotel development. The Grand is a stone’s throw away from The Broad Museum, and MOCA, and directly across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Every inch of the hotel was perfectly designed and felt cozy yet upscale at the same time, but this particularly applied to our room. I booked a premium view one king bedroom, and we had the perfect view overlooking downtown and the rooftop pool. The room was complete with a sitting area, smart TV, mini bar, blackout shades, extra closet and counter space, and Byredo Mojave Ghost bath products.

All of the restaurants on the property were fantastic! Our trip started with a late breakfast at San Laurel, where chef José Andrés won us over with Spanish-style eggs. We were excited to try new items on the San Laurel menu every morning and our waiter, Daniel, always had our coffee waiting for us. The afternoon we spent at the pool was completed by delicious shareable plates and service from Airlight. We also enjoyed the view and signature cocktails at both Agua Viva and The Beaudry Room.

Since The Conrad Los Angeles had just opened a few days prior, the spa was not entirely up and running. I worked with Alina, the director of the spa, to book a 60-minute intuitive massage, which was long overdue post-pandemic. My masseuse, Anna, provided a relaxing experience as well as one of the best deep tissue massages I have ever had. The spa also offers facials, notably from celebrity facialist Angela Cagila, an infrared sauna room, and recovery lounges.

The concierge was extra accommodating and very helpful. We planned to see a movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery but needed a blanket and picnic. I stopped by the concierge desk and the concierge there at the time sent a blanket, and picnic supplies to our room, and even provided information for other film-related events we might be interested in. I look forward to future stays at The Conrad Los Angeles! xoxo

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This past weekend I made a quick trip to Downtown Los Angeles with my friend, colleague, and fellow blogger, Mel of My Everyday Lifestyle, for Create & Cultivate. There were two tracks at the conference and we took different tracks in order to hear all of the speakers. I was able to listen to speakers such as Clare Vivier, Alexandra Amodio of beGlammed, Mara Ferreira of M Loves M, Taylor Sterling of Glitter Guide, Christine Andrew of Hello Fashion, Jessica Alba, and my favorite, Rachel Zoe.

We started our morning off with a delicious breakfast from Patina Restaurant Group that included mini blueberry pancakes, chi parfait, avocado toast, and of course Alfred coffee. My first two sessions were The Future of Fashion: Trends, Tech, & Bridging Online & Off and Fresh Faced: An Unfiltered Look at the Business of Beauty. A few things I took away from these sessions included:

 “Walk forward with blinders on and keep your eyes on a goal. Do not focus on the competition…. Even if a post doesn’t turn into dollars, it is building your brand.” –Clare Vivier

“Always say yes, you’re never too good for anything… there is always something you can learn from it.” –Nikki DeRoest

“If it’s inside you, you should do it. Work hard. Oprah was not built in a day.” –Sarah Gibson Tuttle 

“Have real friendships with other women instead of focusing on comparing yourselves.” –Sarah Gibson Tuttle

“Snapchat and real time content is the future of social media.” –Evelina Cartasova

“Suck it up and don’t compare yourself to other people… don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle, understand where you are.” –Evelina Cartasova

We enjoyed salads from Sweetgreen for lunch, then I attended Video Pros: Harnessing the Power of Digital Platforms to Build Your Brand and Blog Powerhouses: The #BossLadies Slaying the Content Game. I took away some great advice that pertained more specifically to blogging, that included:

“If you don’t have a passion for it, don’t do it. You will end up spreading yourself too thin.” –Chriselle Lim

“Being on time is the most important thing. Brands talk about influencers just as much as influencers talk about brands.” –Christine Andrew

“Be yourself. Do not try to be another blogger. You will just be second best.” –Andy Torres

The day ended with our bomb keynote speakers, Jessica Alba and Rachel Zoe. Jessica was in conversation with Katherine Power and Hillary Kerr of Clique Media Group, and Rachel was in conversation with her friend and jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer. Some of my favorite quotes from Jessica Alba included:

“One thing I undervalued in starting a company was the importance of trusting your gut, they don’t teach you that in business school.”

“I don’t identify a problem and bone out, I identify a problem and get in the nitty gritty… I am very involved in all aspects of the company from IT, UX to creative and marketing.”

“Being an actress is like being rejected by the hottest guy in school everyday.”

“Mentor those people in your life and open those doors to help them along the way… It’s absolutely important for women to support each other.”

And my favorite quotes from Rachel Zoe included:

“I want to help motivate women at a very young age, to help them accomplish anything.”

“It is all about being honest, kind, and forthcoming, both internally and externally.”

“I don’t think you can be good at something if you don’t just love it. You need both patience and passion to succeed.”

“If you just hire really talented people you can just let them be and not have to micromanage.”

“Don’t micromanage, but you need to watch people because you can get hurt, just trust your gut.”

“Taking the high road is really hard, but it is always better. You have to believe that good people win in the end.”

“Social media has become how we speak to each other, it is essential to business. I don’t think you can have a business right now without some sort of social presence.”

If you ever have a chance to attend Create & Cultivate, it is well worth it! They will be announcing their next city on May 16th. xoxo