Eight Days in La La Land

Yeah, the helicopter ride was pretty epic. But what else did I get up to for more than eight days of visiting my dad in LA? Plenty! But with no guests to entertain and no new residents to settle in, it was a very low key one — one almost like a local might live.

We did a whole lot of just kicking around my dad’s Koreatown house, oohing and aahing over our dog Tucker and discussing in extreme detail the various home improvement projects they were considering undertaking together.

What a pair.

I also caught up on plenty of work. My dad always feels so guilty pulling long office hours when I’m in town, but it’s actually a blessing. I always get tons of blogging done when I’m in LA — with frequent breaks to swim laps and walk Tucker around the neighborhood, of course.

I also got to take in a few fun Alex in Wanderland meetings. One day, I drove to Santa Monica for a dog-friendly meeting with the lovely Zoe from Jucy Campers, while another, I made my way all the way down to Rancho Santa Margarita to meet with my friends at PADI.

So much of my business is conducted online, it’s a joy to get to do some of it face to face (and with my pup in tow).

And of course, my dad and I did some spontaneous enjoying of all the weird and wonderful things that make up Los Angeles. One day we stopped at the Taschen Gallery, which caught my attention with an eye-popping homage to one of my favorite sea creatures.

Another, we popped over to Los Feliz for a movie at the local theater. I didn’t love The Lobster, but I fell pretty crazy in love with this new close-by neighborhood to explore! Vintage theatre hopping has become my absolute favorite Los Angeles activity — after hanging out with Tucker, of course. (Believe it or not, we’ve even managed to scope out some dog-friendly ones I’ll cover in the future!)

I also joined some of my dad’s meetings and events — one night, drinks on a roofdeck with coworkers in Silverlake, and another, an awards event for the local medical association in Malibu. I always love getting a little peek into my smarty pants dad’s life!

I also got to hang out with some of my local LA friends, though I took… absolutely zero photos of these activities. I swear they happened though — blogger pinky promise! (Ha ha).

One night I got to check out Soho House in West Hollywood with my friends Diana and Lindsay and Asher, who are members — followed by a wild night of watching Zootopia at their house, because that’s just how we roll sometimes. And on my very last night in town, I went out for dinner with my friends Amy and Jordan, who had just moved to the West Coast (hot travel tip: get tipsy on margaritas before hopping on a red eye flight — you’ll sleep great!)

Mostly though I hung out with my BFF Tucker, who gives some serious side-eye to selfies, as I learned.

He also gives me a veeeery clear signal when he’s done with my enthusiastic puppy-shoots. Such a doggie diva!

Now I know what you’re thinking. Was this entire post an excuse to post cute pictures of my dog? Well yes, yes indeed it is.

I might not have done much for an eight day trip, but it really was a great one. As LA starts to feel less like an overwhelming new city and more like a West Coast HQ, I’m finding myself enjoying it more and more.

And good thing… because I still have two more trips to visit Tucker — er, back to LA  — to recap!

See you next time, Los Angeles!