LA Weekend Away

I had been meaning to make a trip to LA for so long it seems, and finally last month I found multiple excuses to make it happen! The weather was perfect and I was able to squeeze in many of the things I'd been planning on.

My friend Kelli joined me and we started our trip on a Saturday morning by getting settled in at our perfectly located hotel, The Farmers Daughter on Fairfax. A laid back brunch at their adorable attached restaurant Tart was the perfect start and kept us coming back for more the whole trip. Top recommendations include weekend mimosa and punch bowls, their amazing kale salad, the brussels sprout sandwich and the champagne ginger cocktail.

Saturday was spent doing a lot of walking and window shopping. And then we topped of the day with some nightlife with Marty and Elayne's charming lounge act at the Dresden. Apparently this show has been happening for over 30 years, but really it seems like at least 50. A total time capsule and highly recommended. If you are in LA go to this show!

My big excuse to make this trip happen was to attend a vintage hairstyling workshop by Tony of His Vintage Touch Hairstyling at the Pinup Girl Boutique in Burbank. The boutique had the cutest clothes, a great selection of some of my favorite makeup lines (Lime Crime, Julie Hewett, Vanity Mark), and an amazing window display (think 50's department store).

The vintage hairstyling workshop was such a treat and everything I had hoped for. Tony's workshop was so fun and visiting the boutique was very inspiring. Tony is adorably charming, very funny and a master at vintage styles. Below are a few pictures of the seriously amazing styles Tony demonstrated for the workshop, and a picture of him and I.

On my last day of the trip I visited the downtown LA ModCloth offices. A few of the crew that I have worked on shoots with for ModCloth are located here so I wanted to go and say hello and see the space. These pieces on the entry windows really wowed me. Read more about these illustrations from street artist Becca Midwood here.

They also had this synchronized swim patterned wallpaper that I still can't get out of my head! I would love to see this on the walls of my Esther Williams inspired bathroom.

Ok, just two more ModCloth office pics! But I may have to do another post showing off their SF office, it is equally inspiring and adorable.

And last of all we were lucky to get to squeeze in a visit to the LA County Museum before our flight out that day. There was an amazing Calder Exhibitions I was excited to see. And an unexpected free exhibition in another building on their grounds, Diane von Furstenberg: Journey of a Dress. I was completely inspired and so happy I caught this!

Next time I make it to LA I plan to be looking up more at the amazing old signs, visit the makeup stores, check out a few more bars on my list, do more vintage and fabric shopping and will be sure to visit the Nickel Diner when they are open. I'll look forward to it!

My photographer friend Joshua Cobos took this picture of me as I was leaving the Burbank after the hairstyling workshop.

Next up NYC and Brooklyn at the beginning of May, I can't wait to report back!