Los Angeles, California

Ok if your thinking about going to Bora Bora I have one BIG suggestion... when you return to the states, try to stay in L.A. for at least over night so you can get re-adjusted to the time change. It is a pretty big time difference and if your someone like me that had never been to California outside of Universal Studios or Disneyland then exploring L.A. for a few days is a MUST! Plus, its a great excuse to extend your va-ca even longer... right :)

Since it was still our honeymoon, we decided to splurge and stay at the famous Beverly Hill Hotel. My FAVORITE movie growing up was Troop Beverly Hills (any fans out there?) and I have always wanted to stay there. It was amazing! If you are able to, I would recommend staying here if your wanting a relaxed, old hollywood feel. I know there are way cooler, trendier, more young hollywood hotels in L.A. and I've been to the London where you will see Playmates frolicking in the pool (you'll hear about that in another post...) but for a couple fresh off a honeymoon not looking to "party" this is your place. So many star sightings at the Bev Hills, I was in heaven. Oh Hi Reese...

Shout out...

Since I've never really been to Cali and didn't think to look up the weather before leaving, I froze to death the entire trip! So if your planning a trip in the beginning of April, bring clothes for 50-60 degree weather (so that is why I am wearing the same clothes in all these picture :)

Our room was gorgeous! We stayed in a Bunglaow, which are little houses outside of the hotel. There is a beautiful path that takes your to our Bungalow which is lined with tons of trees, flowers and plants! GORGEOUS! Something that is very rare in Dallas! The rooms have recently been renovated and you can defiantly tell. They are very chic but still with a that California Cool feel. LOVED! Your room has hot chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of fruit greeting you (for those California health freaks i guess...) as well as a hand written note from one of the concierges.

The fabulous walk to our Bungalow

As I mentioned before, California is freezing! Don't let the warm sunshine fool you, like it did me, so sadly this was the only time we spent out by the pool... taking the picture of it. I would love to go back one day and hang out in the cabanas and sip mimosas all day.... a dream!

We settled into our room and set out to look around L.A. and to ignore the jet lag. Hmmm so where would Shann's first stop in California be.... RODEO DRIVE duh!

Someone at the hotel recommend we get lunch down on Rodeo Drive at the restaurant

The Farm (thats the only way I convinced Patrick to go to the most famous street for shopping... he knows me too well :) The food was delicious. It was very fresh and organic, yum. We walked around awhile, didn't buy anything and decided to set out and explore some more.

Lunch at The Farm

We explored L.A. a little more but the jet lag started setting in as well as the L.A. traffic so we decided to head back for a quick nap before dinner at Ago. Ago is this fabulous Italian restaurant on Melrose that is owned by Robert Dinero. It was such the perfect restaurant for perfect the night! They have an enclosed patio and live music. You know an Italian restaurant is good when your sitting next to a couple that could be straight out of The Sopranos. I typically do not eat pasta (yes I'm apart of the no carb lame club) but I made an exception for the whole wheat penne pasta I had. Delicious and so was the wonderful wine menu. I love a great wine menu and since I am a lover of Italian wines, Patrick is a die hard Napa Cab fan, when in Rome (or L.A.) we got a delicious bottle of Italian (too bad we had the whole bottle and I couldn't remember the write down the name of it...).

We headed back to the hotel, after stuffing ourselves at Ago, for some after dinner drinks at the hotel bar, Nineteen Twelve. A very cool bar with great music, great drinks and an "ok" crowd. After hearing some great tunes by Ghostland and MGMT at the bar, P and I decided to get some shut eye before heading off to Santa Monica in the morning...

The next day before heading to Santa Monica, we decided to grab some lunch at the Polo Lounge at the hotel. We had no idea what a "hot spot" this place was. The restaurant was packed with actors, directors, and producers (those are the conversations we over heard) so who knows who else was there. The food was delicious and the Polo Lounge is a MUST if your staying at the restaurant and even if your not. If your wanting to get a feel of hollywood at lunch time this is your place to go. Plenty of power lunch meetings going on. Ok now that we are full its time to hop in the 'stang and head to Santa Monica.