Santa Monica, California

Welcome to Shutters in Santa Monica.

After a quick 30 min drive from L.A. we arrived at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. We loved this place so much! This was the final stop in the most amazing honeymoon ever and it was perfect! Santa Monica has a very cool vibe, kinda Austin-ish (if your familiar with Austin, TX at all). The hotel is a dream! It is right out of Restoration Hardware it seemed like.

When we first arrived at Shutters!

Our room was gorgeous! The rooms are so comfortable feeling. In fact, I think P and I instantly feel asleep when we got here ha ha. The rooms are stocked with a mini bar, DVD player (with movies you can rent) and even toys to purchase for kids!

Our view. Amazing...right! It was pretty overcast and windy while we where in Santa Monica so we never got a chance to hit the beach at all.

Aren't the bathrooms too cute! They have a faux window with shutters (get it...) that looks into the bedroom. The medicine cabinet, that is over the bathtub, is full of items that you might have forgotten or need. They even have Hanky Panky's in there (I know my girls will appreciate those)!

After our nap, P and I decided to hit the town and explore. We drove past the famous Santa Monica Peir, down through the city, and then after a lot of convincing, we stopped at Fred Segal :)

When traveling to California (and if you are planning on doing a little bit of sight seeing) I suggest renting a car, especially a convertible. We had a Ford Mustang convertible and it was so fun to just get out and go exploring on our own time table.

I bought a really cool hat at Fred Segal and then we decided it was time to hit the road. We drove up to Malibu on the PCH. California is freezing, so we tried to drive the whole way with the top down and the heater blasting but I couldn't last the whole time, I'm a baby when it comes to the cold!

Pacific Coast Highway

Malibu aka "The Bu"

Being good little Wildcaters' that P and I are, we had to say 'wut up' to Pepperdine!

If you are traveling to Malibu, try to stop and grab a drink or some food at Dukes in Malibu. It is a fun restaurant/bar that always has stars hanging out there and it is a very relaxed tropical themed place. P and I were planning on going there but we just decided to head back to Santa Monica and enjoy our beautiful hotel.

When we got back to Shutters, the front desk recommended we go to Coast that is located inside the hotel. We got to Coast just in time for their happy hour from 4-7 pm. They have delicious drinks, wonderful appitizers and even better prices! Needless to say, we enjoyed happy hour a little too much and never really made it to our nice dinner we had planned :) hey we were still on Va-ca!

The view from our table at Coast!

At this point we had been traveling for about 2 weeks and Patrick and I were so tired of 'fancy' dinners. We got a BIG craving for pizza after our over indulging at happy hour. So after watching the Mavericks game, in our room, we decided to hit the town and find a casual pizza place!

We stubbled upon Wildflour Pizza. I'm not sure why we choose this place... maybe it was because I am and will always be a hippy at heart and this was the ugliest looking, most authentic hipster looking or it was the pizza gods calling us to it... whatever the reason this is the MOST delicious pizza I have EVER eaten!!!!!!!!!! I hate to announce this to everyone but I eat pizza, like, a lot! At least once a week, I am a pizza lover! So I feel like I am warranted in saying this is the BEST pizza Patrick and I have ever eaten! The restaurant is tiny. There is saw dust all over the floor with old table and chairs. It was packed and the crowd was a fun, young, hipster crowd (I loved it of course :) They do not even have a website for me to direct you to but I will post the address for anyone heading to Santa Monica soon! When you travel, try to get out where the locals eat! That is the best advice I can give anyone.

Wildflour Pizza2807 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405-4009(310) 392-3300‎
Do not ever be afraid of trying new things or leaving your resort. Most of the time, it tends to be the most fun of any of our trips when P and I go off the beaten path! After eating ourselves into a pizza coma,we head back to shutters for some dessert (my fav!)We order smores! They were so delicious!!! I also got one of my favorite drinks, Pimms. Anyone that has ever traveled or lived in the UK knows Pimms. It is usually drank during the day as an afternoon refresher! I drank a lot of it while living in Oxford and havent had it since then so when I saw it on the menu I just had to have it YUM! (this pic is for you Val)Sorry this post is so long! I will make the rest of the trip into Santa Monica-part 2...