Los Angeles 2020, Beau’s Birthday and Our 7th Anniversary

We really, really love low stakes vacations.

We came to Los Angeles with no agenda, just to celebrate Beau’s birthday and our seventh anniversary (but in like, a chill way) with one of our best friends, Camille. There were no restaurants we needed to try. No specific activities we were dying to do. Just some free time to enjoy the gorgeous California weather and go on hikes and chill the hell out. It was lovely.

WHAT WE DID

We waited for an hour in line to eat a shitload of delicious food at Mh Zh, a kinda hipster Middle Eastern spot in Silver Lake that lived up to the hype. Make sure you’ve got time and patience to wait for a table, because this place was old school—no reservations, and the waitlist was just a marker and a paper bag, so no venturing to a nearby bar and waiting for a text that your table is ready. They also don’t serve alcohol or let you BYOB, but even with all this in mind—we can highly recommend this spot. For our group of four, we went with the “Fire the Menu” option which, for $113, gives you the whole menu and it was more than enough food and it was all so, so, so good.

We got to see our friends Ben & J for pizza and cocktails at Ronan, and it was truly such a fantastic meal with some of the best pizzas we’ve had in a long time. Definitely order the Sweet Cheeks pizza and “the Philippe”—a massive French dip calzone that comes with French onion soup and hot mustard. Incredible.

We also went back to Botanica, a breakfast spot our friend Lily introduced us to on our last visit. It was just as good as we remembered, with fresh breakfast options and pastries in a gorgeous little setting. We also did some West Hollywood fun stuff, got bendy and VERY sweaty at Rise Hot Yoga, and over-caffeinated at Intelligentsia.

We stocked up on natural wines at Vinovore, a wine shop featuring lady winemakers with a great selection and price range. Then we went next door to look at this cute, tiny little home store, Hermitage Home, with its eclectic rugs and decor and art.

We also went on like… three full hikes, which, for a five-night stay is so many! That included one very long hike in Fryman Canyon complete with a birthday picnic at the top of this gorgeous lookout spot. We’re kind of suckers for the easy hikes in L.A. They’ve give great views, plus the weather in Southern California is always perfect for outdoor activities.

Today we’ll be heading back home, but below we’ve got some photos from our trip! It’s always such a nice treat to visit our second favorite city in the U.S. (New Orleans easily being the first). With so many of our good friends living in Los Angeles now, it’s really starting to feel like a second home, and we can’t wait for our next trip out here :)

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