heather & olive

This past Thursday I hopped on a plane and met my sister in LA for a quick sister getaway. She was already out there for a work trip and after I had a supremely crappy week she bought an extra ticket for me to meet her and make a weekend out of it. She is seriously the best. 

And before I go into the places we stayed and all the delicious food and drinks we enjoyed, I want to say how much my heart aches for the people of California and the devastating wildfires. It was totally surreal to be there when this was going on (especially being from the Northeast, where this never happens). I donated to the Red Cross, but there are a lot of other organizations doing great work that need help (there's a good list of places to donate here).

Where we stayed:

When I arrived on Thursday my sister was wrapping up her conference at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA. She had a king suite that I enjoyed lounging in when she had a meeting Friday morning and the view was pretty great. 

After she wrapped everything up on Friday, we made our way to West Hollywood to The Standard. The location was perfect (right up the road from Chateau Marmont) and I highly recommend it. I've stayed at the Standard in NYC a couple of times and the vibe in West Hollywood was so much more low-key. They had a great restaurant with 24/7 room service, a cool bar area and a pool with an adjacent ping pong table (I forgot my bathing suit but we had a heated ping pong tournament). I would definitely stay there again.

What we did (aka where we ate):

I need to preface this by saying that my sister and I really love to eat and drink. While other people might plan a trip around cultural activities, we focus on stuffing our faces. 

Thursday:

On Thursday night we decided to do an early dinner at Nick and Stef's which was within walking distance of the Westin. We each had delicious steaks, potato gratin and an incredible white chocolate hazelnut mousse (and I generally hate all things white chocolate, so this was especially tasty). It was pricey, but so worth it.

Friday:

On Friday my sister had a meeting in the AM, so I grabbed Starbucks and waited for her return. We did a little shopping at Zara and H&M and then decided to grab Mexican across the street from the hotel at the Border Grille -- we shared a shrimp ceviche to start and then I had brisket taquitos and my sister had the crispy rajas tacos. Both were super delicious and super filling. We then made our way to the Standard.

We hung out at the lounge for a rather long time, and then pulled ourselves together to head to...

We grabbed a happy hour drink at Pump and sat next to none other than Scheana Marie (formerly Shay) who, although we did not talk to, through casual observation seemed to be exactly like she is on the show. We then went to TomTom (again, we had to) and shared some shishito peppers and a glass of wine before deciding it was too much of a scene and we had to go. We made our way back to the hotel and ordered room service from Croft Alley and called it an early night. 

Saturday:

On Saturday morning we were both up super early due to our early bedtime and the time change, so we grabbed a small bite at Croft Alley first thing.

We then made our way to Hart and the Hunter for brunch, which is in the Palihotel on Melrose. I had the Johnny Cake with fried chicken and smoked bacon maple syrup, and my sister had shrimp and grits. Both were very good.

We walked down Melrose and had the most delicious blood orange mules at the Melrose Umbrella Company. Their food menu said they had a wedge salad made with spring peas that looked amazing, but we were informed that it was no longer available which really amplified our need for one. After scouring menus, we found there was a restaurant near our hotel that had them. And that's how we found ourselves at Saddle Ranch on a Saturday afternoon.

Our salads ended up being just what we wanted, and we enjoyed them while watching USC and Cal Arts students enjoy bottomless mimosas and ride the mechanical bull. We then headed back to the hotel for naps. 

Later that evening, we met our cousins at Gracias Madre for happy hour. It was a total treat because we barely get to see them, and we sipped "So Fresa So Cleans" (tequila blanco, strawberry, rose water, lemon, cachaça, and aquafaba) while catching up. 

  

And then we went to Nobu. Admittedly, we were both a little stuffed from the day's events, but decided to keep our reservation given all of the a la carte menu options. We had edamame, crab tacos, and sushi that ended up ruining all future sushi for the both of us. It was seriously so good and I need to go back on an empty stomach to really enjoy everything on the menu. 

Sunday:

On Sunday we grabbed breakfast at Croft Alley before we headed to the airport. I had avocado toast (because if you go to LA and you don't have avocado toast, did you even go to LA?) and my sister had their GF bananas foster waffle. 

I returned home 3-5 lbs heavier and super tired but it was seriously the best weekend away with my sister and very much needed. (I love you, Mayo!!!)