ashley

Day 01

Thursday, Jul 01 

To start, I was already in Dallas, TX for training leading up to our small vacation. Thursday afternoon, Ryan and I met up at DFW (after not seeing each other for like 09 weeks!!), and got into our rental car and headed to check in at our airbnb. 

After checking in and dropping off our stuff, Ryan and I went to dinner at Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill.... known for their Grey Goose on Tap ^_^ 

We ordered the filet mignon, and then salmon+polenta, and adult mac n cheese. Our orders came with these ‘pop-overs’ that I couldn’t stop eating. The chef also sent us some complimentary beef bruschetta things that were soon yummy. Everything else was delicious, but the portions were so large that Ryan and I barely finished our meal.

After dinner, we were so full that we ... went to TORCHY’S TACOS, ahhahahha. 

We ordered their taco of the month: Tipsy Chick (Tender grilled chicken with grilled corn & green chiles, fresh baby spinach, a homemade maple bacon & bourbon marmalade, cheddar cheese, and Chipotle Ranch. Served on a flour tortilla.)

Then we decided we were officially stuffed stuffed, so we headed off to see FINDING DORY !!!!! I absolutely adored the movie, and highly recommend everyone to go see it. 

When the movie finished, Ryan and I were hungry again so .... we went to VELVET TACOS, hahahahaha.

We ordered: 

- Bacon Egg Frittata (Bacon, egg frittata, crisp cheddar tots, smoked chili butter, poblano salsa, arugula, red onion, pickled fresnos, corn tortilla) - Annatto Pork (Avocado crema, house shred, grilled, hibiscus corn tortilla)

After devouring our tacos, we went home and slept very soundly :) 

DAY 02

Friday, Jul 02

Ryan and I woke up early the next morning, packed up the car, and headed to the Greyhound station for our first Greyhound ride together! We headed to Starbucks for coffee first, but I didn’t get any pictures of that. 

Coffee didn’t take as long as we thought it would .... so we went DONUT HUNTING. We found a place called Glazed Donut Works, and it was such a small gem. The owner was super nice, and even gave us a free donut =) 

We ordered the Maple Smoked Dolache (AKA Pig in a Blanket) and the Vegan Raspberry. Both were very yummy. 

We also found some cute graffiti art. 

After dropping off the rental car, we walked to the station. Just as we were about to cross the sidewalk to the station ... we walked RIGHT INTO A DRUG BUST. It was so scary.  Basically, there was one guy, a cop, and another casual looking guy in a UT Austin polo. Before we knew it, the guy in the polo pulled out a taser and ordered the guy to get on the floor. It all happened very quickly, and cop cars came in all sorts of directions to finish arresting the guy. 

No surprise, Ryan and I walked RIGHT out of there as soon as possible, grateful that things didn't get bad. Before we got into the station though, we heard another homeless looking guy say, “man, he walked right into that one”; that was funny. 

Anyways, the whole Greyhound situation was very confusing, and we almost missed our bus because people there were really bad at giving proper directions as to what we needed to do. For future reference, if you’re carrying on your bag, get a bag ticket from an attendant before waiting in line for the bus. If we had known that earlier, we would have gotten to sit together =( Instead, we had to settle for seats in front/behind each other because the bus was full. 

Three hours later, we arrive in Austin, and use a taxi (because no Ubers are allowed in Austin #anti-bigcorporations) to get to our rental car. The process took longer than we expected due to some pricing error, but we figured it out eventually. 

Our next stop: Home Slice Pizza. 

We ordered the Sausage & Garlic Pizza, Margherita Pizza, and Garlic Knots. The pizza was great, but I would pass on the knots next time. 

We walked around after lunch in the neighborhood known as SoCo (South Congress Ave) and grabbed Amy’s Ice Cream. We ordered the Bee Cave Crunch!

After ice cream, we attempted to go to Zilker Park, which is basically Austin’s version of like Central Park, but it was TOO DARN HOT, and the line to get into the pool (the main attraction) was TOO DARN LONG. 

Instead, Ryan and I went and took a self-guided tour around the city’s capitol buildings.

After walking around, we were so thirsty, we went to SHAKE SHACK... just for drinks. Strawberry Mint Lemonade and Root Beer never tasted better.

Then... it was our most anticipated part of our day. Dinner at Uchi!! Ryan and I didn’t get to celebrate his birthday together this year, so this was the belated dinner celebration. It was our first time eating raw sushi together (something I picked up only recently), so I know Ryan was super excited that we were celebrating him here :) 

A little about Uchi: “Created by chef and sushi master Tyson Cole, the first Uchi opened in a refurbished house in Austin, Texas, in 2003 and soon developed a dedicated following for its blend of Japanese tradition and new flavors. Cole, who in 2011 took the title of best chef in the Southwest in the James Beard Foundation Awards, has crafted a menu that includes tasting menus, rolled makimon sushi, grilled yakimono proteins, tempura as well as sushi and sashimi.”

Luckily for us, we made it to Uchi in time for their Happy Hour, allowing us to try lots and lots of dishes. We still had a hard time deciding what to eat though...

Pictured below (clockwise): salmon nigiri,  fried tofu,  XO noodles, and machi cure (smoked yellow­tail, yucca crisp, marcona almond, asian pear, garlic brittle).

Pictured below (clockwise): walu walu (oak-grilled escolar, candied citrus, yuzupon, myoga), uchiviche (salmon, striped bass, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, cilantro), hakujin (salmon roll, white asparagus, pear, fried apple puree), and crunchy salmon roll (atlantic salmon, avocado, tempura flakes, cucumber).

My favorite was definitely the hot rock wagyu ribeye + ponzu sauce (and the guy cooking it for me wasn’t bad looking at all :> ) 

After dinner, we weren’t completely full yet, so off to get ice cream we went! 

At Lick’s, we ordered the dark chocolate olive oil sea salt + honeyed peaches w/ rosemary. YUM YUM YUM.

By now, we were stuffed once again, so we checked into our airbnb to freshen up, since Austin weather is so hot/humid/sticky. We didn’t finish showering until like around 10PM, which was perfect for our night time festivities. 

Austin has a street called Rainey St. which is very well known to be the hip place for college kids to be. It is full of what used to be houses, but are now themed bars. The coolest things about this place? No covers, and cheap alcohol. I’m talking like... two shots of Vodka for $10 cheap.

Our first stop was Container Bar, where we enjoyed watching white folks line dance to Justin Timberlake. It is called Container Bar because there were actually shipping containers that you could hang out in, should you choose not to dance. 

Our next stop of the night was a bar called icenhauer. We chose this place because we were passing by, and they played music a little more ghetto than every other bar was playing. We danced and had a great time before realizing it was almost 02 AM. 

While catching our breath outside, before ending the night... I couldn’t help but order some late late night donuts. Pistachio Vanilla Lavender mini donuts were the final dessert of our first night in Austin! 

(featuring: hot & sweaty us)

DECEMBER 31, 2015 

07:56 AM 

I had a flight out of San Jose at 10AM, so I got up super early to get to the airport on time. 

I had drink coupons so I was super forward to getting on the plane, ahahaha.  I can’t say the same for Ryan who had to pick me up already half buzzy at 11AM in the morning, oopsie. 

11:57 PM 

So Ryan picked me up and we drove to the Brea shopping center, and we exchanged Christmas presents in the car because I couldn’t wait any longer to get min - I mean, to give him his, of course ;) 

I don't have pictures of this moment, but it is safe to say that we really like each others’ presents. 

Instead, enjoy this picture of the card I made for Ryan instead :> 

12:25 PM 

YAY time for lunch. We got Elbows, which was in the same plaza. Not as good as Homeroom, that’s for sure. 

It is a good thing my date was cute.

Then, we did a little shopping, and some picture taking with all the Christmas decorations that were still up. 

02: 28 PM 

We then make our way to KNOTTSMERRY FARM!!!!  I was super excited because I’ve never been, and Ryan hasn’t visited since he was a kid. I was counting down the days all month. 

BUT joke was on us because we probably picked one of the worst days in the year to go. There were SO many little kids and families and just people in general that we literally got nothing done. Poop. 

Ryan and I waited in line for one super basic ride for THREE HOURS, and that was basically the one ride we went on for our visit -__- Well, we also went on the spinny-swings, but still, TWO RIDES. I was lightweight pretty upset, kinda.

07:30 PM 

Towards dinnertime, we left the park to go meet up with Ryan’s parents at BJs for dinner. We ate wayyyyyyy too much, and soo fast that I forgot to take pictures, oops! 

09:30 PM 

After dinner, Ryan and I made our way to Cinepolis for a very bougie date night. We are talking reclining leather chairs, wine service, and gourmet food items for order from YOUR SEAT. Too bad the food wasn’t included in the price of the movie ticket, even though it should be because they were SO expensive! ! ! 

I would say we watched The Big Short, but after our dinner and our day at the park, we were SO tired that we both knocked out for the whole movie, hahahahaha. Oh, us. 

DECEMBER 31, 2015 

11:58 AM 

Ryan and I woke up pretty late the next morning, and made our way to the mall, HAHAH. I feel like our trips to see each other are never complete without soooome shopping, but I digress. This time, in my defense, we had to go to South Coast to get my gift for him.

02:50 PM 

We don’t make it to Pasadena until like close to three, so it was a super late lunch. It was pretty clutch of us though because the ramen place we wanted to go to closes at three. Since it was one of those places where seats are first come first serve, and the restaurant itself was super small, we were scared there was gonna be such a long line. Luckily for us, the line was pretty short, and we were probably the second to last party to get seated for the day - score! 

The place was called Ramen Tatsunoya, and this was its first US location (originally from Japan). It was pretty darn good, but definitely not like wait for hours in line good. 

03:22 PM

Ryan and I then walk around Pasadena to burn off our food. It was cool because they were setting up for the Rose Parade that always happens on New Year’s Day. It was intense because it was barely 04 PM and there were people already camping out for some prime seating. 

We stopped at Copa Vida for a yummy mocha.  Such a cute coffee shop and atmosphere!

Then we found like a little ferry-building-esque collection of food stands, including Pressed Juicery, The Pie Hole, and ....

COOL HAUS

I got the mimosa flavor :) 

04:43 PM 

Next, Ryan and I headed over to Golden Coast Brewing Company.

The atmosphere was pretty cool! They were setting up for a New Year’s dinner. It made me want to do something similar another year.

For drinks, we had GINGERBREAD STOUT and their “HIGHWAY to HEFE”. 

05:30 PM 

And my favorite part of the night???  New Year’s Eve dinner at OSTERIA MOZZA :) 

Hehe, so handsome. 

Our waitress was super hesitant at the amount of food we ordered, but we were so full post-lunch and snacks. My favorite part about dinner was definitely the burrata. It was so dark that I couldn’t take pictures, and it was even a struggle to get the picture below for our memories. 

07:22 PM

Dessert time = SALT AND STRAW, of course!!

09:04 PM 

And with me, one dessert is really never enough.  Because of New Year’s Eve, all the dessert places had weird hours, but luckily we finally found one that was open and convenient for us -  ZERO DEGREES. 

I got the matcha-horchata latte, and Ryan got the Mango-nada, which he didn’t like, hahahah sucker. 

JANUARY 01, 2016

03:00 AM

Ryan and I ended our night, and started our year, at his friend’s SUPER PRETTY house. We played pool, and table tennis, and a bunch of board games, all while watching various New Year’s Countdown concerts on TV. It was super funny because I made Ryan look like a bad boyfriend who wouldn’t let me make any decisions (since we were playing in teams of two). I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start my year.

Ryan and I drove back to his place shortly after, where we went straight to bed. 

08:00 AM 

I made the poor decision of booking a flight at 11 AM... knowing that I was going to be up late the night before, oops. 

We had breakfast with his parents right before, and I gave them their gifts! They said they liked the presents, but I’ll never really know. 

Aug 20, 2015 

07:12 AM 

After our lovely date night, Ryan and I had trouble getting up early the next morning, but we had to get to Hertz to return our car. 

We took advantage of their shuttle system, and had them drop us and our luggage off at Pike Place, where we explored a little while lugging all our things along. I wish I got a picture to capture this, because it was a pretty funny sight. 

08:27 AM

Our first stop was Piroshky Piroshky to try their Beef & Cheese pastry and their Apple Cinnamon pastry that I didn’t get to try the first time we went. 

08: 37 AM

And then a stop at Mee Sum Pastry for some BBQ pork buns :) 

08: 44 AM

And then a stop at Beecher’s for Mac and Cheese, drool. 

09:09 AM

Then we went to Moore Coffee Shop, where we enjoyed a great mocha, and cool latte art. 

10: 21 AM

Then we walked back to Pike Place to get.. PIKE PLACE CLAM CHOWDER, nom. 

10: 51 AM

Then we walked all the way to Top Pot donuts because... well, I love donuts, and will walk far with luggage for them, apparently. 

Then we boarded the train and off to the airport, we were. 

12: 47 PM

After we got checked in, Ryan sat with me at my gate until it was time for my flight to board. Unfortunately we didn’t get to fly home together, but hopefully in a few years’ time, we’ll be going home from vacation to the same place. 

3:08 PM

But until then, I get to go home to blogs that I have to update, hahah.

And the virtual version of this too, I guess :) 

AUG 19, 2014 

05:52 AM

Despite our long drive home from Vancouver and not getting back to WA until 11PM, Ryan and I got up BRIGHT AND EARLY somehow, and started making our way to Mt. Rainier! 

It took us about three hours, and one Starbucks stop (where Ryan had his first everything bagel with cream cheese - life changer!), before we arrived at the start line. Luckily for us, there was lots of nice scenery around us to enjoy. 

(erh, these two might be almost the same picture..)

(YAY, we’re close!)

Ooo trees.

08:20 AM

Ryan and I finally were able to navigate ourselves from the entrance to the parking lot deep inside the park. 

Once we parked and packed our bags and got out of the car, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything.

Me - caught in action! 

This is Ryan and me at the start of our hike. Our picture taking kind of was sporadic throughout the beginning, mostly because it got super hard asking people to take our pictures since Ryan’s fancy schmancy camera has to be used properly in order for it to properly focus on the PEOPLE instead of the background - blech :P 

Snowball!

10:04 AM

Ryan and I have our spinach feta wraps near the top, at a supposed viewpoint. It was sadly too cloudy for us to see anything too far away :< 

10:24 AM 

I laugh at how ironic it is that we are smiling at the pictures below, because shortly after this, I died for the next 45 minutes of my life. 

You see the little trail of snow behind Ryan, that’s like .. oh... an inch wide?? Ryan insisted that we use that trail to get to the other side, rather than go up and across using a much SAFER route - dash underscore dashy dash dash. 

Well, he definitely paid for it because for the next 45 minutes, Ryan had to coach me through SIDE step by SIDE step .. like a sloooooooowwww shuffle on this itty bitty snow trail. We also interrupted real hikers with hiking ice picks who wanted to blaze through this trail. Those people waiting behind us, and Ryan himself, definitely heard a lot of the below from me: 

“Ryan, you’re going to die if I make it out of this alive” “Ryan, I’m GONNA FALLLLL”  “Ryan, if I tumble and roll down this hill right now, will I survive?” “Ryan, will people at the bottom of the hill catch me?” “RYANNNNN” 

“RYANNN , I’M GOING TO PEE MY PANTS “ 

“RYAN!!!” *sob sob cry cry* 

“Ryan, I hate you I hate you I hate you” “Never taking shortcuts again” “NO RYAN DON’T LET GO OF MY HAND” 

“RYAN HOLD MY HAND”

“I hate this idea” “You suck” 

etc etc etc 

But alas, we did get through it, and made it out stronger than ever.  Here’s a picture (or two... or three) I took at the end to commemorate the trail I survived. 

11:14 AM 

After that lifetime of suffering Ryan put me through, the rest of the hike was very lackluster, hahaha. Ok, just kidding. 

Here are a few more pictures of the rest of our hike. 

If you look in the background, you can see like pelvis shaped mountains!

& up close:

12:37 PM 

A little after noon, Ryan and I, at last, say our goodbyes to Mt. Rainier. 

03:25 PM 

Ryan and I now make a bunch of food stops near Capitol Hill. 

MY FAVORITE: MOLLY MOON. 

And some I-was-too-full-to-eat-right-away-but-I-want-to-get-some-sandwiches at Paseo’s, but I also forgot to take a picture of the sandwiches when I eventually ate them. Instead, here’s a picture of the storefront, taken while I was in line. 

08:22 PM

After we finally got back to our airbnb, ate our sandwiches, took a baby nap, and then showered, it was finally time for date night :) 

Our first step was a quick visit to UW to see the campus, but typical me got distracted by the shops outside of the university. To my defense, it was too dark to see anything on campus anyways! And Ryan was totally distracted by this KUSHIYAKI shop he saw too.

Dinner for the night was at the infamous PINK DOOR :> 

We had SCALLOPS :>

AND PESTO LASAGNA :>> 

AND CHOCOLATE PUDDING :>>> 

Our night ended with a walk around Pike Place at night, and then a stop at our favorite places in Seattle, Kerry Park & Gas Works Park. 

And basically this was the end of our trip Ü

---- We did a few things the next morning, but that will have to be a quick post later because this blog is getting too picture heavy.

NOV 01, 2015

We woke up somewhat early, and was on the road by close to 08 AM. We really wanted to do Potato Chip this day, but just couldn’t get ourselves up early enough because we got home so late from LA the night before. It all worked out though, because we got plenty done in SD without having to worry about looking presentable ;P  Before reaching SD, we made a pit stop in a small little town known as Encinitas. 

We didn’t stay here for long because all we were here for was coffee from Better Buzz. 

As you can see, the shop is super hip.

We got their ‘best drink ever’ and a lavender black tea. Safe to say, Ryan and I would definitely come back if we could. 

Our next stop of the day was Hash House A Go Go for brunch :) The line was kind of long when we finally got there, but luckily there were a few shops near by we could browse. 

I was so sad because there was a brewery across the street that had a seasonal pumpkin brew .. that they ran out of JUST as I ordered!! =( 

Anyways, brunch made me forget my disappointment because... well.. I’ll let the pictures of our meal talk for itself. 

We got their fried chicken benedict, and it was super super super filling. The strawberry mimosa I ordered was also very delicious.

Then ... OFF TO THE ZOO WE  WENT!  It was Ryan’s first time ( or that he could recall ), so I was super excited to show him what one of my favorite places in the world was all about. 

I took a bunch of pictures of animals I don’t know the names of anymore, so here are a bunch of random pictures from throughout the day: 

(hehe)

Our most favoritest part of the trip HAD to be these turtles that were TOTALLY DOING EACH OTHER FOR LIKE AT LEAST A GOOD 15 minutes. Ryan and I couldn’t stop laughing the rest of the day.

(can you spot the koala?)

We even got to take the gondola across the zoo in the afternoon :) 

Phew! 

After hours at the zoo, we went to get coffee at our favorite place in San Diego: Bird Rock Coffee Roasters.

Then we walked around the neighborhood, which happened to be Little Italy.

And enjoyed the sunset right by the water =) 

Then, we went to Ballast Point Brewing Company.

For beers, we tried their grapefruit IPA, their red velvet (!!) brew, and then a coffee ale :) 

Their truffle fries totally won the award for best part of the visit.

Next, it was time for dinner, which was Lucha Libre Tacos. 

Sadly .. not the best tacos ever. One was so spicy I was crying after I took a bite and Ryan had to take one for the team and finish it for us. 

And finally, our last stop was our favorite dessert shop in SD: Extraordinary Desserts. 

BREAD PUDDING!!!

With special guest - HELEN!!! I haven’t seen her in over a year, so it was really really lucky of me to be able to have her meet us there. I got to introduce her to Ryan, and then get her seal of approval =) and then catch up with her life over the last year.

After dessert, Ryan and I drove home, and knocked out realllll quick. 

NOV 02, 2015

The next day, Ryan and I didn’t do much. We took it easy, and I kind of spent the day being sad because it was rainy and I had to leave that evening =( wah.

Ryan and I did brunch @ our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in SoCal, Brodards.  Yum.... Spring rolls. 

Not that yum - hu tieu (which is why it’s not pictured, ahhhah). 

Then, we went and did a little work @ 7 leaves.  Yum .. boba.

After 7 leaves, we made a stop at Target for leftover halloween candy on sale. I picked up a bag of sweettarts for 30% off. We also went to the mall and made a stop at bare minerals for some make up for me :D  After shopping, we went grocery shopping for Ryan for the week. By the time we were done, it was pouring outside, so we decided to stay in for dinner. 

Ryan made me my favorite comfort food, grilled cheese, which I haven’t had since he was still in school and able to make it for me whenever I wanted. 

We woke up super super super early to maximize the time we’ll get in Vegas, so before 06AM we were up and getting ready. Out of the house by 6:45, we made it to Vegas in about 04 hour, including one (much needed) pee stop, hehe. 

Our first stop in Vegas was supposed to be a museum of neon signs, but we didn’t do our research very well and didn’t know we had to book tickets in advance, womp. Since they were sold out or the day, we just took pictures outside the museum instead :> 

So, we decided to get an early lunch instead at ... SHAKE SHACK!!!! I was so excited because I’ve been waiting forever to try this place. 

We got their famous cheeseburger, their seasonal burger, cheese fries (yummy), and their cider. Hehe, the cider hit me a little too hard because I had not eaten very much before lunch ^_^ 

(Mine won the better tasting competition! (: ) 

After lunch, we made our way to Hexx, which is a ‘BEAN TO BAR’ chocolate factory inside the Cosmo. We got a little tour of their factory, and a tasting of five of their dark chocolates (that were really really bitter, yuk). 

After that fun, we went to check in at THE VENETIAN!!! :)

Once we got our room, we headed to Tao AKA their day pool club, and there I received the BIGGEST i-told-you-so from Ryan who told me I wouldn’t like day pool clubs but silly me wanted to go to one anyways. Basically, it didn’t take long for me to be like, ‘nope’ and opt for the regular pool instead. 

We soaked in the calmer pool for a good like 45 minutes and headed back to our room to get ready for dinner at..... 

AHHH!!! Yeah, i was super super super excited because this has been #1 on my Most Wanted to Eat list ever since I knew of its existence. 

It didn’t come easy though ... we got in line at 6:30 ish, to get a ticket to get back in line around 08 ish, and didn’t get seated until like 09. wah. 

But, being the efficient (and maybe crazy) people that Ryan and I are, we went to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate because it was another place on my bucket list, HAHAHA. Yup, dessert before (a buffet) dinner. 

We took a few pictures before heading back to get in line for dinner.

When it was finally time to eat dinner, we were definitely overwhelmed by the options. SILLY ME DIDN’T PACE MYSELF SO WELL SO I DIDN’T HAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT !!!! !!!! !!!!!!! Biggest regret of the trip, I swear. >:[

Think the tacos were the highlight though .... Some darn good tacos these were.

Heheh, after eating our heart out at Bacchanal, we went to Omnia!!!  That was actually very exciting because Ryan and I have never been clubbing together. I don’t have any pictures but it was dark inside anyways. After getting our (free) drinks, we went on to the dance floor and listened to a very crappy DJ for the first like hour it feels like. The music eventually got ish better, and we got to see their cool cold-air blasting chandelier in action, after midnight. Because the music was not that great, it got boring pretty fast, LOL, so we left. 

On our way home, we stopped at an outdoor bar kind of, which was much cooler because all the bartenders knew how to do tricks and stuff as they were making drinks. The music was MUCH better, but there weren't as many people. Regardless, the DJ was cute, and they did free shots straight from the bottle!!! Ryan was a real trooper with my shenanigans until it was time to go back (for real). 

Back at the hotel, I may or may not have threw up part of my expensive dinner, but Ryan took care of me and I slept like a baby for the rest of the night ^_^ 

The next morning, OF COURSE, Ryan and I would think it was a great idea to hit up another buffet, so we did brunch AYCE at Wicked Spoon, HAHAHAH. 

It actually was a pretty good brunch. My favorite was the omelet bar, mmmm. 

Following brunch, we attempted to hunt down Secret Pizza, but it wasn’t open yet, so we headed home instead. It was a long four hour drive home, that actually didn’t feel that long, despite the traffic we ran into. 

When we finally got home, Ryan and I couldn't decide what to do for dinner ............ so we went to Cream Pan to get strawberry croissants, but then decided to get boba at 07 Leaves first.

THEN we went HAM and did AYCE Korean bbq @ Gen to round out out fat fat weekend together :) 

Ryan may not be Korean, but he still made a pretty good cook, HAHA : ) 

THEN, we finally went back to Cream Pan to get pastries. Then, we went to The Camp to Vitaly to get gelato.

SO CUTE RIGHT?? 

And then that ^ handsome guy drove me to the airport so I could catch my flight home :’( 

Ryan picked me up from the airport ON TIME around 08 AM. Since it was so early, and being the caffeine addicts we (mostly me) are, our first stop was not surprisingly a hipster coffee shop.

Verve, originally from Santa Cruz, has been showing up on my instagram feed lately, so I wanted to make sure I checked it off my bucket list. 

They also serve juice here, which was what the white menu was all about.

We opted for this super cool flight of juice shots. Our favorites were Green Milk and Pixie.

(Very instagrammable, don’t you think?) 

Then, Ryan and I went to the Original LA Flower market, which was so pretty and so much fun! 

We got bouquets for Ryan’s mom and his grandma, and Gaby, and Gaby’s mom.

Both bouquets were only 15 dollars - isn’t that so cheap???? 

After some time at the flower market, we went to pick up Gaby and headed to Republique for brunch :) It was Ryan’s first time, and he was not disappointed. 

(excuse Ryan’s poor picture taking skills) 

My Croque Madam was pretty darn good. 

After a very filling breakfast, and spending time catching up on celebrity gossip with gabycorn, we headed to Fonuts for dessert. 

Fonuts is a shop that specializes in baked donuts, and I was only impressed by the fact that they had blueberry earl grey flavored fonuts. 

Our next stop of the day was the Roof on Wilshire, which is a fancy schmancy hotel rooftop bar. The hostess wasn’t the most helpful, so it took us longer than it had to for us to enjoy our drinks. Still, it was a pretty nice place in general to be.

Here’s what the bar looked like:

And the view: 

And us: 

(I call this the “cool guy” Ryan pose :P ) 

Our next stop was Grand Central Market, which is basically LA’s Ferry Building but a little less classy looking. 

We got Currywurst: 

And then waited in line for the infamous Egg Slut (really good actually): 

Then checked out the Bradbury building next door: 

Before returning back to GCM to get ice cream from McConnell’s =) 

featuring boysenberry rosé milk jam, and sea salt cream and cookies :) 

THEN, with our ice cream, we walked down the street to Ace Hotel to check out THEIR rooftop bar. I don’t have any pictures of the bar itself, but the hotel’s architecture / design was pretty darn hip. 

It took us like 25 minutes to figure out which elevator to use (which we ended up taking the wrong elevator anyways. At the top we got an iced tea and a cider and stood around people watching. 

Then we had to go home and drop Gaby off which is never really done without a stop at ... 

featuring raspberry sorbet :D