First off, I just want to say how boring LA's sightseeing spots were. The Walk of Fame, Kodak Theatre, Lady something catherdral thingy, the Hollywood sign etc. -honestly, all a yawn. I don't know why people get so excited and take so many pictures there. The only thing worth seeing was The Getty Center -the garden and photography exhibition were gorgeous. Since the sights were so disappointing, I decided that a trip to LA must involve the young people hotspots. So I made my poor family go with me to Koi, Pink Berry, Sprinkles, Spago and The Ivy. For those who don't know, Koi is one of the 'it' restuarants, where a lot of celebs get their photos taken by the paparazzis when they leave. It's a Japanese fusion restaurant. Admittingly, it was fab for the ambiance and all, but the food seriously sucked (way too salty,) and the tables were just too crowded. Definitely not a place for serious dining. Spago (which claims to be a Californian restaurant with Austrian influences) on the other hand, served fantastic food. The only warning I should give out is that it's pretty touristy.
Sprinkles, the hotspot for cupcakes, always had a line outside the store. 
The cupcakes were... cupcakes -Sweet, but nothing special and overpriced. But it was an 'LA experience' for me, to join in the craze with other Angelinos.
Pink Berry is basically the snack place of the moment in LA. They sell simple yogurt, soft ice-cream style, and you add toppings on it. Surprisingly, I actually liked the yogurt there and had it three times in my one week there! No wonder they're earning so much money and opening so many stores. Do try it if you go to LA -it's another 'LA expeience' one should enjoy!
Ah, the oh-so-famous Ivy. I stumbled across it on a shopping trip and surprisingly managed to get a table without reservation in 15 minutes. The food there was pretty good, although my mum and I were more impressed by how the waiting crowd outside the restaurant didn't seem to get smaller even at 3pm! While it wasn't the best Italian food I've ever had, the meal was certainly one of the better ones I had in LA. So ya, this has been the food-related highlights of my LA trip. Yes I know I'm no food critic but these are just my little thoughts on the restaurants. Tomorrow I'll move onto the shopping!
I love pink berry. It's like guilt-free ice cream! I have to agree with you about all the LA sites...pretty boring.
ReplyDeletewow ur really negative....everything that was good had way more bad things just b happy...and yeah LA is blah but maybe if u were more positive............
ReplyDeleteso frozen yogurt is still going strong out there, too bad it never caught on as well in the midwest--everything here has to be overly rich and sweet--also hard to find good coffee in the heartland...not an angelino but you're making me homesick for that longitude anyway...enjoy
ReplyDelete...ps, i agree with you that la does not live up to the hype, i was so disappointed when i first went there too, disneyland was so faded, so much of la and california had a derelict appearance, i dont know if its changed since then (long time ago)--maybe its something you get accustomed to
ReplyDeleteI love Pinkberry. I go there at least once a week. I don't really care for the fruit toppings, just the yummy yogurt!
ReplyDeleteyour so annoying in this post... if you have ever been to la maybe with out your mother you would see that its a good time .. why couldnt you say the postitive things about the city?
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence! I just moved into USC too. I have yet to check out all those things but I know I'll be going soon... Interesting to hear your take on it though.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for you if this is all your life is. You seem like a verry shalow person to have to try and be a fashion critic, what is lifes meaning to you? Im sure there is more to you than this.
ReplyDeleteshes not 'trying' to be a fashion critic.. she is one. lifes about pursuing ones passion,and she's doing that... i feel sorry for you for failing to understand that.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. Those cupcakes look right up my alley. Yum.......
ReplyDeleteAnd those restuarant sounds fun. It can't be worse than the Mr Chow that I tried when I went to LA. THAT was a complete tourist trap.
Did you pass Mulholland Drive? Venice Beach? Santa Monica? All worth checking out... but overall I agree Hollywood is kind of a bore.
ReplyDeleteMy childhood pet cat was named 'Sprinkles'!
ReplyDeleteOoh, the Pinkberry stuff looks good. It's not only in LA though, I've seen them around in New York too.
ReplyDeletegirls, i read your blog a lot, and have for a long time, so please try to take this as constructive criticism..
ReplyDeletei think your blog is much more interesting when you stick to the things you know very well, namely, fashion. i don't think i'm being harsh here - you mentioned you're not a food critic, that you don't wear much makeup and don't know much about it, etc. i like that you try to branch out and cover different topics, and you both certainly seem well-traveled, but it's just boring and semi-irritating to read these very shallow reviews of things. you just seem like you were bored of most of it and don't have a strong opinion. when you went to la, did you focus on any activities that weren't just shopping or "it" restaurants? i'm sure most of us would be interested in hearing about them, to get a better idea of the la experience. i don't think it's reasonable to expect an awesome time when your travel experiences are dictated by whatever stores or over-hyped celeb haunts are around.
i live in california, and honestly don't like la much either so i can relate with some of the not-so-positive musings. i just think most of us like your posts about current trends and cute clothes, and not just "well i went here and it was okay but the food was bad."
i live in LA just 5 min. from Robertson BLVD. and i have to agree on some things with you. The sites are boring but if you really get into the whole young LA scene with friends its much more exciting. you cant get alot out of LA by just one visit.
ReplyDeleteYo! Your bloggs are interesting. I'm dying to hear more from you.
ReplyDeleteI live right next to LA and go there all the time and what you said is pretty much true. It has some nice spots but overall its pretty borning and overpriced.
ReplyDeleteHeeeey!
ReplyDeleteI love this blog :-)
I personally think all the Los Angeles inhabitants are getting defensive about their home. But seriously, Los Angeles can be a very hyped up place with shallow people, and no offense, mediocre food. I agree with the blogger completely-- the food was ok, but does not meet the standards one would expect from such publicizing. I lived in Los Angeles, and sure, there were a few good aspects: the ability to live a healthy lifestyle, the beautiful views and hiking areas in the hills, the excellent shopping...but you can't honestly get mad about a view expressed about food that was honestly not that great and about tourists sites that really are boring.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you all didn't know, even though this is a "fashion blogger" it's also a BLOG. They can write about pretty much all they want, and they do it for your benefit, so you can read it, out of their own time. So maybe you should stop griping and if you don't want to read it, then don't, and start your own blog where you complain about all the people who hate Los Angeles. The O.C. is pretty much the red headed step child of L.A., by the way, and no one will believe it but people from Los Angeles and people from Orange County. Just accept the fact that you're almost the same except that Orange County has way better highways.
I just stumbled across your blog.
ReplyDeleteI hope you dont take to heart what some of these idiots are saying.
How boring would life be without fashion, and celebrities!
I love your blog!
I love Pinkberry too. Luckily we have it in NYC. Next time you go back you should also try Milk on Melrose. They have the best cookies and brownies!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted this--I wish people out there could see how little LA really lives up to the hype. I think it's a better place to live than it is to visit, because it only seems to have a lot to offer in its little niches.
ReplyDeleteYou'll probably like SF a lot more than LA. It has more of a "city" feel than the sprawling urban/suburban neighborhoods that make up LA. The shopping and the sights are awesome--just stay away from pier 39. Oh, and just to warn you, the weather can be quite cool and foggy.
Though I do get defensive about LA because it is the city in which I was born and bred, I could understand an outsider's point of view. It's a city that is meant to be lived in, not visited, because it's so sprawling. LA is not a city that encourages a lot of tourism except for the shopping and celebrity Meccas.
ReplyDeleteBut if you really wanted a great meal experience, you should check out Hatfield's, A.O.C., Valentino, or Loteria Grill.
LA is not a tourist place. It's a place to settle, relax, and enjoy life. I'm afraid the city seriously lacks attractions that NYC, Chicago, or SF can boast of. But it's definitely a fun place to roam with friends.
Ok, I enjoy your fashion comments, but you don't know anything about LA. First of all where did you pick your restaurants? Life and Style? Us? Spago might have been hip in 1986, but it hasn't been since. Koi, the Ivy? If it's been written up as the "it" place in any of those magazines or on E!, it means they're over. Celebrities, people in entertainment, etc. won't be going there because tourists like you are. There is amazing dining in LA, you could have gone to Michael's, Valentino's, the Lobster, Luques... There are several world renound sushi places, fantastic Mexican and Peruvian resaurants. You could have gone to hundreds of places, all fantastic.
ReplyDeleteRobertson is terrific - if you're Paris Hilton or some B-list reality star.
And why would you go to the Hollywood Walk of Fame other than to be a complete rube? You're like those girls we mock, (the prettiest little girl in **fill in the blank town**, who walks the tourist spots expecting to be "discovered," and when she's not, goes home decrying how horrible LA is.
LA is terrific, There is the Getty, the Getty Villa, LACMA, some fantastic Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, (which you can tour). Stunning Japanese gardens in Bel Air, 1/4 of Ghandi's ashes are buried in a lovely garden near Malibu. And that's only what I can name off the top of my head.
You're like some complaning, petulant teenager, (hmmm, maybe you are) who thinks because what you saw wasn't too your liking, you're limited viewing can sum up what is a very large, very diverse city. You speak only to your own ignorance and shallowness.
You would not think it fair if I visited London, went only to the West End, Madame Tussards and the changing of the Guards - and proclaimed the city as not living up to it's hype because I found the area dirty, the cheesy musicals terrible, the musuem overpriced and tacky and the changing of the guards, overrated and boring. I would not be so stupid as to think a visit could sum up a city.
You are what we Angeleno's like to refer to as... the ugly touist. So glad you've gone.
Hope your sis likes it though.
Just a comment to all the people who say the LA contingent is being defensive, it's not your home town you're hearing bitched about. I think the reality is that if you go to the shallow places, you'll have that experience, but it's a city with much more to offer. So before you jump on the put-down bandwagon, think twice. It's like having someone say that they didn't think you were a deep person after a two minute conversation in which they only asked you about where you did your hair.
ReplyDeleteMannnn, I live in LA, and hate it, but this post was still pretty annoying. You have a great resource here, you could have asked for tips on LA and had tons of people provide you with fun stuff to do, but instead you visit the most touristy overhyped spots that no one who lives in LA would eeeeever go to and pronounce it boring...and overhyped. Surprise, that's because it is!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, hopefully you'll be back to visit your sis at USC (wooo Trojans, I'm at USC Law) and you'll take advantage of your blog readers to find out where the real "young people hotspots" are. ;)
Were I to be absolutely honest, I must say the post really doesn't warrant such a strong degree of negativity from the readers. I understand that it's annoying to have people say things about your hometown, but I actually thought HG was being quite balanced about the whole tourist experience- if the sightseeing was crappy (as I can understand it might have been- I'm not a huge fan of sightseeing anywhere), the food in some places was nice. And she did have good things to say, which don't seem to be acknowledged.
ReplyDeleteIf you feel that someone didn't get the best experience possible out of your city, there are other ways of telling them so besides calling them names- all that does is give me a negative view of LA natives.
Well I think everyone has rights to express their opinion. And its others opinion that makes us to ponder and improve on things. I hope this will be taken in right spirit.
ReplyDelete-Stella Roy
Woow, that Pink Berry place looks amazing!
ReplyDeletei strongly advise all of you to come to Istanbul.. i wouldn't even dream of living in another city.. Seriously people, if you are into amazing-eat-your-fingers type of food, come here.. And not fall into tourist traps. Only the locals know THE places to eat here.. Seriously, i haven't eaten better pasta in Italy..
ReplyDeleteAnd as for shopping experiences, there's high fashion, high street, and oriental experiences available; we have places like Harvey Nichols, then we have street bazaars which you can get jewellery and belley-dancing clothes and hubble-bubbles! My point is that Istanbul is like going to 3 metropols in 1..
And as for sightseeing, there's historical sights, amazing bosphorus views, lovely sea breeze, and great clubbing opportunities ;)
i love fashion and i can see u do too dou read elle magazine
ReplyDeleteJust found this blog via Blogs of Note link. To all the Angelenos that are bitching and moaning about her review:it's not about you! L.A. is not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteWhen you visit L.A. again, HG, I hope you will talk to long-time residents who know all the quirky spots, shops, and sights. There are a number of interesting things out here to see & do, but many require lots of driving.
Hi
ReplyDeleteLA looks really nice
well it looks to me like you only went to the stereo-typical LA places where the vacuous people populate. there's a lot more to LA than that. you should really explore the neighborhoods and get to know what LA is like beneath the superficial facade.
ReplyDeleteI want have a trip like you to take picture but I so busy with my study. So sad :(
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Thanks so much for this article, pretty useful material.
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