California: Day 3

California: Day 3

We again got up early and made our way to LA. I was excited to see all the different areas on our way there. Yes, the traffic was congested but I had imagined it to be much worse than it actually was. It was fun to see all the different cities that I have heard and read about on our way there. The day was bright and sunny. It was also super hot. Well over 100 degrees hot!

 I had another place that was on my to-see list: The Health Nut in Calabasas, CA. That was our goal for an early lunch. For many years I had gotten through life without much knowledge of the Kardashian family and I loved it. But then one winter I got the flu. Reading made me nauseous and so I turned to TV for some binge watching. I needed something mindless...enter Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I could fall asleep and wake up and never need to go back to where I left off. It was just continual banality but somewhat watchable...like watching a train wreck. Equal parts fascinating and horrifying. I am still not a regular viewer...just when illness, extreme boredom, or insomnia strikes. It had been my little secret until Tyler found out and since then it has been cause for Tyler to tease me relentlessly and to feel highly superior. (Even though he watches his fair share of crap TV too.) Whatever... the thing that has fascinated me the most watching the show besides watching Bruce Jenner transform has been watching what they eat. In nearly every episode they are eating enormous salads out of big clear take out bowls and drinking some kind of drink. Hey, I like a good salad as much as the next person but just HOW delicious could these salads possibly be that they eat them on every.single.episode. I was on a quest to find out. Thanks to the Internet I tracked the place down and forced Tyler to come along. So off we went to Calabasas, which turned out to be another CA city that I absolutely loved. It is so pretty and glam. I thought it was fabulous and so did Tyler. All the luxury sports cars driving around and sports car dealerships kept quite Tyler happy...we had to check them all out and text pictures to Kameron. Calabasas is a beautiful town overflowing with flowers, fountains, gorgeous shopping areas, and private gated neighborhoods.

I had researched what those crazy sisters order and we ordered the same. The Chef salad and the Chinese Chicken Salad. How good could salads be? Pretty darn good. Those girls know their salads. The Chinese Chicken Salad with Spicy Asian dressing is where it is it!! That was our very favorite. The Health Nut is just a little health food store with a cafe in back in a strip mall just outside of Calabasas. Everything is organic and homemade. They are famous for their homemade salad dressings. We tried them all and they were fantastic. It was hard to pick a favorite. The house dressing and the spicy asian were pretty amazing. We went back for seconds on both of those. We didn't get take out so no big plastic bowls and the Kardashians drink Mango Iced Tea so that was out. I got a delicious strawberry lemonade and Tyler got a pina colada smoothie. Both delish. People did come in and out and would look at us to see if we were "somebody" which was pretty funny. All in all, it was super good and we will come back again someday. Now I have to figure out how to recreate that spicy asian dressing.

Here's the place from the outside in case you find yourself in Calabasas and want a healthy and delicious lunch:

Naomi texted me from the road to Lake Powell to ask how the salads were and I quoted Tyler: "That was the perfect lunch!" That's pretty high praise right there.

We drove around and went through downtown. There was a farmers market going on and tons of people walking around. As we drove past, someone waved at us which we thought was hilarious. I was on a quest to find a goodwill or a great thrift store. I wanted to find some cool California merchandise for Sisters Creed. There are many "drop off" centers but very few actual thrift stores. Too bad. I bet there is some really cool stuff to be had in Calabasas. I'll do better research on a return trip.

Farewell Calabasas!! You were lovely.

After that we went through Topanga Canyon and down into Malibu. The ocean was gorgeous but Malibu was nothing like I had though it would be. I'm sure down on the beach looking up at the beautiful homes is a different story but to me it just looked like your typical resort town. It was a pretty drive down the Pacific Coast Hwy to Santa Monica and then we were on our way to Beverly Hills. 

 First stop Rodeo Drive...

I was a little underwhelmed...with all the outdoor shopping areas there are now it just wasn't that impressive. Oh the stores were...not your usual outdoor shopping mall fare. But still... The people watching on the other hand and car watching was a whole different story. That was pretty impressive. But like I said on Instagram, one of the first people we saw on Rodeo Drive was a guy wearing a Northern Quest Casino shirt undoubtedly from Spokane. Still it was a lot of fun to check it
out.

The palm tree lined streets are beautiful and it was fun to drive down Wiltshire Blvd and Santa Monica blvd and Sunset blvd. It was fun to see the architecture and houses...although I think that Ward Parkway off of The Plaza in Kansas City is more spectacular. It was really fun to see iconic places like this:

It was great fun to just be a tourist. Tyler has been here many times and was a great tour guide. No, we did not go on any "star tours" although I was tempted. Tyler would've died of mortification. I let him off the hook. (Although after our visit to Hollywood Blvd I perhaps shouldn't have!! The 12 year old boy returned with a vengeance!!)

Onto Hollywood...

It was fun to see cool places like this.

It was cool to see things like this:

Colin Firth

Elizabeth Taylor... I love the movie Giant.

These are for my girls...

These are for Kameron...

It was fun to walk around and see all the sights and people. I turned my back for about 5 seconds and Tyler went missing. This was where I found him!!

We went into the Chinese Theater and the Dolby Theater. We walked all up and down Hollywood blvd and bought T-shirts for the kids. Finally we ran into a Starbucks to cool off and to get a couple of vanilla bean of frappuccinos. It was 105 outside!!

We were roasting and decided to go to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Neither of us had ever been to a wax museum before so we decided to check it out. This was where Tyler lost his mind. He made me take pictures of him posing hilariously by all the exhibits and making the same faces as the wax figures.. I will have to make a video montage of that goodness later. I was creeped out by the whole place. It basically looks like you are in a room full of dead people.

We did send this to the kids to see if we could fake them out with this...

And this...

No such luck!! They were too clever. (FYI...the facial hair is the creepiest.)

This gem will have to tide you over until the video montage...

See? I should have gone on that Stars Tour!!

I did enjoy this one though!!

Then we wanted to find a place to get something to eat. I wanted to go and get a hot dog at the famous Pink's Hot Dogs on La Brea but the line was huge and around the corner and Tyler had already been there a couple of times and so we didn't go. I have great remorse.

Picture from the Internet

We continued on with our SoCal tour... we were driving back to La Jolla to spend the night and on the way back I got to see areas like San Clemente and Oceanside, Let me just say that I loved La Jolla!! Tyler booked us a gorgeous room in a fabulous hotel. It was sheer heaven!!

  

It was gorgeous and luxurious. We didn't have to bother with anything. We just handed over our car and luggage to the valet and bellman and went right into the restaurant for a late night dinner. It was bliss.

Our dinner was amazing and we had the best drinks. I am calling them La Jolla Coolers. I made them for our family over the 4th of July. They are divine. Try them. It is a great fresh take on sparkling lemonade.

La Jolla Coolers

fresh lemon juice
fresh mint
agave syrup
fresh raspberries
7-Up
Ice 

Muddle your mint and a few raspberries together. Put into a glass. Fill glass 1/3 of the way full with fresh lemon juice, add ice, fresh raspberries, about a tablespoon of agave syrup, and fill glass the rest of the way with 7-Up or Sprite. They are really good!!

The night was beautiful and the hotel had little fires going all around the pool with comfy chairs to just sit in and relax. The setting was gorgeous and romantic. Our room was incredible. The view was amazing. It was a perfect night on the heels of a perfect day.