A Los Angeles Weekend Getaway

As you likely saw on Instagram I spent a long weekend – Saturday through Monday – in Los Angeles to celebrate my friend Kortney’s birthday.  You have seen her on the blog many times before from her visits to New York, like the time we met Joe Bastianich at Becco, to the visits I have made to her gorgeous home in Utah (here, here, here, and here).  She is one of my dearest friends from University so when she asked if I would fly across the country to ring in her big birthday I of course said yes.

I arrived late Friday night and on Saturday I had one of the most relaxing days I have had in a long time, starting with breakfast at Gjusta with Alyssa of Runway Chef and then seven uninterrupted hours of “me time” poolside that I spent getting work done.  Sounds boring to some, I am sure, but for me it was such a treat even if it was overcast and a bit chilly by LA standards.  I stayed at the Le Meridien Delfina in Santa Monica and it is such a great hotel – a full review will be coming soon – but I thoroughly enjoyed the check-in champagne while getting ready!  Saturday night was dinner at Café del Ray and then a night on the town where we dressed up and danced the night away at hot spots including the Bungalow and the Victorian in Santa Monica.

On Sunday morning, Korney’s actual birthday, we kicked it off  with brunch  at the Fours Seasons Beverly Hills which was definitely quite an experience – so many delicious options to choose from!  This was followed by a Hollywood escapade include theAdobe Theater, Walk of Fame, and the Chinese Theater.  After that we split ways and I got in some good beach time with my friend Katelyn which I was thrilled about before getting ready for another delicious dinner.  As Sunday was actually Kortney’s birthday we celebrated dinner with 23 amazing people split across two tables and the party included her three adorable children whom you will see below. I loved celebrating with new and old friends at Salt over delicious fresh seafood.

Monday was the highlight though where 18 of us donned teal t-shirts and headed back to Beverly Hills to the CBS Studios.  This is where they film The Price is Right and we had tickets to the morning taping.  Even though it was an hour show between the different rounds of security checks and the interviews the full taping was a five hour process from start to finish and I am so happy that Kortney was picked to be on the show!  Our episode airs on April 26th so you will just have to tune in then to see how she did and see if you can spot me in the audience in my bright teal shirt!

Have you ever flown across the country for a weekend?