California Dreaming... Living the LA LA Life

What is it about a destination that seduces you and makes you never want to leave? Is it the people? The atmosphere? The food? Its all of the above for me and I have to say that I found a new love in Santa Monica this week. You all know that LA is like a second home to me and I usually stay in the West Hollywood area. Its just always easier for me to get to all of my producers. But, for this trip, my meetings were all in Santa Monica so I decided to stay at the beach.

My trip started on Wednesday afternoon on a JetBlue flight from Dulles to Long Beach. Again, if you are thinking of traveling to the LA area, you need to see if you can use the Long Beach airport. It's simply the easiest and most efficient airport in the area. I landed at 8:20 and I had my bags at 8:45 and I was in my rental car on the 405 by 9pm. If I flew into LAX, I could almost guarentee that it would have taken me over an hour just to get my bags.



However, the flight to Long Beach might have been the wierdest flight I have ever experienced. There was a guy in the seat in front of me that seemed to be asleep... and then all of a sudden, he started talking to himself... but in a weird way. It was almost like he was talking in his sleep, but he was looking at the people around him and seemed to be spewing about politics and cursing the President. Just weird... and everyone around my seat was just staring and kind of freaked (note that we were flying across country on September 10th... not the time of year to be freaked on an airplane!) The girl in the seat next to me can vouch for the weirdness... Lori, if you are reading, please chime in.


Anyway, back to Santa Monica. I chose to stay at the Viceroy on Ocean Ave for this trip. The Viceroy is definitely a scene and is very hip... but, it sure has substance with all that style. The service is impeccable and the rooms are beautifully designed with oversized marble showers, great beds and a some rooms have stunning views of the Pacfic Ocean. I was also impressed with their room service menu. They had a beautiful assortment of organic dishes to choose from including fresh fruits and veggies from local markets. I ordered the fresh fruit for breakfast with their homemade granola and they created a brulee with my fresh vanilla yogurt! Delish and very worth the extra 20% charge for the delivery!

Jet lag had me awake at 5:45am the next day and I just used that time to catch up on some work. I met a friend in the lobby of the hotel for coffee at 9am and I was refreshed from my fab shower. Even the products were yummy!

My friend and I took a walk across the street from the Viceroy to a little cafe called Cora' Coffee Cup. Its a small place with indoor counter service. However, their outdoor seating is below a huge garden trellis that is almost like a cave. Again, its about as big as a coffee cup... so, get there early for one of the outdoor tables.


After my meeting, I met up with Kirsten Gum for an ass kicking. Kirsten is the adventure queen and she is in great shape. So, for our meeting, she asked if I wanted to take a bike ride on the beach. It sounded like fun, so we met up and I borrowed one of her cruiser bikes for a 20 mile ride along a path that hugs the beach. We rode from Santa Monica all the way up to Manhattan Beach. It was really beautiful and just the perfect way to see the beach towns that line the coast. We cruised through Venice Beach and Marina Del Rey. I highly reccomend it for anyone who wants to experience real beach living in Southern California.


After our ride, we stopped for lunch at a tiny place on Venice Beach called the Fig Tree. All of the tiny bistros up north of the chaos (muscle beach and the freak shows) of Venice are good and I found Fig Tree to be a good choice. We shared a couple of fish tacos and a spinach and brown rice burger. Very yummy.. Very California.


After lunch, Kirsten headed out to an appointment and I went back to my room to finish some work before shops closed on the East Coast. We decided that my "ass kicking" was not done for the day and decided to met back up at 6pm for a yoga class and a "soak" at a place called "Exhale". We met outside of my hotel at 6pm and again took the bikes up to a Exhale for our hatha yoga class. It was a really nice class after our 20 mile ride this morning. After class, we got back on our bikes and went to the Exhale location a few blocks away where they have a full spa area for members. The coolest part of their setup is that they have a water circuit. The circuit has you going from a sauna for 4-5 mins to a cold water plunge for about 2 minutes. After the cold water you come out and relax for a few minutes for your body to get back to a normal temperature. Once you are ready, you go into a steam room for another 4-5 minute and then another cold plunge for 2 minutes. Then another acclimation period before you go into a whirling hot tub. I cursed several times during those ice cold plunges... but, I have to say that after the circuit, my body never felt better. After a long day of biking and yoga... this was almost like a deep tissue massage.


By the time we were done with all of that, we were starved. So, we headed over to a Santa Monica favorite called Chinois on Main. This is one of Wolfgang Puck's first restaurants in the area and after almost 20 years it is still a local hotspot for dinner. We ordered some sushi and a salad for an appetizer and the steamed sea bass with a soy glaze for dinner. It was delicious and very light... a perfect way to end our quintessetial day in Santa Monica.

When I finally got back to my room that night, I had to take some Tylenol and elevate my legs. Workout pain sucks... but, its a good pain because you know that all the hard work is paying off. I do not even remember falling asleep.

The next day was a work day for me so I was up early again on emails and screening some shows that I needed to get out. My big meeting was being held right downstairs in a cabana next to the pool at the Viceroy. Kirsten and I kept saying that this is exactly why we work in this business... so that we can have important meetings in a cabana next to a pool in Santa Monica. You have to love working in TV.


That night I met up with a couple of friends at the Casa del Mar for a glass of wine before I made my way back to the Long Beach airport for a red eye back to DC. As I sat there waiting for them to arrive, I looked out over the beach and took a deep breath. I really wanted to go home to see Peter and Eva, but I just could not help feeling like I never wanted to leave. LA has always held a special place in my soul... since the time I was 14 and my parents took me here on vacation.. I never wanted to leave. What is it that makes me want to stay? The food? The people? The bike ride? The beach? The glamour... all of the above.

Stay tuned... I forgot to tell you about a bachelorette party that I just went to in Scottsdale, Arizona. That Mondrian has a SkyBar and a Disco Pool. Pix to come too.

Keep Traveling
Lori