Now that I've gotten your attention, I have to say, I've lied - I didn't go to Taylor Swift's house, but I did visit Greystone Mansion, so basically the same thing! I also went to a few places in Hollywood - Commissary at The Line Hotel, Griffith Park, LACMA, and Melrose Ave.
When I checked the hours online, it said they opened at 8, so we got there then, and realized they weren't technically open until 10! Fortunately, there are no gates to the grounds or anything, so we were able to wander around, and there weren't too many people aside from a summer camp that was just beginning to assemble.
The whole area gave off a Blank Space vibe, and I feel like it could have been the set from the music video! If Taylor Swift didn't have her New York apartment (and if Greystone were for sale), I'm 99% sure she would live here.
Since we were going to be surrounded by a lot of green, I decided to go with a simple white Alexander Wang tee, my (only) jeans, and t-strap sandals I wear in virtually every outfit. This time I'm glad I didn't wear grey!
I'm forever on the search for a nice quality (and reasonably priced) white shirt that doesn't have to be worn with a bandeau or tank top. Though this one is super soft and comfy, it doesn't fulfill the latter requirement.
If you guys have any brands/shirts that work well sans more layers, please let me know in the comments!
Greystone has quite a comprehensive list of "don'ts" - they include: no dogs, no picnics, no sports, no personal training (???),
So, uh, these photos...
(update: I checked on Yelp, and photos are okay if they are unprofessional! Plus Chiara Ferragni did a blog post there, and I don't think she paid $300 for 5 photos)
I've also been playing around with presets in Lightroom! It took me forever to figure out why certain people could get such amazing colors with their cameras, and why my colors always looked flat and dull.
I've been looking around a lot for free ones (mainly for portraits), so if you know of any, please link to them in the comments! <3
Time spent here: ~2 hrs, you could spend more just sitting in the gardens.
Things to note: You can't go into the mansion unless you arrange a tour (not completely sure how to do that). You can peek in the windows though, which we would have done, had we been able to figure out how to get from the gardens to the mansion - it's on a hill above. Also, Beverly Hills has city wide free wifi!
Cost: Free.
For lunch, we went Commissary at The Line Hotel. It's located in Koreatown, and has pretty good Asian fusion food! I'll admit, I mainly wanted to visit because of an amazing Instagram photo I saw on @discoverla, but it was worth it.
I just had avocado salmon toast, since we weren't very hungry. Their aesthetic is something along the lines of "quirky and mismatched, while still somewhat upscale". The quirky would be their mismatched dining ware (the dishes, glasses, and napkins were all different), the upscale would be their prices.
Time spent here: It depends on how fast you eat! The service wasn't particularly fast, nor slow.
Things to note: They have a pool right outside, and I think you'd probably be able to slip in even if you don't stay at the hotel if you act nonchalant. I love the hotel vibe, and the prices aren't too bad. Their lobby also plays really nice music (think Flume and Lorde remixes), and the people watching is great - everyone is so stylish!
Cost: Somewhere between $$ and $$$. I think the toast was around $20, and it wasn't too big.
We went back to the Line Hotel a few days later, and tried the other restaurant downstairs - Pot. I would not recommend it. It was more expensive (though to be fair we went for dinner instead of lunch), and the food was eh. We ordered a pot of kimchi, given the name of the restaurant we thought it would be good, but it was basically $50 worth of kimchi floating around in watered down soup.
After heading back to our Airbnb room for a bit to relax (LA was hot!), we headed out again to Griffith Observatory for sunset. We obviously weren't the only people with this idea, and it was crowded both for parking and while there.
It was definitely worth it though! The sunset was spectacular, and I loved watching the lights slowly turn on. The best part of the sunset is always right after the sun dips below the horizon, and the pastel colors appear.
I would've loved to see it at sunrise, probably much fewer people, but no way would I have been able to get up then.
Time spent here: ~1.5 hrs. We didn't go inside the observatory though, only admired the views from the outside.
Things to note: When we went, lots of people were clamoring to get the same coveted photo spots, so please do try and be courteous. I had to wait an absurd amount of time (to be fair, I'm pretty impatient) for this girl to take her 100 selfies from different angles. Although we didn't try it since we weren't dressed for it, there's hiking available too!
Cost: Free.
This trip was full of museums, and I really wanted to get photos in front of Lacma's famous Urban Light exhibit - I did, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very well.
I did really enjoy this museum though - it's huge, and has a very wide variety of art!
No trip to LA is complete without some shopping! We were living quite close to Melrose, so we spent an afternoon there (mainly for the photo ops). I was prepared to take tons of outfit photos, since everyone's probably used to fashion bloggers, but at the last minute, forgot my camera. Oh well.
There are a few affordable shops, but the majority are for window shopping. Some must sees would be Fred Segal, Paul Smith (the pink wall!), Resurrection, and Creatures of Comfort.
For stores in which you can actually afford more than a clothes hanger, I would go to Crossroads and Wasteland. The latter is much more expensive and high end, but both are significantly pricier than the secondhand stores back home. Apparently celebrities go there to clean out their closets!
This is the last post in my SoCal road trip (you can read the other ones here). Summer truly is over, though it's hard to believe I've already been back in school for a month!
What would you guys recommend to for activities and must dos in LA? What's the best restaurant there? Any affordable boutiques? Let me know in the comments!
xx
Angelina
