Santa Monica

Welcome to Santa Monica! Famous for its shopping, dining, and of course, homeless people! According to my friend, a local transplant and fellow Bay Area native, people in Santa Monica think they're better than the city of Los Angeles. She says they don't consider themselves a part of L.A. and she has been corrected more than once that in fact, this isn't Los Angeles.... this is Santa Monica. Little do they know that everyone else thinks they're still in L.A., albeit a slightly nicer part.

Yes, Santa Monica is nicer than downtown L.A., this is true. The weather is also more comfortable, and I myself was very surprised at the fact that I was actually cold as night fell. It was a pleasant change from the sweltering heat of The Valley. Here is how the city compares: Santa Monica: better than North Hollywood, worse than Beverly Hills.

We'll consider it somewhere in the middle. I did enjoy their famous promenade, which was pretty much an outdoor mall. But who doesn't appreciate a good outdoor mall?

There's only one thing that really made this place more superior than your standard outdoor mall, and that is fantastic street musicians. The gentleman pictured here was a phenomenal guitarist, and I actually regret not purchasing his CD.

And while Larissa kept busy shopping for a massage pillow thing...








I kept busy with a foot squeeze machine. I guess if you wanted to have a little respect for the inventors, you might call it a mechanical massager... or something... but really, it was a foot squeeze machine.

After two hours, and $35.00 well spent, we decided to take advantage of the many sushi restaurants Santa Monica has to offer with half-off happy hour. The boyfriend met us at a popular sushi joint, which was so popular we opted for take-out instead. The sushi was great, and you can't beat 32 pieces for $15.00... plus free miso soup and edamame, for two. If you're not going to go to Santa Monica for the shopping and the cold, I recommend you at least go for the sushi. Totally worth it.