Scenes from Santa Monica

Beaches for miles and cotton candy-colored sunsets… west coast vibes! The first trip of 2016 took me to sunny Santa Monica, California. The last time I was in this region was back in 2011 (pre blog!) when my best friend Denise and I took a road trip through Cali, and visited our friends Jason and Lauren, who lived in Long Beach at the time. Throwback!

On that trip, Santa Monica was a mere drive-by on our way back from downtown LA, but this time I got to soak it all in. Although the weather wasn’t warm enough for swimsuits and flip flops, it was the perfect escape from chilly Chicago. The change of scenery even inspired me to wake up early one morning and go for an exploratory run (5 miles, y’all!). Here’s what I saw:

Good morning!

Footprints in the sand

Look

The Ivy… check out those florals

Can I keep him?

Good coffee is a must! Demitasse is the place you’ll want to go.

Blue

Palm trees for days

Lotto mania… what would you spend it on?

Sur

#VanderpumpRules

I wasn’t kidding about the coffee…

Surfs up

(Liz) Lemon

New Year’s Diet

Cozy

Till next time, Santa Monica!