I LOVE that my sister (Christina) and I finally live in the same city again (Yay Saint Petersburg!) after the last two decades living in different time zones. We always have so much fun together, so when she asked if I’d like to join her on a week long trip to Los Angeles she had to make for her work, I booked my flight right then and there!

I’ve been to LA a number of times in the past, but this time we made zero plans ahead of time, which made it feel a lot more laid back and relaxed.

We are both big fans of art museums and galleries. We loved visiting The Broad in downtown LA, especially the cool Yayoi Kusama exhibit: Infinity Mirror Room.

While my sister was in meetings during the days, I happily strolled around. I spotted a Banksy art piece (I think?), walked past the La Brea Tar Pits, and went to LA’s Milk Bar with an old friend!

Christina and I were staying super close to LACMA, so we visited one afternoon and had to pose in front of the iconic lanterns out front. (Super touristy, I know!)

I was so happy to visit with my very dear friend, Amanda, at her beautiful apartment. Check out that view!!

Another day I met up with a very sweet old friend of mine, Melanie. We met while studying abroad together in Cannes, France and have kept in touch all these years! She is an awesome television producer in LA and we had so much fun driving and hiking around the hills in Griffith Park.

We ended the day at Griffith Observatory, which is an absolutely gorgeous spot to watch the sun set. The observatory was really cool, too! I’m such a sucker for art and science museums.

Once my sister’s conference was over we spent a whole day exploring Santa Monica together. It was literally a picture perfect day!

It was a bit chilly, but not cold. It was refreshing and certainly didn’t deter people from relaxing on the beach!

We played super tourists and visited the Santa Monica Pier, and even rode the ferris wheel!

I just love being by the ocean, and the Pacific never disappoints.

It was such a fun, relaxing spontaneous trip to Los Angeles! Looking forward to my next time back already.