LA, Hell-A, El Lay, La-la Land

It never fails, visiting LA is always fun.

Sure, but the traffic, you say...the Bay area has just as much. Pollution?...okay, that's actually really bad. But nobody recycles and everyone has lawns...yes, it can be painful for a norcal girl to watch....

But LA has an endless supply of fun things to do, and ways to look good doing them. In fact, looking good, and doing "stuff" is what LA does best.

Since I was only in LA for 2 nights this past weekend, I didn't get to visit all my old fav places, but I thought I'd make a list of things that I enjoyed when I was living there, especially since one of my best temp friends is moving there in August. (this is for you!)

First off, getting beautified in LA is easy and cheap, so I recommend you take advantage...it's actually normal to get a "mani-pedi" on the weekend...and there are a bunch of places to go (some are better than others, but you'll ALWAYS find a local nail salon).
But say you want to do something a little different, possibly freak-ay, but almost always fun, grab a girlfriend and go to K-Town for a scrub. People go to the spas in Koreatown because they're inexpensive, and though it's definitely a no-frills kind of place, the good ones are clean, and definitely a cutural experience...The Korean spa is a large open room with showers, a cold pool, hot spa, and herbal spa, saunas, and naked Korean women sitting on stools scrubbing each other's backs. By the wall are the scrubbing tables manned by Korean women in matching black bras and underwear. This ain't no porno...those are definitely granny underwear... They call their clients over and proceed to scrub the hell out of their patrons, guiding the non-Korean speaker with nudges and light slaps. Do you're spa thing, lounge around, and then finish off your stay with the scrub...it feels so good. To some...awkward, but I love the communal atmosphere of women, and the weirdness...(K-town also has some killer karaoke-check out Palms)
For outdoor adventures in the city, go to Runyan Canyon (where the beautiful people go to get their outdoors on), Griffith Observatory (see the Hollywood sign (from behin a fence), and take a tour of the observatory). In Pacific Palisades, I really enjoyed taking people to Shrine Lake. Right off the 1 towards Malibu is a huge meditation garden with an enormous coy pond, and a shrine where part of Gandhi's ashes lie. The museum at the entrance is dedicated to the garden's founder Paramanhansa Yogananda...The museum was hilarious..."This is the pencil box Guru Yogananda used on the day he died. This coconut was given to Guru Yogananda just days before his death. These nose hair clippers were used by Guru Yogananda up until the day of his death...you get the gist) Anyway, it's a nice little reprieve from a day of hot pollutiony site seeing.
Every neighborhood in LA is completely different, so you'll hopefully get to explore them all!
I used to work off West Washington, which looks like a scary neighborhood to the naked eye, BUT Ziggy Marley's favorite, and very authentic, Jamaican restaurant is there in the middle of a sign shop, and a bunch of warehouses.
Culver city has some fun restaurants which are easy to find. My favorites though are Xotique, a little restaurant run by a British woman, and a little Asian woman who calls herself the fool with the spoon. I also looove the wine bar in downtown Culver. They have wine tasting Machines!!! You put money on a card, get a glass, and try any wine you want (I try a few then just get drunk off the 90 cent tasters)
Venice area has Abbott Kinney and of course the beach, but there are some really cool examples of green architecture there, though sort of hidden. A bunch have been featured in major magazines.
I always meet interesting people in Silverlake and the Silverlake Street fair is really fun.

Enjoy the Mexican food, and try the roach coaches, go to Japantown, and spend some quality time exploring downtown (there are some great bars there), visit the Abbott Kinney and Silverlake Street Festivals, ride up the coast through Malibu, go to the Day of the Dead festival at the Hollywood cemetery, roller blade on Venice Beach, go to some chic-y Hollywood clubs, check out art openings, and go to the Roxy for a show, do it all and have fun!!!!