December was my second time in 2018 visiting Los Angeles, spending quality time with my family. A quick getaway trip, we were fascinated as we wandered around the city finding activities to occupy time. Of course a dispensary was #1 on the "must-go-to-places" on my list, and I did just that as soon as I grabbed my luggage from Baggage Claim. After driving around for an hour,
sitting in traffic, shopping at the mall, and grabbing dinner, I spent my Thursday night on the patio of an AirBnb blasting music with an exotic sativa. It felt good to escape New York City for a weekend to relax and be alone with my journal and collect my thoughts.
A bumpy Friday morning, I woke up to an altercation that could have been easily avoided. After the situation settled, it was only right to return back to the patio to ease my mind and remain calm before starting my day. I could not let my trip be ruined that easily, so what better way to be at peace than to walk along the beach on a sunny day. Visiting the shops along the shore with my siblings and my dad, my brother and I decided to dip off and grab a funnel cake as we watched my dad and sister walk through the sand near the waves, crashing amongst each other. It seemed like a Kodak moment until seagulls saw that we had food, and I am not a fan of birds. I'm not sure what persuaded me to get In-N-Out for lunch, because their fries taste like trash, even after drowned in ketchup. Their food tasted a lot better in Dallas, so I do not recommend it, unless you like small, overhyped burgers covered in a special sauce.
Just as any other tourists should, we visited Runyon Canyon. I was determined to make it to the top, the same way I made it to the top when I visited LA in April. Surprisingly, the hike is not hard, and the pictures that you take at the top are post-worthy, so why not?! Saturday night, I forced my siblings to walk around Downtown LA with me after having brunch and an afternoon of shopping. Making our stroll with the crowd towards LA Live, we found a pop-up exhibit to ride in a car as it drifts and spins around as cameras record your facial reactions, which was sponsored by Toyota. After all agreeing to skip ice skating, we bumped into our cousin while walking to grab food for dinner. Somehow, we persuaded him to get us a bottle of vodka from the store, that we drank as we ate, and then continued to walk around downtown, taking pictures, until it was time to go back to our AirBnb. Returning back to the house around 1AM, I knew I would be cranky waking up at 5AM, since we all had super early flights the next morning.
Shoutout to Southwest Airlines, because on the way home, I had a two hour layover in Houston, so I forced my old roommate Kim to pick me up and take me to the daiquiri shop and to get crawfish. That was the perfect way to end my vacation weekend before flying back to NYC to prepare for work the next morning.
