Thursday, July 26, 2012

Show and Tell Friday!



Warning...this is a really long post!  

 Last weekend Lauren and I went to Los Angeles for a mini mother/daughter weekend away!  We flew down Friday around noon and got there about an hour later. I love short flights!  We rented a car and the photo above was taken on the 405 sitting in that dreadful LA traffic!  The traffic here in Silicon Valley is bad but LA is even worse!  

We couldn't wait to get here...


Our hotel in Santa Monica, California. We stayed at The Georgian Hotel. It was right across the street from the beach so I got us a room with a view...


We were up on the 8th floor which was the very top floor of this historic (and haunted) hotel!  Our view was breathtaking!


This hotel still has so much of it's old charm which I love!  This was our bathroom.

We could just walk across the street and down the stairs and across that little bridge and be right on the beach...


We were amazed at how far the sand stretched. It felt like a really long walk to the ocean...


It was so nice to get up on Saturday morning and go for a walk on this beautiful beach!





The weather was perfect! 


Here is some of the view when you are on the beach facing the land...



 The sunsets were beautiful too...



Saturday morning we got up and got ready for breakfast on the porch of our hotel. This photo was taken looking into a large mirror in the lobby...


Lauren and I decided to split a breakfast because we had big plans for lunch and didn't want to over-eat!  Yes..this is only my 1/2! 


After breakfast we headed to Beverly Hills. This weekend was more for my daughter but I had only one request! I wanted to eat lunch at Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills.  If you are a Real Housewives fan you may recognize this as Lisa Vanderpump's (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) restaurant.  Unfortunately, Lisa wasn't there the day we went!  I was really bummed about that!  


Here we are inside Villa Blanca.  We ordered salads which were really good except the plates were warm so the salad became warm...that really wrecked it for me.  The decor in there is absolutely stunning though!  The service was amazing too!  We ended talking to the man that is being served to the left of me and to the couple on my right who is taking this photo.  It's always nice to meet people while on vacation.  We had a good time there!


Here is my salad...


I also had a white sangria that was really good (not sure why I look so sad in this pic!)


We walked around Beverly Hills after lunch and saw some beautiful things...


After lunch we went to Venice Beach.  From Beverly Hills to Venice Beach is like being in two different worlds!  Beverly Hills was more my style and Venice Beach was more Lauren's style.  This is the only photo I took there...


Another place Lauren wanted to visit was The Santee Alley. It's a huge shopping area...again not my type of place.  It was huge, crowded and filled with cheap clothes and knock-off designer bags but I did find a Halloween costume for this year. I planned on dressing up as Marilyn Monroe this Halloween and found the perfect dress for only $28...

It was the last one they had and it was a size Medium. It's actually a little big but I can take it in.  I was so happy to find this for such a deal!  It made pushing through shoulder-to-shoulder people worth it!

We also did a little shopping at the downtown Santa Monica Promenade.  That was fun!

After shopping we headed back to our beach to see another wonderful sunset...


 Sunday we had a plane to catch to come back home so we checked out of the hotel and headed to Hollywood...


It was beautiful weather at the beach but once you drove inland it was hot!  We walked around and looked at the stars....


The only stars we saw were the ones on the sidewalk though!


and I guess this is where the Jimmy Kimmel show is taped.

We walked, and walked and walked...


and finally went to lunch at The California Pizza Kitchen which is chain restaurant that we could have eaten at here at home but it was really good.


After Hollywood we drove to LAX and got on our plane and headed home...


It was a WONDERFUL weekend!  I wish I could go again this weekend!!!


If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden.  If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog.

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54 comments:

  1. How fun! It looks like you had an amazing trip! Thanks for hosting!

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  2. What a nice trip to take with your daughter. You guys look like sisters. You'll make a wonderful Marilyn! Thanks so much for hosting Cindy, have a great weekend.

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  3. Sounds like a great time on your vacation! How fun to be able to spend time with your daughter!!

    Hope you'll be showing us you in your great Marilyn costume!

    bee blessed
    mary

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  4. What a charming boutique hotel! Too bad your salad was not served on a chilled plate at Lisa's, but it did look tasty. So glad that you two had a wonderful mother/daughter weekend together and thanks for sharing your pics with us.

    Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

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  5. Sounds like the two of you had a fabulous trip...so fun! Thanks for hosting!...hugs...Debbie

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  6. Looks like a wonderful v-cay!
    Thanks for the fab party!
    Happy weekend!

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  7. Hello Cindy! Lovely photos - you and your daughter look a lot alike! The salad looks amazing! I'll have to try to recreate that - thank you for giving us a glimpse into your Mother/Daughter vacation and for hosting,
    Kathy

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  8. How fun for your daughter that you let her lead the way and do all she wanted to do. It looks like you had a great time and I enjoyed seeing the views! Thanks so much for bringing us this party. It's always appreciated.
    Liz

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  9. Looks like a fantastic time!! Thanks for hosting!

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  10. I loved your photos. It looks like you had a great time! Thanks for hosting. :)

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  11. Wow! That looks like it was incredible! Thanks for hosting!
    XO, Aimee

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  12. Thanks for sharing your trip - Bet you had a fun time.
    Thanks for hosting again this week.

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  13. Hi Cindy,
    Thanks so much for hosting!

    Your trip looks like so much fun. I'm going to Spokane in a couple of weeks to see my daughter and this just gets me all excited! :)

    ~Liz

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  14. Wow!! Amazing pictures. You and your daughter are just gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing your vacation with us, Cindy.

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  15. Cindy,
    Thanks so much for hosting us each week! So glad you had such a good time with your daughter. It's always nice to spend one on one time! :D
    ~Stephanie

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  16. Cindy you and Lauren both look like you had a wonderful time.
    California is beautiful! I love
    your dress for Halloween, you
    will make a great Marilyn. Now
    look for that bright red lipstick.

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  17. Cindy, I've never been to Hollywood. This post makes me want to book a flight. ;-) Looks like a great weekend.

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  18. Looks like you had a fabulous weekend together Cindy! My daughter is 16 and hanging out with Mom is not cool right now. I look forward to when she is a little older and we can enjoy things like you & your daughter! Thanks for hosting this party! Angie xo

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  19. Loved the color of the hotel and the bathroom. Looks like the two of you had a fabulous time!!! Glad you had fun. Thanks for hosting, Laura

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  20. I enjoyed your travelogue immensely! Gotta tell you, Cindy; I'm a native. Mom was born in L.A. and so was I (family has been there since 1903 on one side, and 1914 or so on the other). Before I personally could ever really know the place, though, my parents moved to the burbs. As a consequence, I love L.A. but, at this point, you've almost seen more of it than I have PRIMARILY because I am too darn afraid to drive down there; it's a ZOO on those freeways. They are the same freeways we traveled when I was a kid and they just can't accomodate the number of cars and population increase, some forty years later. L.A. needs public transportation so badly. When Mom was growing up, she didn't even have to learn how to drive because they used the red cars/street cars. If we had anything like that now, I'd take the train in and then use that kind of around-town public transport a lot...you know, like from what I understand about New York City, there are trains and busses going in and out of there to New Jersey and other parts of New York state or even Connecticut I think, constantly/daily. You are BRAVE to just arrive cold turkey and tackle the city; I'm impressed!

    Love to see that hotel refurbished and looking so trendy; to-die for bathroom, just look at that original tile!

    What a fun, perfect, girly getaway.

    I actually HAVE shopped on Rodeo Drive, not that I could afford to buy anything, and it definitely is well tended and chic.

    I always loved the coast highway and curving through Malibu. These are lovely areas. No wonder all the movie stars want to live there. Of course, some live or have lived in Venice, too, like Julia Roberts, Dennis Hopper, Viggo Mortensen. Anyway, you've got some great photo memories, which I'm glad you shared with us!

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  21. Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Best wishes.

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  22. Love seeing your pics, thanks for hosting!

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  23. Thank you so much for hosting, Cindy :) Wishing you a great weekend! Thanks for sharing your LA vacation adventure with us! Greetings from Australia♥ ~Pernilla

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  24. What a fun vacation! I can't wait to see you as Marilyn Monroe! Thanks so much for hosting Cindy! :)

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  25. What a fun trip- my daughter lived in SoCal for 7 years and I LOVED visiting her and seeing all the awesome famous places.....the beach being my fav.

    You will be an awesome Marilyn Monroe in that perfect dress you found!

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  26. How lovely,spending such a great weekend mum and daughter. Love the MM dress. You both look great. x

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  27. It looks like you two beautiful ladies had a wonderful weekend getaway... the photos of the ocean are breathtaking. Thanks for hosting!

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  28. Good morning! Today, I linked up a simple recipe for Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes( #211 ). I have way too many and need to find more uses for them. These come out of the oven ready to top a pizza, a salad, sandwich or crackers with cream cheese. They are so very tasty! Hope you have a great week and thanks for hosting the party!
    Rebekah-www.potholesandpantyhose.com

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  29. looks like a good weekend to me loved seeing your pictures

    I bet Beau was glad to see you get home

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  30. Cindy,
    What beautiful photos of you and your daughter! Looks like it was a fun trip! Beautiful weather and scenery.Thank you for hosting!
    xx
    Anne

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  31. Thank you so much for hosting. I enjoyed all your pics...I get to see my daughter next week for a few days and I can't wait!!! Judy

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  32. Looks like you had a beautiful weekend together,you both look stunning x

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  33. I love this post, and would love you to link it to my blog party. I am from L.A. and love all of the pictures that you took. It looks like the two of you had a great time.

    I have a link party, and I would love it if you would link this post. You can find it at
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/07/face-cleansing-oil-and-wednesdays.html
    It is called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party.
    I hope to see you there. Have a great Day.
    Debi Bolocofsky
    Adorned From Above
    www.adornedfromabove.com

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  34. Hi Cindy...Loved the trip photos. Both you and your daughter looked adorable. I think you'll make a FABULOUS Marilyn Monroe. Your weight loss is absolutely amazing. GREATTTTTTTT JOB! Susan

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  35. Cindy, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful trip with us! Your pictures are lovely, how fun :) Thank you for hosting as well, have a fabulous weekend-Tanya

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  36. Thanks for hosting...your trip looks like so much fun. The salad looks yummy even though it was warm..ick.
    White sangria...I'll bet that was good though. Thanks again and have a great weekend,
    Babs

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  37. looks like a fantastic weekend!!! I love LA. The photo at dusk made me slightly homesick. How awesome that you got to go to Lisa's restaurant! Were the flowers amazing?!
    Glad you had a great time with your girl. Hope I can do that with mine when she's on her own :)

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  38. Thank you for hosting! Looks like you gals had a fun time! Wishing you a grand weekend! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  39. What an amazing weaken! Having grown up in Southern California, by the beach, I never actually went to Santa Monica beach. I really need to do this with my daughter! We're both in Northern California now and miss the beach atmosphere so much. The hotel you stayed at looks perfect! Thanks for sharing and hosting! Have a wonderful weekend Cindy.
    Jennifer

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  40. Hi Cindy: Your trip looks like it was so much fun--thank you for sharing it with us! Thank you for hosting the party today as well, and have a lovely weekend.

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  41. I didn't know about the fashion alley.

    Venice Beach is not my style either, but there are some really cute cottages.

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  42. Hey pretty girl! Thanks so much for sharing your fun girls-weekend with us all! Looks like you had a fabulous time together. Nothing better than a day of shopping and good food! :)

    xoxo laurie

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  43. How wonderful - I just love it when I get the chance to spend time away from home with my grown up daughters. I wish it happened more often.

    Looks like you had such a great time!! Looking forward to seeing you as Marilyn this Halloween - great idea...and great dress!!

    Linda

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  44. What a fabulous weekend you had. Both you and your daughter are gorgeous. The photo you were holding the drink, I love the plaque on the wall behind you.

    I went to LAX last March on my way to Palm Desert and wish now I had visited some of the places you went to, I will note these down for sure if I go through again.

    Thank you for letting us link up again.

    Lee ☺

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  45. That looks so fun! That's a trip I've been wanting to make. Thanks for hosting.

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  46. Looks like you had a great time! So much to see and do in SoCal :) When we went to see A Christmas Carol, all I could think about was one of those massive elephants falling down! They are huge.

    Thanks for hosting ;)

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  47. Cindy, Cindy, Cindy....

    My goodness girl, you could be one of the house wives!!!! You could give Lisa a run for her money.

    I'm so happy to hear you had a great time!! Wouldn't it be great to take off every weekend like that!!!

    I LOVE LA. I miss it so much.

    Take care and have a great week!!
    Pam
    PamLuvsPink@gmail.com

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  48. i wish i could join u.. great places and lovely people...thanks for the pictures...keep me coming

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  49. What a wonderful photo essay of your trip to L.A. Haven't been there since the 90s. Thanks for sharing.

    Cheers from Panglao Island, Bohol!

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  50. Next time you are in Beverly Hills- just outside the city limits on Robertson- you MUST try The Ivy for lunch. Just be sure warned- definitely Beverly Hills prices. But soooooo romantic. Roses everywhere.

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  51. First of all you both are beautiful! How nice that you can fly to the beach for a weekend with your daughter! We are 2 hours by car from the beach and my daughter and I have taken day and overnight trips too. LOVE that time together. The "Marilyn" dress is PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XO, Pinky

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  52. Your photos made me miss SoCal's coastline. The Man and I traveled there last August and spent about seven weeks going from place to place. Loved it all, especially the cooler temps, not typical in our neck of the woods.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment! ~Cindy