Everyday Emily

Today’s post is the last on my lovely birthday adventures in Los Angeles.

As it’s the last I’m including my favourite black and white shots of the trip. Everything looks cooler in black and white, don’t you think?  Especially the classic “I’m a tourist” shot of the Hollywood sign. We must have taken about 50 shots on different cameras, but this was my favourite by far.

Top on my list of places to visit whilst in LA was a scene from one of my favourite movies, 500 Days of Summer. Nope I’m not talking about a shopping spree around Ikea, I wanted to sit on Tom and Summer’s bench.

I found the location, packed a light picnic and we headed downtown.

The bench can be found in Angels Knoll Park in downtown LA. It’s a small, peaceful and pretty park, just like it’s shown in the movie and just what you need after tiring morning navigating the HUGE freeway.

After reading reviews I expected the park (and bench) to be busy and full of tourists. Despite those reviews, as we arrived on a sunny Tuesday lunchtime there was just us, a few sleepy homeless dudes and a security guard. Perfect.

Little old moi, eating me bagel on the famous bench.

That view.

If you can’t make it to LA anytime soon, not to worry someone made this adorable video of the bench at Angel Knolls park, take a peek it’s very cute.

For me, it really was worth the trip all the way downtown. What better way to get involved in LA then taking a trip to one of your favourite movie spots.

Emily x

All pictures taken by Nilesh, using the Yashica T5 Super and Ilford XP2 Super 400 film.

My other LA posts: LA Instagrams, Staying in the Venice Canals, Sunset at High Lounge and 35mm LA photography.

Filed under: Wonderland, tagged with 35mm, 500 Days of Summer, Angels Knoll Park, Black and White, Downtown LA, Film photography, Hollywood Sign, Ilford, LA, Los Angeles, Things to do in LA, Visting LA, Yashica
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Even though the dream holiday cottage provided a stunning place to watch the sun go down, Nilesh and I were told that we couldn’t stay in Venice and not head to High Lounge on the roof of Hotel Erwin.

A hidden gem in Venice, the lounge has a beautiful view of the beach, ocean and surrounding location. It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area and can deal with fashionable drinking spots and the shenanigans that usually go with them.

We arrived during the magical hour on a Friday night, obviously arriving last minute we found ourselves with no where to sit. Instead of hawking for a table, Nilesh and I squished ourselves in between the tourists, hotel guests and posers (there’s a lot of them here) and snuggled between the strangers to enjoy the show.

Its a beautiful spot to grab a cocktail and watch the sun go down with someone special.

If you fancy getting a sun downer here on your trip to LA, I recommend giving them a call first and reserving a section or arriving extremely early.

Emily x

Filed under: Wonderland, tagged with High Lounge, Hotel Erwin, LA, Sundowner, Sunset, Venice
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When it comes to our adventures and finding a place to rest our heads whilst exploring, I’ve got to say that Air bnb is fast becoming my favourite service to use.

For the price of a hotel room you can find yourself an entire apartment, house or even treehouse if that’s what you’d like! If you’re travelling solo you can also check out the single or shared room options.

I love the freedom of having a whole place to yourself, rather than being holed up in a beige hotel all week long. You can cook if you want and not have to worry about missing breakfast or lunch. Everything’s at your own pace.

So when it came to finding a spot in LA to relax I was pretty excited to find this cute little cottage, hidden in amongst the beautiful Venice Canals.

Bright orange and super charming the little cottage faces west and straight down one of the  four canals, giving us a stunning sunset every night of the week. With one lovely little bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room, it was the best possible place to base ourselves for a week in LA.

The house is full of charming little touches everywhere, including a matching orange expresso maker for Nilesh’s morning coffee.

Houses along the canals start from $2,000,000 dollars, needless to say we felt very lucky to get to sample that lifestyle for the week. We’d sit outside on the patio, chatting to visitors from around the world on their travels or locals on their morning stroll with their dogs and their Starbucks, pretending always it was ours!

Even though it’s incredibly close to Venice Beach it was the most tranquil place, both day and night, with hardly any noise. I would wake up a 7am every day, make a cup of tea and sit on the patio watching the ducks float by, total heaven.

When I wasn’t daydreaming about how to own one of these houses I walked around the other canals with my cameras, taking pictures of the beautiful houses that residents have created.

They’re so well maintained and hundreds of visitors a day wonder aimlessly around, peeking over the fences into these amazing front yards. Some of the houses even have little docks with pedelos, canoes and boats, all moored up and ready for action.

So if you happen to be visiting LA anytime soon and find yourself in Venice, be sure to stop by the canals and these adorable houses. It’s really worth a look around and a 5 minute walk from the craziness of Venice beach.

If you want to stay, you can book the romantic little orange cottage here. Hurry though, it’s booking up fast!

Emily x

Filed under: Wonderland, tagged with Air bnb, Beautiful houses, California, Cottage, LA, Los Angeles, Orange, Orange cottage, Venice Beach, Venice Canals
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Sometimes, after taking a bazillion photos on my “proper camera” I’m happier with the way my little iphone captures the special moments.

Have a looksee at our little LA adventure via Instagram.

Pretty Santa Monica beach houses with the seagulls poised, ready to eat your corn dog.

We hit up the Terry Richardson exhibition bright and early one morning. I do LOVE his photos.

Our pretty little holiday cottage nestled within the Venice Canals. We obviously pretended we owned it as people passed by and scoffed at us, perhaps assuming we were rich kids.

Beach cruising along from Venice to Santa Monica on my little green machine. Possibly the place place on earth for people watching. Look out for the work out groups on Kangaroo boots, the skating grannies or the occasional man in just his underpants.

The best view of the Hollywood sign on Canyon Lake Drive, bonus points for seeing a celebrity walk their dog in the park.

More playing tourist at Universal Studios Hollywood. I left with the biggest headache ever, turns out you can see too many 3D shows in one day.

A rainy day out on Santa Monica Pier lead us to the Mystical Zoltar (from the movie Big) Obviously I wished to be bigger with no luck…

If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, hit the little Instagram button at the top right of the page.

Or if you just want to be a stalker (no judgement) you can find me and all my pictures via Webstagram.

Emily x

Filed under: Wonderland, tagged with Beach Cruiser, Big, Canyon Lake Drive, Holiday Cotttage, Hollywood, Hollywood Sign, Instagram, LA, Lomo, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Santa Monica Pier, Terry Richardson, Terry Richardson Exhibition, Terrywood, Universal Studios Hollywood, Venice Beach, Venice Canals, Webstagram, Zoltar
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Here’s the first of a few little posts from my recent gallavanting down the East Coast from Portland to LA.

If you ever find yourself walking along the beach from Venice up to Santa Monica (or vice versa) and don’t fancy a corn dog or some cotton candy, then I suggest you nip into Coast. The quaint little sea front bar/cafe found within the beautiful Shutters Hotel.

Nilesh and I arrived for my birthday brunch where the staff fitted us neatly in between the old English holiday makers and the movie directors discussing their latest blockbuster and the gossip from the Oscars the night before.

Being the birthday girl I treated myself to a little Mimosa or Bucks Fizz as we call it in England. Just enough champagne in the morning to give me a buzz and forget about the rainy skies on my special day.

Along with the champagne I ordered a healthy and extremely tasty bowl of granola covered with Summer berries, trust me it tasted just as beautiful as it looked.

Be sure to grab a window seat to happily gaze out at the Santa Monica pier and all the healthy locals going for their daily jog. Or if you’re anything like me snuggle up and catch up with the latest Hollywood news.

Breakfast is served here from 7am to 11am, be sure to stop in.

Emily x

Filed under: Wonderland, tagged with Breakfast, Coast Restaurant, LA, Santa Monica, Shutters Hotel
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