Weekend in LA – Part 4

Ice cream was a definite theme to our weekend in LA and there was an abundance of options to choose from.  We were in Mid-City and stopped in at Sweet Rose Creamery.  Sweet Rose Creamery offers a wide range of classic ice cream flavors as well as seasonal flavors.

Menu at Sweet Rose Creamery in Mid-City

Menu at Sweet Rose Creamery

You could get your ice cream in a cup, cone, or if you were feeling wild, they offer an affogato.  Affogato is an espresso shot poured over a scoop of ice cream.  Sweet Rose Creamy also serves Caffe Luxxe coffee and a selection of tea from The Art of Tea. Continue reading

Weekend in LA – Part 3

On the second day of our weekend in LA we woke up bright and early to head for Grand Central Market in downtown LA, a downtown landmark since 1917.  There were quite a few spots I was very interested in stopping at and thankfully Grand Central Market definitely has a wide range of cuisines and cultures, which excited me.  First on my stops was G&B Coffee, since it was close to triple digits that weekend, the only thing on my mind was a cold brew coffee.  The people serving up the coffee were not pretentious at all, which I always appreciate from a coffee shop.  They had a steady flow of regulars, another good sign.  My cold brew was really rich and bold and was perfection with a splash of half & half as well as their big block ice cubes.

But first, coffee!

But first, coffee!

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Weekend in LA – Part 2

It just so happened the weekend in October that we went to LA was miserably hot.  I’m talking 100 degrees, but that is SoCal in Fall.  Our “Sweater Weather” does not typically hit until Winter.  The sweltering heat only made us more anxious to eat all of the ice cream we could in our 36 hour getaway.

When I learned there was a Salt & Straw scoop shop in Larchmont Village, which is right in the middle of LA, I was as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning (yes, I am that dramatic especially about ice cream).  Don’t think I had not considered taking a vacation in Portland, Oregon mainly for Salt & Straw, Blue Star Donuts and Voodoo Donuts, it is nice to know some of these spots are moving West.

Salt & Straw in Larchmont Village

Larchmont Village is nestled in a residential area with a quaint and lovely tree-lined street.  It had a small town feel to it, that you would not have realized you were in the middle of LA.  On Sunday, there was a Farmers Market, which I would have loved to walk through, but we were on our way home. Continue reading

Weekend in LA – Part 1

Recently my husband and I were down one kid for the weekend and decided to take a road trip to Los Angeles for the weekend.  Living in San Diego, LA is only a two hour drive away, yet we don’t head that way too often.  Considering how many times we drive to Disneyland, an extra 30 minutes is nothing.  We figured let’s do it!  I hit up one of my favorite Instagram friends Nastassia of Let Me Eat Cake.  I love her Insta!  If you aren’t already following @letmeeatcake on Instagram, you should.  She was so sweet to give me a long list of her recommendations around LA.  Needless to say, in two short days we hit up so many places, but still have some spots we weren’t able to get to yet or are eager to go back again too, that we will for sure have another weekend in LA again soon.

My husband, youngest son and I took off for LA on Saturday and arrived in town at around 11 am.  Our first stop was ICDC on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles, where they have ice cream, doughnuts and coffee.  I had one thing on my mind, cinnamon-sugar doughnut holes.  But as soon as we stepped inside the shop, we realized we were not going to be able to limit ourselves to donuts.

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ICDC put me into pastel heaven, I loved the colors right from the get go!

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