LA vacation

At the beginning of April, my mom and I took a trip just for fun down to Santa Monica, CA. I grew up going on vacations in Northern California, specifically Santa Cruz or San Francisco, so this was a nice change of scenery. I love going to new places and driving around with no agenda or tour planned. On one of the days we were there, I took off and drove around LA with my camera in hand. I have never really seen the beauty in LA that others see; to me, it has always seemed brown, smog-filled, constant traffic with no sense of charm. Being able to drive around on my own, I found quite a few cool neighborhoods and liked LA a little more than before. 

I do have a new love for Santa Monica after this particular trip. It might be associated with the fact that my mom and I had the best time together and I got to see more of this cute beach town. Not many details to spill other than we did a lot of relaxing and staring at the ocean. It was perfect. 

Shutters in Santa Monica is one of my favorite hotels. I loved this cute tree lined street right outside. 

One of my favorite things from the trip was sitting on the balcony, enjoying coffee for a couple hours, and looking out at the ocean. Pure happiness. 

As I wrote earlier, one of the days I had fun driving around Los Angeles and then through Venice. LA has its own personality and energy, which I am growing to appreciate every time I visit. 

With the vacation mostly spent in the Santa Monica area, there were unparalleled views to take in. I am trying to soak up the California weather as much as I can before I venture off to the east coast.