Los Angeles Visit Highlights

Happy Friday friends, I know it’s been a while. But that’s all because I wanted to take a little vacation from the blog and a few other things I’ve been working on and enjoy a week and a half trip to Los Angeles.

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to move to Los Angeles. It really is the place to be if you want to kickstart a career in the entertainment industry. One of my best friends has recently moved to LA and her career is going from strength to strength so she has already started looking at moving into a bigger house! The last time we spoke she told me that if you want to sell your LA home fast there are some fantastic realtors out there that can help you to sell your current property. She really is living her best life. The real estate opportunities in LA are fantastic too. I will definitely have to pay my friend a visit the next time we are both in LA!

California is a beautiful place, but LA isn’t the only area there that has brilliant and picturesque sites. For example, San Jose may be more to your liking! There is a Hotel Downtown San Jose called The Arena Hotel that you may want to go to, whatever makes you feel happy and enjoy your time in California. Now that I’m back in MD and already sweating like crazy, 100 degrees and humidity, WHAT?!? I am so excited to share with you all the highlights from my travels. My little sister lives out in LA and I try to visit her once a year, I also planned this trip so I could also attend the Idea World Fitness Conference and Blogfest. Quality sister time, great workouts, and learning about blogging, health, and fitness were only a few of the amazing highlights on this trip. Read more to check out all my adventures, what I learned at Blogfest, and delicious restaurants to try if in LA.

Elsewhere Launch Party.

My sister and her business partner Grant have been working over a year on launching a travel journal called Elsewhere. Elsewhere isn’t just about the where to stay or what to eat when traveling around the world, it’s about what makes us desire to travel and be adventurous. Traveling is so much fun, so it’s important that more people take time out of their busy lives to explore the world. All people have to do is book a flight and then some accommodation. Flights can be booked with an airline, or people might consider looking for private jet charter prices to take a luxury flight over to their chosen location. Accommodation can be booked online and there will be a number of different properties to stay in. It just so happened, after I booked my flight, my sister told me they scheduled a launch party during my visit for my new travel venture. The rooftop venue had an amazing view overlooking downtown LA. Drinks, music, and little bites by Kara that were incredible impressive and delicious, the event was a huge success. So proud of everything my lil sis has accomplished in a year, she is truly an independent woman who is following her dreams. It’s so fun to follow their adventures on Instagram. Sign up here to receive a fully copy of Elsewhere on your front door step this August.

Idea World BlogFest

For three days I attended the Idea World Blogfest in downtown LA where I got to meet other healthy lifestyle bloggers, workout with some amazing celebrity trainers, listen to motivational and inspirational speeches from olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken, journalist and fitness expert Jenna Wolfe, and author of the Chicken Soup books Jack Canfield, and learn about how to work with companies and engage readers when blogging.

I was initially incredibly nervous entering a room of new and experienced bloggers, not actually knowing anyone. But everyone in the community was so nice and friendly. We all had so many things in common that by the end of Blogfest I was so sad to leave some of my new friends and look forward to seeing them again next year.

Let’s first talk about the FOOD. We had breakfasts and lunches sponsored by General Mills, Silk, Pure Protein, and Morning Star. They all sure know how to cater to a group of health and fitness lovers. Green smoothies, yogurt with fresh fruit, salads, and veggies, lots of veggies. And while walking around the expo I also got to try several samples of granola bars, protein drinks, yogurt, and so much more!

For fitness on the second day all the bloggers completed a workout with Gunnar Peterson, a celebrity trainer. We used colored resistance bands and did a lot of body weight exercises. It was fun learning new moves and having a group of fitness lovers surround me as we went through the workout. On the third day we got to sign up for the IDEA World health and fitness sessions. One of my favorite sessions was the workout with Jillian Michaels, doing moves from her new program Body Shred. We got there early to try to get a good spot up close so we could see her. Just to say I worked out with Jillian Michaels definitely feels pretty cool and was a fun experience. We also got to do a Beachbody Live workout where the Beachbody team put together short 10 minute workouts from some of their most popular programs such as Insanity, P90X, Turbo Fire, Cize, and their newest program Country Heat. I am already a huge fan of all of their programs, but it was my first time trying Cize and Country Heat. I am by no means a dancer, but I really enjoyed the country music and moves to that workout.

Other amazing features of Blogfest was all the food, health, and fitness goodies I came home with. Be sure to follow me on Instagram where I’ll be featuring my favorite products. And by far the greatest part was meeting and spending time with other bloggers. On the first day I sat with Bari and Steph. We had so much fun chatting about where we were from, our favorite foods and ways to sweat, and why we decided to become bloggers. And on the second day I met and spent a lot of time also with Marilena and Esther. Thank you so much to the girls from Sweat Pink and the team at Fit Approach for making this event possible!

Sister Time

After three days of listening, learning, and working out I got to spend a few quality days with my lil sis. We ate and drank at some delicious restaurants around the Los Angeles area. Chicken and veggies from Tender Greens, Salmon from Forage, Burrito Bowls from Mixto, Salads from Urth Cafe, Brunch at Millies, catered dinner at STK for a tequila event, Sushi, Pizza, Mexican from and Petty Cash, Acai bowls from Juice Crafters, vegan lunch at Cafe Gratitude, and amazing burgers from Plan Check. I seriously never ate a bad meal, all the food was so fresh and I am still dreaming about all the amazing meals especially the spicy margaritas and fresh guac!

We also did lots of working out together as well. My sister is definitely my favorite workout buddy and since I recently signed up for Class Pass when they were having their anniversary sale I got to try a Pilates class on the Reformer, a Speedplay 60 class where you do intervals on the treadmill, row machine, and strength training on the floor, a TRX class, and yoga. We also did our traditional sister runs around the reservoir near her apartment and a long hike in Malibu.

And of course what would a visit to California be without a trip to the beach? We spend a whole day at the beach chatting, sipping on rose, and reading. I will never get tired of hearing the ocean waves and soaking up the sun in the sand. I know I’ve already touched base on it, but just imagine how good it would be to live on the outskirts of a California beach? It just sounds like it would be too good to be true! As we were relaxing on the beach, a passer-by told me about some gorgeous Redondo Beach home listings that I should consider having a look at if I was thinking about purchasing a beach property. It’s actually not a bad idea, to be honest. But for now, all I could think about was making the most of the sound of the ocean and the sand beneath between my toes. There is not a feeling quite like it.

One of my favorite activities was attending a Tequila even featuring Herradura Tequila. We had to compete with other groups and create our own tequila drink using the herbs, citruses, and pressed juices they provided. My group made a drink inspired by the Moscow Mule. It had tequila, muddled cucumber and mint, ginger juice, and agave syrup. I thought our drink was delicious and refreshing, but we didn’t win over the judges.

Other activities we did included lots of shopping and getting a blow out from The Dry Bar. I wish I could make my hair look like this all the time, I was really surprised by how long the curls lasted too. We were both super happy with our styles and went out to a nice dinner that night and later got a drink at Sur Lounge. I am obsessed with The Real Housewives of Beverly HIlls and Vanderpump Rules, basically any show on Bravo so going to Sur was a pretty neat experience even though none of the cast members appeared to be working.

I had such an incredible trip, it’s so hard to just pick a few highlights and photos to share so you might read more about my LA adventures and Blogfest in the future. Thanks for the amazing visit sissy! ?

Have you traveled anywhere this summer?

What new type of workout have you been wanting to try?