I don’t know about anyone else but boy does Mercury Retrograde really FUCK with me. Pardon my French, but I’m going to say it again…It really really fucks with me. My mom is a super spiritual person and she used always complain about it when I was younger, and I never understood what she was talking about. Oh but I do now. Can anyone else relate? Well lets just say that last week when it was finally over I needed to get the hell outta town for a few days and regroup, and not sit and stew all day in my house wondering what I was going to do if I couldn’t get my hacked IG page back. Yep, you heard that right. But, lets not talk about all that fun stuff that happened during the wonderful weeks of Mercury Retrograde.
Living in LA means lots of traffic, no let me take that back, way too much traffic. So I decided to get out of the rat race for a few days and head to the beach. No traffic, nobody screaming at one another for the last spot in the Trader Joes parking lot and no lines at the In n Out Burger. Just some beach bums on their skate boards, I can handle that.
Time to let my hair down and jump on my beach cruiser…..
Where to stay:
I think the best part of staying in Venice is all the airbnb’s. I’m super into old craftsman that have been redone and trendy lofts and Venice has them both. Don’t get me wrong I love the luxury of a hotel but I’m telling you if you’re going to Venice get out of your comfort zone and hit up airbnb for some dope and I mean dope places. Take a look at some of my favorites. The links are below so make sure you check them out on your next trip to the hippie town.
High end beach retreat $225/Night
Beach loft with rooftop oasis $274/ Night
Architectural masterpiece with rooftop deck $496/Night
Modern loft studio with rooftop deck $165/Night
If you’re in Venice then of course you know the oh so famous Abbot Kinney Blvd, a tourist strip that locals actually use. A street filled with shops for the hippie in all of us, trendy restaurants, and funky pop ups that are filled with all the latest fads. I spent most of my time here, as always. Well except when I actually drove to Lincoln for the Whole Foods on steroids. Holy shit has anyone ever been in there? If you’re a fatty like me then do yourself a favor and please just go and check it out. I promise you’ll thank me later. I mean what grocery store has a hot dessert bar? Chocolate lava cake with a side of vegan pudding cake to go with my oversized salad bar…ok!! You don’t have to tell me twice. OK OK lets get back to places you must try on Abbott.
The Butcher’s Daughter might be from NYC, but it leans in to every Venice cliche. There are wellness lattes, an entire section of the menu devoted to avocado toast, and conversations consisting of dogs and yoga and so many indoor plants it’s basically a greenhouse. A perfect place for lunch with fiends, and did I mention its so damn cute.
OK I know I’m going to be completely cliche with this next one, but hey if we’re listing the hot places in Venice then how can we not include the uber popular and uber loud Gjelina. Yes it’s a bit over rated and yes its a bit over priced… but isn’t that what you expect when you visit here? Just don’t go when you’re too hungry because I promise you there will be a wait, and a probably a long one.
Salt & Straw is home to the best ice cream in LA and has the lines out the door to prove it. It moves pretty quickly though, even with your friend asking to sample every flavor before she makes a decision. The specials board can get weird (edible bugs for Halloween, buttered mashed potato for Thanksgiving), but its always worth investigating. As you can see from my face I was pretty satisfied with my Love Nut flavor even though I was so full from dinner that I had a stomach ache. But, how are you going to walk by and not at least get a taste, or two ok or a small with a waffle cone.
I could literally go on and on about all my favorite places in Venice but I’ll spare you and let you get on with your days, and I should probably get my butt out of these sweats and at least shower.
