My first family trip to Los Angeles. We went to see the Rose Bowl Parade because my cousin, who passed away in 2012, had a florograph (a portrait made out of floral materials) on the Donate Life float. During our trip, I saw Gregg Sulkin, David Spade, Gary Sinise, and even the paparazzi that Justin Bieber ran over.

DAY 1 – Dec 28, 2017

HOLLYWOOD

Our flight was in the afternoon, so we had time to grab lunch at JBGB in Fayetteville, then load the whole family into separate cars and head to the airport. We had eleven people, which was a logistical nightmare, but that just made it more interesting. I think the most exciting part was witnessing my aunt’s first-ever flight. Fun fact: I was born in Phoenix, and both of my parents are from Arkansas, so I had been on 23 round trips before I was 5. Once we landed, we rented a 16-passenger van and headed to our condo on Hollywood Boulevard. We ditched our bags and walked to Hard Rock Cafe. After we were no longer hangry, it was time to explore. 

DAY 2 – Dec 29, 2017

COFFEE AND CELEBRITY SIGHTING #1

As soon as I got up and got dressed, I found the nearest Starbucks on Google Maps (a 2-minute walk from the condo), and my dad, my uncle, my cousins, and I set off to get coffee and breakfast. On our way back, there was a British guy (who was on the phone) walking toward us. As he passed, I realized it was Gregg Sulkin. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone that close to where we were staying, so it took me a while to process what I was seeing. He was on his way to the gym.

SANTA MONICA // PASADENA

After everyone was ready for the day, we headed to The Grove to have lunch and do some shopping, then to the Rose Bowl to help decorate the Donate Life float for the parade. After, we went to the Santa Monica Pier, where there was the most traffic I have ever seen. The weather, however, was perfect. At one point, I found myself watching the waves in a trance-like state.

DTLA

Later that night, Matt and I went to our first Lakers game at the Staples Center (no trip to Los Angeles is complete without a Lakers game, right?). I’m not a huge sports fan, but that was an incredible experience. I did a few very thorough scans, but I didn’t see any celebrities court-side. None that I recognized, at least. 

DAY 3 – Dec 30, 2017

BEVERLY HILLS

We got up and went to Starbucks again, no Gregg this time, although I did look around. It was a Saturday, though, so I wasn’t surprised. After we had breakfast and coffee and were firing on all cylinders, we headed over to Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive was our first stop. If there were an Olympic event for shopping, the women in our family could, not only medal, but Michael-Phelps (verb). After we finally got permission to leave, we went to The Beverly Hills hotel.

BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL // CELEBRITY SIGHTING #2

We walked in and looked around, then decided that it was a good time for a restroom break. When I walked out of the restroom, I was looking at the giant Christmas Tree, and in my periphery, I saw a man wearing a black tracksuit and a hat walking around the tree to get to the restroom.

After the door closed behind him, I turned to my aunt and said, “That was David Spade!” She said, “are you sure!? He wasn’t very well dressed.” I said, “I’m 100% positive!” When the rest of our group came out of the restrooms, we told them who we saw. They decided to make my youngest cousin ask him for a photo. When he came out, my cousin walked up to him and said, “Excuse me, sir, are you David Spade?” He said, “yeah, buddy!” He took a photo with him and then one with my aunt, but at that point we could tell he was done (and not so subtly trying to get away), so we let him go.

KIM KARDASHIAN’S HOUSE

This was our one day where we had some free time, so we drove around for a while to sight-see. We saw the gate of the Beverly Hillbillies house, which is as much as you can see from the street. We went to Kim Kardashian’s former house on Abbington, where the maid gave us dirty looks for taking photos of the house. To be fair, we were in a creepy white van.

HOLLYWOOD

We decided to go to the Hollywood Bowl, where I had the brilliant idea to walk all the way to the top. The hard part was coming back down. When I finally made it back down the stairs, we went to California Pizza Kitchen. I nudged my aunt because I noticed my second-youngest cousin had fallen asleep at the table. She got a hilarious video of him being slapped awake by his brother. When we finally made it back to the condo, we had to watch a movie featuring David Spade, so we settled on Grown Ups. 

DAY 4 – Dec 31, 2017 – New Year’s Eve

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS – HOLLYWOOD

We started the day with “The World-Famous Studio Tour.” 10/10 recommend. Jimmy Fallon was our virtual tour guide (via the onboard video screens). I got to see where they shot The Good Place, World of Dance, The Voice, Back to the Future, Shooter, and so many others. I also went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it was the end of the day, and I was ready to leave, so I got some butterbeer and bounced. We got some In-N-Out on the way back to the condo (the drive-thru line was chaos) and watched the ball drop at 9 pm (I love LA), then went to bed early because we had to get up early to go to the Rose Bowl Parade.

DAY 5 – Jan 1, 2018 – 1:32 am PST – New Year’s Day

SCREECH…SCREECH…SCREECH, SCREECH…SCREECH…SCREECH, SCREECH…SCREECH…SCREECH (repeat)

HOLLYWOOD

I haven’t yet reached REM sleep when the fire alarm wakes me. I quickly get dressed and head out into the common area, where I can hear the rest of my family trying to figure out what’s going on and what to do. As a millennial, my first instinct was to pull out my phone and record it. Luckily, it stopped before we had to evacuate. I’m assuming someone partied a little too hard and got the brilliant idea to pull the fire alarm. We all went back to sleep and prepared to get up at 5 am. 

PASADENA

The parade was fun, but because it was January 1st and early in the morning, it was cold…until the sun came out. The section we were sitting in was facing the sun, so I was trying my best to avoid a sunburn. After the Donate Life float passed, we decided to leave and go to Hard Rock Café for lunch.

HOLLYWOOD

We had tickets to see “The Last Jedi” right after at the TCL Chinese Theater. Some of us fell asleep during the movie because of our 1am wake-up call. After the movie, we ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (again because it’s one of my favorites and the perfect way to conclude our trip to Los Angeles).

DAY 6 – Jan 2, 2018

LAX

We arrive, and as we’re waiting on the rest of the family, we start talking to this man with a camera. He told us he was the paparazzi that Justin Bieber ran over. We asked for a photo with him, but he couldn’t because of the ongoing legal battle. I was so bummed we had to leave, but I can’t wait to go back! I’d say our first family trip to Los Angeles was a success.

Snapped this photo because it reminded me of where they landed the shuttle in The Core.

The set of “The Good Place” was probably my favorite part of the tour!

Big Fat Liar, anyone?