Ostrich Farm / Los Angeles

Ostrich Farm, Los Angeles.
By far the best cafe we visited in Los Angeles. Our whole family agreed that they had the best eggs, strongest coffee and fastest service. I just love the interior of Ostrich Farm, it's not my usual choice of wood (as I'm sure you've gathered!) but the mix between black, white, green, oak and brass gives it such a cool festive vibe! Plus, they had the most gorgeous marble bench top and white brick walls, what more could you ask for!?
Tucked into a cool little street on Sunset, Ostrich Farm provided us with two delicious brunches, one on a muggy rainy day and the other on one of the hottest days we experienced in California. Afterwhich, we took a stroll down to Echo Park where mum and James paddle boated around the lake. Echo Park is just the coolest place ever and even cooler because Leonardo Dicaprio used to have a house there (!!)
You can see Ostrich Farm here and here.
Bella.

Blue Bottle Coffee / Los Angeles

Blue Bottle Coffee, Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles.
We visited one of the many Blue Bottle cafe's on one of our last days in California, after spending up a storm at The Beverly Centre we decided to head down to Blue Bottle for some lunch and of course, coffee.
I absolutely love the fit out of Blue Bottle, their use of wood and pops of blue gave the cafe a nice relaxed vibe. Blue Bottle have several different cafe's in Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, I just love the way that all of their different branches have the same running theme but each with their own unique design features to them, unlike other chain stores or cafe's.
I especially love the look of their Abbot Kinney and Echo Park branches and would love to visit the Bryant Park cafe in New York! Check out their website here and their Instagram here.
Blue Bottle is definitely a must see for all lovers of good design and strong coffee .
Bella.

Santa Monica / Los Angeles

Santa Monica, Los Angeles.
Man, I can't tell you how much I love Santa Monica and these photos. Seeing the pier was so surreal, it's funny how a place you've never been to before can feel so familiar. The amount of movies and TV shows it's been in is just crazy!
I started my day at Santa Monica with what has now become a famous food in our family, the pier burger. Oh wow, it was good. This was before I became pescatarian so it was a meat burger and there was something about it that's made it the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. Dad will be forever regretful that he didn't try one.
After walking the length of the pier, spending our tokens in the arcade (and winning nothing) we decided to check out the Third Street Promenade shops. They honestly have everything there, Brandy Melville, Urban Outfitters, Banana Republic, Adidas and so much more, we all went crazy. I brought my black and white Adidas Superstars there and lusted after all of the expensive things in Anthropology. Then we of course had to try an American Starbucks!
Santa Monica is definitely a place that I'd love to visit again, the shops, sights and general vibe of the place is just so cool and laid back, I love it!
Bella.

The Assembly / Los Angeles

The Assembly, Los Angeles.
Possibly the coolest interior of a cafe that I've ever seen. With wood, white and grey being my colour palette The Assembly was a dream come true, I mean look how pretty!!?
The day we visited this cafe was possibly one of my fondest memories of my holiday. My mum, my brother and I took the forty minute long trek from the place that we were staying, stopping only to take a few snaps and tie our shoelaces. I ate a delicious lunch of yogurt, muesli and berries and some boxed water (look at that packaging though!) Then we decided to head back home, but not before stopping to check out the assortment of goodies they had for sale from Poketo (!!?)
Almost as soon as we left The Assembly it began to rain. This is winter in California so it was warm rain, but there was a lot of it.
We decided to try and sprint back home, but after about ten minutes of running through puddles we realised that we were very lost. Bearing in mind that I had just brought some new shoes so I had majorly sore feet at this point, so we decided to try and walk back the way we came, without success. Wet and miserable we decided to ask someone for directions back to Melrose and thank goodness we did because we were really lost and heading in completely the wrong direction.
We ended up getting Dad to come pick us up a few blocks from the house as the rain turned into hail.
At the time it wasn't so much fun, but now that I look back on it it was one of my favourite experiences that holiday. There's something about getting lost in a new city that's both scary and exciting, then add rain to the mix.
We ended up discovering lots of little streets full of cool shops and cafe's, including one of my favourite restaurants Zinqué just from getting lost!
You can check out The Assembly's website here and their super cool Instagram here.
Bella.

Poketo / Los Angeles

Poketo, Los Angeles.
When I first stepped inside the beautiful and aesthetically pleasing Poketo, tucked into the arts district of Los Angeles I just about died. The plywood walls and perfectly selected products, all of which complimenting the overall colour scheme of the store was just heaven.
Poketo was definitely at the top of my list when planning our California holiday in 2015 and I was not disappointed. Full of stylish and affordable trinkets, clothes and accessories, plus the name Poketo comes from the mispronunciation of the word pocket by the owners grandmother, which is just so cute. You can check out their online store here. And if you live in the area make sure to pop in as it is a must see!
These are a few of my favourite products, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Bella.