A Whirlwind Los Angeles Weekend

After our stint in Las Vegas, Alex and I jetted off to Los Angeles for the wedding of our friends Brad and Erin and a weekend that turned out to be much too short. We arrived from Las Vegas late Friday evening, attended the wedding Saturday evening, and were back in the air on our way home to Chicago on Sunday afternoon. It was a whirlwind that left little time for sightseeing, carefully selected meals out, or the anything else I would normally plan for a weekend getaway. But we got to spend a little time with our old friends and that was amazing.

We had a super late lunch at Yardbird in Las Vegas, so when we landed in LA we weren't super hungry and we hurried out to meet up with our friends at a bar in Manhattan Beach. By the time we were ready to had back to our hotel at midnight, Alex and I were starved. And we made our first ever trip to In-N-Out Burger.

I know, I know... I have been to LA and Las Vegas both a handful of times and have never been to In-N-Out. I'm a slacking food blogger. But since my husband is a junk and fast food aficionado, I figured it was about time that I indulged him. I don't love fast food, but In-N-Out was pretty tasty. Alex loved his Animal Style (definition: the addition of grilled onions to your burger from the not-so-secret menu ) cheeseburger and not being a huge fan of fast food burgers, I ordered off the not-so-secret menu as well and got an Animal Style grilled cheese sandwich. It was almost 1 AM and these sandwiches and some crispy fries hit the spot like no other.

The next morning we slept later than we have in a long time and then ventured out to meet our good friend Julie and her husband Mark for a leisurely brunch. They were staying in an apartment in Venice Beach and invited us to come up their way and hang out in the charming Abbot Kinney Boulevard section of Venice. This stretch of street was full of adorable restaurants, boutiques, and small businesses and reminded me of Wicker Park here in Chicago-- just much warmer.

We met up with Mark and Julie at Feed Body + Soul for brunch and it felt so nice to dine on their patio in February. Feed's brunch menu was made up of American classics given a California makeover-- and they had a really fun cocktail menu and some great deals on brunch cocktails that day. I ordered the Feed Benedict: a lighter, healthier, more California-appropriate version of a traditional Eggs Benedict. And the perfect way to start a day that would surely end with champagne and wedding cake. Two poached eggs sat atop garlicky braised kale and thinly sliced avocado. It was served with a roasted half tomato and hollandaise sauce and was super delicious.  This was the perfect Saturday brunch location.

Oh, and another first on this trip: Blue Bottle Coffee! All my coffee-loving foodie friends have raved about drinking Blue Bottle in San Francisco so when Julie mentioned that there was one just a few blocks up Abbot Kinney I was psyched to try it. Their iced coffee was delicious and I'm planning on dragging my mom and sister to one of the San Francisco locations when we're there later this month.

And after a long brunch, and a few minutes poolside, it was wedding time!

The venue, the weather, and the wedding were all gorgeous-- so southern California perfect. The sun was going down during the ceremony so all of the string lights made the place feel magical.

It was a Valentine's Day wedding and the bride and groom made sure that there wasn't any Valentine cheesiness, but there were a few cute winks at the holiday-- like our place cards, which were mounted on boxes of conversation hearts candy. So cute!

The wedding, in general, had a lot of really cute details and personal touches. When we all moved inside for dinner and dancing, an outdoor bar and a bags game were set up. The perfect way for the guests (like us) from the Midwest and east coast to maximize some outdoor time!

I love these signs, but a few of you saw this on Instagram and commented that the cake placement made my photo read "FAT, drink & be married." LOL.

It was a short (less than) 48 hours with our friends, but so fun to get most of them in the same city and room for a bit. We can't wait to see them for wedding, round 5 in Virginia this spring!