Griffith Park

HIKING ADVENTURES IN L.A.

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Being a lover of the outdoors, Los Angeles is a dream come true to call home with its countless hiking trails, year round gorgeous weather, and hidden finds. I’ve lived in L.A. for 5 years now and I’ve chosen some of my favorite trails to feature in today’s adventure post!

Hiking trails in LA

My top 3 hiking trails would be Griffith Park, Runyon Canyon, and Malibu Creek State Park!

Griffith Park is the easiest trail for us to get to since traffic going there isn’t terrible, and the views are just breathtaking! All of the photos in this post were taken from different areas along the many trails that Griffith Park has.

Griffith Park Trails

This is actually the very first hike Joe ever took me on when we first started dating, and it will forever be special to me, but beyond the great memories, just look at these views! I love that you can take one trail one day and another trail the next, and you feel like you’re on a completely different side of town all together. The trails vary so much in difficulty level and view vantage points. If you’re looking for a nice long leisurely hike with mild incline changes, check out some of the trails at Griffith Park. You could hike a full trail in about 2-3 hours.

Probably the most famous hiking trail in L.A. is Runyon Canyon, with its ‘stairs to Heaven’ and long hike UP to one of it’s parking entrances. It’s also famous for spotting famous people apparently. I personally have yet to run into Angelina and Brad, as I huff and puff up the long straightaway that is the ‘incline death’ Runyon has to offer. They say that if you pay attention you’ll see some of your big screen idols present on the hike with you! What’s also present is the smell of dog poop. Yup, poops! I love my lil four legged babies, but whew can it get smelly at times! None the less, foul scent and all, Runyon Canyon offers a great glute workout, views of the city that are incomparable, and good ol’ fashioned nostalgia. You could hike all of Runyon in about an hour if you hustle it!

Griffith Park views

If you dig rock climbing, waterfall scavenger hunts, and geo caching, then you’ll LOOOOVE Malibu Creek State Park. I love the far away feeling and ‘woodsy’ atmosphere that this hike offers. It’s full of fragrant trees, boulders, paths of leaves, and waterfalls! Be careful if you decide to take a leap off of one of the boulders to jump into the cool waters below, many parts of the pools of water are in fact VERY shallow. But there are pools of water to swim in, cool your feet off in, and let your puppy swim in! Malibu Creek State Park is probably one of my most favorite places to hike because it feels like you’re not in the city any more and mid-hike picnics are always a good idea! You could hike to water and back to the parking lot in about 2-3 hours.

Runyon Canyon

Ruynon views wow!

These are just to name a few trails I’ve grown fond of, there are so many other places to explore and hike:

  • San Gabriel mountains
  • Pasadena
  • Topanga State Park
  • San Vicente Mountain
  • Angeles National Forest

The list goes on and on! I love Los Angeles and I’m so happy to call it home, if you’re a local you know the feeling, and if you get a chance to visit, enjoy one of these hikes that offer up the most spectacular views of the city!

Let me know what some of your favorite trails are to play on and I hope your have the most adventurous weekend!

xoxo- Jess

Exploring Pasadena

800 Degree Pizza And Posing…Lots Of Posing

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Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to explore new sights, sometimes they’re just a hop and a skip away. This hop and skip was a quick 20 minute drive East, to Old Pasadena. The main street is full of shops, restaurants, and art galleries. It was the perfect change of scenery to round out the weekend!

800 Degree Pizza

First stop after walking around for a bit was 800 Degrees – offering up Neapolitan style hand tossed pizzas, drizzled in extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled with imported Italian tomatoes. Perfect if you’re looking for a sit down pizzeria that features gourmet ingredients. Oh and it was sooo delicious! Crispy, cheesy, and their truffle pizza with mushrooms and arugula on top (featured above) is on my top 10 list of best pizzas ever!

Root Beer!
Of course Corrine got her favorite Root Beer, old fashioned and bubbly!

Yummy Letti Macarons
After lunch we walked around a bit, walking off the pizza and root beer, and found room for dessert of course! Lette’s Macarons drew us in with it’s sweet aroma of the classic almond treat. We got an assorted hand picked box and couldn’t have been more happy with the flavors! Chewy and just the right amount of sweet and savory. Of course we took a ton of pictures along the way….posing, always posing!

Artsy us

If you’re looking for a quick change of pace and are in the L.A. area, take a trip out to Old Pasadena, so many hidden treasures, shops, and old fashioned eateries. If you’re coming to L.A. I’d say make this one of the places you see before you leave!

I hope your weekend was awesome, let me know what kind of adventures you went on!

xo- Jess and Corrine

Corriney's Photography

Exploring Downtown L.A.

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Here’s an oldie but goodie from my Corriney who writes for our mother/daughter blog and sometimes for me here. Thought I’d share her post with you since everything she does makes me such a proud momma. So here is some of her awesomeness on photography and art, and if you aren’t following her words on that blog, please do. She wrote:

Here are some snaps from my eventful day of filming.

Corrine's photography of Downtown

If you didn’t know, I love art and I love making it too. I died from happiness a little when I saw this poster that said “Paint or Die”. Nice, nice, props to you friend, whoever posted this. Really though, paint or die. x______x

This whole wall was filllllled with posters and graffiti, stickers and paintings. People just pile it on, layer after layer so you can still see some paintings that were once there underneath it, too.

Also, spotted the love of my life while I was there. This beautiful Husky baby named Cash, just hanging out on his second floor window.

He was so so precious, I just wanted to give him a great big hug. Spot the tag at the right, just beneath the window? It says #HewittHusky. I googled it and yeah, he has his own twitter account. That melted my heart, I tell ya. One guy walking down the street told us the dog’s name and that he thinks he’s a mountain goat. Awwwwwww.

This day showed me a lot of adventure. it was easy to get lost and forget about myself, to float around like a ghost for a little while. I love blending into my surroundings, and I must say, this space felt like home. I see myself in this place in the future.

-xx, C

festivalfashion

Festival Fashion!

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It’s festival season! With our Burning Man and Coachella, and the umpteen other festivals happening this summer I thought I’d share with you my all time staple festival fashions, and carry along must haves! Since I’m headed to Uforia Fest next month with my FLAMA fam bam (which I hope to see you at), here are some things that I will make sure to pack with me. Grab your satchel and let’s do it!


First up is a hat!

– A big ol’ summer friendly, sun blocking floppy hat! I have a few I wear each summer and I always end up buying a new one, but floppy hats are fashionable and necessary if you want to see the stage and save your face 😉 -Some sunnies, preferably the mirrored kind, because let’s be real, mostly sunglasses are for looking at butts and partially for protecting our eye holes. 


     Now if you know my personal style than you know I’ve included a kimono of some sort and next month I’ll be wearing my most recent favorite!

– A black mesh kimono I got from Wasteland, it goes with everything, it’s light and airy, and it really does scream ‘We’re at a festival wooo’! 

     For the outfit part of it I’m going with something that allows for a breeze but something still cute yet comfortable. 
     So I’m going with a high waisted skirt, a mesh cool white crop top, and a black bandeau for underneath. Combat boots are a must for both walking around in a bunch and to protect my feet from being trampled on by the people around me. 
     So now for the goodies I pack with me. I always bring two bags, a satchel and a fanny pack. Yes you read that right, a fanny pack haha. I’m bringing those back, I don’t’ know why they ever went out of style. 


Some staples to have on hand!

– Water! Hydrate hydrate hydrate. All that cheering, singing along, and walking, will make you very parched. I always carry along some Emergen C packets with me to pop in my water and now I’m hydrated and healthy! 
-A hair tie, a couple of them actually, for when I’m sick of my hair and I want it up and out of my face. 
-Foot spray! Sounds cooky but you’ll thank me when all around you smell B.O. and your feet smell like peppermint and feel super refreshed. 
-Sunscreen: Even though you’ll have your big ol’ floppy hat and your sunnies for eye and skin protection, you still have to wear some sun screen. I love love Arcona’s sunscreen, it smells like cucumbers and is amazing for your skin (fruit derived)
– A makeup setting spray. Yes! You’ll be in the heat and sun for extended periods of time, dancing around, hugging people, give your makeup a spritz before you head out to make sure your makeup stays all day long! I love Urban Decay’s setting spray as it keeps your skin cool and your makeup put!
– Deodorant: Back to that B.O. we were talking about, you don’t want to be that person! I always carry a travel sized deodorant with me..just in case 😉
– Dry shampoo. Now this may seem a lil odd but hear me out. Some festivals require that you camp out where the festivities are happening, that means usually no daily showers. So to avoid itchy heads and smelly scalps (ewww), I carry Detox’s dry shampoo with me. They have a travel sized one, perfect for toting around, it smells so fresh and so clean, and it gives your hair some OOMMPPHH! 
-Lip oil.  Or limp balm, which ever tickles your fancy, this is Hourglass’s lip oil, it has 19 essential oils in it, like whoa! It has a copper tip that adds a cooling effect and I like that I don’t have to stick my hands near it at all…germs. I’m a germaphobe so the fact that it just pumps out and I can swipe it on…win!
-Rose water! I live by this stuff. Rose water is a great skin refresher for throughout the day, especially on hot days and it smells fresh and Whole Foods carries a smaller bottle so you can pop it in your fanny pack and roll out 😉

     And I think you’re set! These are some of the things I carry with me when I go to music festivals or art walks. Some staple items to keep me calm and cool. I always carry some almonds or a food bar with me also to fight off any hulking out ‘hangry’ moments. The satchel is great for all the carry sized things and the fanny pack is wonderful to keep your personal items personal. 

     Festival fashion is always so fun to switch up. Sometimes I’m rocking the kimono and high waisted skirts, and other times I’m dancing around in my cut off shorts and crop tops 😀 It really is all about what makes you feel comfortable and confident, and the things that make you happy…..like foot spray! lol

     So I hope to see some of you next month at Uforia Fest! Let me know what some staple festival or to go items are and I’ll see you right back here soon! 


hugs and high fives, 

Jess



beachbagpic2

My Beach Bag Essentials

by with No Comment beautycharitycommunityfashion
Summer is upon us here in Los Angeles, thought it’s usually warm and sunny, it’s been especially warm lately and we’ve been finding ourselves at the beach or prowling for a pool to dip into a lot these days. Thought I’d share with you the things I pack with me each time, my beach bag essentials! You can pack this bag for the beach, to go pool side, or even for any time you hike or spend an extended period of time outside. These are just some of my must have items for my skin and lips to keep my protected, hydrated, and refreshed.



1. A beach umbrella: Any time I know i’m going to be in the sun for an extended period of time, I bring my umbrella. It’s cute, it shades me, and it keeps me cool. I love the Asian pattern on this one, and I feel so kimono when I have it. haha

2. Harmless Harvest Coconut Water: If you know me than you know I love love love coconut water. Most coconut waters taste like butt though, not gonna lie, but this coconut water is LITERALLY like putting a straw in a coconut. If I don’t like something you’ll know, and this I LOVE. If you don’t usually like coconut water, give this a try, I promise it’ll change your mind about coconut water tasting like butt 😉

3. Caudalie Beauty Elixir: The beach air, the sun, the water, it can all be uber drying to your skin and this spray is amazing. It’s refreshing with it’s citrus derivatives, it’s calming and moisturizing, and smells AMAZE! A definite must try even if you don’t have dry skin and just want to try something refreshing for a mid day pick me up.

4. The Body Shop Body Butter in Coconut: This body butter is perfect for summer time parched skin. It smells divine (yes coconut everything), it’s travel size so it’s great for your to go bag, your tote, and your beach bag. It’s nice and thick but absorbs quickly, a little goes a long way, and it’s rich without being oily.

5. Shiseido Urban Environment: This is my all time favorite SPF for your face. It’s thin and light, quickly absorbed with no greasy feeling after you’ve applied it, great under makeup, and the SPF is high enough that it makes my heart happy 🙂

6. Rosebud Lip Balm Minted Rose: My most favorite lip balm, smells great, super hydrating, glossy, with no need to pack a lip liner or lipstick….WIN!

7. Harajuku Lovers G perfume: I’ve talked about this perfume a bunch of times, but this is my go to perfume, I keep a travel size in my clutch at all times. It’s a light tropical coconut sweet but not too sweet of a scent. Weird description I know. But I love smelling good, and this one definitely does it for me. Sexy and lady like.

8. Canon Vixia Mini: This is my vlogging camera, compact, wide lens, easy to tote, and the perfect hand held camera. I love this vlog camera and literally don’t leave home without it. All of my daily vlogs are shot on it.

9. Sunnies: The classic black sunnies, good for any and ALL occasions and protects your eyes. No squinting, no wrinkles 😉

10. Barbara’s Snackimals: I love these lil suckers! Like a healthy animal cracker. I use the word healthy loosely btw. I like to incorporate the word into my vocabulary as much as possible, makes me feel like I’m ACTUALLY being healthier.

11. Scooby Doo Mystery Machine Lunch Pale: I initially purchased this for my daughter a year ago and she didn’t use it so I’m making the most of it! I pack all of our picnic stuff, beach snacks, and pool side yummies in this sack and it’s awesome. Nostalgic AND keeps my things nice and cool, love this!

You can check each of these out simply by clicking the name of the product 😀 

So what do you pack when you go to the beach or pool side? I think my next post will be on our hiking essentials since we’ve done a few big hikes these past few months. But with this warm weather I wanted to give you what I have with me right now. Literally….I’m posting this pool side in Palm Springs. My skin is burning off in this 110 degree weather but I can’t complain. We needed a mini vacay from LA, and I pool time is always a good time!

The dress above is my new favorite cover up, it’s flowy and feminine, it’s from The Muheeka Collection. It’s very Princess like and I can wear it over my bikini or wear a body suit beneath it and feel like a Queen on a night out. 

My favorite accessory, and the only one I’ll wear to the beach or pool side is this beachy star fish beaded necklace from Kai Blue Designs. It’s dainty and I love how it adds just a splash of color, very beach themed, and delicate enough to wear with any outfit, especially on my beach days. Not to mention the designer of this collection is one of my best friends and she’s incredibly talented. Check out the rest of her designs if you love beach themed jewelry and hues of blue! 

And a very happy and safe Memorial day to all of you, I’m remembering our fallen soldiers today and grateful for our men and women in the armed forces currently. Proud Army brat! 


xoxo

Jess