There are SO MANY good hikes in the area! Also check out: Santa Susanna Pass near Rocky Peak, the Mockingbird Loop in Simi Valley and the Tuna Canyon trailhead in Topanga Canyon (where you can see the Valley and the Ocean from the same overlook!)

The Malibu area is filled with strange little shops and gorgeous coastline. We especially like some of the seafood spots and enjoy just parking the car on PCH and wandering around down by the water. Zuma is definitely the best swimming/surfing beach close by with good parking, bathrooms and lots of space to hang out, but driving through this area is also just so lovely.

It’s in Sherman Oaks (about 30 mins from the where we’re at) and it’s just as it sounds— a good time. We’re in our 30’s and still love it. Cheap, big, lots to do. Bonus? It’s where my sister and her husband had their first date so obviously it’s magical

Many great museums in LA (including the Getty, which is closer and has great art and views!) but this one is our favorite— don’t miss the contemporary art exhibits which is our personal favorite- the Picasso’s and Andy Warhols- and get a good cup of coffee or bite on the premises or at LA Farmer’s Market down the street and wander around Fairfax, one of our favorite old Jewish neighborhoods!

While driving on the Arroyo Seco Pass of the 110 (one of the oldest roads in Los Angeles) headed toward Highland Park, you’ll spot this gorgeous collection of 100-150 year old homes and structures and they are actually a museum. As neighborhoods like Bunker Hill in downtown or south Pasadena evolved into more modern financial and business districts, the glorious (yet mostly rundown) homes of the past were all scheduled to be torn down by the late 1960’s if it weren’t for the efforts of the Los Angeles Historical Society who raised money to have the homes carefully removed from their original locations and transported to this tiny old LA neighborhood where they spent decades restoring them to their former glory with period appropriate wall paper, furnishings and finishes. Now you can explore the handful of saved structures on the weekends in a $7 docent (dressed in period attire, of course)-led tour. We are nerds about our city so of course this is a favorite of ours, but we think you’d also enjoy these treasures that allow you to go back in time for a little while and be literally immersed in some Los Angeles history!

Don’t get us started on this New Orleans style fried chicken. From the down to earth, friendly owners (NOT in fact sisters but 3 amazing women from Louisiana who’ve run it for almost 40 years) to the shrimp jambalaya to the house-made beignets (only on Sundays!), we’re obsessed. Go to orders? Smothered fried chicken or their fried chicken Sammie’s (Popeyes could never), cornbread muffins, Mac n cheese.