“City of Stars, are you shining just for me?” #lalaland
Every year, Sunkissed & Made Up goes on a yearly retreat to spend time with the company outside of our hectic schedules at home and get back to what truly inspires us as artists! Los Angeles, California is such a reflection of our style – effortless, whimsical, and romantic and our shoot that we did in Laguna Beach truly reflects that {you can see a few sneak peeks on SKMU’s insta}! This travel guide is going to break down each day and where we went to!
DAY ONE
We woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed on Sunday morning as our sweet Poppa dropped us off at Hobby Airport at 6:45 AM! We are NOT morning people but we were just so excited we didn’t even care! We arrived at LAX at 11:30, we picked up our rental car, and drove straight to West Hollywood to get settled in! Taylor found our house on HomeAway and it was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Three bedroom, two bath, a full kitchen, dining, living, AND patio…not bad for six girls who are a little on the high maintenance side! And we’re not afraid to admit it!
We unpacked, freshened up, and headed to The Grove for lunch and shopping! We had lunch at Mixology 101 – average menu but the cocktails are phenomenal! We ordered Hollywood Bubbles, Spicy Fifty, and Jamaican Sangria. By far the best was the Spicy Fifty, so good! We weren’t super impressed with the entrees but if you’re needing a quick bite, the garlic parmesan burger isn’t a bad choice.
We wanted to be comfortable for the flight and to shop, so we opted for cute denim shorts, blouses, and travel hats! They covered our hair that we didn’t feel like fixing at 5:30 in the morning!
DAY TWO
Second day was INSANE! It was jam packed and full of excitement! We started off the day with brunch at The Ivy. If you’ve seen Monster-In-Law with Jennifer Lopez, there’s a scene where she’s spying on Jane Fonda and she’s having lunch at The Ivy. It looks EXACTLY like that and it beat all of my expectations! Every single table is adorned with fresh flower arrangements and the walls are covered in blue willow china. Basically what I want my house to look like. Ya know, my vacation home in the South of France. #asif I had a Cajun Bloody Mary and Santa Barbara crab eggs benedict with sriracha sauce. Best brunch I’ve EVER had. A must while in West Hollywood and make sure you make a reservation! Also, be prepared that it’s a little pricey – but oh so worth it! Oh, I forgot to mention…you’re greeted with a complimentary champagne bar. Um, yes please!
From there we restocked our hair and make up kits at Frends (in order to shop there you must be a professional in the hair and make up industry.) Then we went back to the house to get ready for Dancing With The Stars! And this is where the madness began…
We are all super fans of DWTS. We have all been to several events for the show, we’ve met Tony and Maks (Candice and I ran into him at Saks in NYC and he remembered us – cue the fan girl squeels), and never fail to miss a show! So of course, we put ourselves on the waiting list to go to a live taping and we were lucky enough to be granted tickets. Chelsea and Candice had already been so they new how to play the game! After three cans of Sally Hansen leg make up (if you never listen to my advice again, go buy you some of this magic in a can), clouds of hairspray, and dressed to the nines, we all piled in to an Uber and were on our way to CBS Studios. The taping starts at 5 o’clock so we made sure that we had plenty of time to get in line so we arrived at 2:30. A gentleman with a clipboard and a headset (so profesh) was walking down the line and scribbling a number on each ticket. We were informed that there was a slight chance that not everyone would make it into the studio due to capacity and available seats. We all looked at each other and we assured ourselves that there was NO WAY that we wouldn’t get in. We had been standing there for at least an hour at this point! So around around 3:45 they started to move the line and the line was cut off…two…people…in…front…us! We were in shock! We didn’t realize that it would even be a possibility that we wouldn’t get in and we were crushed. With achey hearts and feet after standing in line for two hours, we started to walk away when the first miracle happened. Some guy with connections (and boy, did he!) leaned over to us and said “go wait by the bus stop and I’ll come get you when I can.” UM WHAT?! We quietly walked away but were freaking out inside. How was this happening?! We were literally waiting at a bus stop to get in to Dancing With The Stars!! This isn’t real life. About 20 minutes later, guy waves us on in, we gave up our phones to security, and we there waited in a holding ground till the live taping began. Once we were inside the studio (Hailey being the last one in), we were taken up to the very top of the third balcony where we were placed in standing room only. I’m not one to complain or to not be grateful, but we couldn’t see anything since we were behind the curtain. I definitely thought to myself “it’s going to be a long two hours standing in these heels!” About 10 minutes later, a sweet gal moved us to the second balcony right where the dancers are interviewed after their routine and we were SO excited! We all looked at each other smiling ear to ear that we were even closer than before and the fact that we had a seat for commercial breaks! THEN! That same gal from before came back and said “we have three front row seats across from the judges, we have to split you guys up but would you want to move to those seats?” I have never got up so quickly in my life and Chelsea {our 5’10 triplet), Hailey, and myself were moved in to those front row seats. Excuse my french, but HOLY SHIT! How was this even happening?! We almost didn’t get in and we were now sitting on the dance floor for the last hour of Dancing With The Stars. Val’s sweat flung on us and I wasn’t a least bit mad about it! The show ended and we walked out of the studio on Cloud 9! We picked up our phones from security with at least 50 messages that we were on TV. Mom, I made it! It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget!
High on a adrenaline, we then went to Sur for dinner and Peter from Vanderpump Rules was our server. He’s even more handsome and awkward in person! We were asked if the food was good and we thought it was excellent! Make sure you get a Perfect Margarita! After Sur, we walked over to Pump and of course ordered a Pumptini. Word to the wise, don’t drink the whole thing. It will knock you on your ass and you won’t remember a darn thing when you wake up the next morning! We then moved to The Abbey and it was everything I thought it was going to be! A drag show was going on and I can now say I’ve seen one! If you’re down a for a crazy, fun time we highly recommend going!
And that ended day two!
DAY THREE
Day three we woke up slightly hungover but ready to get the day started! We did a little sightseeing and hiking at Griffith Observatory. We’re huge La La Land fans so that was a must see on our to-do list! The Observatory wasn’t open but it’s still a beautiful building and if you walk around to the back you will see a spectacular view of Los Angeles and the Hollywood hills! Try to get there around 8:30 to beat the crowd!
Sunkissed treated us to a day of pampering after our hike! I had my first blowout at Drybar in West Hollywood and I now have a major obsession with getting my hair washed and dried by someone other than myself lol. Then, we went over to Blushington to get our make up done! I have to admit that it’s so nice being a client for a change!
We had dinner at Delilah and it was most definitely my favorite meal of the trip! It’s decor is inspired by the 20’s (my favorite era), great cocktails, and an amazing menu! The truffle mac and cheese was on point. Though we didn’t see any celebs, it’s usually a pretty hip hot spot and you’ll need a reservation!
DAY FOUR
Our last day was spent living our best lives, doing hair and make up on some stunning models, working with an amazing photographer, dresses were provided by Hayley Paige and Paper Crown, and frolicking around Laguna Beach. It was a magical day and we feel so lucky to have been a part of this shoot. It’s an amazing feeling when you get to work along side creatives that share the same passion as you do.
We hope to see you soon, California. You did not disappoint for these two rookies!
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