Friday was the day I planned to run if I had time in the morning. I slept great and felt like I slept in and was worried I would not have time to run when I woke up… then I rolled over and saw it was 5:06 am. Ha! The perks of my body being used to central time! I had plenty of time and actually waited for the sun to come up to go on my run!

Every day we were in California, the mornings were overcast, then the sun came out midday or in the afternoon. I was actually worried when we landed that it was smog, and every day would look like that. Well, there was smog, but the sun came out!

All that to say… it was overcast on my run! But that’s okay! I walked toward the beach and ran on the paved path there. I love that there’s a paved path that lines the whole beach. And just how deep the beach (the sand) is! I was not expecting that!

I had a nice run and hid my friend Caitlin’s rock. I stopped to take a selfie after I hid it and saw someone walk to to the rock and pick it up. They asked me “did you see this?” and I told them I put it there and it was okay to take it. We ended up having a long conversation – finding the rock was really meaningful to them – it was a spooky rock and they love Halloween and they were missing home (Washington state) and have a friend there who paints rocks. They said it was like “finding a little treasure” and were pretty choked up about finding it. I rarely interact with people in person after they find a rock so this was a really special experience. I made a reel about it here if you want to watch it!

After my run I stopped at Starbucks and got us chais and a Los Angeles mug for me, then went back to the hotel. Our plan for the day was to get food, explore Santa Monica a bit, then head to the beach!

We went to Erin McKenna’s Bakery in Santa Monica for breakfast. It’s an all vegan bakery that also has savory items. Of course, I went overboard and ordered a TON of stuff to try, and it was super expensive. But worth it to try it! I got a vegan breakfast sandwich and potatoes to eat there (and I think a donut?), then iced lemon teacake, pumpkin teacake, an apple cider cupcake, and a maple donut to try at the hotel. I also bought cupcakes for a friend we were meeting that evening.

The breakfast was pretty good, but I was a bit too full from my venti chai, oops, and didn’t finish it. Christina got a cheddar scone and Samoa donut that were good.

We walked around and checked out the shops in Santa Monica after we ate, then went back to the hotel and changed into our beach gear and went to the beach. We sat there for about an hour and a half, enjoying the sun and listening to the waves. It was nice to just sit and chill! Ella dipped her feet into the ocean for the first time (which you can see in this reel). We only went in to our feet as well.

After the beach we walked around a bit and stopped at Target to get a few things, then went back to the hotel. We chilled there for a bit (I prepped all my rocks to take to CatCon) then headed out around 4:45 to meet my friend Jean and her mom for dinner in downtown Los Angeles. It was only 16 miles away, but was going to be an hour and 15 drive. Ha. I was wondering if we were going to experience LA traffic like that on this trip! Thankfully we only got to dinner a few minutes late.

We met at Ramen Hood, which is a vegan ramen place. I didn’t realize it was in a food hall, and there would be so many options! I got ramen, and Christina ordered from a place called Noods Noods Noods. Ha. I was excited for this ramen, but it was so so. I should have read the menu closer to see everything had mushrooms and they could not be removed. Blech.

That’s okay though! I was there to meet Jean! Jean is the entire reason I went to CatCon. Jean and I are Instagram friends (check her work out at Crispymeows.com). She told me she was going to have a booth at CatCon and I kept joking that I was going to go, then I was like, “why don’t I just go?!” So, obviously, I did!

I enjoyed meeting her and her mom, although the food hall was NOISY so I was struggling to hear. We ate our ramen then went to a boba tea booth where Jean got boba and I got lemonade. I had never had it before and had no idea about the “lid”! Basically, that it’s a piece of plastic you spear with your straw.

Jean and her mom were staying in Pasadena and we drove them back to their hotel. I was struggling with using Google Maps and understanding where to go when roads were so close together, and missed a few turns, so Christina suggested I turned on the voice function and that helped so much. I don’t think I missed any turns after that? Maybe? Ha. I am someone who doesn’t get upset when I miss a turn and just figure it out, but I was a bit embarrassed!

Pasadena is where CatCon was, so it was good to get an idea of the drive between there and our hotel. Driving in LA on a Friday night was pretty interesting. The 110 out of Pasadena toward LA felt like I was driving on a racetrack – it was so curvy, with no shoulders. Normally that would be fun, but not at night, in a car that is not yours, with a baby in the back! We obviously made it back just fine, but I did not want to repeat that drive (spoiler: we did the next night too).

It was kind of late when we got back, but I wanted to do some laundry, so I stayed up for a bit with that. Exciting exciting stuff. Ha!