california

Hi loves!

Fall is here (although it’s still SUPER HOT HERE aka 90s in SoCal) and the holiday season will be here before we know it. The last quarter of the year always goes by as fast as a blink!

I finally got the chance to explore Abbot Kinney, which is every artsy coffee lover’s DREAM! Even though LA is only an hour away I tend to rarely go and avoid it as much as possible. So after wanting to visit this place for over a year I finally made it to spend more time exploring it.

Dessert and coffee crawls are what I would totally recommend doing here! For dessert, you have options like the Portland renowned Salt & Straw, Blue Star Donuts, pastries from Mr. Holmes sold inside of Intelligentsia to name a few.

If you’re going to Salt & Straw on a warm day, expect a wait! We waited 30+ minutes as the line wrapped around the building. My tastebuds were SOO satisfied though. I am obsessed with their Stumptown coffee flavor as well as the Toffee Crunch.

For coffee, there is the Tom’s Roastery, Blue Bottle, and Intelligentsia all within steps of each other. Caffeine high say whaaaaaa?!

The Tom’s Roastery was SO STINKIN’ cute. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit. It also serves as their flagship store, and they have all of the new items that you can’t even buy online available for purchase and to try on! I may have fell in love with one or two pairs of shoes as I sipped my spicy mocha.

From cute boutiques to good food, I also loved all the artwork on walls all around the street. Obviously I couldn’t leave without getting my wings shot.

#NotReallyHeartBrokenTho…. 🙂

Continuously exploring, till the next time…

Xoxo,

-Lena

Dear coffee shops of Southern California,

THANK YOU for opening so many new doors that are aesthetically at a ten this year, you are making my heart very happy.

Hi friends! I had the chance to finally check out a coffee shop that has been open for a bit but I have been wanting to visit in forever! Located in downtown Whittier, this general store (which sells the cutest things I might add) + coffee combo is seriously the best! They serve Stumptown coffee and have baked goods from Donut Snob and Sugarbloom Bakery. All under one roof?! Yes, almost too good to be true.

So, not only do they have all these items, but they have this amazing thing called a “Snob Latte”… and yes, it’s the perfect combo! A beverage of your choice and the perfect mini donut snob donut on top. I got the iced matcha latte with a matcha donut on top. Because there’s no such thing as TOO much matcha amirite? 😉

The coffee shop is totally any plant lover’s dream, as there is an amazing hanging plant wall in the front to greet you, as well as a huge hanging succulent wall inside. My inner plant lady was oh so very happy.

Of course, we had to add some savory to the menu. These pastries were the kimchi spam musubi and the ham and cheese with the cutest little pickle pinned on the top! Look closely and you’ll be able to see it. It was SO good.

Til next time…

Xoxo,

-Lena

california

abbot kinney

local fixture.