My Weekend in Hollywood

I was recently invited out to Los Angeles, California for an acting camp, and thought it’d be a great adventure! It was my first “adult” trip that I planned and supported all on my own, and I’d say I did pretty darn good! I took one of my good friends, Alyssa, out for moral support and of course to keep me entertained as she always does! Upon our arrival we found ourselves stranded at the airport with no ride to get us where we needed to go. After trying to find anyone we knew with a car to come pick us up, we made the executive decision to rent a car for ourselves! It was my first time renting a car by myself and if I have any words of advice, it’s to listen to ALL of the rules and directions they tell you before they hand you the keys! I definitely learned some valuable lessons that's for sure!

After getting freshened up at the friend’s apartment we were staying at, we were starving and were recommended to try an industrial looking kitchen and bar called Plan Check on Fairfax Ave. I was told I had to try the fried chicken so I did just that. The food was delicious! I even ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning! Definitely a place I’d recommend if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

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Our next stop was Hollywood Boulevard. I picked out where I wanted my future star to be and got to see the Hollywood sign from the stairs at Hollywood and Highland. We walked up and down the boulevard running in and out of random stores and being tourists. Our last stop was the Hollywood Hard Rock Café. We sat in for drinks where I got the Electric Blues and Alyssa got an ice cream shake with bacon in it called the Twist & Shout (which tasted incredibly good might I add!) The Hard Rock was a great way to end our first day in Hollywood. We headed home and were so tired and jet lagged that we were asleep within minutes! Day one was a wrap!

I attended camp every day until about 1pm and then was free to roam the city afterwards.  Day two became quite an adventure when it took us over an hour just to get to a Starbucks which we later realized was four minutes down the road from where we stayed. Unfortunately, I had some school work to attend to so I sat down with my chocolatey chip frappuccino while Alyssa walked up and down the street purchasing new make up and some yummy macaroons! Luckily, Alyssa had a friend in town who would have something exciting and fun for us to do that night since we had already wasted so much time driving through traffic to find Starbucks…whoops! 
For our first night out our friend took us down Hollywood Boulevard. There were bright lights everywhere you looked, smiles and laughter coming from all directions, and some incredibility interesting people – I loved it all. 
Our first stop was the Cabo Cantina. We enjoyed some mega margaritas and met some new friends who came out with us for the night. We ended up going out and having a great night dancing and enjoying all that the boulevard had to offer. I couldn’t stay out too late with camp early the next morning, but still managed to have an amazing time!

My second day of camp went great, and I felt I learned more and more each day. I got out with enough time to take a nap and get ready for some fun in the evening. I didn’t have time to nap however, after my second day of camp. We got ready as soon as I got home and headed to Santa Monica to meet a friend for lunch. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize in LA traffic, if my GPS says it’s 20 minutes away, it probably means an hour and 20 minutes away! So we happened to be a few minutes late (almost 2 hours!) and our friend wasn’t able to meet us any longer. So Alyssa and I went to Del Frisco’s Grille and enjoyed a beautiful dinner as the sun was setting over the Santa Monica Pier. We both had the grille prime cheeseburger, which seemed almost bigger than me! After we couldn’t eat anymore we walked down to the pier and sat on a bench for quite some time, watching the sun set, listening to the waves crash onto the beach, and enjoying the ocean breeze. Of course, my camera died right when I sat down on the bench. So unfortunately, I didn’t get as many great pictures as I wanted. All the more reason to go back and visit!

My final day of camp was a lot of fun and I had to say my goodbyes to all my new friends I made. As the weekend came to an end, I was extremely tired, and jet lag hit me harder than ever! We ended up grabbing food, and falling asleep until almost 11pm! When we woke up and realized how much we slept, we decided we had to go out and enjoy what was left of our last night in LA. We got ready super fast, called an Uber, and were off to meet our friends at The W Hollywood hotel for Jazz Night! We had a relaxing evening and even bumped into Justin Bieber! Next time I’m out there (and have a few extra dollars in my bank account) I would definitely consider staying at the W Hollywood hotel! It was beautiful and elegant in every way. It was the perfect way to end our time in Los Angeles! 

Our last morning, we packed up our bags and got ready for breakfast. We stopped at a cute little café called Toast and both enjoyed the French toast, Alyssa’s with some yummy fresh fruit. We seemed to have the same taste in food if you can't tell! Our meals filled us up for the day and we even had time for a quick photo shoot outside afterward! 

After dropping off our rental, we headed to the airport to finally say good-bye to LA! As we reflected on our trip riding in the shuttle, we thought to ourselves that we could not have done LA better than we did in our five short days. We were proud of ourselves for making it through our first big trip as adults, on our own! We had a long five hour flight back to Orlando, and for me that meant five hours of contemplating my next big move….And here comes the news! Upon my departure from Los Angeles I was offered a wonderful deal. I was offered an internship position for the fall semester with a television production company. I've said I wanted to work in the entertainment industry for years, and I'm finally getting the opportunity! So with that being said I had to make a lot of things happen in a very short amount of time, and I will be moving to Los Angeles for the fall semester!!!! I felt this was an opportunity I could not pass up, and am very excited about what is to come this fall! I am going to keep up this blog to write about my time while in LA and hopefully you’ll want to follow along! Thanks for your support, and if you’re dropping by California in the next few months, come and say hello! :)

- Sammie