My guide to LA

Elin asked if I could give some tips on what to do in LA and sure, why not? Now, I'm not by far an expert on LA but I'll try my best :)

The Typical Tourist Stuff:
Hollywood Blvd: A good idea is to start at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Vine Street and then work your way down along the stars (and don't forget to find YOUR favourite star and take a picture next to it) to the essentials such as Graumann's Chinese Theatre with all the hand- and footprints of the rich and famous. Next to Graumann's there's also a nice little shopping centre where you'd want to make it up to the 2nd or 3rd floor so you can see the Hollywood sign!
Also, if you get a chance (and want to spend a couple of hours in the dark), I suggest you go see a movie at the famous El Capitan movie theatre.

Sunset Blvd: Driving down this street is an experience in itself, from the blocks in Hollywood where you definately don't want to be alone at night (Hollywood in general is not a nice area, full of shitty apartments and stripper stores), to the huge, fancy houses down the street.

Map of the stars home: Ok, this is probably the most successful "we're-tourists-please-make-money-off-us"-scam ever created! Along Hollywood Blvd you'll see plenty of signs saying that you can by a map to the stars home, well how exciting! To see where the stars actually live, maybe even run in to one of them! Well, reality check *Bam*. Yes, I do have personal experience on this matter but only because my friends friend from NY really wanted to do it. So what's wrong with a little fun and driving around to see famous people? Nothing, IF you're only doing it for fun, love to drive up really high hills on really narrow, curvy roads and don't actually expect to see any celebs!
Cause the fact is people, most of these maps are very inaccurate, they have dead celecrities addresses (and NOT in the churchyard), and couples that split up years ago appear to still be living together in houses that no longer exists!

Of course, the touristie stuff could go on forever, especially if you want to travel around LA too, there's Disneyland, Universal Studios, Santa Barbara, Sea World in San Diego and hey, why not a day-trip to Las Vegas? Only takes about an hour to fly there :)


Nightlife:
For a good night out I definately go to Hollywood! Avalon and Spider Club are sooo much fun and you're almost certain to catch some celebs partying it up as Spider Club is known to host famous guests such as Mischa Barton, Christina Aguilera and Paris Hilton. A little closer to my place is Century Club which is also a lot of fun with the right crowd :) Just remember that you have to be 21 yrs to drink in this country and some clubs have differents sections for people over/under 21 yrs.


Oh The Shopping:
Well, this is my area :) Where you go shopping basically depends on your budget. For simple, close-to-the-beach-all-in-one-shopping you definately want to hit 3rd street promenade, where you can find practically everything to reasonable prices in chains and department stores such as Macy's, A&F, Sephora, Zara and Forever 21. A block down at 2nd street you can find Little Britain with pubs and shortbread all over the place.

For people with a bigger wallet, I would suggest Bevery Hills, walk along Robertson Blvd (Kitson). Melrose (Marc Jacobs), and of course Wilshire Blvd where you'll find Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Louis Vuitton.

If you're looking for more independent and new designers, Main Street is your choice, and since I love vintage I have to include some of my favourites like Polkadots and Moonbeams, Wasteland (I normally go to the store on 4th street since it's so close to the promenade but they have a bigger one on Melrose as well), Decades has vintage Fendi, Gucci, Prada and more! A little more expensive but you can make amazing finds! Buffalo Exchange is not as well known but has kinda the same stuff as Decades, lots of labels and good prices, gotta love that! Lily et Cie is a store I have yet to visit but with their beautiful vintage gowns by Chanel they've dressed quite a few stars for the red carpet.


The Beaches:
Since I live closest to Santa Monica Beach with the pier and "old-fashioned" little stores, that's where I spend most of my time, but if you want a more lively beach I think Venice is a good choice, daily freak-shows, the famous outdoor gym, the looong rollerblading strip and little shops all along the beach.
If you want to check out the surfers and maybe even a star or two (even though most of them have their private beach strip), head over to Malibu! Where every star has a house and every house got a pool...

Did I forget something really important? Just let me know :) And also, I can only speak for myself, these are the things that I know about and I'm sure not everone will agree.