California Dreamin (part 1) Santa Monica

Meet My Awesome Italian Friends:

Valentino & Antonio

I've always visited LA since I was a kid, but apart from Disneyland, SixFlags & other theme parks I never did the touristy stuff. Until now! It was pretty cool to see all the places you hear about. (one day I should do the touristy stuff in Atlanta too).


Valentino was our guide, and he's one of the coolest & nicest people I know. Antonio was so funny, he just flew in from Italy the night before, and this was his first time in America, he didn't speak much English, and I don't know any Italian so it was a lot of fun, frustration with the language barrier, laughs, only Italian food, and tons of alcohol :)


first up the world famous Santa Monica Pier

200 Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica, CA 90401-3126
(310) 458-8900

Looking down

Bubba Gump  Shrimp Company

Me :)

omg childhood memories!!!! I remember these were all the rage!!

Reminded me of Sex & the City

I took this pic because people where fishing on the pier - cool

Then we went to Muscle Beach! which was a close drive from the pier.

Hola Papi!! Hey Sexi!

People were really working out!! I was like? For real? this is like TV.

didn't want to bore yall with more workout/ equipment pictures. But it's crazy it's like a free gym in the heat, right by the beach. crazy!

You know what holidays mess up your workout, before this trip I used to hit the gym like it was a drug. Then during the trip I was freaked out there wasn't a gym on day 1. After this trip I went back to couch potato mode, Its quite hard to start working out when you stop.

LMAO!!!! Y'all Want Some Medical Marijuana? 

Dr's In! but We didn't go In.

We decided to go eat, drink & be merry!

We went to Il Fornaio della Spiaggia. Valentino had been there several times & liked it. The food was great, our waiter was hilarious and so nice, hey he complimented me a lot so I love him!. He kept speaking Italian to EVERY GUEST regardless of if you spoke English, Italian, French or Chinese. He could speak English but he would often reply you in Italian, and the guests had no clue if he understood their order & he would look at us and laugh, It was hilarious,.

We sat on the Patio

I don't remember how many bottles we had, so much bruschetta, and a ton of  other food & dessert. I remember there was this sexy man seating across from me, feeling so cool in his shades lol.

Antonio's Sampler

My delicious Plate! I finished it all!

I love this picture :)

Valentino - our awesome host :)

California Dreamin - thinking of you baby!!!

Can you see our AWESOME waiter on the left - Il Fornaio

If you want to go there, it's right opposite the beach

Il Fornaio della Spiaggia
1551 Ocean Avenue
(across from the Santa Monica Pier)
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: 310.451.7800

More info from LA Times CalendarLive

Cuisine	Italian
Best dishes	Fried squid, stuffed focaccia, roasted artichokes, grilled salmon, chicken cooked under a brick, Tuscan chicken, affogato.
Of Note	Morning pastries and lunch weekdays. Dinner daily. Brunch weekends.
Payment	American Express , Discover , MasterCard , Visa
Prices	Appetizers, $5 to $10; pastas, $10 to $16; main courses, $13 to $19. Corkage $10.

however they have several other locations allover California & one in Washington, Vegas, Colorado, Virginia etc, checout their website.
hola

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! thought of you while I was there :)

Lol by the time we left Antonio was singing -- "I'm drunk in California...!!!" lmao

....then we drove to Malibu