Saturday…Sunday…sunshine…

After failing to dampen my spirits Friday night, Mother Nature conceded defeat and banished the rain from LA and welcomed back the sun…and some friendly fluffy white clouds for character.

On this visit to LA, Jeff and I tried a new hotel…Le Montrose…a small, hip design hotel tucked away in a residential section of West Hollywood. This proved to be the ideal location for short walks for coffee and an early Saturday breakfast at the Abbey.

Saturday was a busy day. We drove down scenic Sunset Blvd from WeHo through Beverly Hills, Bel Aire, and Brentwood to reach Pacific Palisades and Malibu…and our midday destination, the Getty Villa. This popular museum specializes in Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities housed in a villa inspired by a first-century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy.

Saturday evening was an early birthday present from my dear friend Chris. We started with dinner at Pete’s Bar and Grill in booming downtown LA…I ordered the perfect strip steak. We followed dinner with the LA production of Avenue Q at the LA Music Center…next door to the iconic Disney Concert Hall. Avenue Q is the hysterical tale of puppets trying to make ends meet in New York City. Think Sesame Street peppered with salty language, racy songs, and sweaty…er, felty…puppet sex.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Chris for a perfect birthday present 🙂

We finished the evening with the best mojitos and the best music at the Abbey.

After drinks and music till 2am, we took Sunday morning a bit slower. We enjoyed a decadent Champagne brunch at The Peninsula Beverly Hills with Chris and Sherry. Everything was divine. On the way to the restaurant, we bought a Map to the Stars. Below, you can see the front gate of the MTV-made-famous Osbourne home, and the supposed front gate of Phil Collins’ Beverly Hills home.