Pies, Coffee & Books in L.A.

MY FAVOURITE PLACES IN LA!

My siblings reside in California and for moms who are wondering how I pack and survive a 45-day-trip to the U.S. with a toddler in tow – this is my secret.

Republic of Pie is in North Hollywood. And you can get directions, as well as updates about their events and a sense of who they are if you click this. I had to try their pies to say if they had a chance of being a republic of it and I must say it was good! But I got the pumpkin pie which always easily impresses me…so…haha now I do not know….

Stopping over at my brother’s place has been a major help, especially come laundry time. It’ll be ridiculous to pack 45 days worth of clothes, lest I be willing to pay for excess baggage upon entry alone. So what we would do is strategize number of clothes per city and do laundry in the gaps.

And because America is a washer and dryer country that it perhaps pays to know that you must look for like gentle settings for clothes easily altered by little heat and spin. Then, just use hangers for drying them either out in the backyard or inside the house. (America’s weather is dry enough that you can actually expect your clothes to dry inside even without much sun. The smell of not being dried properly is the risk, so note that as well.)

Now my advice to those who don’t have family to stay with in places you go to perhaps would be go for airbnb. Especially if going for long hauls because you can actually look for properties with washer and dryer, instead of having the clothes laundered at the hotel that will most probably cost a fortune. (I’ve never stayed in an airbnb property before but my sister Paula Peralejo Fernandez has and swears by it. I trust her travel wisdom because this is her area of expertise and actually has a travel agency of her own.)

So anyway here are some of the things we did over at the City of Angels, and if you are looking for more activities I am linking an old post here so you can read it, too! (And if you wanna get out of LA but not too far away, click this.)

Alfred Coffee and Kitchen could very well suit the new look of my blog — you know, black and white. 🙂 So anyway it really is a cafe ideal for some downtime, however it can get pretty busy. I actually first went to their Melrose Avenue branch but was told that they were out of their famous waffle cones for coffee. So I needed to cross — not too far away, a matter of a few blocks — to the Melrose Place branch to have it. That’s the unique experience you get from Alfred but if you aren’t into coffee they also have a range of juices and even turmeric shots in small bottles.

Nice to stroll around Melrose Place, too! (Though it could have been better around fall than summer, haha!)

Then a stop by Anthropologie is always due. 🙂 It was good to be there on summer because of its colors, and because of the latest (on regular price), as well as back issues of Darling Magazine (available for only $10 — yipee!!!).

A bibliophile’s dream home, perhaps, though its name may cause her jitters. But The Last Bookstore isn’t really the last, so don’t panic! It has a pretty wide selection of materials, though mostly in regular price. Have to say though that you mustn’t miss the labyrinthine passages made and arched out of books, as well as the part where every book is worth only a dollar. The area is also reminiscent of the movie 300 Days of Summer, since they filmed around it.