The Beach, Figaro Bistrot, and my Unicorn Heels

On the first full day of the holiday weekend, I did what nearly every other American did: head to the closest beach! For me that is Santa Monica. I was a little worried the beach would be unbearably crowded, especially because it took some time to find parking. In the end, though, everything worked out perfectly. We got parking right in front of Hotel Casa Del Mar, the beach in that area had plenty of space for late comers, and we could swing by the hotel for a fruity cocktail once we were done.

This is my friend Jennifer (otherwise known as Juche) hanging out with us. She lives up in Santa Clarita at the moment, but before that she spent 9 months traveling around South America. Now she is home trying to get her novel published and get into a writing program. She is a fascinating person to have around. I try to get her to make the journey down to LA whenever possible.

This is my boyfriend, doing an excellent job of modeling the Naval Academy towel my parents sent me. My little brother has just finished his first year at the Academy (so proud), but you would think I had attended by how much Naval Academy gear I own. Maybe this summer I will get around to sending home an equal amount of USC merchandise to balance it out.

This is the giant fishy I made in the sand. Making sand creatures is a tradition with my mom and I. We never much got into castles, but we loved making sand creatures. Even though my mom is a million miles away back in PA/DE, I had to keep the tradition alive.

After creating the giant fish, we'd had our fill of the beach for the day and headed up to the hotel for cocktails. If you walk straight up the stairs and to the back of the hotel, you'll find the most welcoming lounge that overlooks the beach. I was surprised how uncrowded it was. We found a great table by the window. I got for the blueberry mojito, which I highly recommend.

Finally we ended the day with dinner at Figaro Bistrot, a very tasty French cafe that my boyfriend and I love in Los Feliz. I thought this would be a perfect time to debut my brand new Jeffrey Campbell heels!

I am obsessed with them. The heel part looks just like a unicorn, but I think I might like the way the ruffles frame the feet even more than I like the crazy heel.

At Figaro, I decided to be daring (at Juche's encouragement - she always brings out the daring in me) and get the grilled calamari over black ink risotto. If you can get over how creepy this dish looks, I guarantee you will love it. If black food and squid legs aren't your thing, though, don't worry. Most things we've tried on the menu have been great. There will be something for everyone.