The Redbury

So, after NYFW, I decided I needed a vacation from my vacation considering fashion week isn't so much a vacay as it is a lot of work (define work you say? Work for a blogger means tweeting, instagraming, facebook'ing, and of course, blogging the shit out of everything that's going on during fashion week and it's exhausting) It's 24/7 non-stop....fun. And that's how work should be. Exciting, busy, tiring, but above all, fun.

I needed to go to Los Angeles to meet up with friends (long over-due brunches & dinners...you know...those plans that get made but never carried out) so this was the destination for my weekend getaway.

Typically, I would have sought the plushest suite when I was looking to book a room in LA for the weekend. A big, fluffy bed and a soaking tub...the usual. And then I happened upon The Redbury, situated in Hollywood. I was trying to stay somewhere different, yet affordable...and this hotel was it.

Photo c/o The Redbury

...the fashion blogger arrives at The Redbury. HA!

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area makes it an easy 5-6 hour drive to LA, so I hopped in the car and took my mini road trip to Hollywood.

So. I love The Redbury. The moment I walked in, their signature scent, some honey amber concoction, enveloped me. It was overpoweringly wonderful. I was obsessed with the scent the entire time we stayed....so obsessed, in fact, I was thrilled to find out they sold candles at the front desk and definitely brought one home. My house needed to smell as The Redbury smells....it's amazing. You're just going to have to book a stay there to ~~see~~ smell what I'm talking about...

Okay. So, once I got past the fab smelling aspect of the hotel, looking around, I was totally immersed into a world created to take you back to old Hollywood glamour...the scents, the dim lighting, the deep scarlet red tones, the vintage feel...I felt as if I was standing inside Louise Brooks or Greta Garbo's dressing room.

My studio suite did not disappoint. You know how when you're online and you're searching hotels, the first thing you do is check out all the photos they provide, hoping to get a glimpse into what the hotel is really like. A lot of times, the photos online and reality are so far apart, it's almost humiliating.

Not the case at The Redbury. What you see online is what you get. And it's perfect. At Hollywood and Vine, it's right across the street from Capitol Records and sits on the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame...

FYI: This is meant to be a fun, hip, totally themed-out hotel, catering to those looking to celebrate life! With that said, don't stay here if beats from the club downstairs are going to bother you at 2am.....or if you're looking to hole yourself up in your bathroom, hoping to soak in some jet/spa tub....no tub.

But trust, their awesomely huge, walk-in rain showers fully compensate.

Can't forget to mention one of the BEST parts of staying here...you can order room service (amongst many other things, from your iPad or iPhone) There's an app for everything these days! And The Redbury's app is awesome...from ordering breakfast to making dinner reservations at neighboring restaurant Katsuya, this app does it all!

The app came in handy for ordering things when the front desk wound up being bombarded, being Oscar weekend!

Here's what the apps interface looks like:

...so....I had no idea when I booked the trip a couple months ago, that this particular weekend was Hollywood's Super Bowl - Oscar Sunday. It's beyond me how this sacred fashion event escaped my mind, but it did. I guess that means I've been busy.

And as you can imagine the hotel and the city were abuzz with Oscar prep, parties, and a lot of people. Amazing I got a room when I did. All the madness made for an exciting weekend, considering I was down the street from Dolby Theater (where the Oscar's took place).

But, I was not in town to attend any Oscar bash. I was there to kick back, do a little shopping, and spend some time with with new friend, Toks. Toks and I had been planning our Sunday brunch for quite some time, so I was thrilled she invited me to a little place called the Boxwood inside The London Hotel in West Hollywood.

Now is the time where I make a shameless plug for my friend Toks...you may have seen her on recent ABC hit comedy, The Neighbors. It's highly entertaining. I don't usually watch family-friendly stuff, but this one just keeps making me laugh. And thus, I allow myself my one family-friendly comedy...

My first time eating at a Gordon Ramsey establishment and I thought it was beautiful. Excellent service. Delectable menu. (I had the mini Belgian waffles...omigaw...so good). Perfect presentation...my Bloody Mary almost looked too good to sip on....so I gulped it instead...Ha!

This was lovely. We decided Sunday brunch needed to happen more often. I think I can do that. As soon as I move to La-La Land!

So, with Oscar Sunday keeping the town preoccupied in a frenzy to hop from one after-party to the next, I headed out on my last night to a little place off of Sunset called Cafe Med. A little Italian joint where the servers are quite possibly more Italian than the food (or just ~~really~~ good actors). It had the perfect casual, yet subtly romantic atmosphere I was looking for, and surprisingly, it happened to be down the street from the Sunset Tower Hotel - where the infamous Vanity Fair Oscar after-party is held. Obviously, I'm a tourist since all this was a welcome shock. Ha!

Shopping trip to the new TopShop that just opened up at The Grove and I had to ask Toks if The Grove was always THAT freakin' full of people. Probably the worst place to go shopping ever...ugh...reminded me of going to Disneyland.

So, I braved the crowds at ~~Disneyland~~ The Grove, and shopped it up for hours at TopShop.

Although mystified by all the people matriculating at this place called The Grove (obviously I'm not from LA), I had a great mimosa-margarita induced brunch at a little French spot called Morel's. Basically the ultimate people-watching spot if you sit outside.