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sanamalynda-blog · 8 years

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There are three kinds of birthday people out there: 1. those who celebrate their birthday for a month straight, 2. those who let others decide their birthday plans , and 3. those who do not acknowledge, nor celebrate being one year older, and would rather forget about it. I am ashamed, but also proud to admit that I am a good mixture of one and two. As soon as it hits March 1st, I let the world know that it is officially Sana’s birth month, and let the birthday planning begin!

This year I turned 18 years old and my birthday celebration lasted a whole week, from March 10 to March 18. To start off, on my actual birthday, and thank God the start of Spring Break, my mother surprised me with tickets to see Beautiful.

My mother and I seeing Beautiful: The Carole King Story

I will admit at first I was not too excited, but I judged this musical way too quickly. As a music major in college, or just a lover of music, Carole King’s story is amazing, and the cast brought her story to life from beginning to end. It was interesting to see how some of the popular songs we sing on the radio came to be all thanks to one powerful woman. Each song the cast sang was performed almost as if I was taken back in time to the premiere concert. This birthday surprise meant a lot to me because it expanded my music appreciation, showed me how far women have gotten in the music industry, and inspired me to get a start on my musical career.

The next day, my mother and aunt surprised me and my best friend with a reservation at TAO Downtown in New York.

TAO Downtown NYC

As I entered this restaurant, I was completely stunned and impressed. This venue is proper and classy, but also had a club-like vibe. As a social media lover, and blogger, the first thing that stood out to me was the touch screen live camera, where you can take funny, cute videos and send them to yourself through email. Of course, my best friend and I took advantage of this opportunity as quick as we could.

Not only was the ambiance lively, yet sophisticated, but the food was even more spectacular. The menu consisted of items perfect for anyone, whether you are a meat lover, vegetarian, sushi lover, or barbecue lover. The menu was separated by three elements: The Sea (containing seafood items such as fish, shrimp, lobster, etc.), The Land (containing pork, beef, filet mignon, etc.), and The Sky (containing chicken and duck), which was a very creative touch to the restaurant.Here is a sneak peek at our entrees:

This all sounds outstanding, but the dessert menu was even better. Since it was my birthday, I got the bread pudding donuts with vanilla ice cream on the side topped with whip cream. Any mixture of a warm treat and ice cream is bound to be delicious, so I excited a tasty outcome, but this combination was absolutely delicious. My best friend got the warm chocolate cake, which is what the server recommended. As soon as her spoon touched the cake, it oozed out warm, hot chocolate fudge, and from the reaction on her face, I could tell it tasted as good as it looked.

This restaurant will forever receive a generous five-stars from me. The food was tasty, the ambiance could not be beat in such a lively environment, the DJ played everyones favorite songs, and the dessert was certainly to die for. You will definitely not leave this place hungry!

In my opinion, a birthday celebration is truly at its peak when you are lucky enough to go on a “birthday trip”, and this year for my 18th birthday, I went on a birthday trip to the City of Angels: Los Angeles, California.

View of Beverly Hills, California from the Getty Museum

I have been dying to go here and see what the celebrities see on an everyday basis, to sight-see, escape the treacherous blizzard weather of New York, and hope to spot some of my favorite celebs.

DAY 1 : After leaving LAX and grabbing our Chevy Malibu rental car, which would be our means of transportation for the duration of the trip, my aunt and I made our way over to the Getty Museum, which I recommend to every tourist as soon as you get off the plane. This museum is just an introduction to what California has to offer full of breathtaking views and artwork that is outstanding. Here I am rocking a Fashion Nova oversized rosegold sweater dress with GoJane boots in from of the entrance to the Getty Museum:

J. Paul Getty Museum

In order to get a photo of the beautiful view, like the one I have shown above, you have to take a tram up to the top of the mountain where the museum is located. Once you get to the top, you will be glad you did, and feel free to take as many scenic photographs as you like. Besides the beautiful art located inside of the museum, outside there is the Central Garden, shown below, that has tree-lined walkways and trees filled with flowers. In addition to the Central Garden, they also have a humungous cactus garden as well.

Central Garden outside of the Getty Museum

If you’re hungry on your trip to the Getty Museum, there is no need to fear. If you’re feeling like dining feeling fancy, the Restaurant is a good choice. The menu changes seasonally. If you’re going to get a quick bite, or just wanted a relaxed meal, the Cafe has a sandwich bar, salad bar, and grill. I ate at the Cafe and my meal is shown below. Lastly, if you cannot get enough of the outstanding view of the Central Garden, the Garden Terrace Cafe is right outside the Cafe and overlooks the garden and mountainous views of California. However, it is generally only open on Saturday.

Cheeseburger and Sweet Potato Fries at the Cafe at the Getty Museum

After the Getty Museum, we checked into our hotel, Kimpton Palomar Beverly Hills, which the outside is shown below. This hotel met every possible expectation I had. In the lounge area, there were couches were guests could mingle, meet up, and wait for their check in time. Next to the lounge was the bar/restaurant, which at night was very lively, and in the morning was the perfect place to stop by for a quick grab and go breakfast. The customer service desk was exceptional and worked hard to answer every question you had for them ranging form the best restaurants in the area to helping you find reasonable tour tickets. The cleaning services kept our room clean from the time we walked in to the moment we left.

Kimpton Palomar Beverly Hills

After checking into the hotel, and getting a feel for the area we would be staying in, we went for a drive until our reservation at RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen, which is similar to TAO, but definitely with a captured LA vibe to it, and this is my aunt’s favorite restaurant. The food here was delightful, well spiced, and full of flavor. Appetizers are good when shared, because it can be a lot, and this restaurant is another spot that you cannot leave hungry.

DAY 2: Today we had an early start, but it was definitely worth getting up that early to see the sunrise above the mountains in the morning and see the sun take over the streets of Cali. I started my day off wearing my green longline bomber jacket and black choker from Forever21, my black and white bodysuit from GoJane, Beach Bum Jeans from Fashion Nova, and clear transparent boot from Boohoo (inspired by Kylie Jenner).

My outfit for Day 2 in Cali

We started the morning off with a Starline Hollywood Homes Tour, which I recommend if you’re very involved in celeb life. This tour took us along popular neighborhoods in Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills, Bel Air, and Hidden Hills, along with a ride down hotspots around Sunset Strip and world famous Rodeo Drive. Some homes we saw included: Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Beyonce and Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, where the Kardashians have filmed, Lethan Weapon 2 house, Gwen Stefani, Michael Jackson, Walt Disney, Tyler Perry, Denzel Washington, Audrey Hepburn and so many more. Of course I would love to share the beautiful photographs of these houses, but it would surely ruin the experience of the tour. A picture is worth a thousand words, but this live experience tour is definitely worth 2 hours of your time, and you may even feel inspired to buy a house in the area (just like I did).

After leaving the tour, my aunt and I were absolutely starving and needed a place to grab a quick bite to eat before we did our own personal sightseeing. We decided to grab a bite at Napa Valley Grille, which kept us nice and full until our dinner reservation. This sandwich (below) may look like your typical sandwich, but either I was just plain hungry, or this sandwich tasted amazing! The waiters and waitresses were very accommodating, quick, and took care of us like we were queens. Many celebrities come to this restaurant, which the bartender told us, including Halle Berry, and to further his point we even spotted Diego Muñoz, who plays Huck on Scandal.

Sandwich and Sweet Potato Fries at Napa Valley Grille

After we ate, we took a drive down the famous PCH Highway (Pacific Coast Highway), visited Pepperdine, which compared to Rutgers during this season looked like a hotel resort, and continued through Santa Monica to only end up at Venice Beach, which was about an hour from our hotel This beach is very lively, full of bikers, roller skaters, skateboarders, and overall active people, in addition to the musicians and locals who just come here to relax and take a walk. There is so much to see, and we surely could not get it all done in one day, but there are plenty of souvenir shops, clothing stores, bikes to rent, and so much more. Here are some snapchat videos and pictures I took on the way to the beach and on it as well:

Venice Beach

Me at Venice Beach

Me walking on the beach soaking in the sun

After getting our toes wet in some cold Pacific Ocean water, we had to leave to get ourselves enough time to change, and make our dinner reservation. Many people complain about the unbearable “Los Angeles traffic”, but in my opinion, the traffic allows you to take in the scenic routes, and the beautiful mountains of California.

We got to the hotel, and I changed into my Boohoo Kylie side split pink duster and t-shirt midi dress, Fashion Nova gold choker, and BCBGeneration rose gold lace up heels, which is shown below:

Outfit worn to SUR, Lisa Vanderpump restaurant and lounge

The outfit was perfect for our dinner reservation to SUR Restaurant and Lounge, which is one of Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants in West Hollywood on the corner of Melrose and Robertson, which is also featured on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules.

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This restaurant has a very exotic, yet seductive feel to it, but I will admit was not at all what I imagined. The pictures on the website, as well as how the show shows the restaurant is not exactly how it looked firsthand. The restaurant felt smaller, and I definitely left this restaurant still a bit hungry. I got for an appetizer the shrimp and crab cakes, and after eating this appetizer dish, I realized I would need another appetizer or I would be hungry. They tasted delicious, but 3 was definitely not enough considering how small they were. The second appetizer I ordered were the fried goat cheese balls, which again were delicious, but a few more on the plate would have been nice. For my entree, I got the Roasted Organic Salmon with yams and rice as my side orders. My only critique about the rice and salmon was that it was a tad too salty, but other than that was very delicious. The yams were perfect, and needed no extra seasoning or butter. Below are pictures of my meal:

Despite the food, if you are a huge Lisa Vanderpump fan, like my aunt, and enjoy watching her show and would like to see where the housewives have had their biggest fights and sit where your favorite stars have sat, this is definitely a restaurant to go to. At this restaurant we did have the pleasure of meeting her son, daughter, and other familiar faces from the show, who were glad to come over and say hello.

Me at our table at SUR

We had been told by our Starline tour guide earlier that many tourists go eat their meal at SUR and then walk up the street to PUMP, Lisa Vanderpump’s second restaurant which is rarely filmed in, for their dessert, which is exactly what we did, and as soon as we walked to the entrance, my aunt and I both wished we had our meal at PUMP instead of SUR. This restaurant was way more lively, and had a more welcoming atmosphere.

Photo of Lisa Vanderpump and her husband on every table

Chandeliers above the bar

We sat by the bar, since we did not need to be seated for an entree meal, and ordered our dessert. I got the red velvet cake with vanilla ice cream on the side, and my aunt got the chocolate fudge cake. These cakes were to die for, and the cake was not that expensive either. In addition to this tasty treat, we saw Lisa Vanderpump and her husband in the flesh! Her husband came over and greeted my aunt and I, and we told him what big fans we are. This night out having dinner definitely ended on a more positive note than we could have ever imagined.

DAY 3: Today is my last day in Cali and we definitely left with a bang. We started the day by checking out of the amazing Kimpton Palomar Beverly Hills hotel, and I will certainly be coming back to this hotel when I come to California again. The staff, again, was very helpful, and treated you like royalty. My outfit for this fun-filled day consisted of my black Forever 21 choker, Boohoo oversized distressed denim jacket, Yeezus custom top, Just Fabulous jean in black from Fashion Nova, oversized fishnet tights from Amazon, and my black vans.

Outfit for my final day in Cali

After checking out of the hotel, we made our way to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Burbank, California, which was approximately an hour and change away from the hotel, so we left pretty early.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour entrance

Me and the Warner Bros. entrance

The tour starts off with you receiving a card with a letter and you wait until you are called. Inside of the waiting area, you can purchase an official tour guide, with even more information about where you will me touring, and exclusive set photos and fun facts, and there is also a Starbucks (and yes, you can bring food and beverages on the tour). After you are called, you will watch a short, introductory film about Warner Brothers to get you even more excited about being on set where your favorite tv shows and films were shot.

This tour, as well as the Starline tour previously mentioned, are tours you should experience firsthand and do not deserve to be spoiled, but here are some sneak peeks at my experience and all you that can look forward to.

The tour started off as a brief walking tour because our tour bus wasn’t ready yet, but this actually worked out in our favor. Instead of just sitting down in a bus and passing sets by, we were able to walk in and out of sets used in movies such as Lethal Weapon 2, the original Annie, Party Rock Anthem music video set, and many more. Soon after we had walked through a street of extraordinary sets, our bus was ready. We got to ride around and see the sets of multiple movies and tv shows such as Lala Land, Pretty Little Liars, Shameless, Friends, Gremlins, and of course many more. Next, we went to the museum at Warner Brothers which contained the actual costumes and accessories from Suicide Squad, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Harry Potter. Here is a video of me wearing the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter:

Here are some “Did you know?” fun facts that I learned while on this tour:

When a set wants to change the season from summer to winter, in order for the trees to match the season, the set designers individually pluck the leaves off of the trees, and when going from winter to summer, they have to individually place them back on as well. If you look closely at the backgrounds of some of your favorite tv shows, you can see sometimes that the camera pans a little too far, and in a winter set, at the top of the tree, there are full leaves resembling summer time.

Houses used for one set/show can also be used for 10 other shows and set designers get to decide how they want to change a previously used set by painting doors differently, changing doorknobs, etc.

Tv shows and movies that take place in a house do not have ceilings. In order to add additional lights for the actors/actresses, they need the ceiling open. If the camera has to pan in the direction of the ceiling, they will add a ceiling.

All of the lights inside of a set can make the room 100 degrees or hotter, so they have to add large tubes that connect to air conditioning as soon as they’re done filming to circulate air in the room.

If you are interested in seeing these things for yourself or learning more Hollywood filming fun facts, check out the tour! It is definitely worth attending.

After we finished our tour, since we would not be able to eat until we got to New York, my aunt and I ate at the Smokehouse, which the Warner Brothers tour guide told us is George Clooney’s favorite restaurant in the the Burbank area. After being seated by a friendly, lively staff, and being given some cheesy garlic bread and ribs, with a side of sweet potato fries and beans, that tasted like they were straight out of heaven, I could tell why it is his favorite restaurant. (You could see the crumbs left from the bread!)

My final birthday treat was tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood.

Entrance to the parking lot of Universal Studios Hollywood

Parking in the park is based after cartoon or movie characters such as E.T., and I will admit that the parking was surprisingly not a hassle seeing as it was a Friday evening. In order to get from your parking space to the amusement park, you have to walk through CityWalk, which is full of restaurants, clothing stores, restaurants, souvenir shops, and plenty of areas to hang/chat with family and friends.

CityWalk

You know you have arrived near the amusement park when you see security ready to check your bags, the line for ticket sales, and hear the laughter and screams of tourists and locals all around the park. Another indicator is the beautiful red carpet that takes you to the entrance of the amusement park, which is definitely a popular photoshoot spot before you enjoy all of the thrills within the park.

Me at the Universal Studios Hollywood red carpet

Universal Studios Hollywood has the following rides and attractions: Transformers The Ride- 3D, Revenge of the Mummy the Ride, Jurassic Park the Ride, Animal Actors, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, the new Walking Dead attraction, WaterWorld, the Special Effects Show that runs about every 30 minutes, the Simpsons Ride, Springfield attraction, the Studio tour including Fast and Furious with video cohost Jimmy Fallon, Fun Land and dino play for the kiddies. Aside from the rides and attractions, there are multiple places to eat (so many that I cannot name them all), and a few are: Starbucks, Sweet Liberty, Krusty Burger, Bumblebee Man’s Taco Truck, Cinnabon, Panda Express, Ben & Jerry’s, Jurassic Cafe, and many more.

My favorite ride at the park was Transformers, because it was extremely realistic. You got 3-D glasses and jump into a car connected to the transformer Evac and start your mission. This ride is very action packed and for a fleeting moment, you’ll fear for your life because it is so real.

An overall comment about this park, compared to the Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey that I usually go to, in terms of waiting for the ride, you will spend most of your wait indoors. For example, while waiting for the Harry Potter ride, our whole wait was inside of the castle surrounded by magical potions, artistic statues similar to the movie, and spent talking to Harry Potter and talking paintings instead of waiting in a long line in the heat. However, these parks differ tremendously in terms of rides. Instead of a Six Flags, or amusement park where there are solely rollercoasters, Universal Studios Hollywood was more attraction based in the sense that rides were more movie-oriented, 3D, and interactive instead of solely screaming your head off on a fast paced ride.

SANA SAYS MESSAGE:

Hollywood Universal Studios exit

This trip has definitely been an eye-opener for me. Seeing beautiful houses up in Hollywood Hills, and throughout Bel Air, dining in beautiful restaurants, taking in the beautiful weather and personally seeing all of the musical opportunities in Los Angeles as well as in New York, truly opened my eyes to all of the possibilities. Many look at this kind of lifestyle as strictly for celebrities and the absolutely rich, but in reality, it is accessible. Not every celebrity or “rich” person grew up that way, and many had to work their way to the top and earn that kind of lifestyle, and it shows you that it is humanly possible. After only being in California for a few days, I would like to spend many more days there and see what musical opportunities are available for me and all I wish to achieve in my lifetime.

Sana Says create a dream board, look at a million pictures of your dream house, dream job, dream lifestyle, and make that dream a temporary goal. Once you reach this goal and get your dream house, job and lifestyle, recognize it as only temporary, and plot for what’s next for you. I surely will, and don’t be too shocked when you see me in my new Hollywood Hills home with my family plotting what’s next.

As Drake says in his song “Pop Style”: Turn my birthday into a lifestyle.

Today is Sana Says Sunday, so please check out my latest post, comment, and share! There are three kinds of birthday people out there: 1. those who celebrate their birthday for a month straight, 2.

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