And, this time around, work wasn’t the reason! For President’s Day Weekend, my friend Stephanie and I flew to Los Angeles for a fun, much-needed girls’ trip.

Although I was just there in December, this was actually the first time I visited Los Angeles solely for leisure, which allowed me to experience the city a bit differently. We mapped out the things and places we wanted to see and do and managed to fit in a lot in three nights and less than four days.

We flew out of Philadelphia Friday morning and arrived in Los Angeles mid-afternoon, slightly annoyed by the new LAX-it shuttle service to the ride-share pickups. A 30-minute Uber ride later, we arrived at lovely Hotel Indigo Downtown L.A., and, luckily, our room was ready. We unpacked, settled in and quickly realized we both forgot certain things, so we decided to take a walk to a nearby drug store. Originally, we planned to visit Griffith Observatory before dinner but opted to wind down from the travel at the hotel instead. We grabbed wine, cheese and crackers at the store and enjoyed them over good conversation, music and lovely city views.

On our first night, we had dinner at Atrium, a stylish restaurant in Los Feliz offering modern global cuisine. The ambiance was perfect to enjoy dinner and continue our conversation and catch up. The service was great, considering it was relatively crowded, and the food was delicious! For my entrée, I enjoyed lobster cavatelli paired with a crisp and refreshing glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The notes of tarragon in the pasta contrasted beautifully with the wine. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, watched a movie and called it an early night to refuel our engines for the next day.

I had the not-so-great idea to sleep without shutting the blackout curtains because I recently read an article that stated waking up to sunlight improves your sleep quality, so I woke up around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, too early on vacation if you ask me. The silver lining? Seeing the beautiful sunrise and having the whole morning to get ready and not rush.

After a nicely paced breakfast, we got ready and headed to the Silver Lake area; Stephanie has a few friends in the city, and one was celebrating her son’s first birthday, so we stopped by and hung out with her family for a couple of hours. We wanted to check out the reservoir in this trendy neighborhood, but we had timed tickets for a few of the things we set out to do, so we ventured out.

Our first stop was Griffith Observatory; owned and operated as a public service by the Department of Recreation and Parks of the City of Los Angeles, the observatory is one of the most famous and visited landmarks in Southern California, offering amazingly clear views of the city and many educational shows in the planetarium. We made a grave mistake, though — we visited on the weekend, so the place was CROWDED. The traffic line to be dropped off was long, but this didn’t take away from the breathtaking views and scenery. The planetarium was a bit busy, so we opted to walk through the observatory, take a few pictures and then head back Downtown for the rest of the activities.

Our second stop was The Broad Museum, where I was mesmerized by the expansive presentation of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, as well as beautiful pieces by Mickalene Thomas, Barbara Kruger and Jeff Koons. I had only seen digital photos of their art, and being in the presence of it was a completely different experience.

The admission to the museum is free, but timed-entry tickets are required. We mainly wanted to check out Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room, so we assumed we’d be able to access it with the tickets we had. However, a different reservation must be made for these, and they were sold out for the day. We didn’t let this bum us out. It was a beautiful day, so instead of taking an Uber, we decided to walk to the third spot: The Last Bookstore.

The Last Bookstore is the largest bookstore in California, and it features a dreamy record store, an artsy book tunnel, funky art pieces and more. I loved the super-old vaults, too. The store is in an old bank building, which adds character and a dash of mystery to the vibe.

After the bookstore, we had a small window of time before dinner and drinks with friends, so we headed back to the hotel to wind down. More on that in my next blog … .

— Yasser Ogando, advertising and production manager