Grand Park and City Hall

I used to really dislike living in Los Angeles, which is totally weird since I’m a native. But  once upon a time I had a full-on love affair with New York City, and after living in the Big Apple for a few years, coming home seemed totally and wholly boring.

But then I realized I was perhaps too unkind to my city.

While clubs close early (uh, 2:00am?!) and you have to drive EVERYWHERE and things are so spread out and the people are….interesting, I realized that once I got over my “LA is totally boring!” tantrum, the City of Angels kinda has it going on.

Although I get a bit of summer event envy while surfing through my friends’ Instagram and Twitter feeds (I mean, who doesn’t live or pass through Brooklyn?!), I am looking forward to L.A. this summer.

Here’s why:

The beach: (which is really not fair to other cities because we Angelenos go to the beach year-round). Totally awesome.

The parties: Between the epic Sunday get down that is the Do Over, to the slew of DJs passing through this summer, if you LOVE to party, this summer will be kinda epic (uh, Hello BET Experience & Beyonce).

The art scene: Although I don’t really understand contemporary art, LA’s got a host of museums and galleries that you can visit. And I love them all. I love strolling through exhibits not knowing what the hell the artist was thinking, but feeling like I’m getting my supreme culture on. It’s fab.

Levitating mass at LACMA

The ocean: I love the water, and I can’t think of a more perfect day than filling up on some tasty eats while gazing upon the ocean. I mean, c’mon. How dope is THAT?

Marina Del Rey….

The melting pot: Despite some neighborhoods being overrun with hipsters, L.A. has a wealth of diversity. From Little Armenia and Little Ethiopia (ok, mini-Ethiopia) , to Koreatown and Chinatown, you can literally experience the food and culture of a plethora of communities just by taking a drive.

The Watts Towers

The fashion: Ok, this is a selfish thing, but I love being able to wear flip-flops 75% of the year. How amazing is THAT?!

Have you ever been to L.A. or are you from here? What do you love about it?