Welcome to Cali 🙂
I was so excited to visit California again, although we have done a road trip before two years ago, this time we were swapping Vegas and Santa Barbara for Malibu, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. Even if we did visit the same places as before I wouldn’t mind because I love everythign about California. I am in love with this place and it’s the only place I would ever want to relocate to. I could live in NYC but Cali is heaven on earth to me. It has everything to offer and each place is so different. Newport Beach is so different to LA and even different to Laguna Beach. For me this is when the real holiday started.
We landed in Ontario instead of LAX because our first stop was Newport Beach. We stayed at The Island Hotel which was so lovely. The location is perfect because it is opposite “Fashion Island” an outdoor shopping mall. I literally went there every day. Our room was lovely and spacious and it looked over the Fashion Island. The pool was perfect, the gym was great, service was great and the food was amazing. We went running every morning and it was such a dream to be there. I didn’t take any photos of the hotel because we were constantly out and when I cam back it was too dark for photos. I did manage to film lots of footage so you can see the pool, the room and everything else I just mention in the video. The video will be ready some time at the end of next week. If you follow my Snapchat “Iam CHOUQUETTE” you would have seen the hotel and our room. It is impossible to film for the YouTube, film for Snapchat and take photos. I managed two out of three and three out of three where the outfit blogging is concerned. To find out more about “The Island Hotel” click here. I saw a few hotels in the area and for me I definitely think we made the right choice, it seemed to be the prettiest hotel in the area, the location was perfect and everything was new because the hotel has just been refurbished. Keep an eye out of the Cali Video next week!
What to expect if you visit Newport Beach?
I thought that Newport would be like Laguna Beach and I only know LB from what I have seen in the best show of all times “The Hills” who watched this show? If you didn’t then I suggest you watch it. It wasn’t at all how I imagined. It was less beachy and a little like LA. I absolutely loved it and was pleasantly surprised because it was better than I imagined. I still think there is more to do in LA but it was a lot more friendly and less pretentious than LA. I also thought it was so pretty and clean. 100% loved Newport and highly recommend you visit this place. I preferred this to Santa Barbara which was quite similar. But again they are all amazing places to visit.
If you visit Newport I suggest driving down to Balboa Island. You have to take a two minute ferry to reach the island which is really fun and only cost $3 for us and the car. This island was incredibly pretty with the dreamiest houses. I had fifty plus photos taken of a grey house which you can see in the photos below. This was my dream house. I love how patriotic Americans are with their American flags hanging outside, imagine this in England?
The weather was perfect. I wore shorts and a light sweater all day and felt comfortable. This sweater is so soft, everything from Rails is super soft and I love wearing their clothes; everything is so comfortable and I don’t actually know how they produce such soft clothes. You will have to check the brand out to believe how soft they are. Click here to shop.
My grey shorts were the perfect dove grey colour and you can buy them here.
My new Saint Laurent bag was on my arm the entire trip. It’s the perfect size for a cross body but fits quite a lot. I would suggest buying this bag in leather because suede bags are never as durable compared to leather.
Paris hates my shoes, he calls them my “common shoes” and asks me where my socks are. I am tired of explaining that they are “cool”. The real reason I wear them is because I am always painting my toe nails and they are perfect for this. I also suffer from arthritis so shoes like this are comfortable for me. I have since invested in a chic pair which I am totally in love with. I bought the Givenchy ones here. I love them so much I ordered the baby blue pair here. During the day before the beach I wore my star boots which are so comfy and the heel is the perfect hight for the day time. Click here to shop.
We spent three days here. We spent our first morning at Fashion Island then went for a drive. The second day I visited Fashion Island again 🙂 and spent the day at Balboa Island. On our third day we drove down to Laguna Beach because it was only a fifteen minute drive. There was no need to change hotels in that case and the hotels seemed more expensive in LB. LB was incredible and absolutely noting like I imagine, like nothing at all. I won’t share too much, I will save this day for my next post but it’s a good one with lots of LB tips and recommendations.
My trip was planned my Kensington & Pearl travel. They socialise in booking holidays tailored made to you and they avoid the typical tourist traps. You don’t have to book a luxury holiday to travel with them. They plan everything from fights to the hotel to the places you visit. Follow them on Instagram here and visit their site here.
NIKE SLIDERS chic style HERE
SAINT LAUREN BAG leather style HERE
CC xx
