Two weeks ago, I did something that I have been daydreaming about for the past 5 years.
In 2010 I went to Los Angeles for the first time and have been dying to go back ever since. Some girls love Paris. Others are obsessed with New York City. Maybe it comes from growing up on the West Coast or the fact that my grandparents always sent us postcards from their yearly trips to Palm Springs, but my drug of choice is California.
If you follow my Instagram, you know that I finally got my wish and (in the words of Biggie) finally went back back, to Cali Cali. A few Saturdays ago, The Secret Agent and I packed up Joe the Intern & hopped on a plane to go spend two weeks in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. It was our first official “family vacation” and it was lovely.
We stayed in the heart of Hollywood (near Hollywood & Vine), where I finally got to visit all of the classic Hollywood landmarks (Grauman’s Chinese Theatre! Canters Deli! The Roosevelt Hotel! Sunset Boulevard!) and shop at the Melrose Trading Post (a flea market on steroids that’s a must-see for vintage lovers like myself.)
We spent a day exploring Downtown LA, where I fell in love with The Last Bookstore and a Record Shop that specialized in both Hip Hop records and dolls. I had an art-gasm at The Broad – LA’s new modern art gallery that’s currently free to visit (!)
We traversed the city from West Hollywood and Beverly Hills to Echo Park and Silverlake (two ‘hoods that also captured my heart.)
We saw gorgeous street art all over the city and I ate my body weight in Mexican food.
We met up with Almie, Jennifer and Lisa.
At 35, I finally lost my Disneyland virginity. It was extremely hot, a little overwhelming but also magical. Joe the Intern fully got into the experience.
I ate more Mexican food.
We drove up to Palm Springs for a few days where we lounged by the pool, drank date milkshakes, shopped to our heart’s content and took in the mid-century retro paradise that is the city. FYI, I’m pretty sure that Palm Springs is my spirit animal. As proof, I present Exhibit A.
We then drove back to Los Angeles to spend our last few days staying in the most Pinterest-Able guest house in Venice Beach. We rode bikes along the boardwalk, ate delicious things & soaked up all the sunshine we could. All of the sun & laid back living (not to mention ample Mexican food. Did I mention the Mexican food?) made it really, really, hard to leave!
One of the things I love most about travelling (even if it’s just a short trip), is that I always come back refreshed and with a new perspective that I can bring to my life and work.
If we’re being completely honest here, it’s been a weird few months for me work and blog wise. Weird but good. I’ve spent most of the summer working on putting the finishing touches on my book – something that’s still on-going. Whatever writing energy wasn’t put into that project, was used to create content for my clients. Something had to give. Instead of trying to do it all, I let this blog slip to the back burner.
I’ve also been struggling with what to post here. Let me explain –
On our first date, the Secret Agent asked me, “what’s going to happen to the blog when you get into a relationship?”
To which I answered, “I think my readers will be happy that I’m happy. I’m still going to write – just not about dating and being single. The blog will evolve along with my life.”
At the time, I thought this was the perfect answer. However, lately I’ve had a hard time envisioning what that evolution looks like.
Over the years, I’ve had people tell me “your blog is the best when you’re telling weird dating stories!” or “I prefer your funny posts!” or “I just skip over the sexy reviews and read the stories…except when you post photos of lingerie. That I like” (as told to me by a man) & so it goes.
I get it. The posts where I’m sharing things about myself and (hopefully) making you laugh in the process are my favourite ones too. This blog started as a place for me to tell stories about my life. Regardless of what I’m writing about, I want great storytelling to remain the primary focus.
With that said, it’s hard to writing funny dating stories when you’re in a stable, normal relationship. I like sharing little things about The Secret Agent here and there, but I’m not about to start live blogging our entire relationship. It’s nice keeping some things private. And while I’m always down to help you pick out an awesome sex toy, lately I just haven’t felt like writing about my vagina on the internet. Sorry, people. However, are people still going to like this blog if I’m not writing about dating or my sex life? What kind of stories do I want to tell?
I was hoping my trip to California would help me sort through some of these questions and give me a much needed jolt of inspiration. While the trip definitely did give me a new perspective, it wasn’t the one I expected.
I realized that what used to feel fun and liberating – spending all day, everyday talking about sex and relationships – now feels kind of claustrophobic. While the topic of sex and human relationships will always be interesting to me, I don’t want to just write about those things. While I was away I experienced so much great art, design, fashion, food and music. I want to share all of those things with you, by taking a more holistic approach to this blog.
Skinny Dip will still be about sexy things, but I want to write about what feels good in your life, not just your pants.
(Because you can’t have happy, healthy relationships if you don’t love your life, first.)
While you’ll still catch the occasional sex toy review (oh, boy. I’ve got a good one coming up!), I want to write more pieces like this one that allow me to flex my creative muscles and hopefully inspire you to make other areas of your life a little bit more fun & sexy. I also want to share more of my favourite books and spend more time discussing mental health and overall wellness. How does that sound?
I hope you’ll join me! In the meantime, you can stay up to date by signing up for the Skinny Dip newsletter, that will be back to it’s regular weekly schedule very shortly.
Thanks for reading this for the past 6 years!
xo
S.
