La in L.A.

Let the fun begin! Next weekend my little sister Laura will be arriving in Los Angeles for a classic SoCal weekend. So of course I want to make it worth her while. I had to figure - she lives in DC, so there's already great museums, great shopping, great monuments and touristy things to do there... And she's been to L.A. before, so the Hollywood Sign hike is not going to cut it. My plan is going to have to be a little more fantastic. So here goes:

Friday, arriving mid-afternoon and grabbing a late LA bite. I'm thinking somewhere with a patio, since the weather is going to be nothing short of GORGEOUS - 70+ degrees with no chance of anything bad. Perhaps we'll lunch at the Ivy, and peep out some stars. Maybe trot down to the Movie wardrobe resale store It's a Wrap. Friday night La will be attending my comedy improv show at ACME, and then we will be grabbing a late Italian dinner next door while hob-nobbing with my improv buddies.

Saturday: Up at the crack of dawn to travel to Big Bear for a day of skiing and snowboarding. We'll spend a day on the slopes, and then head back into town that night for a fancy dinner at the Huntley Hotel on Santa Monica (I happen to know some folks there who will take great care of us).

Sunday: Up at the crack of dawn to head out to Sunset beach for a surf lesson. Mr. Tom of SurfingLA will provide boards and wetsuits, and a little help to get us riding the waves in true SoCal style. And we plan on picking up some cuties with sun-bleached hair to buy us some mojitos at Paradise Cove once we are finished with the waves. Even without the cuties, the mojitos will definitely happen. Laura's day will probably end with a sunset down by Santa Monica pier, before heading back to DC on a red-eye flight. What a trooper!